ot being understood.

CHAPTER XVII.

_A bumptious official_. _Ignominious contrasts of two travelers.
Diminishing respect for foreigners in the Far East_. _Where the European
fails_. _His maltreatment of Orientals_. _Convicts on the way to death_.
_At Ch'u-hsiony-fu_. _Buffaloes and children_. _Exasperating repetition
met in Chinese home life_. _Unaesthetic womanhood_. _Quarrymen and
careless tactics_. _Scope for the physiologist_. _Interesting unit of
the city's humanity_. _Signs of decay in the countryside_. _Carrying the
dead to eternal rest_. _At Chennan-chou_. _Public kotowing ceremony and
its aftermath_. _Chinese ignorance of distance._

All-round idyllic peace did not reign at Kwang-tung-hsien, where I
rested over Sunday. Contacts in social conditions gave rise inevitably
to causes for conflicts.

Arriving early, my men were able to secure the best room and soon after,
with much imposing pomp and show, a "gwan"[AH] arrived, disgusted that he
had to take a lower room. I bowed politely to him as he came in. He did
not return it, however, but stood with a contemptuous grin upon his face
as he took in the situation. I do not know who the person was, neither
have a wish to trace his ancestry, but his bumptiousness and general
misbehavior, utterly in antagonism to national etiquette, made me hate
the sight of the fellow. Pride has been said to make a man a hedgehog. I
do not say that this man was a hedgehog altogether, but he certainly
seemed to wound everyone he touched. He had with him a great retinue, an
extravagant equipage, fine clothes, and presumably a great fortune; but
none of this offended me--it was his contempt which hurt. He seemed to
splash me with mud as he passed, and was altogether badly disposed. In
his every act he heaped humiliation upon me, and insulted me silently
and gratuitously with unbearable disdain. Luckily, be it said to the
credit of the Chinese Government, one does not often meet officials of
this kind; such an atmosphere would nurture the worst feeling. It is, of
course, possible that had I been traveling with many men and in a style
necessary for representatives of foreign Governments, this hog might
have been more polite; but the fact that I had little with me, and made
a poor sort of a show, allowed him to come out in his true colors and
display his unveneered feeling towards the foreigner. That he had no
knowledge of the man crossing China on foot was evident. He was great