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CHAPTER XI 



KETURN JOURXEY TO ICIIANG 



Departure for Wa-ssu — Difficulty atl^'u-lin — Huang-mia-chang — Road lost 

 — So-i-ling Pass at night — Arrive at Ta-tien-chih at midnight- 

 Collectors work — Horses procured — Guard of soldiers — Arrive at 

 Kia-ting-fu — Carelessness with mails — Go to my boat — Very heavy 

 flood — Great loss of life — False rumours concerning the object of my 

 journey — Inspection of boat by Tao-tai — Visit to city- Lowban pro- 

 cures flag— Leave for Ichang— Destruction of village — Boat aground 

 in wi-ong channel — Pass Sui-fu — Lu-chau — Delayed by heavy rain — 

 Arrival at Chung-king— Delayed by high river at Quei-chow-fu — 

 Wrecks of junks — Pass the Sin-tan and Ta-tung Eapids. — Waterfalls. 



Ox August 15 I finished my packing ; and after 

 having thanked Bishop Biet and the Fathers for their 

 extreme kindness and invaluable assistance, telling my 

 collectors at the same time that I hoped to be able to 

 engage them the following summer, I left for Wa-ssu at 

 2 P.M. and arrived at 7.30. 



My return journey was taken by the same road that 

 I had come by, and I crossed the Fei-yueh-ling Pass on 

 August 18, arriving at Fu-lin on the 2()th. Here, again, 

 I had difficulties, for they were most inhospitable to me 

 on my first passing through the town. Now I found 

 the greatest difficulty in getting a room to sleep in, but 



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