hich increased with every splash until there was a thickness of three
or four inches, for it would have injured the bath to keep breaking it
off, so that, ultimately, I took my morning tub in a nest of ice, only
the bottom of which was completely thawed by the daily supply of hot
water.

Along the streets, well-to-do Chinese appear swelled to double their
usual proportions by furs and successive layers of wadded clothes,
which are of such thickness as to hold the arms propped out at almost
right angles to the bodies, while their heads are enveloped in
bright-coloured hoods buttoning tight under the chin. Poor, half-naked
beggars, clasping their rice-bowls and bent double by the cold,
shamble along, muttering and moaning, while their starving, rolling
eyes scan the faces of passers-by in mute appeal for help or pity.

One evening, as I was riding along one of the principal streets, I saw
a Chinaman carrying home a hot, steaming cake, something like a
Yorkshire pudding with raisins in it, which he had just bought at a
wayside cook-shop, when a beggar suddenly seized him by both wrists,
and taking as large a mouthful as he could bite out of the pastry,
shuffled off, heedless of the blows rained on him by the irate
purchaser.

On the coldest days I have seen beggars collected in groups and
gambling for the few cash they possessed, the total sum probably not
exceeding a halfpenny. Naked, hungry and frozen, they watched with
tense features and straining eyes the fatal issue of their throw for
either a meal or death that night by cold and starvation.

Accustomed to want and misery, they appear pleased with any trifle
that may fall into their hands, and on a bitter, windy day I have seen
grown-up beggars on a waste patch flying a kite and enjoying the
pastime with a gusto denied to more _blase_ pursuers of this aerial
sport.

Ice in Northern China is seldom good, as owing to the frequent winds
it is generally covered with dust, although occasionally at the
beginning of winter it is possible to get some fair skating before
the first dust-storm.

At Peking an enormous mat shed is erected to keep out the dust, while
the ground inside is flooded daily so as to secure good ice. This rink
is a favourite afternoon resort of the European community, but the
space is too limited and the attendance too crowded to admit of any
really enjoyable skating by the light of a few oil lamps.

I have skated on the moat outside the city wal