336 THREE BOOKS OX CHINA 



the importance of tliis railway to Russia in a material and economic view there 

 can be no doubt. 



His picture of Pekin and of tlie life of the legations there in past and recent 

 times is exceedingly graphic. The an(;ient walled city, swarming with human 

 life, whose hostility to the handful of foreigners is held in check only by fear; 

 the little settlement of foreigners near its center, without social intercourse or 

 relations with any outside their own circle, are strikingly pictured. Until 

 recent years this little colony of foreigners was by its isolation a unit in all 

 mattei's political and social, Vjut with the advance of Russia in the accession of 

 China's territory and the success of Germany in matters of trade, dissensions 

 sprang up, and in later years the little colony has failed to present a united 

 front either in matters political or social. 



China is disintegrating. Russia has made her preparations for the final 

 catastrophe. Indeed, she has, in all probability, aided in bringing on the crisis, 

 and is ready to lay hands upon all the territory which she can acquire. Ger- 

 many, though late in entering the great game, is also prepared to seize what- 

 ever may help her trade. France, on the southern border, is aiding and abetting 

 Russia with a view to receiving her share of the spoils. On the other hand, 

 Great Britain, the United States, and Japan are agreed in supporting the totter- 

 ing empire, in the <jpening of the country to trade, and in the maintenance of 

 the open door. The next few months will proljably show wliether the Anglo- 

 Saxon, the German, or the Slav will control the situation. It is America's 



opportunitv. 



H. G. 



A oEXERAi- continuous map of the region from St Michael to Port Clarence 

 the U. S. Coast and Geodetic Survey hopes to pi'esent by the end of the sea.son. 

 The position of Sledge Island, lying to the westward of Cape Nome; the shore- 

 line on the northern part of Norton Sound and in Golofnin Bay, and the ap- 

 proaches to and harbor of Port Clarence will be determined in great detail. 



Telegraph lines connect Pekin with the principal towns of China and by the 

 Trans-Siberian telegraph line with Europe. From the towns on the border of 

 Manchuria wires run to Pekin ; also from Port Arthur, Seoul, and Chemulpo. 

 Canton and the principal cities on the seaboard connect with the capital via 

 Shanghai and Chifu. From the coast one line penetrates from Canton to 

 Yunnanfu, the capital of the province of Yunnan, and another extends up the 

 Yangtze Valley to the border of Tibet. 



Missionaries have penetrated to nearly every province in China. Pekin 

 may perhaps Vje called the center of the Catholic missions and Shanghai the 

 Protestant center. The field of the American Presbyterians, who have more 

 workers in China than any other single denomination excej^t the China Inland 

 Mission, has Vjeen Shantung. The Baptists and others have pushed on to the 

 more western provinces. The Catholics divided the country into five sections, 

 one being allotted to each of the five orders — the Franciscans, the Jesuits, the 

 Dominicans, the Augustinians, and the Lazarists. Probably 1,425 is a fair 

 estimate of the number of American and European missionaries in the empire. 

 The Catholics claim 1,000,000 native converts and the Protestants about 100,000. 



