e he rolled so much that I thought that he must surely go over
the ravine.... Rocks overhang me as I pass. If one should drop!... But
one does not mind the toil when he looks upon his men. In the midst of
their intense labor my men's squeals of songs echo through the mountains
as the perspiration runs down their uncovered backs; they chaff each
other and utmost good feeling prevails. Poor Shanks is nearly done, but
still laughs loudly.... A natural pathway more difficult of progress I
cannot conceive anywhere in the world; and yet this is a so-called paved
road, the road over which all the trade of the western part of this
great province, all the imports from Burma, are regularly carried.
Should the road ever be discarded, that is if the railway ever comes
over this route, only a long tunnel through the mountain would serve its
purpose.... We have just sat down and fraternized with the man carrying
the mails to Tali-fu, and now we are working steadily for the top,
around corners where the breeze comes with delicious freshness. Here we
are on a road now leading through a widening gorge to Shui-chai, and as
I cross the narrow pass I see the river down below looking like a snake
waiting for its prey."

Roads are needed far more than railways.

Being hungry, we sat down at Shui-chai to feed on rice at a place where
a man minded the baby while the woman attended to the food. Over my head
hung sausages--my men swore that they were sausages, although for my
life I could see no resemblance to that article of food--things of 1 1/2
inches in circumference and from 12 to 60 inches long, doubled up and
hung up for sale over a bamboo to dry and harden in the sun. Hams there
were, and dried bacon, and dirty brown biscuits, and uninviting pickled
cabbage. By the side of the table where I sat was a wooden pun of
unwashed rice bowls, against which lay the filthy domestic dog.

Outside, the narrow street was lined to the farthest point of vantage by
kindly people, curious to see their own feeding implements in the
incapable hands of the barbarian from the Western lands, and the
conversation waxed loud and excited in general hazards regarding my
presence in their city.

Stenches were rife; they nearly choked one.

A little boy yelled out to his mother in complaint of the food he had
been given by a feminine twelve-year-old, his sister. The mother
immediately became furious beyond all control. She snatched a bamboo to
belabor the girl