88 FENSIANG-FU— AN INLAND TOAVN 



most hospitably entertained at the mission station 

 by JMr. and Mrs. C. H. Steevens. Their beautiful 

 garden, full of roses and lovely flowers, had just 

 been completely wrecked by a bad hailstorm whicli 

 devastated the south-west corner of the city and 

 left the remainder untouched. Several cave dwell- 

 ings outside the walls had been inundated and ten 

 or eleven people drowned. It was most refreshing 

 after the discomforts we had recently suffered to 

 sit down to a table charmingly laid and decorated 

 with flowers and dishes of ripe fruit. The city 

 walls are built in a manner which is supposed to 

 represent a phoenix, as the name of the city im- 

 plies. The irregularly laid northern wall outlines 

 the breast, the north and east gates being almost in 

 a line when viewed from the north-w^est corner. 

 The greater portion of this end of the city is de- 

 voted to agriculture, nearly all the crops of maize 

 and millet at the time of our stay being laid low by 

 the storm. 



There are a number of wolves in the country 

 round, which do not hesitate to come within the 

 walls, where they are sometimes killed. They fre- 

 quently attack people. One strong youth refused 

 to be dissuaded from making a journey in the 

 winter and set out, laughing at his friends' warn- 

 ings. All they found was his skull ! Their favourite 

 method of attack in the summer months is to creep 

 up behind a man as he works in the fields and 

 jump on his bent back. They often steal babies 

 from before the doors where they are playing. 

 They are common nearly everywhere in tlie in- 

 terior, and the winter is the best season to hunt 

 them. In January, when at Ling-tai~miao, Dr, 



