Canton, Oct. 27.
Unintentionally a Canton merchant who spent a holiday travel ling through Kangsi and southern Kaanstung joined a party of smugglers and rode for miles with them while they were being chased by' pursuing band; he stayed over night in a town while a horde of desperadoes, 3,000 strong, outside the town walls, were preparing to break in; he stopped in a hamlet which was being nightly raided by hungry tigers, cupable of eating men' of beast; and, as a climax, he spent tossed about thatin all that time the vessel could not make the opposite shore, only rine milts away.
It was only a few weeks before the "up: against the Central] Government's domination that the trip was made and even then motor Luses and other means of conveytance were being commandeered by. the militarists of Kuangsi, but over the first part of the route' no inconvenience was suffered, since there] is no highway joining Wuchow and Lanchow, 'Thai distance had to covered by motor launch, and, the troops were too busy getting ready to wage warfare to give heed to the defence of this river route, the traveller had to accept such' Cangers as might beset him and get by them as best he could. Only four days before, two such boats had been fired on, one of them, be ing © delegation of Wuchow merchants, running the gauntlet with-cut anyone being hit, while four mien were shot dead on the other: craft, On reaching the danger zone, tne of the crew on the traveller's boat went out and stood at the ste chow, and was concentrating ita Sflorts on improving the latter ety.
'Scarcity' of Tea By this time, the sightseers was] getting "fed up" on rice congee. To his surprise, he learned ghat outside of the towns tea is Almost a nonentity. When one is out in the: country and is thirsty he has to content himself with the water Grained off this thin, insipid gruel, the ordinary beverage of the Kuang-st peasant. Near Kieiyun, as at 'a number of other spots along the Foute, a river had to be crossed: and, in the absence of a bridge, the' motor car had to be. ferried across on a lighter. Crawling: cautiously up two parallel planks, the ear commenced slipping paci and the driver was not ble to Check its descent. It ran into the mud, and for the Wetter part of an hour the traveller was down in the mire with the other passengers and.
working desperately to exteica the crew, minus shoef_and socks, Yehicle, At Inst it was started gain up.the planks, and this time made the deck of the~ lighter without mishap.
It was at Paclung, beyond Wat-lam, that the tourist took up with the smugglers. Learning that it would. be some time before the regular omnibus would be ready to start out, he approached the party, who hada big truck that was just bout to depart. Its crew wore hats on which were la that showed they were of the Opium 'Smuggling Prevention Bureau, and the traveller thanked his luck when the head of the government officers reluctantly gave his consent to' taking him as a passenger. went well for a short until a ear was spotted following. this party. The nine men of the Prevention Bureau did not like the Icoks of the other car in the lea and the driver stopped on th and drove his car at the highest possible speed. Even so, he could not outdistance the pursuing vehicle, for the traveller now awakened to the realization that the ear on which was riding was being chased, and that the 20 boxes of opium abeard were not a seizure but were being smuggled down to Kuangebauwan. Zigeageing back and forth, the driver raised a cloud of dust, so that the chauffeur ofthe other car Lehind could not sce the rod, and Thad to slow up, and by thus out witting the pursuers the smugglers Were able to pat several miles between them and the men who, for spell, it looked as if they would have to fight.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.