CHAPTER XX I V^ 



RUMOURS OF WAR 



The morning following was very misty, with sharp 

 storms of hail and snow. I was rather tired after 

 a very long day, for we did not reach camp till 

 eight o'clock, so had a rest, wrote up my diary, 

 and sketched. 



The men went up to fetch in the head and 

 meat, reaching camp at nine o'clock the same 

 night. On November 7th I got a note from 

 IMr. Christie, saying that the re\olution was 

 spreading ; that Sian-fu, which it seemed we had 

 so recently left, had fallen amidst horrible scenes 

 of rapine and murder ; that all Chinese warships 

 on the Yangtse had joined the rebels, and that 

 the valley of the great river was in a blaze. A 

 postscript added that Hankow had fallen, and that 

 15,000 troops at this place had gone over to 

 General Li Yuan Hung, who had been proclaimed 

 head of the Republic at Wuchang. 



This was grave news, and it became apparent 

 that, so far from being troubled by minor sporadic 

 disturbances, the Manchus w^ere faced by a serious, 

 well-directed, and wide -spreading revolution. 

 JNIr. Christie wrote that he had sent the news to 

 George, so 1 moved back to our old camp to try 



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