98 TOWARDS THE BORDER 



The third day after leaving Feng-siang we 

 crossed into Kansu and found ourselves on the 

 fringe of a Mohammedan population. Strings of 

 mules coming down with hides from the west 

 passed us. From Feng-siang they are conveyed 

 by cart to Sian-fu, thence by mule to the Han 

 River and so to Hankow. 



The male mules utter a horrid neigh if they see 

 a horse, and try to go for him, getting up close so 

 that he is unable to kick, when they bite and 

 savage him. 



The Mohammedan Chinese strike the observer 

 as a much more vigorous lot than their countrymen 

 who have not adopted the religion of the Prophet. 

 They are more assertive and, in crowds, rather 

 inclined to be boisterous. In many parts of 

 China they are not allowed to settle save under 

 very severe restrictions, but Kansu is their strong- 

 hold. They are non-smokers, and wear little white 

 biretta-like caps, or soft round black ones without 

 the distinctive red button of their compatriots. 

 Their towns are wider and cleaner than those 

 farther east. Round their graveyards they are in 

 the habit of planting firs. The ignorance of some 

 of the country people is astonishing. We were 

 asked casually one day to which nation Kansu 

 belonged. The doctor replied that it was part of 

 the Chinese Empire. 



"Oh," said his interrogator, "I thought it had 

 been given to England or America." It would 

 have made, apparently, not the slightest difference 

 if he had been told that the Sultan of Zanzibar 

 was going to take possession, though probably no 

 such person had ever been heard of. My tattooing 



