For some time we had been straining our eyes for a sight of the city of 

 Hsi-an Fu. It seemed difficult to believe the natives, who declared it to be 

 close at hand ; but when the travellers were within a quarter of a mile of the 

 place, suddenly the massive towers and solid walls sprang into view, and the 

 capital lay revealed in a large depression. Entering by the East Gate we 

 made straight for the Baptist Missionary Hospital, where Dr. and Mrs. 

 Jenkins gave us a warm welcome, and entertained us royally. Then a visit 

 to the Post Office, to secure any letters that might be there ; and Mr. Mullen, 

 the Postmaster, insisted on his visitors taking their evening meal with him, an 

 invitation which, after months of rough and often badly cooked food, they 

 were only too ready to accept. The inn at which accommodation was secured 

 turned out to be surprisingly poor, especially when the size and importance of 

 the city are remembered. However, paradoxical as it may appear, it seems to 

 be the rule in North China that the quarters obtainable vary inversely with 

 the size and prosperity of the town. Away in some lonely place, where the 

 people hardly know how to secure a living, it is almost invariably possible to 

 find roomy and comfortable lodgings; but in a large and populous city such as 

 Hsi-an, full of fine residences, large shops, and all signs of considerable 

 luxury, the only accommodation procurable is of the very dirtiest and poorest 

 nature imaginable. We could, of course, have accepted the hospitality 

 generously offered by the Missionaries or the Postmaster, but a short stay only 

 being anticipated, it seemed a pity to disturb the routine of their quiet 

 households. 



Observations were taken at Hsi-an on the 5th and 6th, and the rate of 

 the chronometer-watch determined ; and on the 7th the party left the city and 

 reached Lin-t'ung, a place fifty // distant, where some famous hot-springs 

 exist. Quarters were secured in the grounds of the gardens attached to the 

 springs, and the exquisite luxury of a hot mineral bath was enjoyed. 



The discovery of the springs goes back to a very early date, but the 

 building of the present commodious baths is attributed to the famous 

 K'ang-hsi (1662-1723). There is no charge for the use of the baths, a small 

 tip to the attendant securing privacy in the warmest and cleanest of the series. 

 This spacious bath lies under the arch of a large cave, and is capable of 

 holding comfortably some fifty or sixty bathers. It is fed from a spring that 

 issues directly from the back of the cave, and is divided from a second bath by 

 a wide stone platform, pierced by several low arches through which the water 

 flows. This second bath lies in the open, but is enclosed by a high wall. 

 From here the water is conducted underground to two small private baths, 



41 



