1 70 Among Men and Horses. 



is supposed to be thoroughly taken in, and proportionately 

 delighted with these offerings. 



The breaking I had to do in China was almost entirely 

 for saddle, as there are very few carriages ; the well-to-do 

 classes affecting the jinrickshaw, the poorer people the wheel- 

 barrow. When I first saw a 'rickshaw, I vowed that I would 

 never get into this Eastern bath-chair. But it was always at 

 hand, and appeared so convenient, that my scruples gradually 

 gave way, and I at last consented to be pulled along in this 

 go-cart At Simla, it takes four men to trot along on level 

 ground, with a 'ricksaw containing one lady. At Colombo, 

 a single man undertakes the feat ; but cannot keep up the 

 accelerated gait beyond two hundred yards, without breaking 

 into a walk. At Singapore, the 'rickshaw coolies never think 

 of walking, unless against a strong wind. At Shanghai, they 

 go half as fast again as at the Straits, and think nothing of 

 a double load. In Japan, which is the home of this man-cart, 

 the coolies step out like match trotters, and instead, as at 

 other places, of confining their runs to borough limits, they 

 think nothing of drawing, in tandem, a 200 lb. man, 50 miles 

 up hill and down dale in a day. Although pedestrianism 

 is not cultivated in China, either as a sport or as a means of 

 keeping in good health ; the indigenous coolie quickly learned 

 the 'rickshaw business from the Japs. At first the unac- 

 customed and ill-regulated exercise manifested its bad effects 

 on the majority of its takers by causing diseases of the heart, 

 lungs and other internal organs, which were fatal to many. 

 On hearing this fact, the natural query would be : ' Why did 

 the coolie work so hard ? ' The answer is, that if the 'rick- 

 shaw man did not keep running at a fair pace the entire 

 journey, the ' foreigner,' as a rule, would get out and walk, 

 or call another conveyance ; and the tardy one would be 

 left lamenting his lost fare. Besides this, the writings of 

 Confucius contained no information about athletic training ; 

 so the almond-eyed ones committed many errors, and steadily 

 smoked opium. I have been told that this rapid breaking 



