Fu, with the great road from Peking to the south ; the
other, passing through Shan-si, comes from Peking to the north. The Yellow River is not so wide here as
further east, and against a strong head-wind, half-an-hour
in the ferry-boat brought us to the other side. Upon
entering the city my passport was examined, and an
escort given for the next day's journey. The people re- ceived us kindly, and we spent all the afternoon and evening
in the streets and in the shops, conversing with the people
and selling our books. Several remembered former visits of members of our mission, and seemed to appreciate
both our labours and our books.
Having passed through Hwa-ying Hien and Fu-shuichen, in each of which places we sold books and preached
among the people, we arrived at Hwa Chau.
AN INTERESTED HEARER.
We Stayed there only two hours in the middle of the day.
One man was noticed to take in very readily everything we said, and I afterwards found that he had heard
the Gospel four years before from our missionaries travelling through this city. He had preserved a little book
given to him at that time, and was very glad indeed to be
able to obtain otherbooks upon the same subject ofsalvation. The man's highest idea of the Lord Jesus was the not uncommon one, that he was a man quite equal to their own Confucius. He had not seen a New Testament
before. On the 23rd of June we arrived at Wei-nan Hien, 150
It west of T'ung-kwan T'ing, and went on next day to Lin-t'ung Hien. The land lying between the high road
and the Yii river (which runs from the west, and enters the Yellow River a little north of T'ung-kwan) is all under
cultivation, and is better wooded than many other districts in this part of the province. This was noticed to be
the case all the way between T'ung-kwan and Lin-t'ung
Hien. The latter is a small city, only distant half a day's
journey from Si-gan Fu. It is famous for its baths, a long row of buildings not far from the city. We sold thirty
books during our stay in the city.
SI-GAN FU.
Si-gan Fu, the capital of the Shen-si Province, was
reached on the 25th June. The road from Lin-t'ung Hien
had led us over a more elevated and less cultivated portion of the plain, frequently passing over small sand-hills,
and across streams of water running from high mountains
in the south. We spent four days in this large and important city, but I was unable on account of fever to leave
my room for two of these days. The people treated us in a
friendly spirit. We sold books in the streets, in the shops,
and at two theatres, but nowhere attracting very large
crowds. We left 350 books behind us, and as many
tracts. In one shop a man showed us a New Testament
and other books which he had received from missionaries ; but I am afraid they had not been well studied, as the owner had little knowledge of their contents. THE RETURN JOURNEY.
On the 29th we left Si-gan Fu for King-yang Hien, ninety
li north, an ancient city, but one which has suffered perhaps more than any other in the province from the
rebellion. Every house in what was formerly the
southern suburb of the city was razed to the ground, and
nothing but heaps of debris remain. The officials and the
people received us kindly. The mandarin, hearing that I was selling books in the street, sent out some refresh- ment for us, together with his compliments, but we
politely declined his kind gift. During the day we sold
135 books. Just before starting, two other gentlemen
from the Ya-men called upon us, and spoke well of the
Gospel, which they had heard. They also spoke about
Mr. King's work, at Han-chung Fu. Next day we reached San-yiien Hien, thirty //north, a
large and populous city. The people bought books freely.
Ourstock by this time was getting low, and there remained
yet a few cities to be visited between this and P'ing-yang
Fu. We sold 135 gospels before sunset, and started off early next morning to T'ung-chau Fu, 190 // north-east, over a desolate country. Quite two-thirds of the land is overgrown with weeds, and the villages are very largely
deserted and in ruins. Three days' travelling brought us
to T'ung-chau Fu. Here we sold fifty-nine gospels and
about as many tracts, and continued the journey home,
calling at Ch'ao-yih Hien, thirty /z, on July 6th ; P'u-chau
Fu, forty/// a village called Ts'ih-kih-ts'un on the 7th ; Lintsin Hien, sixty //, and I-shih Hien, seventy li, on the 8th. The 9th July found us at Hwang-ho-chen. We reached
Che-tien, seventy //, on the loth ; Yang-chen-wan, forty //, on the nth ; T'ai p'ing Hien, eighty //, on the 12th ; and
P'iang-yang Fu, ninety-five /z, on the 13th July; having
been away nearly seven weeks.
EFFECTS OF FAMINE.
The whole district through which we passed—especially the southern part of Shan-SI, where whole cities are almost ruined, and the country a wilderness—suffered much from the famine. The great heat at this time of the
year made our work very laborious ; and the harvest so occupied the people that they were less open to our efforts than they otherwise might have been. We visited altogether twenty-one cities and a large number of towns
and villages, during the journey of 1775 li, and sold 1762
Scripture portions and New Testaments, and about two
thousand Christian books and tracts. (To be continued).