ISO RUDE TREATMENT FROM CHINESE. 



people as the Chinese or Mongols who only respect 

 force, kindness and politeness are wasted or mistaken 

 for weakness and cowardice. On the other hand, 

 boldness sometimes produces a magic effect, and the 

 traveller armed with this weapon will in the end be 

 more successful. It must be understood that I am 

 no advocate for bullying, but what I wish to say is 

 that when a traveller makes his way into remote 

 parts of Asia, he must discard many of his former 

 opinions for .others more adapted to the sphere in 

 which he finds himself. 



We now took the direction of the Yellow River, 

 and, having no guide, trusted to our enquiries to 

 direct us. We met with great difficulties from our 

 ignorance of the language, and from the suspicion and 

 hostility of the inhabitants, of the Chinese in par- 

 ticular, who would often refuse to show us the road 

 or purposely mislead us. We lost our way nearly 

 every march, and sometimes went a dozen of miles 

 or more before discovering our mistake. 



Occasionally we passed through a populous Chi- 

 nese settlement, where our difficulties were always 

 aggravated. A large crowd would assemble ; all the 

 inhabitants, young and old, ran out into the streets, 

 or climbed up on the palisades or roofs of their 

 houses, to stare at us with unmeaning curiosity ; the 

 dogs howled in concert and snapped at poor * Faust ;' 

 startled horses neighed, cows lowed, pigs squeaked, 

 fowls flew hither and thither ; in short, all was noise 

 and confusion. We would generally let the caravan 

 advance, while one of us remained behind to ask the 



