enry Rankin and myself.
Though not permitted by treaty to penetrate even the rind of the
"melon," as the Chinese call their empire, to a distance farther
than admitted of our returning to sleep at home, we nevertheless
broke bounds and set out for the old capital of the Sungs. On the
way we made a halt at the city of Shaohing; and as we were preaching
to a numerous and respectful audience in the public square, a
well-dressed man pressed through the crowd and invited us to do
him the honour of taking tea at his house. His mansion exhibited every
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evidence of affluence; and he, a scholar by profession, aspiring
to the honours of the mandarinate, explained, as he ordered for
us an ample repast, that he would have felt ashamed if scholars
from the West had been allowed to pass through his city without
anyone offering them hospitality. What courtesy! Could Hebrew or
Arab hospitality surpass it?

Two things for which the city of Shaohing is widely celebrated
are (1) a sort of rice wine used throughout the Empire as being
indispensable at mandarin feasts, and (2) clever lawyers who are
deemed indispensable as legal advisers to mandarins. They are the
"Philadelphia lawyers" of China.

As we entered Hangchow the boys shouted _Wo tsei lai liao_,
"the Japanese are coming "--never having seen a European, and having
heard their fathers speak of the Japanese as sea-robbers, a terror
to the Chinese coast. Up to this date, Japan had no treaty with
China, and it had never carried on any sort of regular commerce
with or acknowledged the superiority of China. Before many years
had passed, these youths became accustomed to Western garb and
features; and I never heard that any foreigner suffered insult or
injury at their hands.

In 1860 the Rev. J. L. Nevius, one of my colleagues, took possession
of the place in the name of Christ. He was soon followed by Bishop
Burden, of the English Church Mission, whose apostolic successor,
Bishop Moule, now makes it the seat of his immense diocese.

Another claim to distinction not to be overlooked is that its river
is a trap for whales. Seven or eight years ago a cetaceous monster
was stranded near the
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river's mouth. The Rev. Dr. Judson, president of the Hangchow Mission
College, went to see it and sent me an account of his observations.
He estimated the length of the whale at 100 feet; the tail had been
removed by the natives. To explain the incident it is necessary
to say