n which are
sunk two iron basins, one for rice, the other for hot water; maize
stalks were being burnt in the flues. The room, when we entered, was
occupied by a dozen Chinese, with their loads and the packsaddles of a
caravan of mules; yet what did the good-natured fellows do? They must
all have been more tired than I; but, without complaining, they all got
up when they saw me, and packed their things and went out of the room,
one after the other, to make way for myself and my companions. And,
while we were comfortable, they crowded into another room that was
already crowded.

Next day a tremendously steep descent took us down to Kiangti, a
mountain village on the right bank of a swift stream, here spanned in
its rocky pass by a beautiful suspension bridge, which swings gracefully
high above the torrent. The bridge is 150 feet long by 12 feet broad,
and there is no engineer in England who might not be proud to have been
its builder. At its far end the parapets are guarded by two sculptured
monkeys, hewn with rough tools out of granite, and the more remarkable
for their fidelity of form, seeing that the artist must have carved them
from memory. The inevitable likin-barrier is at the bridge to squeeze a
few more cash out of the poor carriers. That the Inland Customs dues of
China are vexatious there can be no doubt; yet it is open to question if
the combined duties of all the likin-barriers on any one main road
extending from frontier to frontier of any single province in China are
greater than the _ad valorem_ duties imposed by our colony of Victoria
upon the protected goods crossing her border from an adjoining colony.

[Illustration: PAGODA BY THE WAYSIDE, WESTERN CHINA.]

Leaving the bridge, the road leads again up the hills. Poppy was now in
full flower, and everywhere in the fields women were collecting opium.
They were scoring the poppy capsules with vertical scratches and
scraping off the exuded juice which had bled from the incisions they
made yesterday. Hundreds of pack horses carrying Puerh tea met us on the
road; while all day long we were passing files of coolies toiling
patiently along under heavy loads of crockery. They were going in the
same direction as ourselves to the confines of the empire, distributing
those teacups, saucers, and cuplids, china spoons, and rice-bowls that
one sees in every inn in China. Most of the crockery is brought across
China from the province of Kiangsi, whose natural resourc