harm of
things as they were in the beginning is still unrobbed and unmolested,
give you some few impressions of a little of the life--grave, gay, but
never unhappy--which I spent with my excellent co-voyager, The Other
Man.

It is a part of wisdom, when starting any journey, not to look forward
to the end with too much eagerness: hear my gentle whisper that you may
never get there, and if you do, congratulate yourself; interest yourself
in the progress of the journey, for the present only is yours. Each day
has its tasks, its rapids, its perils, its glories, its fascinations,
its surprises, and--if you will live as we did, its _curry and rice_.
Then, if you are traveling with a companion, remember that it is better
to yield a little than to quarrel a great deal. Most disagreeable and
undignified is it anywhere to get into the habit of standing up for what
people are pleased to call their little rights, but nowhere more so than
on the Upper Yangtze houseboat, under the gaze of a Yangtze crew. Life
is really too short for continual bickering, and to my way of thinking
it is far quieter, happier, more prudent and productive of more peace,
if one could yield a little of those precious little rights than to
incessantly squabble to maintain them. Therefore, from the beginning to
the end of the trip, make the best of everything in every way, and I can
assure you, if you are not ill-tempered and suffer not from your liver,
Nature will open her bosom and lead you by these strange by-ways into
her hidden charms and unadorned recesses of sublime beauty, uneclipsed
for their kind anywhere in the world.

Think not that the life will be luxurious--houseboat life on the Upper
Yangtze is decidedly not luxurious. Were it not for the magnificence of
the scenery and ever-changing outdoor surroundings, as a matter of fact,
the long river journey would probably become unbearably dull.

* * * * *

Our _wu-pan_ was to get through the Gorges in as short a time as was
possible, and for that reason we traveled in the discomfort of the
smallest boat used to face the rapids.

People entertaining the smallest idea of doing things travel in nothing
short of a _kwadze_, the orthodox houseboat, with several rooms and
ordinary conveniences. Ours was a _wu-pan_--literally five boards. We
had no conveniences whatever, and the second morning out we were left
without even a wash-basin. As I was standing in the stern, I s