chievement. In
Ya-chou the relations of missionaries and townspeople seemed very
cordial and natural. Medical work is being carried on, and a hospital
was shortly to be opened. But more valuable, perhaps, than any formal
work may be the results from the mere presence in the town of Christian
men and women living lives of high purpose and kindly spirit.

If you listen to the talk of the treaty ports you will hear much
criticism of missionaries and their work, and since they are human it is
reasonable to suspect that they sometimes make mistakes; but after all
they are the only Europeans in China who are not there for their own
personal interests, and the people are quite shrewd enough to see this.
In spite of differences of views the Chinese who knows the missionary at
all generally respects him. A Chinese gentleman in no way friendly to
missions, speaking of the good relations that existed between Europeans
and Chinese in Nanking, declared it was all because the missionaries
came first. And Dr. Soothill tells the story of an Englishman who
applauded the harsh criticism of mission work by a Chinese river
captain, and met the retort, "That's all well enough, but if it were not
for the missionaries we should not know there were any good men in your
country."

The prefectural city of Ya-chou is the centre of a great tea-growing
district, while in the town itself are large establishments where the
article is made up for the Tibetan trade. The Szechuan tea for the most
part does not rank very high, little being exported from the province
save to Tibet, and for that market even the poorest is reckoned too
good, as the so-called tea carried by the thousands of coolies whom we
met bound for Tachienlu is everything save genuine tea leaves, being a
mixture of which the leaves and twigs of scrub oak and other trees form
the largest part. The Ya-chou tea, when gathered and dried, is bought up
and brought into the towns to be made into the brick tea of Tibetan
commerce. The preparation consists in chopping fine the tea and
adulterating leaves and twigs. After adding a little rice-water the
whole is packed in cylinders of bamboo matting, each package weighing
from sixteen to eighteen catties. It is estimated that the cost to the
manufacturers, exclusive of packing, is about thirty-two cash a catty,
somewhat less than a cent and a half gold the pound. By the time the tea
has reached Tachienlu it is sold at about five and a half cents