f the Law, written in Hebrew, on sheepskins, but they no longer
had a rabbi to expound them. They had forgotten the sacred tongue,
and some of them had wandered into the fold of Mohammed, whose
creed resembled their own. Some too had embraced the religion of
Buddha.

[Footnote *: See "Cycle of Cathay." Revell & Co., New York.]

My report was listened to with much interest by the rich Jews of
Shanghai, but not one of them put his hand in his pocket to rebuild
the ruined synagogue; and without that for a rallying-place the
colony must ere long fade away, and be absorbed in the surrounding
heathenism, or be led to embrace Christianity.

I now learn that the Jews of Shanghai have manifested enough interest
to bring a few of their youth to that port for instruction in the
Hebrew language. Also that some of these K'ai-fung-fu Jews are
frequent attendants in Christian chapels, which have now been opened
in that city. To my view, the resuscitation of that ancient colony
would be as much of a miracle as the return from captivity in the
days of Cyrus.

[Page 45]
CHAPTER IX

THE RIVER PROVINCES

_Hupeh--Hankow--Hanyang Iron Works--A Centre of Missionary
Activity--Hunan--Kiangsi--Anhwei--Native Province of Li Hung Chang_

By the term "river provinces" are to be understood those provinces
of central and western China which are made accessible to intercourse
and trade by means of the Yang-tse Kiang.

Pursuing our journey, in twelve hours by rail we reach the frontier
of Hupeh. At that point we see above us a fortification perched on
the side of a lofty hill which stands beyond the line. At a height
more than double that of this crenelated wall is a summer resort of
foreigners from Hankow and other parts of the interior. I visited
this place in 1905. In Chinese, the plateau on which it stands is
called, from a projecting rock, the "Rooster's Crest"; shortened
into the more expressive name, the "Roost," it is suggestive of the
repose of summer. It presents a magnificent prospect, extending
over a broad belt of both provinces.

Six hours more and we arrive in Hankow, which is one of three cities
built at the junction of the Han and the Yang-tse, the Tripolis of
China, a tripod of empire, the hub of the universe, as the Chinese
fondly regard it. The other two cities are Wuchang, the capital
[Page 46]
of the viceroyalty, and Hanyang, on the opposite bank of the river.

In Hankow one beholds a Shanghai on a smaller sca