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The National Geographic Magazine 



walls tablets in memory of our great 

 Chao [a Jewish mandarin judge, who 

 rebuilt the synagogue on one occasion] 

 and other holy men. It was very large 

 and contained the Hall of Ancestors, the 

 brazen vases of flowers and the censors, 

 in honor of Abraham and others. The 

 nerves and sinews were extracted from 

 animals slain for food in this court. 



"The synagogue itself was small, but 

 exceedingly beautiful, and in the center 

 was the throne of Moses, a wonderfully 

 carved chair, covered with embroidered 

 silk, upon which they placed the sacred 

 book while it was read. Above the 

 throne, in letters of gold, were wise and 

 good words our ancestors brought from 

 afar : 'Hear, O Israel : The Lord our God 

 is one God, Blessed be the name of the 

 Glory of his Kingodm forever and ever,' 

 and in another part of the synagogue, 

 ^Blessed be the Lord forever ; the Lord 

 is God of gods and the Lord ; a great 

 God, strong and terrible.' Near the 

 arch on which these last words were 

 written our ancestors always washed 

 their hands except the chief [rabbi], who 

 entered the 'House of Heaven' [a little 

 square room, which none but the rabbi 

 can enter during the time of prayer]. 

 In the 'House of Heaven' the rolls of 

 the law were kept in silken curtains, and 

 on the western wall the Ten Command- 

 ments were written in large golden 

 letters. 



"Our ancestors suffered many hard- 

 ships, for the Chinese officials objected, 

 and with force, to their slaughtering 

 ■animals for themselves. Even today they 

 object to our circumcision, which they 

 denounce as a barbarous and cruel prac- 

 tice. Our lot is truly sad, thrown as 

 we are amidst enemies, unsupported and 

 slowly overwhelmed by our surround- 

 ings. We are a pitiful remnant of the 

 past, and there seems to be no mor- 

 row for us — the dawn is dark with tears." 



I asked him if they had any scrolls 

 today, but learned that the majority had 

 been destroyed at different times : but 

 thev did manaee to preserve two, one of 

 which thev sold to a missionary because 



they were starving, and the other was 

 blown to heaven in the following manner : 

 One day a foreigner visited this city and 

 asked to see the sacred scroll ; but when 

 they opened the ark they found it quite 

 damp and laid it upon the grass to dry. 

 A wind came, and it disappeared into 

 the unknown. The probability is that 

 the foreigner by some trickery secured 

 the scroll, and led them to believe that 

 the wind had carried it off. Early in 

 the following morning eight of the Jews 

 (the whole of the male community) called 

 and gave me much valuable information 

 regarding the Mohammedans and Con- 

 fucians, who had stolen many things from 

 the Jewish ruins, including the ark of the 

 Sepher Torah, and Jewish tiles bearing 

 sacred inscriptions. This made me de- 

 sirous of locating and, if possible, secur- 

 ing them. After much difficulty and 

 tipping I persuaded my visitors to be 

 photographed, and then, accompanied by 

 Mr Shields, My Hu (my interpreter), 

 and two soldiers, I visited mosque after 

 mosque, which excited and anno)'ed the 

 Mohammedans, who mistook me for a 

 Jewish rabbi in disguise. 



The fourth proved to be the one I 

 wanted, for in a small room I saw the 

 ark on a table, and made toward it, when 

 the crowd objected and pushed me out, 

 emphasizing their disapproval in no un- 

 certain manner. The soldiers were help- 

 less, but I had a strong suspicion that 

 they were at heart with the mob. The 

 climax came when I clambered on the 

 roof of the mosque and began to examine 

 the tiles, for thousands of Chinese sur- 

 rounded the mosque, yelling out, "Kick 

 the devil's stomach !" "Batter his devil's 

 brain on the stones !" "Kill the Jew !" 

 "Choke the sinew-puller !'" "Tear the 

 foreign devil's entrails out !" and other 

 diabolical things too numerous and too 

 disgusting to mention. The majority 

 were armed with bricks, clubs, or knives 

 and were mad with rage. Every second 

 I thought would be my last, for the fury 

 of the Chinese mob beggars all descrip- 

 tion. 



A liapp}' thought flashed through my 



