CHINESE SERVANTS 23 



One hears much of the excellence of Chinese 

 })oys ; of tlieir quickness, quietness, and aptitude. 

 Though perhaps not hard to get sucli paragons in 

 the coast towns, it is difficult to induce them to 

 rough it on a long trip inland. Certainly our 

 followers were nothing like as good as the boys 

 who accompany a safari in British East Africa in 

 the capacity of personal attendants. They had no 

 initiative, no memories, and no manners. Still, 

 they were perfectly honest, and did their best. 

 The head boy was one Ching-yii, formerly a 

 muleteer, who had been in Dr. Smith's service 

 some years. Ruh-si was cook and his brother 

 syce, whilst an extraordinary little creatiu'e called 

 Hsuie (pronounced Showee) came as our personal 

 servant. He spoke a little broken English, loved 

 display of any kind, and was rather like a monkey 

 altogether. Te-kwei, an ex-soldier, we picked up 

 at Sian-fu as an all-round man. 



The road between Honan-fu and Sian-fu has been 

 described by Baron Richthofen as " one of the most 

 trying pieces of cart-roads in Cliina." It runs en- 

 tirely through loess country. Loess is a solid but 

 friable earth of bi'ownish yellow colour, not unlike 

 loam when wet. It is peculiar to Northern China, 

 and does not extend to the south. To quote Baron 

 Richthofen : " It is owing in a great measure to 

 the loess that Nortliern China differs much from 

 Southern China as regards scenery and products, 

 the mode of agriculture, and the means of trans- 

 })ortation. In the loess region the mountain 

 ranges are usually buried in loess with tlieir lower 

 portions, and the space between two ranges is 

 occupied by a broad trough of loess sloping very 



