18 THE FATHER OF III VERS 



Hankow came in sight. Its many I'actory chinmeys 

 vomit wreaths of smoke across the muddy river 

 and add nothing to the beauty of* an unattractive 

 spot. It was here, or rather at Wuchang-fu across 

 the river, that tlie revolution broke out a few 

 weeks later. The native city whicli lies just to the 

 west of tlie settlement is, or rather was, for it was 

 almost entirely destroyed, one of the most un- 

 pleasant spots imaginable. Sir Frederick Treves 

 has called Canton a nightmare city. The descrip- 

 tion applied equally well to Hankow, for it w^as 

 a place to see and forget. The first thing that 

 impresses one on entering a native city of this kind 

 in China is the overpowering excess of humanity. 

 The coast towns and river ports are the dirtiest. 

 Inland they do not strike with such repugnance, 

 or perhaps one becomes hardened. 



That strange person, the man in the street, does 

 not, if his surroundings are set in China, attract 

 the observer. He is, in fact, singularly unpre- 

 possessing. His shaven head gives him an air of 

 artificiality which somehow unconsciously pre- 

 judices the foreigner ; tlie bound feet and tottering 

 gait of the women increase the feeling w^hich, at 

 the close of one's first walk through a native town, 

 has increased to positive aversion. 



Hankow was, I think, dirtier and more repellent 

 than either Shanghai or Canton, and its inhabitants 

 a most imhealthy-looking lot, of whom a large 

 percentage had suffered from smallpox. The 

 usual crowd collected whenever a camera appeared, 

 and amid the unimaginable smells one which was 

 recognisable had almost the greeting of an old 

 friend. 



