I.] KEELUNG. 11 



cliffs and precipices that face the surges of the ISTorth Pacific afford 

 no shelter whatever save the solitary hay of Sau-o. Tlie very 

 difference of the coast on the western side produces the same 

 result, and the shallow ports of Takau and Taiwan are of but 

 little use to European shippmg. So Tamsui and Keeluug to the 

 north alone remain to dispute the pahn, and, although the former 

 can claim a considerably larger interior trade, Keelung can safely 

 rely upon her coal-fields for supremacy until electricity shall have 

 supplanted steam. 



We found our Acting Consul the only Englishman in the port, 

 and, thanks to his kindness, our visit was a most pleasant one. 

 The country round is charming in its rich green dress of bamboo 

 gi'oves and paddy, and in the enjoyment of it one momentarily 

 forgets the far from Arabian odours that have to be encountered 

 on one's return to the town. Japan in summer is unpleasant ; 

 Cliina more than occasionally oversteps the limits of one's powers 

 of endurance. But for breadth and expression, for solidity, tone, 

 and execution, the perfumes of Keelung must rank far above those 

 of either. Here the Sanitary Inspector existeth not, and carbolic is 

 a thing unknown. Xo respectaljle disease can complain of not 

 having a fair field. By all the laws that modern science has 

 taught us, by all our researches in micro-organisms, by every sacred 

 axiom of Medicine, we can confidently predict the certain death of 

 every inhabitant in the course of the next two or three days, 

 although, with the habitual caution of a physician, we may admit 

 the possibility of one or two of the strongest lingering until the end 

 of the week. But next day everything is as usual, and the fat old 

 gentleman who constructs the queer little boats that in China do 

 duty for coffins does not seem to be suffering from any particular 

 press of business. It is a hard matter to have to rid oneself of long 

 cherished beliefs, but a prolonged residence in a Chinese city would, 

 I feel sure, result in shaking the convictions of the fiercest sanitarian, 

 and in time convert him to the advantages of the union of the main 

 drain and the King's highway. 



