Infusion of Western Energy 167 



European city, and the country here. has a peaceful, happy 

 aspect, totally wanting in the scenery further east. In the 

 Hu-peh plains the walled cities, at the foot of the naked 

 hills, rising abruptly out of the level plain, look like camps 

 pitched in a purposely devastated country, and the prospect, 

 though wild and romantic in the extreme, is deterrent and 

 uninviting. The street in which I lived in Chung-king was 

 distant not five minutes' walk from the south wall of the 

 city, and ran level with its summit ; often I used to adjourn 

 with my cigar, from the close hong to a seat on the battle- 

 ments, and gaze down on the ravine below and the suburbs 

 on the opposite shore. This, owing to the steep rocks, is 

 only accessible in three or four spots, and to these the 

 ferry-boats ply; to watch one of these specks, taking half 

 an hour to creep across, was a curious sight. What an 

 opportunity for steam-launches ! Were free scope once 

 given for the infusion of Western energy and methods into 

 an active trade-loving people like the Chinese, China would 

 rival the United States in wealth and resources. The 

 pressure of Western population will ere long force the real 

 opening of the country, willy-nilly, on the mandarins, 

 and in the renewed activity of the people, no time will 

 be left for the ennui that drives the Chinese to the opium- 

 pipe. 



Graceful and unique in appearance as is an inland 

 mountain city, when viewed from a distance, I regret to say 

 that, as with many a picturesque town in Southern Europe, 

 the charm of a Chinese city vanishes entirely on closer 

 acquaintance. Filth seems inseparable from Chinese hu- 

 manity, and a total apathy in regard to matter in the wrong 

 place, pervades all classes, from the highest to the lowest. 

 Gorgeous silks conceal an unwashed skin, and from under 

 the rich sable cuffs of the official, protrude finger-nails 



