On the whole they were perfectly right: leather soles are quite unsult~ able for these stone steps; cloth, rope or rubber soles would be much bet er. T was still further handicapped by the fact that my size in shots is ten, whereas most of the steps in the, steeper places are scarcely four inches wide. There was nothing to be done, One cannot expect to buy shoes half way up the Huashan and to go back was just as troublesome as to go on, Of this we had a clear example while we were sitting there. A. Chinese lady had started ascending the vertical steps above our heads. One of the chair coolies was assist~ ing her, the other who had the chal strapped on his back could do nothing, while her husband, with 2 marked lack of gallantry, had pushed fon ahead leaving the lady to her fate.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.