172 SHOOTING IN CHINA 



that we were ourselves again when we 

 returned to the boat for dinner. Our bag 

 was not very large, but we were improving 

 and our hopeful spirits had come back to us. 



The 1 3th. was a lovely day. The water 

 was as clear as I ever saw it in a river, and 

 the city seemed to sleep in the distance, 

 while the surrounding mountains upheld 

 the soft hazy atmosphere, which reminded 

 us so much of spring. I stood on deck for 

 some time and looked long at the two 

 pagodas which topped the hills, one on 

 each side of the river, and which appeared 

 to give softness to the whole scenery. The 

 native boats, engaged in commerce, were 

 passing in different directions, and the 

 farmers were busy in the fields. And thus 

 it had been going on for centuries, and the 

 people were satisfied. Our sleep had been 

 refreshing the previous night and our 

 thoughts were charitable. We did not admit 

 the right of the westerner to disturb the 

 contentment we saw by the intrusion of him- 

 self and his ideas. Why go and tear down 

 the ancestral temples at whose shrines four 

 hundred million peoples have worshipped 

 for thousands of years? Was not Carlyle 



