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R 20 1885 
 
The Ansoi..- 
 
 I'age G8 
 
 FRONTISPIECE. 
 
THE ANSONS 
 
 IN 
 
 pSIATIG ©EMPLES. 
 
 HY 
 
 / 
 
 REV. FRANK S. DOBBINS. 
 
 
 PHILADELPHIA 
 
 i^meriean Baptist publicalsion ^ocielij, 
 
THE ANSONS 
 
 IN 
 
 ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 
 BY 
 
 
 EEV. FEANK S. 
 
 DOBBINS. 
 
 /S"" 
 
 ■ --^ ^ 
 
 
 1 Mf 
 
 IR 20 
 
 1805 ^> 
 
 X: 
 
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 PHILADELPHIA : 
 
 AMEKICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY, 
 
 1420 Chestnut Street. 
 

 y^- 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1885, by the 
 
 AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY, 
 In the Oflfice of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
 > 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Setting Out on the Journey 7 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 A Tricycle Trip to Asakusa, Tokio 23 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 An Afternoon in Shiba, Tokio 38 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 A JiN-RiKi-sHA Jaunt to Dai Butz 54 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Over the Mountains to Kioto 71 
 
 3 
 
4 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 The Sacred City op Kioto 86 
 
 CHAPTER YII. 
 To THE Land of Teas and Queues. 102 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 From Shanghai to Pekin 118 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The story of " Chinese Gordon." 137 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Housekeeping in Canton 152 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 In the Land of the White Elephant 171 
 
 CHAPTER XIL 
 Under the Shadow of Shway Dagon 187 
 
 CHAPTER XIIL 
 From Rangoon to Madras 205 
 
CONTENTS. 5 
 
 PAGE 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 Juggernaut and Kali 221 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 Overland Through India 242 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 In Moslem Lands 260 
 
 CHAPTER XVn. 
 The Invalid's Journey Home 274 
 
THE 
 
 ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 SETTING OUT ON THE JOURNEY. 
 
 rriHE Hoyt Mission Band had just closed its 
 meeting. As the little folks stood about, 
 putting on their coats and hats, it was very- 
 evident that something had greatly excited 
 them. There was an unusual bustle and stir, 
 as the tongues were wagging in a much livelier 
 manner than during the meeting just closed; 
 and there was good reason for it, as we shall 
 see. 
 
 Bertie and Bessie Anson had been living in 
 Alton for six years past. Their father was the 
 Pastor of the First Church. Just before coming 
 
 to Alton he had been greatly moved by the 
 
 7 
 
8 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 speech of a returned missionary, and had de- 
 termined to give himself to the work of win- 
 ning the Chinese to Christ. But his physician 
 told him that he was not strong enough to stand 
 a life-long residence in that country, and he was 
 forced to give up his cherished purpose. 
 
 When he settled in Alton, he determined to 
 become better acquainted with the work of 
 foreign missions, and to try to awaken in his 
 people an interest in them. So he set for 
 himself a course of study on the geography 
 and history of Asia, and began to read of the 
 manners of the strange peoples occupying that 
 continent. He found this an excellent diversion 
 from his ordinaiy studies. Of course, his little 
 boy and girl, then eight and six years old, be- 
 came interested also in their papa's books and 
 maps and pictures. 
 
 The people did not care much for missions, as 
 Mr. Anson soon learned ; but the reason of this 
 was, that they knew scarcely anything about 
 them. The first thing he did was to buy a 
 
SETTING OUT ON THE JOURNEY. 9 
 
 Magic Lantern and a number of slides, and 
 with the aid of these he gave a series of Friday 
 evening lectures. Of course, the people came to 
 see the pictures, and soon began to care more for 
 the salvation of the idolaters. After a little 
 while the young folks planned to organize a 
 Mission Band, and to take up in earnest the 
 study of missions. Mr. Anson presided at 
 their meetings, and gave the little folks the 
 benefit of his own learning. The Band had 
 made such progress, that in four or five years 
 they had made imaginary journeys in almost 
 every country of Asia, They had held festivals, 
 given entertainments, and prepared "Japanese 
 tea-parties,' ' all in addition to the gift of quite 
 a sum of their own money to the missionary 
 workers in Swatow. 
 
 Mr. Anson had a pet project; for this he had 
 been carefully saving his money during the six 
 years past. It looked as if he would have to 
 wait a great many more years before he would be 
 able to carry out his plan, when he received news 
 
10 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 of the death of a relative, to whom he had once 
 rendered important services, who had left him 
 nearly five thousand dollars. At once his mind 
 was made up that he should take his family and 
 make the long wished for tour of the temples 
 and missions of the East. In this way, he felt 
 that he could become well acquainted with the 
 missionaries and their fields of labor; and so, 
 perhaps, be of as much service to the Master 
 in stirring up the hearts of Christians at 
 home, as if he had gone to China as a mis- 
 sionary. 
 
 This it was that had caused such a stir among 
 the members of the Hoyt Mission Band, for 
 Bertie and Bessie had just told them of the 
 intended journey. 
 
 " Oh, how I wish that I was going ! " 
 "Won't you write us long letters and tell us 
 all that you see?" "When will you go?'' 
 ''They won't eat you up, will they, out there?" 
 
 How the questions poured out ! It seemed 
 wonderful that it was to be a real journey; that 
 
SETTING OUT ON THE JOURNEY. 11 
 
 with their own eyes Bertie and Bessie were to 
 see the temples and the mission chapels of which 
 they had read in Little Helpers and The Helping 
 Hand; that they were to go about among the 
 queer folks of whom the missionaries had 
 written. 
 
 The days of preparation quickly passed by, 
 and the Anson family were ready to start on 
 their journey around the world. Mr. Anson 
 had determined to burden himself with just as 
 little baggage as possible. So we see the family 
 party, on a bright Monday morning, seated in 
 the Pullman car, dressed in rough and tumble 
 suits, and ready to enjoy, to the full, their 
 journey from the very beginning. To Bertie 
 and Bessie it was a new experience to travel 
 for more than a few hours. " It was just like 
 a picnic," Bessie said, as the porter brought 
 them their great lunch basket. When night 
 came, their seats were drawn together, mat- 
 tresses and sheets and blankets spread over 
 them, and a bed pulled down from the ceiling 
 
12 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 of the car, and curtains hung before them. 
 Then Bertie and his papa climbed up into 
 the upper berth, while Bessie and her mamma 
 slept in the lower one. It was a long while 
 before the children could get to sleep; they 
 were so excited with the leaving home, and 
 were so often disturbed as trains rushed past 
 them. It was a night and an experience that 
 they never forgot. 
 
 The party stopped for a day in Chicago, to get 
 rested and to prepare for the jom'ney across 
 the prairies and mountains to San Francisco, 
 where they were to take the steamer for Japan. 
 At Ogden they stopped again, to go up to Salt 
 Lake, and to see the great Mormon city. After 
 a ride of a little more than six days and nights 
 in the cars, they reached San Francisco. Here 
 Bessie took the chance of writing to one of her 
 friends who occupied the same seat with her in 
 school, and who was the Secretary of the Hoyt 
 Mission Band: 
 
setting out on the journey. 13 
 
 "Occidental Hotel, San Francisco. 
 
 " My Dear Nellie : Oh, how I wish that 
 you and all the girls could be with me ! It all 
 seems so funny. We are awfully tired of riding 
 in the cars. I would like to tell you about the 
 Indians we saw, and their babies, ' pappooses,' as 
 they call them; they were awfully dirty, I 
 thought, and their papas and mammas were not 
 any cleaner. When somebody said, * There's 
 an Indian,' oh, how it made my heart jump! 
 But I don't feel half so afraid now. And then 
 the Chinamen ; we saw more and more of them 
 the nearer we came to California. They look so 
 clean (papa says it is only on the outside), and 
 they go about so quietly. . But, how funny their 
 talk seems. ^Supposee, missie, you wanchee one 
 cup tea, me catchee.' 'You, Melican girlee?' 
 'Me sabee.' They call this 'pidgeon English,' 
 or business English. 
 
 " We climbed up, up, up the mountains from 
 Nebraska, then we went down the Rockies, and 
 then right up and over the Sierra Nevadas. At 
 
14 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 one place they took us on board a great ferry- 
 boat, locomotive, cars, and all. The cars do not 
 come right into San Francisco, but they run into 
 Oakland and out on a great wharf several miles 
 long ; then the people get into two-storied ferry- 
 boats, and are taken over the bay into the city. 
 Bertie says that a man told him that there are 
 three railroads across the continent now, one up 
 north, through Dakota to Oregon, one down 
 south, through New Mexico and Southern 
 California, and the one we came on, through 
 Nebraska, "Wyoming, Nevada, and so to San 
 Francisco. 
 
 "On Tuesday, a girl named E-ubie Larrison 
 came to see us with her papa, who is a deacon in 
 the church here. I like her very much, and I am 
 going to see her some day at her home. Last 
 Sunday, we went to church in Oakland, and I 
 sat with Rubie. In the evening, we went to the 
 Chinese Mission School ; it was a queer Sunday- 
 school. Every class had just one pupil and one 
 teacher. The Chinamen all dress just as they do 
 
SETTING OUT ON THE JOURNEY. 15 
 
 in China, with their ' pig-tails/ and all. They 
 sing in Chinese mostly. I had all I could do to 
 keep from laughing at them. Papa is going to 
 take one of the Chinese * boys' with him on the 
 steamer; his name is Ah Ching. He has been 
 very sick, and the missionary teacher wants to 
 keep him out of the steerage. By going with 
 papa he can be in the cabin most of the time. 
 
 "The folks that we have met tease us about 
 being sea-sick, and they ask us to try all sorts of 
 things to keep off sea-sickness. Papa went to 
 the doctor's yesterday, and he gave him some 
 powders in a tin box. We all have to take them ; 
 they taste just like salt. They are marked 
 Bromide of Sodium; but I don't know what 
 that is. 
 
 " Well, I must not write any more, because it 
 
 is bedtime. Please give my love to all the girls. 
 
 "Your friend, 
 
 Bessie Anson." 
 
 It took some time to make all the arrange- 
 ments for the sea voyage. State-rooms had to be 
 
16 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 secured, money had to be exchanged, tickets 
 bought, and every so many other little things to 
 be attended to. Under the guidance of Rubie 
 Larrison and her papa, the children went to 
 Woodward's Gardens and to the Cliff House, to 
 see the seals come up out of the sea and climb 
 up the rocks. At another time they went to 
 the smelting works, and saw them refining gold 
 and silver; and then, to the Mint, where it was 
 turned into coin. On another day, guided by a 
 policeman, they went through "China-town," 
 among the opium dens, and into the "jos5- 
 houses," Avhere the children saw for the first time 
 the idols of the heathen. It seemed a strange 
 thing to find so many heathen temples in Chris- 
 tian America. In one of these temples, three 
 idols sat side by side; they represented Buddha 
 past, present, and to come; and all parts of the 
 temple, as well as the idols, were decorated with 
 color and gilding. While the children were in 
 the "Joss-house of the Three Precious Budd- 
 has,'' a poor woman came in, and, kneeling with 
 
SETTING OUT ON THE JOURNEY. 17 
 
 her head to the floor, began to mumble over her 
 prayers. It brought the tears to Bessie's eyes, 
 and filled the hearts of all with sadness, that she 
 should be praying to the wooden idols that could 
 not hear, while a loving, living Saviour stood 
 waiting to help her. 
 
 Mr. Anson found out that quite a number of 
 missionaries were to sail on the same steamer 
 with his own party ; and, as he had some letters 
 of introduction to officials of the Steamship 
 Company, he managed to have it arranged that 
 his party and the missionaries should have rooms 
 close together, and that they should eat at the 
 same tables. He was also able to get into the 
 good graces of the captain, through the influence 
 of these friends, and so received many little 
 kindnesses during the voyage. Among the mis- 
 sionaries were a gentleman and his wife, who 
 had lived twenty- five years in China, and 
 another and his wife, who had lived a short 
 time in Japan, and who were going back again 
 ,with their little son, a child of three years old. 
 
 B 
 
18 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 The rest were all new to the work ; they were a 
 medical missionary and his wife, and four young 
 ladies and two young gentlemen. This made a 
 very pleasant company; and Mr. Anson was 
 delighted that he had such a chance of becoming 
 well acquainted with the missionaries. 
 
 Finally the day came for starting on the long 
 voyage of three or four Aveeks across the Pacific 
 Ocean. The steamer's decks were crowded with 
 friends, who had come aboard to say a last good- 
 bye. Here and there might be seen a lady 
 passenger, looking with envious eyes upon 
 those who were so fortunate as to have friends 
 to bid them a farewell. Then the bell rang the 
 hour, a Chinese cabin-boy beat the gong, and the 
 officers called out: "All aboard and all ashore." 
 The great ropes were drawn in, the gangway 
 drawn up, the tug was made fast to the steamer, 
 the pilot took his place, the command was given, 
 and the great vessel was towed out into the bay. 
 Then the tug's ropes were cast off, the whistles 
 blew a farewell, the engineer's bell was rung, , 
 
SETTING OUT ON THE JOURNEY. 19 
 
 the great screw began to turn, and, by its own 
 power, the steamer moved grandly down the 
 bay. As they passed, the whistles of the smelt- 
 ing-works blew a farewell to the missionary 
 party, who had visited them a few days pre- 
 vious. 
 
 As everything had been arranged in the state- 
 rooms the Anson party were to occupy, they re- 
 mained upon deck, determined to see the last of 
 the land. Very little motion was felt, and our 
 friends were congratulating themselves upon 
 their comfortable feelings. Just as the vessel 
 passed through the Golden Gate, out upon the 
 Pacific Ocean, the motion of the swell began to 
 be felt, and when well across the bar, the rolling 
 and pitching began. One after another went 
 below to find a place to lie down. Bessie 
 was quite amused as little Charlie wanted to 
 know what made the water jump up to the 
 clouds and then away down again, and what 
 made him feel so funny. By-and-by, the 
 "Oh mys" were heard, as one or another suf- 
 
20 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 ferecl the distresses of sea-sickness. The Anson 
 family kept up very well, thanks to the medi- 
 cine which they had taken by the doctor's direc- 
 tion, though it did not entirely prevent the sick- 
 ness. 
 
 Bertie soon made friends with the officers and 
 passengers, and, boy like, asked any number 
 of questions. He pried into everything. For 
 awhile he stood watching the wheelman, after 
 the pilot had gone ashore ; then he looked into 
 the coops where the sheep, and the ducks, 
 chickens, turkeys, and pigeons were kept; then 
 through the hatchways he watched the work- 
 ing of the engines. 
 
 After awhile, the purser came on deck and 
 began to talk with him. After a little banter 
 about his not being sick, the purser began to 
 talk of the passengers. Bertie had always 
 looked upon missionaries as a sort of heroes, 
 and was much taken aback when the purser 
 ventured to sneer at them and their work. 
 
 As the days passed by and he became better 
 
SETTING OUT ON THE JOURNEY. 21 
 
 acquainted with the purser and with some of the 
 passengers, more doubts were put into his mind, 
 and he, himself, began to doubt if the mission- 
 ary work was really of any use, and to wonder 
 if it was not all folly, after all. He could not 
 tell these thoughts to his father, he felt, and so 
 he determined that he would carefully watch the 
 missionaries and listen to their talk, and so see 
 if they were in earnest; and that when he went 
 through Japan and China he would see for 
 himself as to the real state of the heathen, and 
 just what good or evil the missionaries might be 
 doing. He might have told his father all about 
 his doubts; but, with the conceit so common to 
 boyhood, he preferred to see for himself and to 
 reason the thing out alone. 
 
 Every morning and evening, the missionaries 
 and the Anson family gathered together in a 
 corner of the dining-room for " family prayers." 
 On Sundays, they gained the great privilege of 
 having service in the "Social Hall." Often 
 they would cluster about the piano and sing 
 
22 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 some of the grand old gospel hymns; and on 
 warm, pleasant nights would draw their chairs 
 together upon the deck and send the sweet 
 sounds out upon the air. They seemed greatly 
 to enjoy each other's company; though they 
 belonged to different denominations, they were 
 one in their trust in Christ, and one in wish- 
 ing to give his gospel to the heathen. So day 
 after day passed, varied by storms and calms, 
 yet one day very much like every other. On 
 the twentieth day of the voyage, the captain 
 assured the passengers that they should see 
 land on the morrow, and, with this joyous 
 expectation, they "turned in" early. 
 
CHAPTER 11. 
 
 A TRIOTCLE TRIP TO ASAKUSA, TOKIO. 
 
 T) RIGHT and early the next morning, Bertie 
 rose and went on deck, half expecting to 
 see land close at hand. Nothing was to be seen, 
 however, but the same great circle where sea and 
 sky seemed to come together. Just then the 
 quartermaster came to the captain's cabin, and 
 called out : 
 
 " Land ahead, sir." 
 
 "Where?'' said Bertie. 
 
 "Right off there. Can't you make it out, 
 sir?" 
 
 Bertie looked and looked in vain. Finally, 
 he went to his state-room and brought his glasses, 
 but even then he could not see it. Just then 
 the captain came from his room. 
 
 "Where is the land, captain? I can't see it." 
 
 The captain scanned the horizon before them. 
 
 23 
 
24 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 "Why, right there. Just keep looking at 
 that point, a little above the horizon ; you can 
 only tell it from the waves, because they move, 
 while it is steady. You will soon see more of it.^' 
 
 After breakfast, when they came on deck 
 again, they could see, quite plainly, a point 
 stretching up into the sky. 
 
 "It is Fuji-yama, the great mountain of 
 Japan," said one of the missionaries who had 
 been over to Japan before. 
 
 As the forenoon passed away, birds came 
 flying about the vessel — not the gulls which 
 had always been flying about the stern of the 
 steamer all the voyage across the ocean — but 
 land birds. The saw-like line of the horizon 
 became more distinct, as they came nearer to 
 the mouth of the bay of Yedo ; they passed many 
 Japanese fishing junks with their square sails; 
 and off to the south they could see a long trail 
 of smoke left by a steamer, which had dis- 
 appeared below the horizon. 
 
 For several days the crew had been busy 
 
A TRICYCLE TRIP TO ASAKUSA. 25 
 
 polishing up the brasses, and scouring and scrub- 
 bing generally; now every rope was coiled up 
 nicely, the covers were taken from the furniture, 
 the carpet's covering removed, and the whole 
 vessel was put in holiday trim. 
 
 While yet some distance down the bay, the 
 steamer was sighted, and a signal gun was fired 
 from an American man-of-war, which annouuced 
 to the people of Yokohama the arrival of the 
 American mail steamer. Soon the bay was all 
 alive with little boats, sculled by almost naked 
 boatmen; and little steam launches were seen 
 rushing towards the steamer as she came up 
 to her buoy and was made fast. The gangway 
 was lowered, and people began to go and 
 come. 
 
 Among the first to come aboard were some 
 missionaries from Yokohama, who sought those 
 who were to join their mission in Japan. These 
 all went off together. Shortly after, the Anson 
 family took their places in a hotel launch, and 
 were very quickly in their rooms, overlooking tlie 
 
26 THE ANS0:5fS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 bay, where they could see the steamer riding at 
 her buoy nearly a mile from shore. 
 
 Bertie and Bessie were impatient to go out 
 into the native town; but as in the excitement 
 of getting to land they had eaten no "tifl&n" — 
 as they call the noonday luncheon in the East — 
 they were compelled to wait a little while. 
 While they were at tiffin, a Japanese servant 
 brought in a card to Mr. Anson, saying: 
 
 " Gentleman, he want see you." 
 
 Mr. Anson found it to be an old college friend, 
 who had been in Japan for about six years past, 
 and who had seen his name in the list of pas- 
 sengers just arrived. At once he asked Mr. 
 Anson to his home; but Mr. Anson feared that 
 this might put his friend to considerable trouble, 
 as his "bungalow" was small, so he declined; 
 but gladly accepted the offer of guidance. 
 
 When the family were all together, they began 
 to talk over their plans with Mr. Benton. He 
 advised them to spend two or three days sight- 
 seeing in Tokio, the capital, then to proceed 
 
A TRICYCLE TRIP TO ASAKUSA. 27 
 
 overland to Kioto, turning aside on the way to 
 see the gigantic idol, Dai Butz ; from Kioto they 
 could proceed to Kob^, where they would take 
 steamer for Shanghai, China. After consider- 
 able discussion, they decided on adopting this 
 route. For this afternoon they concluded to 
 stay within the foreign settlement, to go to the 
 book stores and get a map of Japan, a guide 
 book, and some other supplies. They found 
 that the houses and stores of the foreigners 
 were built mostly of stone and tiles, with tile 
 roofs; that there were no sidewalks, and that 
 people of almost all nationalities were to be 
 seen going to and fro. In their rambles they 
 passed by several large stone buildings, from 
 whose windows came a delightful fragrance. 
 Into one of these Mr. Benton took them, and 
 they saw several hundred women standing before 
 charcoal fires in stone braziers, kneading some 
 sort of leaves. This they found to be the tea- 
 leaves, and they were being "re-fired" before 
 packing them in boxes to send to America. 
 
28 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPL.ES. 
 
 At an early hour the next morning, the party 
 were at the railroad station, accompanied by Mr. 
 Benton, who was to be their guide in Tokio. 
 After a ride of eighteen miles, they reached 
 the capital. Here a friend of Mr. Benton's 
 met them at the station. They were soon 
 seated in their jin-riki-shas, a carriage holding 
 one or two persons, and pulled by two Japanese 
 coolies. Mr. Benton's friend, Mr. Granger, had 
 brought his tricycle, which had seats for two, 
 and he invited Bertie to sit beside him, so that 
 he might explain to him the persons and places 
 that they passed. 
 
 So they trundled along up the Ginza Avenue, 
 by the side of the street cars, under the wires 
 from which the electric lights were suspended, 
 and by houses that were half foreign looking. 
 It seemed to Bertie and Bessie that they had 
 need of a half-dozen pairs of eyes apiece to see 
 all the curious objects that they passed. Up one 
 street and down another, it seemed a perfect 
 maze, and yet the sun steadily shone upon their 
 
A TRICYCLE TRIP TO ASAKUSA. 29 
 
 backs, so that they knew they were not going 
 around and around. 
 
 "Where are you taking us to?" Bertie asked 
 Mr. Granger. 
 
 " To the great Temple of Asakusa, the temple 
 that is more crowded with worshipers than any 
 other temple in the city." 
 
 " Why do you go to the temple? Are there 
 not other things more worth seeing?" Bertie 
 asked. 
 
 "No," said Mr. Granger; "the temples of 
 Asakusa and of Shiba, where we are going 
 this afternoon, are the most famous sights of 
 Tokio. While we are up in this part of the 
 city we may run over to Uy^no Park and see 
 the Government Museum; but you will soon see 
 that the temples are far more curious and inter- 
 esting." 
 
 " Of course," said Bertie, " I have heard of 
 temples ; but I really do not know just what 
 they are. What kind of a place is this temple 
 of— what do you call it ? " 
 
30 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 "A temple is not like a Protestant church in 
 America, but rather like the Roman Catholic 
 cathedrals and shrines. You know that Bud- 
 dhism — to which these temples belong — and 
 E-oman Catholicism are, in some respects, as 
 much alike as two peas in the same pod. 
 Within the temple grounds, as you will see, 
 there is quite a collection of buildings — the 
 temple proper, the priests' houses, a preaching 
 hall, and the like; but you will soon see for 
 yourself.'' 
 
 Mr. Granger and Bertie were in the lead, and 
 the jin-riki-shas came after them. The roads 
 were so hard and smooth, and the tricycle so 
 light and easily propelled, that they had to wait 
 quite frequently for the pullers of the jin-riki- 
 shas. to catch up. Sometimes they would turn 
 aside from the direct road, in order to see some 
 of the wayside shrines or idols, or to glance 
 into some of the houses or stores, whose fronts 
 were entirely open to the street. 
 
 After a little they came to a place where great 
 
A TRICYCLE TRIP TO ASAKUSA. 31 
 
 D umbers of jin-riki-shas were standing, and Mr. 
 Granger said : 
 
 " Here we must get down." 
 
 So, leaving their tricycle and their wraps in the 
 care of the jin-riki-sha men who had brought the 
 rest of the party, they turned up a narrow street, 
 made only for pedestrians. The lane was lined 
 with booths on either side, where candies, sugared 
 beans, and various toys were the chief things sold. 
 Three or four hundred yards further, they came 
 to a gigantic gateway, guarded by two hideous 
 wooden idols, a sort of Gog and Magog. On 
 the wooden gratings before these idols were 
 hanging huge straw sandals, locks of hair, 
 pictures, and other votive offerings. 
 
 A little before the gate, they turned to the 
 right, and passing by some tea-houses, where 
 pilgrims were quietly sipping tea, they went 
 to the Revolving Library. In a room about 
 twenty feet high, Bertie and Bessie saw a 
 bookcase attached to the ceiling and the floor 
 in such a way that it could be turned around. 
 
32 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 It contains the Buddhist Bible, of over three 
 thousand volumes. 
 
 'As nobody could ever read it through," said 
 the priest in attendance, to Mr. Granger; "not 
 even in a life-time, Shaka will accept it as 
 read through once, if a man will make the 
 case revolve three times." 
 
 Bertie and Bessie could not budge the case, but 
 Mr. Anson was able to do so, without much effort. 
 
 Passing by a five-storied pagoda, they came to 
 the temple proper. Climbing up some steep 
 steps, they entered the vestibule, where the 
 crowd were worshiping. Immense lanterns 
 were hung from the ceiling, in and among 
 which darted the sacred pigeons. An old 
 woman sat by an incense-burner, and for a 
 small coin threw a pinch of incense upon the 
 charcoal fire within. In front of the main 
 altar was a great coffer, into which the devotees 
 threw a coin before beginning to pray. Then 
 they would rub the palms of their hands to- 
 gether, and tell their beads, as they mumbled 
 
A TRICYCLE TRIP TO ASAKUSA. 33 
 
 their prayers, looking up to the idol within. As 
 fast as one would go another would take his 
 place. Some would clap their hands aloud, to 
 attract the attention of the goddess within to the 
 prayers they were about to offer. Occasionally 
 one would go to a priest, buy a written prayer, 
 put the paper in his mouth and chew it into 
 a " spit-ball " and then throw it at the wire 
 grating before the idol; if it stuck fast, his 
 face would brighten up with the feeling that 
 the prayer would be heard ; but if it fell, then 
 he would go away looking down-hearted. Once 
 in awhile a well-dressed man or woman would 
 pass through a side door giving a fee to the 
 priestly door-keeper, and proceed to worship in 
 the seclusion within the grating, away from the 
 crowd. 
 
 Just here Bessie noticed some mothers ap- 
 proaching, carrying their little babes, and they 
 were sickly, delicate, wizen-faced little things; 
 the babes were carried on the mother's back, 
 
 between their inner and outer garments. 
 
 c 
 
34 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 "What are they going to do? '''asked Bessie. 
 
 "Watch them, and you will see/' said Miss 
 Kirby, a missionary who had joined the party. 
 
 The mothers drew near to an ugly little 
 wooden idol, placed on a small pedestal, and 
 then reaching over their shoulders, took the 
 hand of the little baby, and first rubbed it on 
 the old idoFs face, and then on the sick or sore 
 spot on her child. The idol's nose, eyes, and 
 ears were almost rubbed off. "That is Bind- 
 zuru-sama, the God of Healing," said Miss 
 Kirby, "and the mothers think that he will 
 help their babies to get well. If they get bet- 
 ter, then the mothers bring their bibs and fasten 
 them about the idol's neck, as you see them." 
 
 Just here, an old priest came from a stand on 
 one side of the altar, and holding up a gilded 
 shrine by the ring in its top, asked Miss Kirby, 
 in Japanese, of course, if the little girl did not 
 want to buy a shrine of Kwanon-sama, the 
 Queen of Heaven and Goddess of Mercy. 
 
 ^^What for?" said Miss Kirby. 
 
A thicycle tkip to asakusa. 35 
 
 " Why, to take home with her, and to say her 
 prayers to, that Kwanon may protect her/' 
 " Kwanon can't protect her," said Miss Kirby; 
 
 SHRINE OF KWANON. 
 
 'Hhat is only a piece of wood; you ought to 
 look to the true God, in heaven, for protection." 
 On the invitation of another priest, the party, 
 first taking off their shoes, went in through the 
 side door, around the inner shrine. At one side 
 
36 THE AKSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 was a private altar, where private "masses" 
 were said. Here a priest was building a little 
 bonfire of splints, on a low altar, and throwing 
 into the fire, every now and then, a pinch of 
 incense. What, with the ringing of a small 
 bell, the tapping the incense boxes with his 
 "bauble,'^ the telling of his beads, and the 
 mumbling of a sentence of Sanskrit over and 
 over again, it seemed to the children a singularly 
 senseless jargon. Miss Ku'by had often seen it 
 before, but Bessie noticed, as she stole a glance 
 into Miss Kirby's face, that tears of pity were 
 falling from her eyes. 
 
 On the main altar rested a shrine of the 
 goddess of the temple, and in and around were 
 great numbers of smaller idols. On one side 
 Avas a gigantic mirror, presented to the temple 
 by a wrestler, as a votive offering. In the 
 temple grounds without, were all sorts of ex- 
 hibitions : a wax-works' show, monkeys, tamed 
 birds, performing dogs, photographers' galleries, 
 and dear knows what all. 
 
A TRICYCLE TRIP TO ASAKUSA. 37 
 
 By this time our friends were thoroughly tired 
 and heart-sick. They quickly found their jin- 
 riki-shas again, and Mr. Granger and Bertie 
 their tricycle, and they were soon whirling 
 away towards Shiba; where, after luncheon 
 they were to spend the afternoon. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 AN AFTERNOON IN SSIBA, TOEIO. 
 
 A FTEE, leaving Asakusa, our friends went 
 first to the public park at Uyeno, where 
 there is a very large and very ugly idol of 
 Buddha, made of bronze, a weak and feeble 
 imitation of the great idol at Kamakura. After 
 rambling about the«park, visiting the great mu- 
 seum, and looking into some of the temples 
 scattered through the grounds, a search for 
 luncheon began. It was too much out of the 
 way to go to Tsukiji, where most of the for- 
 eigners live, so they rode down the Tori — as 
 the chief street is called — and finally drew up 
 before a fine large building, along whose front 
 was strung a row of lanterns. Passing through 
 the kitchen, which, in Japanese restaurants, is 
 almost always in the front of the house, after 
 re:Tioving their shoes, they climbed up a broad 
 
 38 
 
AN AFTERNOON IN SIIIBA. 39 
 
 ladder to a pretty room above. By sliding 
 screens, the host shut off this room from all 
 the others. The floor was covered by mats 
 made of straw, each six feet long and three feet 
 wide, and about two inches thick. There was 
 no furniture in the room. 
 
 The Americans seated themselves upon the 
 floor, sitting on their heels just like the Japa- 
 nese ; this seemed easy enough for a little while, 
 but soon their limbs became stiff and aching, 
 and they were glad to push them out behind 
 them. Two or three chubby-faced, red-lipped 
 girls slipped softly through the sliding screens, 
 and, bowing to the floor, began to express their 
 sense of the honor conferred upon the house by 
 their visitors. They had brought with them a 
 fire-box, with a handful of lighted charcoal, and 
 a tray with tobacco and tiny pipes upon it. 
 This last Mr. Granger sent right away, to the 
 astonishment of the waiter girls. 
 
 " This is jolly," said Bertie. 
 
 "Yes, for a little while," replied Mr. Benton; 
 
40 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 "but when you go for months this way, as we 
 do on missionary tours, it becomes monotonous." 
 
 "Isn't everything nice and clean?'' Bessie 
 noticed. " The mats are so white, the paper on 
 the doors is so clear of dirt, and everything 
 looks as if it had just been scoured." 
 
 "Yes," Mr. Anson said, "the Japanese are 
 a cleanly people, and when we get into the 
 interior, as we go overland to Kioto, we shall 
 have more opportunities of seeing it." 
 
 Just then the waiters came in, bringing some 
 covered bowls upon lacquered trays. 
 
 "Where are the knives, forks, and spoons?" 
 cried Bessie, in dismay, as a tray with the bowls 
 upon it was set before her. "Are we to eat with 
 our fingers? Why, what are these two sticks 
 for? They look just like two lead-pencils, only 
 that they have not been cut apart." 
 
 "These are chop-sticks," Mr. Benton re- 
 marked; "and they are not spilt apart so that 
 you may know that nobody has ever eaten with 
 them before." 
 
AN AFTEKNOON IN SHIBA. 41 
 
 "Must we eat with them?" said Bertie, in a 
 surprised tone, to Mr. Granger. 
 
 " Yes ; that is what they are for." 
 
 When they uncovered the bowls, they dis- 
 covered some soup in one, a bit of fish in 
 another, one was empty, and in another was 
 something that they did not recognize as having 
 ever seen it before. Mr. Anson was looking at 
 it rather suspiciously, when Mr. Benton re- 
 marked : 
 
 "That is chawan mushi; it is a kind of 
 custard; you put in your chop-sticks, and 
 you may pull out almost any sort of an 
 eatable." 
 
 "Yes," said Bertie, attempting a joke; "a 
 Japanese hash." 
 
 The waiter girls, who remained in attendance, 
 squatted upon their heels at one side, were look- 
 ing with curious gaze at the attempts of the 
 party to use the chop-sticks. Mr. Granger and 
 Mr. Benton had no difficulty; but the rest 
 seemed in danger of going away hungry. After 
 
42 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 laughing about it, and after a number of mis- 
 haps, owing to their clumsiness, Mr. Benton 
 said, as he opened his satchel: 
 
 *' I expected this, and so I asked my wife to 
 put in here some such tools as you are accus- 
 tomed to use," and he handed them each a fork 
 and a spoon. "Now you will like that rice 
 better, I think," he continued, "if you will 
 put a little of this sugar and condensed milk 
 upon it." 
 
 And it did improve it very greatly. After 
 considerable merriment, the luncheon was fin- 
 ished, the bill was paid, and the jin-riki-sJias 
 turned towards Shiba. 
 
 After uncountable twistings and turnings, 
 they stopped before a gigantic red gateway, 
 two stories high. Passing through this, on 
 foot, the American visitors walked slowly up 
 an avenue, on either side of which were shrines 
 and priests' residences. In one of these shrines, 
 an old shaven-headed w^oman was in attend- 
 ance. Bessie said to her mamma, that she 
 
AN AFTERNOON IN SHIBA. 43 
 
 thouo^ht she was "one of the sweetest- faced 
 old ladies'' she had ever seen. 
 
 Around the walls were hung a great many 
 scrolls, and, as the old lady said to Mrs. Anson, 
 through Mr. Granger, they had hundreds more 
 very valuable ones in the chests about the 
 shrine. A little beyond this, a bulletin-board 
 was erected, upon which shingles, covered with 
 Chinese characters, were placed. 
 
 "Why, what is that?" asked Bertie. 
 
 "That," said Mr. Benton, "is the way the 
 Japanese have of publishing the names of the 
 givers of money towards the new temple, and 
 the amount they give. There is the Emperor's 
 name for a thousand dollars, and they run down 
 from this to sums of ten dollars." 
 
 Just here, the noise of tiny hammers, beating 
 upon small anvils, was heard, and a humming 
 sound as of a number of voices repeating some- 
 thing in concert. Turning to the building from 
 whence the sound came, and after taking off their 
 shoes, lest they should soil the clean mats, they 
 
44 THE ANSOXS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 found themselves in an oblong building, in the 
 midst of an audience of men, women, and 
 children. Beyond a railing, in front of the 
 audience, upon a high pulpit, squatted a priest, 
 with a round, jolly face. The people before 
 him were repeating a prayer, ^^ Nam-nam-mam- 
 nantj^ for several minutes thus, and then sud- 
 denly bursting forth, under the priest leadership 
 with, ^^ Namu Amida Butsee/^ — meaning. Hear, 
 O Salvation-Bringing Buddha. All the while 
 some old ladies — the choir, Bertie called them — 
 were beating with little mallets upon metal 
 drums before them, keeping the time of the 
 nam-nams. Then of a sudden, the praying 
 ceased, and the shaven-headed priest began to 
 preach. He occasionally told stories which 
 made the people laugh, and sometimes he spoke 
 very earnestly. His sermon was a very short 
 one. When it was over, a number of attendant 
 priests came forward and began to pray aud 
 prostrate themselves before an idol, which was 
 then uncovered. The whole ceremony seemed 
 
AN AFTEKNOON IN SHIBA. 45 
 
 to consist in the repetition of phrases — in 
 Sanskrit and Chinese, as Mr. Benton remarked, 
 and which not even the priests understood. 
 After the service was ended, some of the 
 younger priests came nearer our friends, to 
 see, particularly, the lady and the little girl, 
 who were greater strangers than the gentlemen. 
 Mr. Benton made use of the opportunity to 
 ask the priests if they really understood their 
 worship, and to try to tell them something 
 about Christianity. In leaving the building, 
 slipping his hand into his pockets, he brought 
 forth some tracts called, "The Story of the 
 Cross," written in the Japanese characters, and 
 gave them to the priests and people, who re- 
 ceived them with many expressions of thanks. 
 Bertie had been listening while Mr. Benton 
 was speaking, and had noticed all his actions. 
 Of course, he could not understand a word that 
 was said, but he read in Mr. Benton's face and 
 in the tones of his voice, that he was earnestly 
 pleading with them for something, and the word 
 
46 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 JT^Uy which he could distinguish every once in 
 awhile, made him feel certain that Mr. Benton 
 was talking of Jesus. It was done so quietly, 
 so simply, and so courteously, that no one 
 seemed in the least offended, not even the 
 priests. 
 
 , " H'm,'^ said Bertie, ** Mr. Benton's a good 
 missionary, anyhow. I wonder if they are 
 all like him.'' 
 
 Beyond the preaching hall, the new temple 
 stood. It Avas a square structure, having a high, 
 curving roof, supported by immense timbers. 
 
 "Is it not top-heavy?" asked Mr. Anson. 
 
 "No," replied Mr. Benton; "the Japanese 
 Jbelieve that buildings constructed in this way 
 better stand the shocks of the earthquakes, 
 which are here so frequent. Do you notice this 
 beautiful wood? Smell these chips; is not the 
 odor delightful? This is the kinohi, the ^sun- 
 wood,' literally; and this hard, heavy timber is 
 the keyakiy a kind of elm. And here is some 
 camphor wood; notice how strong the odor of 
 
AN AFTERNOON IN SHIBA. 47 
 
 the camphor is in these newly cut chips. Do 
 you see how the timbers are so pinned together, 
 with wooden pegs, that some of them can sway 
 just a little ? These tiles for the roof are made 
 of clay, and are quite heavy also. In that little 
 room right in the centre of the rear end of the 
 building is to be the sanctum sanctorum^ the 
 shrine for the idol-god. Do you notice that 
 they are making it fire-proof, so that the idol 
 cannot be burned up if the temple should get 
 on fire again ? Is it not strange that the Japanese 
 should worship an idol who cannot keep himself 
 from being burnt? But we must go to the 
 Tycoons' Temples, where you can see one of tlie 
 most beautifully finished temples in Japan. 
 While we are walking across to one of these 
 temples, I will tell you about their history. 
 "From 1616 A. D., to 1872 A. D., the right- 
 ful rulers of Japan, the Mikados, or Emperors, 
 were hidden away in their palaces at Kioto, 
 while usurpers, called the Skoguns, or TycoonSy 
 were the real rulers of Japan. These Shoguns 
 
48 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 were zealous Buddhists; the greatest of the 
 ShogunSy ly^-yasu, took one of the sects of the 
 Buddhists under his protection, and removed 
 their chief monastery to this place. Here, be- 
 tween 1596 and 1623, the great temple was 
 built. Yonder gateway, which we came through, 
 has been standing since 1623. As each of the 
 Shoguns died he was buried either here in Shiba, 
 or in Uyeno, or at the town of Nikko, far to the 
 north. The tombs themselves are very plain 
 structures, but before each tomb a magnificent 
 temple was built; all of these are among the 
 marvels of Japanese art. Now we must ask 
 this old priest to let us in." 
 
 After a few minutes of talk, the party stepped 
 to a side door, where they removed their shoes, 
 and proceeded to follow their priestly guide. 
 Within, all seemed gloomy and dismal, until the 
 priest threw open the doors at one side of the 
 temple and let in a flood of sunlight. Then 
 they stood in the midst of a blaze of gold. The 
 elaborate sculptures, the brilliant coloring, the 
 
AN AFTERNOON IN SHIBA. 49 
 
 delicate metal work, dazzled their eyes with their 
 brilliant beauty. The building was T shaped, 
 with the top of the T towards the front, and the 
 shrines well in the rear. 
 
 "In ancient days, before the Mikado was 
 restored," continued Mr. Benton, '^the priests sat 
 in the front apartment, the Tycoon's family just 
 in front of them, and up near the shrines only 
 the High Priest ever went. To-day very little 
 reverence is paid to the temples ; the people are 
 discouraged from coming to them, for political 
 reasons, as one can readily see. The foreigner 
 even — who used to be hated in Japan — can now 
 go where formerly only the High Priest dare 
 venture. You notice the ceiling's gorgeous 
 paneling. See also that great piece of carving; 
 how perfect in all its parts ! Yet it is all made 
 from one long timber. Observe the lacquer 
 work ; how hard and smooth and glossy it is." 
 
 "What are in those boxes?" asked Bertie. 
 
 " The sacred books. Let us look at them; for 
 the priest will allow us." 
 
 D 
 
50 THE ANSO:&irS in ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 So Mr. Benton opened one of tiie oblong 
 boxes, and took out a roll tied with silken 
 cords. In Chinese characters, beautifully writ- 
 ten, they saw the sacred Buddhist books. The 
 whole temple was beautifully finished in all its 
 parts, too beautiful to find words to describe it. 
 The only ugly things — ugly in foreigners' eyes — 
 were the dragons, the griffins, the lions, and 
 other animals that were painted on the walls. 
 
 From this temple they passed around among 
 the tombs, out under the grand old trees, by 
 other temples scarcely less magnificent than the 
 one they had visited. These temples are, in 
 reality, kept more as works of art than for use 
 in worship. Finally as the sun was beginning 
 to set, the group passed away to the depot, and 
 were soon flitting along the shores of Yedo Bay, 
 towards Yokohama. 
 
 Tlie next day was the Lord's Day; and, 
 escorted by Mr. Benton, who called for them 
 early in the morning, Mr. Anson and his family 
 climbed up the ^^BlulF" to the mission chapel, 
 
AN AFTERNOON IN SHIBA. 51 
 
 anxious to get a chauce to see how the native 
 Christians worshiped. The chapel was a small 
 building, which w^ould seat about a hundred and 
 fifty people; it had paper windows and a matted 
 floor. A tiny organ stood in front, at which 
 one of the missionary ladies was seated, while 
 the preacher, a native Japanese, was seated on 
 one side of the table that served as a pulpit, and 
 by his side the white-haired, veteran missionary, 
 who, for ten years or more, had labored to give 
 to the Japanese the gospel of Jesus Christ, as he 
 had labored in another land for nearly a quarter 
 of a century, to give it to another heathen people. 
 The order of the services was just the same as 
 in Mr. Anson's church at Alton, though alto- 
 gether in the Japanese language. Bertie and 
 Bessie held between them a hymn book, in 
 which the hymns had been written out in the 
 same kind of letters used in English books, so 
 that, after listening to a verse or two in silence, 
 they were able to join in singing "Jesus, lover 
 of my soul" in its Japanese translation. There 
 
52 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 was no other part of the service that they could 
 understand; and so they watched the face of the 
 preacher and studied their neighbors, who were 
 giving devout attention to the sermon. 
 
 " How earnest he is ! " thought Bertie. " How 
 bright and quick his mind seems to be ! I guess 
 that he thoroughly believes all that he says. 
 Why, this must be the man of whom Mr. 
 Benton was telling papa, who is such a good 
 scholar, and who chooses rather to be a Christian 
 preacher, on poor pay, than to get a good situa- 
 tion under Government. I wonder why that 
 old gentleman wanted to come away off here, 
 when he was as old as he was; he must have 
 cared a great deal about making these people 
 Christians. Mr. Benton said that Dr. Browning 
 was not going to America ever, he guessed ; that 
 he is going to stay here until he dies. Well, lie 
 must be a good man. I guess that the purser 
 did not know such men as the doctor when he 
 talked against missionaries." 
 
 The service being at an end, many of the 
 
AN AFTERNOON IN SHIBA. 53 
 
 Japanese were introduced to Mr. Anson and his 
 family by Dr. Browning and Mr. Benton; and 
 some of them could speak the English very well. 
 The Sunday-school here began; and Mr. Benton, 
 with the Ansons, left to attend service in Eng- 
 lish, in the Union Church, in the settlement. 
 Here they seemed almost at home again. If it 
 had not been for some Japanese who sat near 
 them, and for some red-coats from the British 
 men-of-war, as well as some sailors from the 
 American vessels, they would have fancied them- 
 selves back in America. 
 
CHAPTER ly. 
 
 A. JIN-BIKI-SEA JAUNT TO THE IDOL, DAI BUTZ, 
 
 rpHERE are very few carriage-roads in Japan, 
 but a great many bridle-paths. Horses and 
 carriages cannot, therefore, go very far in any 
 direction. There are a few dozen miles of rail- 
 way, all told, and many more miles projected. 
 Mr. Anson and his party determined upon fol- 
 lowing the Tokaido, the road from Tokio — or 
 rather from the point where the Yokohama road 
 joins the Tokaido — to Kioto; Tokio being the 
 "Eastern Capital and Kioto the "Western 
 Capital." They might have taken one of the 
 sidewheel ocean steamers which the Japanese 
 "Three Diamonds" Steamship Company pur- 
 chased from some Americans, and have gone 
 around by sea to Kob6, and thence up to Kioto 
 by raih'oad ; but this would have been a monot- 
 onous journey. The Tokaido is the road over 
 
 54 
 
A JIN-RIKI-SHA JAUNT TO DAI BUTZ. 55 
 
 which, until recent times, the princes and their 
 retainers were accustomed to travel in coming to 
 Tokio. Japan was opened to the western world 
 by Commodore Perry in 1853, and, many years 
 passed before it was absolutely safe for foreigners 
 to travel in the interior. Bertie had been read- 
 ing in one of the books of Japan, of the murder 
 of Mr. Richardson on the Tokaido in 1862, and 
 felt a little nervous when his father announced 
 that they would follow the Tokaido to Kioto, 
 turning off on the way to visit the gigantic idol 
 of Dai Butz. But he was reassured when Mr. 
 Benton told him how that murder took place. 
 The Daimio, or Prince of Satsuma, was coming 
 to Tokio with his train. The Japanese are a 
 proud, haughty race, and when the foreigner 
 and his companions, instead of turning aside 
 for the procession to pass, sought to force their 
 horses right through the crowd, the Japanese 
 felt that their Prince was insulted, and so at- 
 tacked Mr. Richardson. Two American gentle- 
 men and an English lady, who had stopped at 
 
56 THE ANSOXS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 one side of the road, and who politely permitted 
 the procession to pass them, were not harmed. 
 The jin-riJci-shaSj of which the travelers had 
 already had some experience in Tokio, and by 
 which they were to travel to Dai Butz, and to 
 the foot of the mountains, were invented by 
 an American missionary, it is said, in 1870. 
 The first few were imported from San Fran- 
 cisco; but now they are made in Japan, where 
 over a hundred thousand are in use. They are 
 two-wheeled, covered carriages, with springs, 
 holding one person comfortably, and drawn 
 by men. Except when ascending a hill, they 
 go at the rate of five or six miles an horn'. 
 The streets and roads are full of them, waiting 
 to be hired at a cost of less than ten cents an 
 hour. The men will take you from Yoko- 
 hama to Dai Butz, and back — a distance of 
 eighteen miles each way — in the same day, 
 for seventy-five cents. All labor is cheap in 
 Japan, and a jinriki's wages are counted to be 
 very good indeed. 
 
A JIN-RIKI-SHA JAUNT TO DAI BUTZ. 57 
 
 Sending their trunks around by steamer, they 
 carried with them only the clothing absolutely 
 needed, and some biscuits, canned milk, and 
 canned meats, sugar, and some few other eat- 
 ables, to add to such provision as the Japanese 
 hotels would supply. They were detained for 
 a little while awaiting their passports, with- 
 out which they would not be permitted to travel 
 more than twenty-five miles from any of the 
 cities where foreigners can live. When the mail 
 brought the passport from the American Minis- 
 ter, they started at once for Dai Butz. 
 
 Village after village, lying right along the 
 road, was passed through. Occasionally they 
 saw a peasant woman with a load of rice upon 
 her back, which she bore to those who drew 
 the rice through an iron comb, so threshing 
 it from the straw. At other times they saw 
 men beating the grain in huge mortars with 
 great mallets, to separate the hulls from the 
 grain. 
 
 Every little while they stopped at the wayside 
 
58 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 tea-houses, where the coolies smoked their tiny 
 pipes, and where the guests quaffed tea — without 
 milk or sugar — from tiny cups. Finally the jin- 
 riki-shas drew up in front of one of the large 
 restaurants of Kamakura. 
 
 This city was the seat of government from 
 1192 A.D., to about 1450 A.D. There are 
 very many old buildings here, mainly temples. 
 While waiting for their luncheon to be prepared, 
 under the guidance of one of the jin-rild-sha 
 men, named Tahi, the visitors proceeded to 
 explore the Temple of Hachiman. This tem- 
 ple has stood nearly seven hundred years, but 
 was burned in 1828, and a new one erected. 
 Passing up over steep, rounded bridges, Mr. 
 Anson and the foreigners walked between two 
 ponds covered with the large white flowers of 
 the lotus. The main temple is painted red. In 
 the temple is a permanent exhibition of historic 
 treasures. Around its walls are hundreds of 
 small idols. One large idol is that of Jizo. 
 Once a certain soldier was condemned to be be- 
 
A JIN-KIKI-SHA JAUNT TO DAI BUTZ. 59 
 
 headed. The executioner found that he could 
 make no impression on the man's neck, but 
 that his sword became dented and nicked. On 
 inquiry, it was found that the victim had con- 
 cealed an image of Jizo in his queue, and, so 
 the story goes, Jizo had protected him. Then 
 he was pardoned, and a shrine to Jizo was 
 erected. 
 
 After luncheon it was decided to walk to Dai 
 Butz and back, as it was only a little more than 
 a mile from Kamakura. But we will let Mrs. 
 Anson tell the story of the visit to Dai Butz, 
 and how it impressed her. She had promised 
 the Mission Band a long letter when she had 
 seen something which she thought would in- 
 terest them, and so, while resting in the hotel 
 at Yumoto before ascending the mountain, she 
 carried out her promise. 
 
 ( " Hotel Tumoto, 
 
 ( Foot of Hakine Mountaixs. 
 
 "My Dear Young Friends: I promised 
 you a gQod long letter, and this is my first 
 
60 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 chance to keep the promise. I want to tell 
 you about our trip to-day, from Yokohama to 
 Dai Butz, that gigantic bronze image, whose 
 picture you have seen in one of the Sciopticon 
 lectures on Japan. But let me begin at the 
 beginning. Mr. Benton sent word to Tahi to 
 bring his carriage — ^in-riki-sha he calls it. He 
 does not harness a pony, for Tahi is both pony 
 and driver; he himself is to pull the carriage, 
 which is only a big baby-coach on two wheels. 
 It is a long pull for Tahi, full eighteen miles 
 from Yokohama to Dai Butz. Yokohama is all 
 astir, early as it is, for the Japanese are always 
 up at sunrise. The bay, just before us, is alive 
 with the little boats which the sendos — boatmen 
 I should say — ^are sculling toward the English 
 steamer which came in during the night. 
 
 "We pass down through the native town 
 and out into the country. Yes, country; but 
 do not think of meadows of grass, of fields of 
 waving wheat, or bending corn, of zigzag, or 
 post-and-rail fences, of cows and horses, and 
 
A JIN-EIKI-SHA JAUNT TO DAI BUTZ. 61 
 
 pigs and geese, for there is scarcely any grass 
 to be seen; no, not even a plot as large as 
 that in your front yard, only some tufts here 
 and there by the roadside, and on the dykes 
 between the rice swamps. There are no fences, 
 for tiiere are neither cows, nor pigs, nor geese, 
 and very few horses. 
 
 " The farm-houses are all gathered in villages ; 
 and, as in the Saviour's time in Palestine, the 
 sower goes forth to sow. No fields of rice are 
 yet to be seen, only the bare, dismal, muddy rice 
 swamps are left. But if the low lands are now 
 dismal, the hills are not. The green pines tower 
 high up in the air, and the glossy green leaves 
 of the camelia contrast with the red flowers 
 with which almost all the winter through they 
 have been covered. Camelias, not small, feeble, 
 delicate, like those the gardeners grow at home, 
 but large as the apple tree. The violets, white 
 and blue, are showing their heads. The spar- 
 rows are twittering as they get ready for going 
 to housekeeping; the crows coarsely cawing; 
 
62 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 surely there are ' three times three in every 
 tree/ and the Japanese say tl ese cries are their 
 plaintive love tones. 
 
 " We are not alone ; the road is full of people, 
 some in jin-riki-shas^ but most afoot. We meet 
 no wagons, for there are none to meet; no cars, 
 for none run in this direction. The houses in the 
 farming villages, with their thatched roofs and 
 raised floors, are all open. The sliding doors, or 
 windows, or walls — call them what you please — 
 are removed from the three or four sides, leav- 
 ing only the posts that support the roof. We 
 can see only one piece of furniture, a chest of 
 drawers. The hibaohi, or fire box, with its hand- 
 ful of glowing charcoal, with the tiny bronze 
 tea kettle over it on a tripod, stands in the centre 
 of the room — the houses generally have but one 
 room. A few mottoes taken from the Buddhist 
 books, are hanging on the rear wall; and be- 
 side them the little god-shelf, with tlie idol in 
 the centre, two vases with green leaves in either 
 of them on each side of this, and two lamps, 
 
A JIN-EIKI-SHA JAUNT TO DAI BUTZ. 63 
 
 saucers of oil with wicks afloat on either side 
 of these, and, perhaps, a cup of rice and one of 
 tea, placed there as offerings this morning. The 
 floor is carpeted, not with Brussels nor Ingrain, 
 but with rice-straw mats, each three feet by six 
 feet, and two inches thick. The kitchen stove, 
 an open stone, charcoal brazier, stands on the 
 beaten ground in a corner, and over it a large 
 closet, where in one half are kept the dishes, 
 and in the other the quilts that are brought out 
 at night and laid on the floor for sleeping on. 
 Only these and nothing more, except the people. 
 "Everything is as neat and clean as can be. 
 The woodwork is not painted, but it is washed 
 two or three times daily. The floors of the 
 little porches glisten; for when they are 
 washed, a little soot is mixed with the water, 
 and plenty of elbow-grease applied. Soap, there 
 is none ; they do not need it, and never use it. 
 Mamma, with little baby strapped on her back 
 under her outer garment, is busy, with both 
 hands thus set free, sweeping or scrubbing; 
 
64 THE ANSOXS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 obasan — or grandmother — is mending some- 
 body's stockings, and some of the children are 
 reading, some outside playing their favorite 
 game of battledore and shuttlecock. 
 
 "In front of the house, the shoes, from 
 mamma's big ones to baby's wee ones, all 
 stand in a row just as they left them when 
 they entered. For they sit on their heels on 
 the floor. They spread their trays with dinner 
 on them, on the floor; they sleep on the floor; 
 so the floor must be kept clean, and every one 
 goes about in his stocking feet. There are no 
 hats hanging around; mamma never gets any 
 spring bonnet; and Koshi never has to ask: 
 'Where's my hat?' for they never wear any, 
 not even when they are little babies, and are 
 exposed all day long to the hot sun. Their 
 square-cut, blue cotton clothes are gathered at 
 the waist by a girdle or sash — the girls' sashes 
 are just 'gorgeous.' There are no bias plaitings, 
 nor cuts, nor gores; the sleeves, long and square, 
 are pockets as well. 
 
A JIN-RIKI-SHA JAUNT TO DAI BUTZ. 65 
 
 "But we will leave them and go on. Now 
 we come to a bridge, and up, up, up, then down, 
 down, down, just like going over an arch. We 
 pass the mountains; children come out crying: 
 
 " ^Anata ohaiyo ! ' ^Anata ohaiyo ! ' 
 
 "This means ^good-morning, good-morning.' 
 Then, handing us great bunches of red and pink 
 and white and variegated camelias, they scamper 
 oif before we can thank them. 
 
 "At a tea-house, for a tempo apiece, we get 
 a cup of tea and some cakes and sugar-coated 
 beans. A tempo is a large oval coin of gun 
 metal, about as heavy as a silver dollar, but 
 worth only about four-fifths of a cent in our 
 money. On through more rice-flats, and occa- 
 sionally through fields where barley or wheat 
 has been grown, and over more hills, through 
 more farming villages, and we come to Kama- 
 kura — Kamakura, a city that might celebrate ten 
 centennials, for it is over a thousand years old ; 
 and seven hundred years ago it was a most 
 celebrated city. Old houses, old trees, old 
 
 E 
 
66 THE ANSOIfS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 moats, with moss-covered stones, old bridges, 
 old monasteries, old temples, whose steps have 
 been hollowed out by the feet of the thousands 
 of worshipers who, during these hundreds of 
 years, have passed up and down. 
 
 "Again we stop at a tea-house for our 
 luncheon. After taking off our shoes, we are 
 shown to a little room in the second story, or 
 rather a little room, was made for us, for the 
 pretty waiting-maid deftly put the paper slid- 
 ing-doors in the grooves, and we are shut in. 
 After we were rested, we again started out. 
 
 "Dai Butz is only a mile and a half away. 
 We passed beneath great bird-rests, which are 
 upright pillars of stone, with two stone slabs on 
 their tops. We came to a great red gateway, 
 fifty feet high. In compartments on either side 
 are two gigantic red idols, a sort of Gog and 
 Magog, the guardians of the entrance. Before 
 the idols are wire screens, such as protect store 
 windows; and hanging on these are mementoes 
 of the visits of pilgrims — ^giants' straw-sandals, 
 
A JIN-EIKI-SHA JAUNT TO DAI BUTZ. 67 
 
 locks of hair, pictures, garments, cooking uten- 
 sils, and nobody knows what alL 
 
 "But what is the man doing with the paper 
 in his hand ? He is reading something that is 
 written on it. Now he puts it in his mouth, 
 chews it, makes a ' spit-ball ' of it, and throws 
 it at the grating. It sticks, and he looks happy. 
 The paper contained his prayer, and because it 
 adhered to the wire grating, he thinks his prayer 
 has been heard by the gods. If it had fallen to 
 the ground, he would have thought that the 
 gods would not hear him. 
 
 "Just now the road seemed to end in a clump 
 of trees. But we followed the road, and there — 
 beautiful! wonderful! — there, riorht before us — 
 and we have not been permitted to see it until 
 just the right moment for getting in the best 
 position to perceive its beauty — there sits Dai 
 Butz on the lotus lily. There he has sat, as he 
 sits to-day, for six hundred years, without 
 shelter from sun, or Avind, or rain, or snow, 
 or earthquake; not some ugly, hideous monster, 
 
68 THE AXSOXS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 but the beautiful idol, Dai Butz, with face 
 turned to the ocean — the great Pacific, which 
 stretches away for five thousand miles, until its 
 waters wash the shores of America — as though 
 looking for the coming of the ships that are to 
 bring those who shall destroy his worship — there 
 sits the bronze image of the Great Buddha. 
 The name is made up of Dai, great, and Butz, 
 Buddha. He is sitting in Oriental style, upon 
 his heels; his thumbs are brought together; the 
 head is bent forward; and the eyes fastened 
 upon the thumb nails. The position is a fixed, 
 easy one, nothing strained or unnatural. The 
 features, the limbs, the drapery, are in perfect 
 proportion, and in perfectly natural arrangement. 
 Behind and beyond, the hills come sloping down, 
 and are always clothed with green, and furnish 
 a beautiful background for the beautiful idol. 
 
 "The idol is not without expression. On the 
 contrary, it is all expression, and expressive of 
 one great thought — it teaches the one great 
 lesson of Buddhism. The ^pose,' the expres- 
 
A JIN-RIKI-SHA JAUNT TO DAI BUTZ. 69 
 
 sion, indicate contemplation, or active uncon- 
 sciousness, self-absorption. Buddha is wrapt in 
 thought. We need no guide to tell us of its 
 meaning. And it is all on so gigantic a scale — 
 fifty feet high. Who cast it, who designed it, 
 who was its artist architect, no one can tell. He 
 is gone, forgotten; but his work remains. But 
 our enchantment is broken. We are reminded 
 that it is, after all, an idol, as we are jostled by 
 the white-clad pilgrims, who come bowing again 
 and again, mumbling over their prayers. Sad, 
 sad, sad! We, too, draw nearer. 
 
 "Even when looked at closely, there is no 
 coarseness about the idol; the bronze plates are 
 joined evenly, and time has scarcely marked it, 
 except to mellow and enrich its color. The 
 bronze has more gold mixed in the alloy than 
 bronzes usually have. We entered the idol — 
 for it is both an idol and a temple — a window in 
 the back lets in the light. We climbed up steep 
 steps, and stood on a level with his chin. Idols 
 small and great, idols handsome and ugly, idols 
 
70 THE ARSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 grotesque and hideous, idols of stone and of 
 wood, idols of bronze and of gilt, idols of all 
 sorts and shapes and sizes, are arranged around 
 its interior. Other foreigners have been here 
 before us, and some have left their marks, their 
 autographs. One vandal has printed, in large 
 black letters, on the breast of a beautiful gilt 
 image of Kwanon, the ^ Queen of Heaven/ 
 WEBB. 
 
 '' I hope that you are keeping up your reading 
 on missions, and that you are following us in our 
 journeys with your loving prayers. 
 "Affectionately yours, 
 
 " Maegaeet Anson." 
 
 It was rather a difficult task for Mrs. Anson 
 to get her letter finished, as every once in awhile 
 the sliding doors would be moved aside by some 
 curious Japanese, anxious to see the foreign lady 
 and her little girl. But we will return to the 
 arrival of our friends at the Hotel Yumoto. 
 
CHAPTER Y. 
 
 OVER TEE MOUNTAINS TO KIOTO. 
 
 rpHE hotel at Yumoto, and its surroundings, 
 were delightful. On one side rose the 
 mountains in all their grandeur, and on the 
 other flowed a sparkling creek. As the hotel- 
 life along the road is very much the same as at 
 Yumoto, we may as well take a peep at the tired 
 travelers here as in any of the hotels along the 
 Tokaido to Kioto. 
 
 "Would you like a bath?" was the first 
 question asked by Dr. Olden, who had joined 
 the travelers a little way back, and who was 
 going on a missionary tour on the other side 
 of the mountains. 
 
 "Yes,'' said Mr. Anson, immediately. " Yes, 
 indeed, for I am very tired and dusty." 
 
 " But I think I had better tell you about the 
 
 hotel baths in Japan, so as to prepare you for 
 
 71 
 
72 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 what may be before you. Just here I think we 
 can make an arrangement with the landlord, by 
 which our party can have the exclusive use of 
 one of the baths for a few hours, so that we can 
 go in one by one.'' 
 
 "Why," said Bertie, "how do you go? — by 
 twos?" 
 
 "Yes, and sometimes by dozens. The com- 
 monest bath you will find is a box three feet 
 square and two feet deep, filled with hot water. 
 It is a bath, not baths, remember. About three 
 or four o'clock in the afternoon, the tub is filled, 
 and a charcoal fire is built in the little stove let 
 into one side of the tub. When the water is 
 hot, notice is given to the favored guest, who 
 takes his bath; when he is done, another steps 
 in, and so they go on until late in the evening. 
 Sometimes forty or fifty people use the same 
 bath — the same water. In Yumoto, and some 
 other places, the baths are larger, six or seven 
 feet square; and there are several of them. The 
 hot water comes in an incessant stream from the 
 
OVER THE MOUNTAINS TO KIOTO. 73 
 
 bowels of the earth; it is boiled in Mother 
 Nature's kettle. Of course, the water is always 
 changed.'^ 
 
 Dr. Olden saw the landlord, and after a little 
 parleying and the promise of an extra chadai, or 
 a fee, one of the baths was shut off by sliding 
 doors, and it was reserved for the foreign guests. 
 When they were through with their baths, they 
 all voted them the best baths they had ever tried. 
 The minerals of the hot waters seemed to extract 
 all the weariness from their bodies. After a 
 light supper — light because there w^as no very 
 substantial food to be had — all prepared for bed. 
 A screen was run through the room, giving the 
 choicest section to Bessie and her mamma, while 
 the gentlemen and Bertie slept in the adjoining 
 room, which was screened off by papered sliding 
 doors. There were no bedsteads, no hair mat- 
 tresses, no feather pillows, nor yet any blankets. 
 Two quilts were doubled up; sheets, which the 
 guests had brought with them, and which were 
 plentifully dusted with flea-powder, were spread 
 
74 THE AKSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 over the quilts. A quilt was rolled up for a 
 pillow, and traveling-rugs were used for cover- 
 ings. After family worship, all turned in, and 
 soon the "melody of the purling brook," as the 
 doctor called it, lulled them to sleep. 
 
 Soon after daylight the hotel was alive again ; 
 the guests ate their breakfast hurriedly, so as to 
 get an early start for the climb up the moun- 
 tains. A basket chair, slung from a pole, to be 
 carried on the shoulders of two coolies, was se- 
 cured for Mrs. Anson, and one for Bessie. The 
 rest preferred to walk. The road was built 
 hundreds of years ago. Gigantic cryptomeria 
 line the way. Up, up they clambered over the 
 huge round bowlders with which the road is 
 paved — save the mark! The ascent was, in 
 some places, wonderfully steep, almost at an 
 angle of forty-five degrees. They climbed three 
 thousand feet before they reached the top ; then 
 came a slight descent of three or four hundred 
 feet, and they reached Hakon6, twelve and a 
 half miles, in five hours. The air was so brae- 
 
OVER#THE MOUNTAINS TO KIOTO. 75 
 
 ing and pure, that they felt as if they had 
 scarcely climbed at all. 
 
 They determined to go to Jigohu in the 
 afternoon. Jigohu means, literally, Great 
 Hell ; that is the proper name, the name given 
 by the Japanese a century or more ago. After 
 a boat ride on Hakon^ Lake, they commenced 
 another climb of a thousand feet. As they 
 neared the place to which they were going — 
 and the way was exceedingly difficult — vegeta- 
 tion ceased, and the odor of sulphur was per- 
 ceptible. The guide now went in advance, 
 carefully testing the way, to see if it would 
 bear them. They could hear, as they entered 
 the place, the boiling of the water but a few 
 feet beneath them. Soon they were able to see 
 the steam arising from various vent holes, and, 
 after a little, could see the water itself, boiling 
 and bubbling, and casting off its sulphury odor. 
 All around lay masses of sulphur. The ground, 
 in places, was so soft that they could thrust their 
 Alpine stocks almost through the crust. It was a 
 
76 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 really dangerous place, and they did not tarry 
 very long there. The Japanese had, fittingly, 
 one might think, placed an image of the God of 
 Hell, Yema, in the midst of the Solfatara. They 
 took a bath at the foot of the hill, in hot water, 
 strongly impregnated with sulphur, and returned 
 to the hotel at Hakon§. After a supper on de- 
 licious mountain trout, which Dr. Olden cooked, 
 they tumbled into bed. They were not in a 
 hurry to get up the next morning, as all ached 
 more or less. 
 
 Since Dr. Olden would have to remain in 
 Hakon^ for a day or two, to attend a quarterly 
 meeting of the native Christians of this district 
 that was to be mainly a business meeting, he 
 offered to find a guide for Mr. Anson and Bertie 
 to take them to Atamiour, the mountains by the 
 sea. Just then some Japanese urchins began to 
 cry out, ^'Ijin-san, ijin-san/^ ^^ Foreigners, for- 
 eigners." Dr. Olden looked to see who it was, 
 and recognized two gentlemen of his acquaint- 
 ance, merchants in Yokoliama. They had been 
 
OVER THE MOUNTAINS TO KIOTO. 77 
 
 a little way from the village of Hakon^ on a 
 fishing expedition, and had set out this morning 
 to find a guide to take them to Atami. All 
 were agreed that it Avas a very fortunate meet- 
 ing. Soon all were ready for the start. Mrs. 
 Anson and Bessie stood in front of the hotel and 
 watched the travelers until they were out of 
 sight. For the rest of the journey, I cannot do 
 better than to quote from Mr. Anson's letter to 
 Deacon Root, since he wrote it very soon after 
 the exciting trip over the hills: 
 
 *^A few days ago we planned to visit Atami- 
 by-the-sea, a place famed for its hot sea- water 
 baths, impregnated with sulphur, and for a 
 spouting geyser. It was a fifteen-mile walk up 
 and down the mountains. There were three 
 ranges to be crossed. The narrow foot-path 
 wound around as near to the tops of the moun- 
 tains as possible, yet there was much going up 
 and down. I judge that there was a descent of 
 about five thousand feet and two thousand feet 
 of ascent in going to Atami. 
 
78 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES, 
 
 '^ Our plan, at starting, was not very definite. 
 Our guide assured us that it was not a long walk 
 to Higanesan, from whose tops ten provinces of 
 Japan can be seen; and we thought that, per- 
 haps, we should return from there and not go 
 to Atami. But when we got there, we deter- 
 mined to go on. We reached Atami at four, 
 took a bath, and ate our dinner. While engaged 
 in this, the wind shifted and the clouds began 
 to gather thickly. We had eaten leisurely, as 
 we had concluded to stay all night at Atami, 
 even without our luggage. The wiser ones 
 shook their heads now, though, and declared that, 
 if it rained, it would be a tremendous task, and 
 a dangerous one, to climb the wet and slippery 
 mountain paths. To go back at night seemed 
 the smaller evil. Our guide, who had lost his 
 way once during the afternoon, declared that he 
 was now sure of his way, and that he would 
 prepare torches for us. So we made up our 
 minds to go. If we could get up to the top of 
 the first mountain, a climb of over three thou- 
 
OVER THE MOUNTAINS TO KIOTO. 79 
 
 sand feet, we could get our torches at an old 
 temple there. 
 
 "We marched off, in Indian file, on a steady 
 tramp. Quickly the hill was left beneath us, 
 then the mountain, and just as it began to be 
 quite dark, we saw the temple before us. We 
 quaffed some hot tea while our guide was getting 
 ready the torches. The torches were made of 
 bamboo grasses, tied tightly together; they were 
 about six feet long, and six inches in diameter. 
 
 "But we were doomed to be disappointed. 
 When we were on the mountain top, the wind 
 fairly howled about our ears; to carry a torch 
 lighted was out of the question. We were all 
 lightly clad for walking ; so when we rested to 
 take breath, we crouched down behind a rock, or 
 sat in some hollow in the path. Fortunately, 
 
 Mr. S- had been accustomed to following 
 
 trails in the woods of the Adirondack Moun- 
 tains when off hunting. Our guide could not 
 help us in the least ; he was perfectly bewildered ; 
 so we installed Mr. S as leader. He saw 
 
80 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 the path; we only saw his white canvas shoes. 
 There were many dangerous portions of the 
 road, where the path lay close beside precipitous 
 places. We came safely by all these, however, 
 thank God! We could not yet light our torches; 
 the wind was too strong, though it seemed to be 
 dying away, and we were getting into the pro- 
 tection of trees. Finally, we could go on no 
 longer, and flung ourselves upon the ground in a 
 sheltered place, and took some refreshment in 
 the shape of crackers and raspberry jam. There 
 was a solitary bottle of Avater. How good our 
 luncheon tasted ! It seemed to put new life 
 into us. 
 
 "Off we started again; now with our guide 
 holding his lighted torch, going in advance. 
 One of us followed close after him, acting as 
 pilot, calling out: 'Look out!' ^step up!' or 
 * step down ! ' ^ slippery place ! ' ^ root ! ' ^ water ! ' 
 and the like. It was quite serious business, I 
 assure you. So for awhile longer. Then we 
 saw a light in advance. What could it be? 
 
OVER THE MOUNTAINS TO KIOTO. 81 
 
 We were a little anxious. Finally Mr. V. 
 called out: 
 
 "^ It is our landlord and his sons come out to 
 hunt us up.' 
 
 "We were glad to see them, indeed. In an 
 
 FUJI-YAMA. 
 
 hour, we reached the hotel, and dropped into 
 bed for a sound sleep." 
 
 A few mornings after, the luggage ^vas 
 
 F 
 
82 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 gathered together, and after a breakfast on 
 moimtain trout and biscuits, the descent of the 
 mountains was commenced. Since it was so 
 gradual and easy, even Mrs. Anson and Bessie 
 walked. A little more than half-way down the 
 mountain road they came to the Fuji- vie wing 
 Terrace, whence a grand view of the sacred 
 mountain, Fuji-yama, is to be obtained. For 
 a day or two they were to travel around the 
 base of this mountain, which rises to a height 
 of fourteen thousand feet above the sea level. 
 Pilgrims were constantly met, clad in their 
 white robes, and with little bells tied to their 
 girdles, indicating that they had made the 
 ascent of Fuji-yama, and their banners showed 
 that they belonged to the sect of "Sons of Fuji." 
 At the foot of the mountains BctshaSj a kind 
 of diligence carriage, were taken. Away across 
 the paddy-swamps, where the rice was being 
 cultivated, or through the tea-gardens, now up 
 slight hills, now along by the sea-shore, away 
 they sped. Day by day passed by, each full 
 
OVER THE MOUNTAINS TO KIOTO. 
 
 83 
 
 to the brim with gladsome enjoyment, until the 
 city of Kioto came in sight. 
 
 Just on the outskirts of Kioto, when pausing 
 at a tea-house for a rest, Bertie, who had wan- 
 dered a little further on the road to stretch his 
 
 FLOWING INVOCATION. 
 
 limbs, came to a small stream of water running 
 by the road-side, in the middle of w^hich was 
 a cloth suspended at the corners upon four 
 bamboo sticks, with a dipper resting in it. 
 "What can this be for?" thought Bertie. 
 
84 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 Just then several Japanese peasants came by, 
 stopping, however, long enough to dip up some 
 water, and each poured a ladleful upon the 
 cloth, letting it run through. While Bertie's 
 bewilderment was increasing, a young Japanese, 
 dressed in foreign clothes, stopped to rest under 
 a tree ; and, instead of the usual OhaiyOj said 
 " Good-morning/' 
 
 *^Do you speak English," asked Bertie. 
 
 "Yes, I am studying in the mission-school 
 in Kioto.'' 
 
 "Can you tell me what that is for?" — point- 
 ing to the cloth and dipper. 
 
 "That is the NagarS Kanjo, the Flowing 
 Prayer. Our people believe that when a 
 mother dies while giving birth to a child she 
 goes into hell. She must stay there until this 
 cloth wears out and the water no longer drips 
 through, but runs in a steady stream ; then her 
 soul is delivered from hell. But often the priests 
 sell a tougli cloth to poor people who cannot 
 pay much, and a thin, worn cloth to the rich." 
 
OVER THE MOUNTAINS TO KIOTO. 85 
 
 " What a shame ! " said Bertie. 
 
 "Yes, it is; but the people are learuing the 
 priests' tricks, and soon every one will see that 
 these deceivers are seeking their own good, and 
 not the good of the nation; and it will help 
 to do away with our old heathen faith.'' 
 
 Just here the party came up, and paused long 
 enough to listen to Bertie's story of the Flowing 
 Invocation. Then, courteously thanking the 
 Japanese student, they passed on towards the 
 sacred city. 
 
CHAPTER YT. 
 
 THE SACRED CITY OF KIOTO. 
 
 "TTTHAT Jerusalem is to the Jews, and Benares 
 is to the Hindus, and Mecca is to the 
 Mohammedans, is Kioto to the Japanese. To 
 tell all that Bertie and Bessie saw while in 
 Kioto, would fill a volume. Just before they 
 sailed from Kobe, below Kioto, for China, they 
 were talking over that which had struck them 
 most forcibly in their visit to Kioto. Bessie 
 thought that she would remember longest the 
 view of the city from the mountains east of 
 Kioto, to which they had one day climbed; 
 but Bertie thought that he would never forget 
 their yisit to the mission-school and theological 
 seminary, and their afternoon in the great 
 Temple of Nishi-Hongwanji. But we will go 
 back to their entrance to the town. 
 
 86 
 
THE SACRED CITY OF KIOTO. 87 
 
 Passing by several hotels, wearied and tired 
 from the long jin-riki-sha ride, and anxious to 
 reach a resting spot, they finally drew up before 
 the Mariyama Hotel, the place where foreigners 
 generally stop when in Kioto. When Dr. 
 Olden left them at Shidzuoka, he had employed 
 for Mr. Anson as a guide, a young man named 
 Sasaki, who spoke English remarkably well, and 
 who was very familiar with the country through 
 which they were to travel. It was at Sasaki's 
 suggestion that the Mariyama Hotel was chosen. 
 As it was growing rapidly dark and the for- 
 eigners were very weary, they were not dis- 
 posed to look farther, at any rate, and, as it 
 turned out later, they could not have found 
 any better hotel. 
 
 After a light supper, and a settling of accounts 
 with the jin-riki-sha pullers, and a brief walk 
 about the hotel garden, the party settled down 
 to rest. Mr. and Mrs. Anson occupied one 
 room, from the corner of which a part was 
 screened off with a six-fold screen for Bessie's 
 
88 THE ANSOXS IX ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 use, while Bertie with Sasaki occupied an ad- 
 joining room. 
 
 Sasaki watched with great curiosity while 
 Bertie took out his pocket Testament before 
 undressing, read for a little, and then kneeled 
 upon the matting to pray. 
 
 " Where are your gods ? '' asked Sasaki. 
 
 "Why, don't you know that there is but one 
 God, and that he forbids us to make any image 
 of him? I thought that you, who can speak 
 such good English, would know that,'' replied 
 Bertie. 
 
 "No, I learned my English at the Univer- 
 sity, and they never said anything about the 
 American God." 
 
 "No," added Bertie, "he is not an American 
 God; he is the God of all nations and all 
 worlds." 
 
 Then, as they were lying side by side, there 
 followed a long conversation about the Christian 
 religion. Finally, Sasaki asked Bertie to let 
 liim see his "sacred book," and on taking it 
 
THE SACr.ED CITY OF KIOTO. 89 
 
 he went to the lamp and began reading the 
 first chapter of Matthew's Gospel. The frequent 
 Naruhodos showed how deeply he was interested. 
 Finally, laying down the Testament, he bent his 
 head in thought, then taking up the Testament 
 again, he turned back as if trying to find some- 
 thing he had read. Bertie was lying quietly, 
 watching with anxious interest and waiting for 
 Sasaki to say something. After Sasaki had 
 found that which he was looking for, he bent 
 over his head, laid the Testament open before 
 him, and commenced to read in a low voice: 
 " Our Father which art in Heaven.'' 
 Then, as if satisfied, he laid himself down. 
 He was very restless, as if unable to sleep. 
 Finally, Bertie said: 
 
 "What do you think of what you read?" 
 "Why, I thought you were asleep." 
 " No, I could not go to sleep ; I was anxious 
 about you. I wish very much that you were a 
 Christian." 
 
 "Well, I never knew anjthing about this. 
 
90 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 I heard our priests, of course, saying that the 
 Jesus religion was a bad religion, and that we 
 should go to hell if we left our old worship and 
 became Christians; and I never thouo-ht much 
 about it." 
 
 "Well, jou will think about it now, won't 
 you?" 
 
 "Yes, I will.'' 
 
 " Will you let me make you a present of my 
 Testament?" said Bertie. "I can easily get 
 another when we get to Kob^." 
 
 "Yes; and I thank you very much." 
 
 This was the end of the conversation, but 
 not the end of Sasaki's interest in Christian- 
 ity. For, after they had returned to America, 
 Mr. Anson received a letter from one of the 
 missionaries in Kioto, saying that a few days 
 after they had gone he happened to meet Sasaki. 
 AYhen he mentioned that he was a missionary, 
 Sasaki drew out Bertie's Testament and asked if 
 that was his religion. On being told that it was, 
 Sasaki asked if he might ask some questions. 
 
THE SACRED CITY OF KIOTO. 91 
 
 The missionaiy encouraged and helped him, in- 
 vited him to his school and home and church ; 
 and, it resulted, after several months of patient 
 inquiry on Sasaki's part, in his becoming a 
 Christian. 
 
 On sliding aside the windows, the next morn- 
 ing, Mrs. Anson was surprised at the charming 
 view. The grand old spreading fir-trees, the 
 lovely garden, the richly wooded slope beyond, 
 and between was the plain of the vast cit}', with 
 its beautifully proportioned and elegantly shaped 
 pagodas rising every here and there in and 
 about the city. For some time she stood en- 
 joying the scene; then calling Mr. Anson and 
 Bessie, they sat upon the balcony and watched 
 the scene below them. In one of the little 
 dwellings at the foot of the hill, the doors had 
 all been pushed aside, and the woman of the 
 house was bustling about getting the breakfast 
 ready. Soon she was joined by her husband 
 and child, and they saw them stepping to one 
 side of the room where the husband pushed 
 
92 THE AXSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 aside the doors of the god-shelf, on which were 
 some images, and below the shelf, in the recess, 
 was hanging a scroll picture of the Seven House- 
 hold Gods. Offerings were placed on the shelf, 
 they bowed in prayer, and then turned to the 
 morning meal. Later in the day, Bertie, at 
 Bessie's request, bought a scroll like that in the 
 servant's house, and another with the picture of 
 the foremost of the Household Gods, Fukuroku 
 Jin, the god who gives long life to his worshipers. 
 He has a great, tall head, grown very large by 
 thinking so much. His eyebrows and beard 
 are white and snowy. The tortoise and the 
 crane are Fukuroku Jin's pets. Sasaki pointed 
 to the graceful form of the goose in the picture, 
 and said: 
 
 "Do you know that when we Japanese wish 
 to compliment a person, we compare him to the 
 wild goose?" 
 
 After breakfast they went for a day's picnic 
 to the Eastern Mountains, the Higashi Yama, for 
 Mr. Anson thought that if they could get a bird's- 
 
THE SACRED CITY OF KIOTO. 93 
 
 eye view of the city and surrounding country, 
 they would much more enjoy their rambles 
 through the city and among its temples. This 
 opinion proved correct. A magnificent prospect 
 over town and country was spread before them. 
 The city stretches north and south, and the 
 streets are laid out like those of Philadelphia, 
 in regular right angles. 
 
 Kioto has nearly three hundred thousand in- 
 habitants, and over a thousand temples. It 
 began to be an important place about eleven 
 hundred years since. Away in the northern 
 section of the city is the palace, while in the 
 extreme south the railroad station could be 
 plainly seen, and the railroad stretching away, a 
 glittering thread, towards Kob6. Not far from 
 the station, the monstrous temple of Nishi 
 Hongwanji could be plainly seen, and other 
 temples and pagodas scattered hither and thither. 
 
 Well on in tlie afternoon, the picnickers 
 returned to tlie city. At the hotel they found 
 a number of curio dealers waiting to sell to the 
 
94 THE AKSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 foreigners curiosities in bronze and bamboo, iu 
 ivory and silk, works of art and ornament, as 
 well as useful objects. By Sasaki's advice, Mr. 
 Anson bought nothing of them, but waited 
 until he could go out among the stores. Besides 
 the fact that these dealers asked a much higher 
 price than the articles were worth, they were not 
 such as Mr. Anson wished to carry home with 
 him. 
 
 In the early evening they took a stroll among 
 the stores, T\here Mr. Anson purchased a number 
 of discarded idols, and where he secured a large 
 number of volumes of picture books with en- 
 gravings by famous Japanese artists, chief of 
 whom was Hokusai. The next day they had 
 planned to visit the temple of the Hongwanji, 
 but it rained steadily all day, so that they were 
 kept house-bound. This gave them a chance to 
 write up their letters, and to examine, with 
 Sasaki's help, the picture books they had 
 bought. Hour after hour passed rapidly away 
 in this pleasant occupation. Sasaki had stories 
 
(9GJ 
 
THE SACRED CITY OF KIOTO. 97 
 
 to tell concerning most of the pictures — fables, 
 parables, and historic occurrences. The re- 
 ligious element of the Japanese nature appeared 
 in almost every picture, and very much informa- 
 tion concerning their religious views was gained 
 from the pictures. One curious work was 
 Hokusai's "One Hundred Views of Mount 
 Fuji,'' another was his "Man Girafu,'' or "Ten 
 Thousand Pictures.'' In one of these books, 
 Bertie noticed a picture of a man driving the 
 devils out of his house, on the eve of the New 
 Year, with beans that had been blessed by the 
 priest. This Hokusai is the most famous and 
 most popular of all Japanese artists. 
 
 When Bertie rose the next morning, he went 
 quickly to see how the weather might be, for one 
 rainy day in a Japanese hotel is quite enough to 
 tax one's patience. He was delighted to find 
 the air wondrously pure and the sky clear, while 
 a strong breeze was rapidly drying up the mud. 
 
 The next few days were spent in visiting the 
 most noted temples under Sasaki's guidance. 
 
 G 
 
98 THE ARSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 From Kobe, Bertie wrote to his Sunday-school 
 teacher about their visit to one of the most 
 famous of Kioto's temples, that of the Nishi 
 Hongwanji : 
 
 ^'My Deae Teacher: Since we came to 
 Kioto, I have seen so many beautiful temples 
 and so many curious things, that I hardly know 
 where to begin in writing to you. Before I 
 write of our sight-seeing, I want to tell you that 
 the young Japanese who is our guide seems in- 
 terested in Christianity, and he often reads in my 
 Testament. The day before we left Kioto, we 
 went to the great temple of the Hongwanji. 
 Sasaki, our guide, tells me that in the year 1262, 
 a man named Shinran Shonin, a sort of Martin 
 Luther, founded a sect called the Monto sect, as 
 a protest against the ritualistic habits of some 
 other Buddhists. The Monto sect is the most 
 powerful sect in all Japan ; some of its priests 
 have studied in England. The Monto sect has 
 temples in all the great cities, with vast en- 
 closures and huge sweeping roofs. 
 
THE SACKED CITY OF KIOTO. 99 
 
 " When we went to see this temple, we saw also 
 the great priest, Akamatz; he spoke a few words 
 to us in very pure English. It is a beautiful 
 temple. The walls have golden panels, or, 
 rather, the sliding doors are covered with gold- 
 leaf, with pictures of birds and flowers painted 
 upon them. The roof is held up by round 
 pillars made of kinohi, or sun- wood. The altar 
 is painted in black lacquer, the same that we see 
 on the beautiful Japanese trays and cabinets. 
 The shrine is very beautiful. I asked Sasaki 
 where the idols were, and he told me that they 
 did not have any, for the Monto sect does not 
 believe in idol worship. Yet I remember that 
 in the Monto Temple in Tokio they had one 
 idol, which, we were told, was the quintessence 
 of all the gods. It is a vast, dim, silent temple. 
 I noticed that one flower in particular was 
 painted on the walls, and cast in bronze; papa 
 said that it was a lotus flower, and the priest 
 said that it meant purity; for, as purity grows 
 out of the filth of men's hearts, so the lotus 
 
100 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 grows out of slime and mud. Out in the 
 gardens were many very beautiful objects, but 
 they had nothing to do with the temple. 
 
 " Yester- 
 
 HIOGO BUDDHA. 
 
 day we took 
 a trip to 
 Hiogo, and 
 Ave saw the 
 
 beautiful image of Buddha, a photograph of 
 which I send to you in this letter. 
 
THE SACRED CITY OF KIOTO. 101 
 
 " We often talk about home, and when we get 
 back I shall have many things to show you and 
 to tell you. 
 
 "Your affectionate scholar, 
 
 "Bertie Anson." 
 
CHAPTER YII. 
 
 TO THE LAND OF TEAS AND QUEUES. 
 
 "XT' ARLY one morniug, a day or two later, tlie 
 steamer sailed from Kob^ for Shanghai, 
 China. Though the steamer would sail for 
 some days to come within the limits of the 
 Empire of Japan, and though the Ansons 
 would once more set foot on Japanese soil, 
 yet the visit to Japan was practically over. 
 As they leaned over the stern of the steamer, 
 watching the fast disappearing houses of Kob^, 
 the entire family seemed to be absorbed in 
 thought. 
 
 "I wonder if I shall ever see Japan again,'' 
 said Bertie to himself. " I hope so, for I feel as 
 if I was leaving home. I wonder how Sasaki 
 will get along. I hope that he will become a 
 Christian. If he does, why, may-be I have had 
 something to do with it. Perhaps I can come 
 
 103 
 
TO THE LAND OF TEAS AKD QUEUES. 103 
 
 back, when I get to be a man, as a missionary to 
 Japan." 
 
 The steamer was named the Hiroshima Maru, 
 and carried, at the mast-head, the flag of the 
 company to which she belonged, a company 
 composed entirely of Japanese, the Mitsii Bishi 
 Company, whose symbol is but a translation of 
 its name, three diamonds arranged with their 
 points touching. The steamer was a side- 
 wheeler, with comfortable, airy cabins; not so 
 large nor so fast as the screw-propellers, but 
 much more comfortable, except in severe storms. 
 
 After leaving Kobe, the steamer ploughed its 
 way through the Inland Sea of Japan, famed 
 for its beautiful scenery. It was like a great 
 lake, yet, in reality, it was but an inlet of the 
 ocean. Through the w^liole two hundred and 
 fifty miles of its length, one can always see the 
 shore, and often the steamer approaches quite 
 close to it. Fleets of junks were passed, and 
 once a small steamer plying between Nagasaki, 
 Simoneseki, and Kobe. Simoneseki is at the 
 
104 THE ARSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 other end of the Inland Sea, but since foreigners 
 are not permitted to land there, it not being an 
 open port, the Ansons had to be content with the 
 view from the steamer's deck. But as they 
 were to have a day and a half in Nagasaki, 
 they did not mind the loss. 
 
 The harbor of Nagasaki is very much like 
 the harbor of Rio Janeiro, in South America. 
 It is a bay surrounded by wooded hills, Avith its 
 mouth seaward; just in the opening, a sort of 
 natural breakwater, lies the Island of Pappen- 
 berg. 
 
 "Have you ever heard the story of that 
 island,'' asked Mr. Anson. 
 
 " It seems to me that I have heard the name, 
 and I remember thinking that it sounded unlike 
 a Japanese word; but I don't remember the 
 story," said Mrs. Anson. 
 
 " Oh, tell it, papa," Bertie and Bessie asked, 
 in the same breath. 
 
 "Suppose we wait until we get ashore, then 
 we will climb up the hills where we can get a 
 
TO THE LAND OF TEAS AND QUEUES. 105 
 
 good view of the island, when I will tell it to 
 you." 
 
 Since they were not encumbered with baggage, 
 the Ansons had no difficulty in speedily getting 
 ashore. For several hours they strolled through 
 the narrow streets of Nagasaki, among its one- 
 storied houses. Back from the houses, at the 
 foot of the hill, they came to the Temple of 
 The Ever-merciful Buddha, with its gigantic 
 roofs. 
 
 Ascending the well-worn stone steps, they 
 were soon inside the temple, where worship was 
 just about to begin. Clouds of incense filled 
 the air, and the long-drawn, oft-repeated prayer, 
 Namu Amida Butsee, was heard. The peo- 
 ple began to count the beads upon their rosa- 
 rfes, the priests to beat the drums, while the 
 chief priest proceeded to raise the veil before 
 the idol. After a little the sacred books were 
 brought by an attendant, and a pile placed by 
 the side of each squatting priest. Then at a 
 signal from the chief priest, all the while in- 
 
106 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 toniDg a prayer, the priests took up volume 
 after volume, and began to swing the leaves 
 open and shut, thus with each volume three 
 times. All the while the chief priest kept 
 tapping some bronze vases before him, with 
 his bawble, while he intoned a prayer and 
 threw incense upon the brazier. When all 
 the books had been opened and shut — in their 
 estimation, just as good as reading them all 
 through — the veil was drawn before the shrine, 
 and the service was over for the day. In the 
 rear of the temple they saw an old grave- 
 yard, in which were grave-stones with the sym- 
 bol of the lotus flower, and, fi-equently, a San- 
 skrit letter. 
 
 After a luncheon of fish and rice, with a few 
 biscuits and some condensed milk, the Ansons, 
 guided by one of the coolies, climbed the steep 
 hill in the rear of the town. This was arrang^ed 
 in great steps, and was cultivated all the way to 
 the top. From the summit a beautiful view of 
 the city and harbor was to be had. As they 
 
TO THE LAND OF TEAS AND QUEUES. 107 
 
 settled around Mr. Anson in a group, Bertie re- 
 minded him of the promised story. 
 
 " I hardly know where to begin," said Mr. 
 Anson; "but I judge that the best place will be 
 the coming of St. Francis Xavier to Japan. 
 Do you remember hearing that name before, 
 Bertie?" 
 
 " Yes, sir ; he was one of the followers of the 
 Jesuit, Loyola, and they sometimes call him the 
 Apostle to the Indies. Was he ever in Japan ? " 
 
 "Yes, over two hundred and thirty years ago 
 he came to Christianize Japan." 
 
 " But," interrupted Bertie, " I thought you 
 said, papa, when we were in Tokio, that it was 
 only about thirty years since foreigners were 
 permitted to come to Japan." 
 
 "True enough, as to more recent times; but 
 several hundred years ago foreigners, the Dutch 
 and the Portuguese, in particular, were allowed 
 to live in Japan, and to trade with the Japanese. 
 My story is connected with both peoples, and 
 shows how it came about that for a great many 
 
108 THE A:N^S0NS in ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 years, until 1853, in fact, foreigners were for- 
 bidden to come to Japan." 
 
 " Who forbade them, papa?" 
 
 " Why, the Japanese, of course ; for they 
 have always been their own masters. Two 
 hundred and fifty years ago the Dutch and the 
 Portuguese were great sailors and traders; they 
 discovered many countries, and opened up com- 
 merce with many others already known. These 
 two nations were rivals, and in their rivalry 
 often said bitter words of one another. The 
 Portuguese were the first to come to Japan, 
 and the Dutch came not long after. The 
 Dutch did nothing at all to Christianize the 
 Japanese ; but the Portuguese were very earnest 
 in this work. In the year 1549, Francis Xavier 
 came to Japan, and in thirty or forty years it 
 was said that there were not less than five 
 hundred thousand converts to Christianity. 
 Some of the princes were converted, and were 
 very zealous Roman Catholics, anxious to do 
 almost anything to make their people, too, 
 
TO THE LAND OF TEAS AND QUEUES. 109 
 
 become Roman Catholics. The Dutch noticed 
 the success of the Portuguese, and, in their 
 jealousy, tried to find occasion to put a check 
 to it. They were not long in finding a reason ; 
 for an embassy to Kome and some rather boast- 
 ful declarations on the part of some of the 
 Japanese princes, gave the Dutch a chance to 
 suggest that the Portuguese priests were plot- 
 ting to make Japan a part of the possession 
 of the Roman Catholic Church, under the con- 
 trol of Portugal. Possibly there was good 
 ground for the suggestion. At any rate, it 
 was enough to inspire the Japanese rulers with 
 the determination to check the progress of the 
 Portuguese, and to utterly extinguish Chris- 
 tianity in Japan. 
 
 '^ Do you notice," continued Mr. Anson, ^' that 
 the Island of Pappenberg, lying in the mouth 
 of the bay, has one side like a precipice? Well, 
 from that steep rock thousands and thousands of 
 Japanese Roman Catholics were hurled to death, 
 just because they were Christians. About this 
 
110 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 time, in the whole country, nearly a hundred 
 thousand Christians were killed, the remainder 
 forsaking, either really or only apparently, their 
 Christian faith. Then an edict was issued, for- 
 bidding the people to own Bibles or to worship 
 Jesus, under pain of death, and commanding 
 them to trample under foot the cross and every 
 other Christian symbol. It was only a dozen 
 years ago that these edict-boards were taken 
 down, though for a few years before the edict 
 was a dead letter. We will go off to Pappen- 
 berg, if we have time to-morrow, and you can 
 see close at hand the rock of death where so 
 many perished." 
 
 "There is another little island of which I 
 have read, Dcshima; where is that?" asked 
 Mrs. Anson. 
 
 " That little island, lying yonder, not far from 
 shore, about six or seven hundred yards square, 
 is the one you mean. When the Japanese ex- 
 pelled Christianity and drove out the Portu- 
 guese, they gave the Dutch permission to live on 
 
TO THE LAND OF TEAS ANB QUEUES. Ill 
 
 that little island. They could only leave the 
 island once in three years to go up to Tokio. 
 Only one ship a year was allowed to come to 
 them in Japan from Holland. Tliere was a 
 bridge from the shore to the island, where 
 Japanese soldiers always stood on guard. From 
 that day until the American sailor, Commodore 
 Perry, came to Japan, in 1853, foreigners have 
 been forbidden to- land in Japan.'' 
 
 The next day was too stormy to permit of 
 any excursion, and the family soon sought their 
 quarters on the steamer, which were more pleas- 
 ant, on a rainy day, than the Japanese hotel on 
 shore. The work of putting in coal continued, 
 tlie almost naked coolies not minding the rain. 
 So tlie vessel was ready to steam out of port in 
 the afternoon. Generally, it takes but two days 
 to get across from ISTagasaki to Shanghai. The 
 rain continued all night, pouring incessantly. 
 Somewhere towards morning, the passengers 
 were awakened by the tossing and heaving of 
 the vessel, and — which is almost always noticed 
 
112 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 immediately when it happens — by the silence 
 of the great engine. 
 
 "What's the matter ?'' called out Bessie, in 
 distress. 
 
 " I don't know, my dear ; I will get up and 
 see," answered Mr. Anson. " You all lie still 
 until I come back.'' 
 
 To lie still was no easy task, for the vessel 
 was heaving so heavily that it threatened to spill 
 them out of their berths. In the pantry they 
 could hear dishes crashing. Overhead, sailors 
 were calling to one another in hoarse tones, and 
 the howling wind seemed almost immediately to 
 carry away the sound of their voices. In fear 
 and trembling, while Mr. Anson was away, 
 Mrs. Anson and Bessie waited. 
 
 "We are in a cyclone," were Mr. Anson's 
 first words, as, accompanied by a watchman 
 bringing a light, he returned. 
 
 "Why don't they go on?" asked Mrs. Anson. 
 
 "Because the rolling of the ship keeps one 
 wheel almost always out of the water, and so 
 
TO THE LAND OF TEAS AND QUEUES. 113 
 
 we could make no progress if the engine was in 
 motion. ^^ 
 
 " Is there any clanger ? " 
 
 " Yes, we may get caught in the very centre 
 of the cyclone, and then it would be all up with 
 us. But the captain thiuks that' we are only in 
 the outer edge of it; and so by laying to, we 
 shall escape more serious damage." 
 
 ^^ More serious damage? Why, what damage 
 is done ? " 
 
 " Two of the small boats were washed away, 
 and, while I was looking out of the window, I 
 chanced to glance up into the rigging. As I 
 was looking at the sailors furling the sails, I 
 saw one — a Japanese, I think, he must have 
 been — -when a sudden wind struck the ship, 
 loosen his grasp and fall into the water. In a 
 moment the waves had washed him far from 
 help." 
 
 "Oh, horrible! and we may have to go 
 through that !" exclaimed Mrs. Anson. 
 
 "My dear, let us remember that we are in 
 
 H 
 
114 THE ANSOIS^S IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 our Father's care, and whether we live or die, he 
 will not forsake us. Both we and our childi'en, 
 thank God, are trusting in the Saviour, and 
 death is not a dread enemy to us, since Jesus 
 has taken away his power. But we do not ex- 
 pect to die yet. The captain said, as another 
 passenger told me, that while the situation was 
 serious, and we were in some danger, yet we 
 shall probably come through all right.'' 
 
 Just then some heavy tramping was heard in 
 the dining-room adjoining, and Mr. Anson, go- 
 ing out, met the first officer, who said, in answer 
 to his question: 
 
 "Yes, we are all right now. Pretty soon we 
 shall begin to go ahead again. It was a severe 
 blow, and very trying on this old tub of a vessel ; 
 but we only caught the tail end of the typhoon." 
 
 Mr. Anson returned to the state-room. And, 
 after tucking pillows under the edges of the mat- 
 tresses of Bessie and Mrs. Anson, to prevent 
 their being rolled out, climbed to his own berth, 
 and, with a trunk strap, made himself secure. 
 
TO THE LAND OF TEAS AKD QUEUES. 115 
 
 " Well, ^vell/' thought he, " Bertie must sleep 
 soundly ; I did not hear a word from him as I 
 passed his state-room door/' 
 
 Soon the thug-thug of the engine was heard, 
 and, while the steamer continued to pitch up and 
 down considerably, it was easy to be seen that 
 the motion was getting less and less violent. 
 
 In the morning, Bertie was early upon deck. 
 The sun shone clearly, the air seemed wondrous 
 pure, the waves ran low, and there was scarce a 
 sign of a storm. When his father joined him, 
 he said: 
 
 ^' HoAv is it that the storm didn't awaken you, 
 Bertie?'' 
 
 "Storm, why, was there a storm? I didn't 
 know it." 
 
 "Yes, a very heavy one." 
 
 ' I dreamed that I was being tossed up in a 
 blanket, just as we used to be at Mrs. Penrose's 
 schcol, when we cut up our capers. I suppose 
 the storm made me dream that way." 
 
 "So you slept soundly, eh, my boy," said the 
 
116 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 captain, who had come up behind Bertie; " well, 
 you would make a good sailor." 
 
 This day and the next passed quietly away, 
 until towards evening, when the vessel steamed 
 into the mouth of the Yang-tse-kiang, and an 
 hour or so after, into the Woosung Eiver. 
 About two hours later they were anchored be- 
 fore Shanghai, and soon the Ansons had set foot 
 upon the soil of the great Chinese Empire. 
 
 Mr. Anson secured rooms in an American 
 Hotel in Shanghai, for he' had determined, 
 while showing every appreciation of the hos- 
 pitality of the missionaries, not to thrust him- 
 self and his family upon them. Early the next 
 morning, some of the missionaries, who had seen 
 the notice of the arrival of the Hiroshima Maru 
 and its list of passengers in the daily paper, 
 called upon Mr. Anson and gave him and his 
 family a cordial welcome to China. Mr. Anson 
 had only vaguely outlined his visit to China, 
 rightly judging that the missionaries could aid 
 him with their advice. After quite a consulta- 
 
TO THE LAND OF TEAS AND QUEUES. 117 
 
 tion with several well-traveled missioDaries, he 
 determined first to visit Pekin, the capital, and 
 later on to visit Hong-Kong and Canton; and 
 if the opposition to foreigners had so far sub- 
 sided as to permit of it, to go up the Canton 
 Kiver some distance. 
 
CHAPTER yill. 
 
 FROM SHANGHAI TO PEKIN. 
 
 TN Shanghai the foreign population live along 
 the river front, and the Chinese back from 
 the river. The foreign section has separate di- 
 visions for the American, English, and French 
 residents. The foreigners' residences are sepa- 
 rated by neat gardens; but the Chinese crowd as 
 closely together as possible. There is no country 
 in the world where the people are so thickly 
 packed together as in China, and' instead of 
 working them harm, they seem to thrive upon 
 it. 
 
 Just as soon as possible, the Ansons paid a 
 visit to the Chinese city of Shanghai. Bessie, 
 in a note to one of her school friends, wrote of 
 their first visit : 
 
 "I think this is the dirtiest city we have ever 
 
 been in. The streets are narrow and dark, and 
 
 118 
 
FEOM SHANGHAI TO PEKIN. 119 
 
 not like those in Japan. The stores are only- 
 big boxes, and the people who sell to you are 
 not at all polite. Whenever we stopped at a 
 shop the Chinese gathered around us; and they 
 pushed and shoved us, and laughed at us, and 
 called us ^Fan Kwai.' Some one told us after- 
 ward that this means Foreign Devil. They 
 were ever so much ruder than the Japanese. 
 I am almost sorry that we came here; but papa 
 says that we shall enjoy ourselves better the 
 longer we stay, and the more accustomed we 
 become to the ways of the people. One of the 
 missionaries says that many of the Chinese call 
 foreigners ^devils' more from habit than because 
 they really mean it. Often, as we went along , 
 the streets, I had to hold my handkerchief to 
 my nose, because the smell was so bad. We 
 took some tea once in awhile, and that did not 
 taste badly. Often we were pushed up against 
 the walls of the houses as some ^ coolies,' as they 
 call the men who carry burdens, came along 
 carrying some big bundles hung from the ends of 
 
120 THE ANSOXS Ili ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 a pole that rested on their shoulders. The peo' 
 pie seem to carry almost everything in this way. 
 I saw a ' sedan-chair ' carried on the shoulders 
 of four men ; papa is going to let me ride in one 
 some day. To-morrow we are going to Pekin." 
 
 Bertie wrote a characteristic letter concerning 
 what he saw, to one of his chums: 
 
 "This is a funny country, I tell you. Every- 
 thing is upside down and wrong end foremost. 
 The signs read from the top to the bottom, aud 
 not from left to right, as at home. The letters 
 are words and the words letters, and they look 
 just like the marks on the tea-chests, and on 
 the packages of fire-crackers. The men wear 
 slippers with soles an inch thick, and they 
 hlackefii their soles with cJicdk. The men wear 
 petticoats and the women trousers. When peo- 
 ple, meet, they shake their own hands and not 
 one another's. The sign of respect- is not to *^ 
 take off your hat, but to pull off your shoes. 
 And there are ever so many queer ways of work- 
 ing. The 'boy' — that is what foreigners always 
 
FROM SHANGHAI TO PEKIN. 121 
 
 call men servants^— says in his ^ pigeon Euglish ' 
 that it is we who are upside down, and not the 
 Chinese. It is fanny, Bob, to hear a Chinaman 
 talk 'pigeon English;' jyigeoii is their way of 
 saying business. They think that this sort of 
 talk is a sign of great learning on their part. 
 I will copy you a few verses from a 'Chinese 
 pigeon English ' version of the poem we used to 
 declaim at school, Excelsior: 
 
 "top-side galah !" 
 
 That nightee teem he come chop-chop, 
 One young man walkee — no can stop ; 
 Maskee snow, maskee ice ; 
 He cally flag wit 'h chop so nice — 
 " Top-side Galah ! " 
 
 He muchee solly ; one piecee eye 
 Lookee shalp — so fashion — ^my ; 
 He talkee lalge, he talkee stlong, 
 Too muchee culio ; allee same gong — 
 "Top-side Galah!" 
 
 Insidee house he can see light, 
 ^ And eviy loom got file all light ; 
 He lookee, plenty ice move high, 
 Insidee mouth he plenty cly — 
 
 "Top-side Galah!" 
 
122 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES- 
 
 Olo man talkee. " No can walk," 
 Bimeby lain come, velly dalk ; 
 ' ' Have got watel, velly wide ! ' ' 
 Maskee, my must go top-side — 
 
 " Top-side aalah!" 
 
 And so it goes on. Isn't it queer, that a 
 Chinaman can't pronounce r, but says I instead, 
 as velly for very ; while a Japanese cannot pro- 
 nounce I, but says r instead, as ramp for lamp. 
 Papa brought another piece of ^ pigeon English' 
 about the Bamboo ; it begins : 
 
 One piecee thing that my have got, 
 Maskee that thing my no can do, 
 You talkee you no sabee what ? 
 
 Bamboo. 
 
 And so it goes on. It all sounds funny. To- 
 morrow we are going to start for Pekin. We 
 go by steamer up the coast, until we reach Tien 
 tsin, near the mouth of the Peiho River. Good- 
 bye, Bob. Remember me to all the boys." 
 
 At the mouth of the Peiho, the steamer passed 
 the Taku forts, celebrated in the attack of the 
 British men-of-war, in 1859. All the way up 
 from Taku to Tien -tsin the river was crowded 
 
FROM SHANGHAI TO PEKIX. 123 
 
 with juuks and sampans, or small boats. The 
 Grand Canal begins at Tieu-tsin. Our travelers 
 were impatient to be in Pekin, about two days' 
 journey — about ninety miles — from Tien-tsin. 
 So, bright and early the day after landing, Bertie 
 and his father took ponies, and Bessie and Mrs. 
 Anson rode in a kind of sedan-chair carried by 
 mules. On another pony their baggage and pro- 
 visions were strapped. It took nearly a day 
 after their arrival in Pekin before the aches and 
 pains, brought on by the two days' ride, had left 
 them. There is a kind of carriage used in Pekin 
 that is drawn by a horse. In summer, the Chi- 
 nese put up a cover over both horse and cart. 
 
 Pekin is one of the largest cities in the world ; 
 for it has a population of about two millions. 
 There are really two cities in one: the Tartar 
 city and the Chinese city, separated from each 
 other by a high wall. The whole city is sur- 
 rounded by high walls, and has thirteen gates. 
 The Chinese city has three separate enclosures, 
 one within the other; in the outer circle are 
 
124 THE ANSOXS IX ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 ordinary shops and dwellings; within the second 
 are the government offices and some private resi- 
 
 TEMPLE OF HEAVEN, PEKJN. 
 
 dences ; while within the heart of the city is the 
 imperial palace and also the imperial temples. 
 Each one of these circles has a high wall about 
 
FROM SHANGHAI TO PEKIN. 125 
 
 it. The temples within the inner circle are the 
 most splendid in all China; they are devoted to 
 the worship of the sun, the moon, and the earth; 
 to farming, business, and the like. The most 
 splendid of all is the Temple of Heaven, as for- 
 eigners call it. After some difficulty and delay, 
 Mr. Anson managed to get a special permission, 
 admitting the family to see the temples and a 
 part of the palace. Mr. Anson asked one of the 
 missionaries in Pekin to write out for him a 
 sketch of the Temple of Heaven and the wor- 
 ship there: 
 
 "The imperial worship of Shang-te — the Su- 
 preme Being — on the round hillock in the south- 
 em part of the enclosure is attended with all the 
 solemnity of which such an occasion is capable. 
 The altar is a beautiful marble structure, as- 
 cended by twenty-seven steps ; a balustrade sur- 
 rounds each terrace. On the upper of these 
 three terraces are five tables, or altars, on which 
 the offerings to Shang-te are laid. On another 
 terrace stands the conspicuous Temple of Agri- 
 
126 THE ANSOKS IN ASIATIC TE^rPLES. 
 
 culture. On the day before the annual sacrifices 
 at the Winter Solstice, the Emperor goes to the 
 Hall of Fasting. Here he spends the night in 
 watching and meditation, after first inspecting 
 the offerings. There are no images here, nothing 
 but tablets. The southern altar, the most im- 
 portant of all Chinese religious buildings, is on 
 a triple circular terrace, two hundred and ten 
 feet across at the base, and ninety feet across at 
 the top. The terraces are between five and six 
 feet high. The temple itself is a three-storied 
 structure, just ninety-nine feet high. The roofs 
 are covered with tiles of a sky-blue color. At 
 the time of sacrificing, the tablets to Heaven and 
 to the Emperor's ancestors are placed on an altar 
 within the temple. The Emperor kneels upon 
 the central stone of a platform of nine marble 
 flao;s, so he seems to himself and his court — 
 while in the very centre of the central Temple 
 of the central (^Middle') kingdom, of the cen- 
 tral planet — to be in the very centre of the uni- 
 verse. By kneeling, he acknowledges that he is 
 
FROM SHANGHAI TO PEKIN. 127 
 
 inferior to Heaven, and to Heaven alone. Sac- 
 rifices are offered to the dead ancestors, but to 
 Heaven (^Shang-te') is offered a piece of blue 
 jade stone, about a foot long, as a symbol of 
 sovereignty. A whole burnt offering is also sac- 
 rificed to Heaven/' 
 
 Confucius has some temples in the neighbor- 
 hood of the Temple of Heaven. He was the 
 religious-political reformer who lived about five 
 hundred years before Christ, just a century later 
 than Daniel. He was held in high repute for 
 his wonderful wisdom, and his books are yet 
 studied, as containing the very cream of wisdom. 
 Nobody can have a place in ruling the country 
 except he first successfully passes an examination 
 in the writings of Confucius. Bertie heard from 
 some of the missionaries some very curious sto- 
 ries of Chinese school-boys. Here are one or 
 two: 
 
 About twelve hundred years ago there lived a 
 boy named Lei Peh, who, while he was yet 
 young, left school and started for home. On the 
 
128 THE ANSONS IX ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 road he saw an old woman engaged in grinding 
 an iron pestle. Peh asked her what she was 
 doing. She replied, ^'I want to make a needle.'' 
 The reply touched him, and he turned back to 
 school, and applied himself until he had mas- 
 tered the classics of Confucius. Another lad, 
 Sie Ma Wan by name, was accustomed to use a 
 round block of wood for a pillow. When he be- 
 came too sleepy, his pillow would roll, and then 
 he would be awakened and would apply himself 
 to his studies with vigor. Another boy, named 
 Kwang Hung, was so poor that he could not afford 
 a light by which to study. He bored a hole 
 through the partition, and so let in a few rays ot 
 light from his neighbor's candle. With such 
 stories as these the Chinese encourage the boys to 
 study the sacred books of Confucius. 
 
 While rambling around, apart from the rest of 
 the folks, Bertie came upon some strange objects 
 fixed in posts, or lying upon small tables. Every 
 once in awhile a priest would set them a whirl- 
 ing and then go on his way; and another passing 
 
FROM SHANGHAI TO PEKIN. 
 
 129 
 
 priest would do the same. One of these was in 
 a little porch. It consisted of a wooden drum, 
 covered with leather. Upon the leather, strange 
 
 characters were 
 written. Bertie 
 saw that they 
 were not Chinese 
 characters. The 
 leather was stain- 
 ed and dirty, as if 
 it had been much 
 handled. Seeing 
 him curiously 
 examining it, 
 one of the priests, 
 a bright, jolly 
 PRATING machho;. looking man, 
 
 came and said, in broken English : 
 
 "You Melican boy, you sabee dis? You no 
 sabee ? Dis allee same makee pray." 
 
 Here he put his hands together and looked up 
 toward the sky. 
 
130 THE ANSONS IX ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 " Oh, I see/' said Bertie ; " you mean this is a 
 praying machine/' 
 
 "Yes, yes/' replied the priest. 
 
 "What this?" asked Bertie, pointing to the 
 writino; on the leather. 
 
 "That number one good prayer/' and turning 
 it as he spoke and pointing to the words, " Oin 
 tnani padmi hum.'' "Dis no Chinee language; 
 dis writing of — what you say ? — Ind — Ind " 
 
 "India/' added Bertie; "you mean old lan- 
 guage of India?" 
 
 "Yes, old language, long time ago makee 
 speakee, makee writee." 
 
 "What is this?" asked Bertie, taking up one 
 of the praying-wheels which was to be turned in 
 the hand. 
 
 "Dat allee same good prayer. Sposee man 
 turn one time good, one hundred time better, 
 one thousand times he number one good man, go 
 to Joss [he meant to be with God] sure." 
 
 Several weeks were spent in and about Pekin. 
 Every day seemed to bring something new to 
 
FROM SHANGHAI TO PEKIN. 
 
 131 
 
 notice. The dusty, narrow streets were always 
 crowded with people; and Pekin seemed, to our 
 travelers, more noted for its foul odors tlian even 
 Cologne with all the stenches of which Coleridge 
 speaks. Pekin 
 is an ideal Chi- 
 nese city. For- 
 eign influence ^ 
 has but little af- 
 fected it; Chi- 
 nese manners 
 and customs are 
 most easily stud- 
 ied here. The 
 immense crowds 
 of people, and vmmm s?^^^.^^^ 
 
 of all classes, Chinese praying-wheel. 
 
 constantly thronging its highways and byways, 
 are a far more interesting study than any sort 
 of buildings or works of art. 
 
 The street scenes of such a city are most 
 worthy of notice. Trades are rarely ])ursued 
 
132 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 in-doors; even if they are, the fronts of the 
 shops are all open, so that the interior is ex- 
 posed to view. Generally the mechanic plies 
 his business in the streets, and goes about from 
 place to place seeking his customers. Money- 
 changers and musicians, pipe-sellers, and old 
 clothes' dealers, basket-makers, lantern-sellers, 
 and almost every other calling, jostle one 
 another in the crowded and narrow and noisy 
 streets. The cities are so many bee-hives; 
 the buzzing keeps up from early morn until 
 late at night, day after day, almost the year 
 round. The Chinese mechanic knows no day 
 of rest. An occasional feast-day, or a national 
 holiday, or an hour snatched now and then 
 to hasten to the temples, is all of the rest he 
 takes. It is a tread-mill existence, with pre- 
 cious little enjoyment to ease its wearisome 
 plodding. Religion, such as they have, offers 
 to the Chinese no relief here, and little promise 
 of any hereafter. There is no hope for happi- 
 ness, or a respite from exacting toil, for the 
 
(134) 
 
 PAGODA OF TUNG-CHO. 
 
FROM SHANGHAI TO PEKIN. 135 
 
 Chinese workingman. The little children even 
 seem like old folks ; the merry, joyous light of 
 youth dies down very early in life. Wherever 
 the religion of Jesus Christ gets a grasp on the 
 heart, at once there comes a lifting up, notwith- 
 standing that becoming a Christian is sufficient 
 to subject the convert to persecution. This was 
 most apparent to our friends when they met on 
 the Lord's Day in one or another of the mission 
 churches of Pekin. Of course, they could not 
 understand a word that was spoken, but it was 
 easy to see the diiference between the spirit of 
 the worship here and that in the temples. 
 
 On one Monday morning, with some mis- 
 sionary friends, the Ansons paid a visit to 
 the Pagoda of Tung-cho, an hour or two from 
 Pekin. A pagoda is, properly, a relic-house — a 
 high structure, generally solid, built over the 
 relics of some dead Buddhist saints. In China, 
 the many-storied towers erected in temple 
 grounds are generally called pagodas. The 
 one at Tung-cho has thirteen stories, and is 
 
136 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 one hundred and fifty feet high, and one hun- 
 dred and twenty feet around the base. It can 
 be seen miles away from the city. Lighted 
 lanterns are often hung at the corners of each 
 story's roof, and little bells swing from the 
 angles. 
 
 It was of the Porcelain Pagoda of Nankin — 
 whose sides and roofs were covered with yellow, 
 green, red, and white glazed porcelain tiles — ^that 
 Longfellow wrote in his " Keramos.^' Standing 
 beneath the pagoda at Tung-cho, one of the 
 missionaries recited the lines : 
 
 And yonder by Nankin, behold ! 
 
 The Tower of Porcelain, strange and old, 
 
 Uplifting to the astonished skies 
 
 Its nine-fold painted balconies, 
 With balustrades of twining leaves, 
 And roofs of tile, beneath whose eaves 
 
 Hang porcelain bells that all the time 
 Ring with a soft, melodious chime ; 
 While the whole fabric is ablaze 
 
 With varied tints, all fused in one 
 Great mass of color, like a maze 
 
 Of flowers illumined by the sun. 
 
 Unfortunately, this beautiful pagoda was de- 
 stroyed by the Tai Ping rebels in 1860. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 TEE STORY OF ''CniNEHE GORDON." 
 
 TT7HILE the Ansons were yet in Pekin, the 
 mail brought up from Shanghai papers 
 containing the latest news from Egypt, with 
 especial reference to the dangerous position of 
 General Gordon in Khartoum. Every now and 
 then the party had been coming upon ruined 
 buildings and the like, which had been destroyed 
 by the Tai Ping rebels. This led Bertie fre- 
 quently to ask his papa about the Tai Pings. 
 But Mr. Anson knew scarcely more than his 
 son. Fortunately, they were invited one even- 
 ing to take dinner with a veteran missionary 
 and his family. The occasion was too good a 
 one to be lost; and at the first opportunity Mr. 
 Anson began to lead his host to speak of his 
 past life. A reference to Gordon and the Tai 
 
 Pings brought out from the old missionary an 
 
 137 
 
138 THE AJfSOXS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 exceedingly interesting account of Gordon's life 
 in China, especially as to the missionary's own 
 personal acquaintance and interviews w4th Gor- 
 don. 
 
 "It was in September of 1860/' said Dr. 
 Hoddard, "that I first saw- Gordon. I hap- 
 pened to be in Tien-tsin then. It w^as at the 
 time when the French and English Avere ad- 
 vancing upon Pekin. Gordon was then a 
 captain under Sir Hope Grant. Pekin w^as 
 . taken on October 12. A picture of the civiliza- 
 tion of China is given in Gordon's letter, written 
 after the destruction of Pekin's famous palaces: 
 
 " ^ We (i. e., our armies) went out, and after 
 pillaging it, burned the w^hole place, destroying, 
 . in a vandal like manner, most valuable property, 
 which could not be replaced for four millions 
 (of pounds, equal to twenty millions of dollars). 
 You can scarcely imagine the beauty and mag- 
 nificence of the places we burned. The palaces 
 were so large, and w^e w^ere so pressed for time, 
 that we could not plunder them carefully. 
 
THE STORY OF "CHINESE GORDON." 139 
 
 Quantities of gold ornaments were burned, 
 considered as brass. Everybody was wild for 
 plunder. You would scarcely conceive the mag- 
 nificence of this residence (the Summer Palace), 
 or the tremendous devastation the French have 
 committed. The throne and room were lined 
 with ebony, carved in a marvelous way. There 
 w^ere huge mirrors of all shapes and kinds, 
 clocks, watches, musical boxes, magnificent 
 china of every description, heaps and heaps 
 of silks of all colors, embroidery, and as much 
 splendor and civilization as you would see at 
 Windsor; carved ivory screens, coral screens, 
 large amounts of treasure, etc. The French 
 have smashed everything in a wanton way.'" 
 
 "What was the cause of this war?" asked 
 Mr. Anson. 
 
 "It is a long story," said Dr. Hoddai'd; 
 "but I will tell it to you in brief. In October, 
 1856, a Chinese vessel, the ^Arrow,' carrj^ing 
 the British flag, was boarded by Chinese officers. 
 This was the cause of British hostilities against 
 
140 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 tlie Chinese. As for the French, a Roman 
 Catholic missionary, M. Chapdelaine, had been 
 murdered by Chinese in the province of K^vang- 
 si. The United States had nothing to do with 
 
 WORSHIP OF ANCESTOKS. 
 
 these troubles, and so refused to enter into an 
 alliance ag-ainst China. But to return to Gordon. 
 I am glad you asked about him, for he is a rare 
 Christian soldier and an earnest friend of mis- 
 sions. He was brought into such relations to 
 the Chinese Government that, by his personal 
 
THE STOIiY OF "CHINESE GORDON." 141 
 
 influence, he greatly aided in advancing the 
 welfare of Chinese Christians; but, above all, he 
 played so important a part in the putting down 
 of the Tai Ping rebellion, that he became famous 
 as a Christian soldier." 
 
 "What was the Tai Ping rebellion?" asked 
 Bertie. "We heard of that when we were 
 talking of pagodas, beneath the thirteen-storied 
 pagoda of Tung-cho, and often friends have 
 shown us traces of the work of the Tai Pings,' 
 as they have said." 
 
 " Why do they call General Gordon ^ Chinese 
 Gordon?'" interrupted Bessie. 
 
 " I will answer both questions at once. They 
 call Gordon, ^Chinese Gordon,' because of his 
 part in putting down the Tai Ping rebellion, as 
 the leader of the ' Ever- victorious Army,' a body 
 of Chinese soldiers. The Tai Ping rebellion 
 really had a very singular history. Once a 
 peasant named Hung Siu-tseuen visited Canton, 
 and heard a foreign Protestant missionary preach- 
 ing in the streets. The tract distributor who 
 
142 THE AKSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 was with the missionaiy gave the peasant a book 
 of sermons hy a Chinese convert, entitled ^Good 
 Words for Exhorting the Age.' When he 
 reached home. Hung looked through the volume 
 and then laid it in his bookcase, to be forgotten 
 for some few years. This was about 1833. 
 Hung tried to get into a government office, but 
 failed. After a few years the Opium War broke 
 out, and Hung saw the wonderful fire-ships of 
 the westerners. He became curious to learn 
 about the religious views of these powerful west- 
 ern nations, and once more took down the little 
 book. He had had some strano;e visions about 
 six years before, and he thought he found the 
 key to them in the little book ; he had dreamed 
 that a voice from heaven had summoned him to 
 destroy all idols and to uproot idolatry. He and 
 one of his first converts, named Fung Yun-san, 
 became zealous preachers. An American Baptist 
 missionary, Mr. I. J. Roberts, treated the con- 
 verts with suspicion. But Hung went back and 
 Umght his converts how to baptiz3. The con- 
 
THE STORY OF *' CHINESE GORDON." 143 
 
 verts multiplied rap- 
 idly. A great num- 
 ber of idols were de- 
 stroyed. Many of 
 the converts had been 
 made among some 
 warlike people of the 
 province of Kwang- 
 tung, who had for- 
 merly been pirates. 
 Hung declared him- 
 self to be the * Heav- 
 enly Prince/ and his 
 mission to be the 
 establishment of 
 ^Universal Peace/ — 
 which is the meaning 
 of Tai 
 Ping. 
 The 
 ^Hea- 
 
 PORCELAIN PAGODA. 
 
 venly 
 
144 THE AXSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 Army' rapidly increased in strength (just as 
 the ^Salvation Army' has done in England 
 and America), and when they finally gathered 
 together to enter Nankin, where was the famous 
 Porcelain Pagoda, Hung had an army of over 
 ninety thousand followers. The Imperial Chi- 
 nese troops sent to put down the rebellion 
 were beaten in every battle. Before going 
 into the fight, the followers of the Chinese 
 Prophet-King knelt in the open field in prayer. 
 They conquered city after city, and it seemed as if 
 they must sweep the empire. They declared their 
 belief in our Christian Bible, of which they had 
 an imperfect translation in their own language. 
 They observed the Lord's Day, and held religious 
 services. They welcomed Europeans as ' brethren 
 from across the sea,' and fellow-worshipers of 
 * Yesu.' We foreign missionaries tried to reach 
 the Tai Ping leaders, and to teach them the 
 truths of the Christian religion, but our efforts 
 all failed." 
 
 ^' There was one thing I have heard of," said 
 
THE STORY OF "CHINESE GORDON." 145 
 
 Mr. Anson, "of which you have not spoken. 
 The Tai Pings bitterly opposed the use of opium, 
 did they not?'' 
 
 " Yes, indeed,'' replied Dr. Hoddard. " They 
 would not accept of the aid of a body of rebels, 
 when attacking Nankin, because they would 
 neither give up the use of opium, nor renounce 
 idolatry. Possibly this may have had much to 
 do with the fact that England loaned the aid of 
 her soldieiy to repress the rebellion, that she 
 feared to lose China as a market for the opium 
 that she raises in India. It was Gordon's busi- 
 ness to obey orders, I suppose, and this may have 
 been the reason for his taking the part he did in 
 putting down the Tai Pings ; but I think it more 
 likely that the earnest Christian soldier saw that, 
 while a few of the leaders were sincere in their 
 intentions and in their devotion to Christ, the 
 great mass were unchanged in heart, and were 
 only after plunder and power. Probably it was 
 to check their mad destruction of life and prop- 
 erty, and to rescue the fair name of Christianity 
 
146 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 from the stains being put upon it, that Gordon 
 consented to take command of the Chinese sol- 
 diery. In a letter that he wrote to his family 
 March 24, 1863, he says: 'I have taken the 
 step on consideration. I think that any one 
 who contributes to putting down this rebellion 
 fulfills a humane task, and I also think tends a 
 great deal to open China to civilization.' .... 
 ' I can say that if I had not accepted the com- 
 mand, I believe the force would have been 
 broken up and the rebellion gone on in its 
 misery for years. I trust this will not be 
 the case. I think I am doing a good ser- 
 vice.' He was now about thirty yeai^ of age. 
 Armed only with a cane, Gordon led his soldiers 
 into battle. He showed rare courage both in 
 repressing mutiny among his own soldiers and 
 iu attacking the Tai Pings.'' 
 
 " Do you remember, papa," said Bertie, 
 *^ when we were in Philadelphia, that we went 
 to the room of the Baptist Historical Society, 
 and that we saw a chest marked with the name 
 
THE STORY OF "CHINESE GORDON." 147 
 
 of the missionary to whom Himg went for 
 counsel ? Mr. Lincohi told us that he thought 
 that much information about the beginning of 
 the Tai Ping rebellion might be found in the 
 papers in that trunk." 
 
 " I wish that I could see those papers/' said 
 Dr. Hoddard. 
 
 " If my memory serves me, Mr. Lincoln 
 said that the chest was left with the Historical 
 Society on condition that it should not be opened 
 for a certain number of years." 
 
 " To return to Gordon. When the war was 
 over, the Chinese Governor Li offered Gordon a 
 large sum of money above his regular pay. He 
 declined it. He said in truth, *I leave China as 
 poor as when I entered it.' The British Min- 
 ister wrote : ' Lieutenant Colonel Gordon well 
 deserves Her Majesty's favor; for, independently 
 of the skill and courage he has shoAvn, his dis- 
 interestedness has elevated our national character 
 in the eyes of tlie Chinese.' I have heard from 
 many of the Chinese who served under Gor- 
 
148 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 don in one way or another, that he was very 
 pious." 
 
 ''I remember seeing a picture of General 
 Gordon standing with his finger on a map, 
 and with some ragged boys about him," said 
 Bertie. " When was it that he taught them ? " 
 
 " Right after he left China," said Mr. Anson ; 
 "he spent all of his spare time and money in 
 trying to help the ragged boys of London." 
 
 "Where did he go next? and where is he 
 now ? " asked Bertie, thoroughly interested. 
 
 "I supposed," Dr. Hoddard said, "that you 
 had heard of his going to Upper Egypt ; but 
 then, of course, we who know a man, always 
 follow his movements with interest ; and, more- 
 over, you were not born when Gordon was in 
 China." 
 
 "Just now," said Mr. Anson, "he is the 
 central figure in the events occurring in 'Egypt, 
 and all England is talking of him." 
 
 "Yes, he went to Egypt," continued Dr. 
 Hocldard; "and, later, to India and to South 
 
THE STORY OF "CHINESE GOEDON." 149 
 
 Africa, and then, in 1880 he went to China 
 again. Eussia was threatening China with war, 
 and the Chinese were disposed to fight the Kus- 
 sians. Gordon was sent for as adviser. I was 
 standing hy when Governor Li saw Gordon, 
 and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 
 Gordon counseled peace, and the Chinese Gov- 
 ernment accepted his advice.'^ 
 
 ''I suppose you know. Dr. Hoddard, that 
 after his return to England, Gordon was plan- 
 ning to visit the Congo region, in West Africa. 
 You will remember that the International Asso- 
 ciation, under Stanley, has been at work there, 
 until, in 1884, when Stanley returned to Europe. 
 There are some American Baptist mission sta- 
 tions on the Congo, and it could have been 
 wished that Gordon had gone to that region. 
 But he wa.s ordered to South Africa. Later, 
 he visited Palestine." 
 
 "Yes, and yet he was too active a man to 
 go about ^globe-trotting,^ " added Dr. Hoddard. 
 "There was a man, a peasant, who, in the 
 
150 THE ANS0:N^S in ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 Soudan, began a work wonderfully like the 
 work of tlie Tai Ping leader in China. Egypt 
 was in a precarious state, and the English had 
 too much money invested in Egy})t to refuse all 
 needed aid of military forces. So it came about 
 that Gordon was sent out again. In February 
 of 1884, Gordon was once more in Egypt. 
 What he has done since has hardly become a 
 matter of history yet, for I know only what 
 I have read in the uncertain newspaper reports. 
 But Gordon seems to be succeeding in repressing 
 the False Prophet, El Mahdi, of the Soudan. 
 ' He never goes into battle without a prayer for 
 the poor blacks against whom he fights. The 
 slaves he captures he turns into loyal saldiers, 
 giving them their freedom. His ideal is to see 
 every slave in the Soudan set free. He has 
 given to the missionaries of the Church of 
 England every assistance in his power, in go- 
 ing to and from their mission-fields in Central 
 Africa; and has contributed considerable sums 
 of money to their mission work. As a Chris- 
 
THE STOPwY OF "CHINESE GORDON." 151 
 
 tian and a missionary, I tliank God for rais- 
 ing up Charles George Gordon. Plis wonder- 
 ful humility and marked disinterestedness, and 
 remarkable fidelity and dauntless courage, have 
 added lustre to his character as a Christian. 
 We, in China, and they, of Egypt, can point 
 with pride to Gordon as a specimen of the 
 work of Christ's grace in a human soul." 
 
 The evening was well spent when the Anson 
 family, led by Dr. Hoddard's servant, found 
 their way back to their hotel. After several 
 days of sight-seeing, they made preparations 
 for their departure. 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 HOUSEKEEPING IN CANTON. 
 
 /^UE. friends returned by junk to Tien-tsin, 
 down the river, and thence to Shanghai by 
 ocean steamer. At Shanghai they took a French 
 steamer for Hong-Kong. Soon they were among 
 the mountainous islands off the coast; and then, 
 by a picturesque, narrow channel, entered the 
 outer harbor, with the red, rocky hills of the 
 mainland, and the high hills of Hong-Kong on 
 the other. Then, with a sudden turn, the inner 
 harbor was entered, and Hong-Kong lay before 
 them. 
 
 " The city looked magnificent, suggesting Gib- 
 raltar; but far, far finer, its peak, eighteen 
 hundred feet in height — a giant among the 
 lesser peaks — rising abruptly from the sea above 
 the great granite city which clusters upon its 
 lower declivities, looking out from dense greenery 
 
 152 
 
HOUSEKEEPING IN CANTON. 153 
 
 and tropical gardens, and the deep shade of 
 palms and bananas, the lines of many of its 
 streets traced in foliage, all contrasting with the 
 scorched, red soil and barren crags." 
 
 Gre^t warehouses, cathedrals, colleges, and 
 factories came rapidly into view. Ov^er all 
 waved the English flag; for the island belongs 
 to Great Britain. Since Hong-Kong was so 
 plainly a foreign city, and in scarcely any sense 
 a Chinese city, the Ansons determined to move 
 on to Canton. So, after a single night in the 
 hotel at Hong-Kong, they took their places in 
 a great deck-above-deck American river-steam- 
 boat, with three or four other European pas- 
 sengers, and some twelve hundred Chinese 
 passengers. Canton lies about ninety miles up 
 the Canton River from Hong-Kong, and the 
 trip is through a level country, mainly covered 
 with rice fields. To get to the wharf at Canton, 
 it took nearly an hour's careful threading for the 
 steamer to make its way among the boats of all 
 sorts, house- boats, junks, and sampans ^ which 
 
154 THE a:nsons in Asiatic temples. 
 
 filled the river. The boats of Canton are so 
 numerous, that it seemed to Bertie as if fully 
 half the people must live upon the water. The 
 city lies on a level plain, and seems to be full 
 of houses, all packed as closely together as sar- 
 dines in a box. When the steamer reached the 
 wharf, and while the Ansons were watching the 
 crowds of Chinese as they went ashore, Mr. 
 Anson felt some one touch him on the shoulder, 
 and a cheery voice called out: 
 
 "Why, Mr. Anson, how do you do? How 
 do you come to be on this side of the world?" 
 
 "My dear Dr. Balkom, how do you do? I 
 did not expect to see you so soon. I thought 
 that just as soon as we were settled I should 
 hunt you up." 
 
 "But I got the start of you, you see. I saw 
 your arrival mentioned in the Hong-Kong 
 paper that came up during the night, and, 
 while I was not positive, I felt almost sure that 
 it was Anson, my old schoolmate, who had just 
 come in on the French steamer." 
 
HOUSEKEEPING IN CANTON. 155 
 
 Mr. Anson then presented Dr. Balkom to his 
 family, and they prepared to go ashore. 
 
 "Just wait a moment, and I will get chairs 
 for you. Mrs. Balkom will be expecting you 
 and your family, and I will take you home 
 right away." 
 
 "Why, doctor," interrupted Mr. Anson, "we 
 are not expecting to quarter ourselves upon you." 
 
 " We will settle that by-and-by ; but we will 
 get home first, and do our talking there." 
 
 In a few moments Dr. Balkom returned with 
 five bamboo chairs suspended from poles, and a 
 couple of men to carry each chair. He spoke 
 a few words in Chinese, and soon the procession 
 wended its way through the narrow streets 
 down by the river until the missionary quarter 
 was reached. The face of Mrs. Balkom, smil- 
 ing so pleasant a welcome as she met the friends 
 of her husband at the door, seemed to them the 
 most beautiful they had seen since leaving home 
 — the gray hair lying smoothly on either side of 
 the forehead, the calm, serene countenance, the 
 
156 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 patient, yet loving eyes — and her whole bearing 
 seemed so mother-like to them, that it was a bit 
 of home just to meet her. After a little pleas- 
 ant conversation, Mr. Anson said : 
 
 "By the way. Dr. Balkom, what about my 
 baggage? I have forgotten all about that.'^ 
 
 '^ It will be here in a few moments. I left a 
 trusty man to bring it home as soon as possible." 
 
 "But we must not quarter ourselves upon 
 you. Indeed we cannot so far trespass upon 
 your kindness.'' 
 
 "I assure you, to have my old classmate — 
 yet he is not as old as I — is a privilege to both 
 my wife and myself, and we cannot let } o i go. 
 But let us be perfectly frank with each other. 
 I suppose that you would like to stay in Canton 
 several weeks at least, and yet you are afraid the 
 care of your entertainment might be a burden to 
 my wife." 
 
 "Yes, yes, that is just it," said Mr. Anson; 
 " and we should feel badly if we added to the 
 burdens that rest upon your good lady. I 
 
HOUSEKEEPING IN CANTON. 157 
 
 should greatly enjoy staying with you, but I 
 know how busy all you missionaries are; and I 
 know, too, the dej^th of the missionaries' purses, 
 and my family is too large to thrust upon your 
 hospitality.'' 
 
 "Well, if you think best — and I can appre- 
 ciate your feelings — we shall have to give up our 
 pleasant plan. Yet, not entirely, for I have a 
 second string to my bow. One of our mis- 
 sionary ladies. Miss Sohn, who has just gone 
 to America on a vacation, has a three-roomed 
 bungalow right next to and adjoining our house. 
 She left the key with us, and bade us make a 
 free use of the house in her absence, if any 
 guests should come. We can lend you bedding 
 and crockery, and you will find everything else 
 that is needed, in the house. I can hire for you 
 a good cook, who understands some English; 
 and Mrs. Anson can try her hand at house- 
 keeping in China." 
 
 "Oh, that will be splendid," cried both 
 Bertie and Bessie. 
 
158 THE ARSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 "Will this inconvenience you in the least?" 
 asked Mr. Anson. 
 
 "No, not at all; and we shall be glad to have 
 such good neighbors." 
 
 "It is kind in you to make the offer, and 
 with Mrs. Anson's consent, we will accept it." 
 
 "Mrs. Anson can leave her housekeeping," 
 added Mrs. Balkom, "entirely in Ah Ching's 
 hands. She need only tell him how much 
 money to spend — and I can help her in fixing 
 upon the sum needed — and he will attend to 
 the rest. My husband and I, and one of our 
 native preachers, Avill be able between us to 
 guide you in your sight-seeing." 
 
 The remainder of the morning Avas spent 
 in unpacking trunks and in getting settled. 
 Among the contents of the trunks were several 
 very valuable volumes and some articles useful 
 to a lady, which Mr. and Mrs. Anson had pur- 
 chased in San Francisco for Dr. Balkom and his 
 wife. These, Ah Ching took in next door, and 
 said to Mrs. Anson : 
 
HOUSEKEEPING IN CANTON. 
 
 159 
 
 "Lady, much obliged. She hardly speakee, 
 but muchee cry.'' 
 
 After a hasty tiffin, or luncheon, Dr. Balkoni 
 
 TEMPLE OF FIVE HUNDRED GODS. 
 
 came to take the Ansons upon their first round 
 of sight-seeing. First of all, they went to see 
 the Temple of the Five Hundred Gods. These 
 
160 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 are the Arhans, or pupils of Gautama Buddha. 
 The temple is like all other Chinese temples, 
 but it differs from all in the images of the 
 deified disciples of Buddha. These are life- 
 size, sitting on their heels, in Oriental fashion, 
 each exhibiting the wonderful act for which he 
 has been made a god. The eyes of one are 
 always turned towards heaven, and are supposed 
 never to have winked. Another held his hand 
 above his head until it became .immovable. 
 Another has held his hand so steadily and 
 softly that a bird has come and built its nest 
 in it. Another became so holy that Buddha 
 opened his disciple's breast and entered his 
 heart. The idols are made of clay, and gilded 
 over. Before each idol is a vessel of ashes 
 for joss-sticks, and vases for flowers. The 
 main altar, where prayers are offered to the 
 whole five hundred gods, stands in the centre 
 of the temple. 
 
 Dr. Balkom proved a very serviceable guide ; 
 for he had spent nearly twenty-five years in China, 
 
HOUSEKEEPING IN CANTON. 
 
 161 
 
 and was thoroughly well acquainted with the 
 people, and their language and customs. Bertie, 
 who was at times a regular box of questions, 
 
 SALE OP PRAYERS. 
 
 found that Dr. Balkom could answer almost 
 every question he asked. In reply to some of 
 his questions. Dr. Balkom said: 
 
162 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 "Canton — or, as the Chinese call it, Kwang- 
 tung — has a population of about a million souls. 
 Sixty thousand of these spend their lives, by day 
 and night, upon the water. The city has a wall 
 around it, about seven miles long ; there are six- 
 teen gates in the wall. Within the city are 
 about one hundred and twenty temples. Most 
 of the buildings are low." 
 
 " What are the high buildings that we saw as 
 we came up the river?" asked Bertie. 
 
 "Do you mean the pagodas?" 
 
 "No; I have learned about those; but those 
 great square buildings." 
 
 "Oh," said Dr. Balkom, "they are pawn- 
 brokers' storehouses. The Cantonese pawn al- 
 most everything that they do not have in actual 
 use, both to get money, and also to save the 
 trouble of storage and the risk of thieves." 
 
 Just here they passed a temple, with a hall in 
 front that was full of people. 
 
 "What are they buying?" asked Bessie. 
 
 " We will stop and see. These are all priests. 
 
HOUSEKEEPING IN CANTON. 
 
 163 
 
 The two that you see at the desk by the ^yall 
 are filling up blank prayers to suit the wishes 
 
 ^^"^1 of the buyers. 
 
 They may be 
 
 able to write, 
 
 -Jn but the priests 
 
 BUKHONG PRAYERS. 
 
 persuade the people that they alone know how 
 to write so that the gods will hear." 
 
164 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 "Then do they read off these prayers? or do 
 they make spit-balls of them, as they do in 
 Japan?'' asked Bertie. 
 
 "I!^either," replied Dr. Balkom. "I will show 
 you what they do with them ; come this way." 
 
 He led the way through some small streets, 
 until they came to a little temple standing in the 
 midst of a clump of banana and palm trees. 
 After waiting a moment, a bareheaded, bare- 
 footed Chinaman came to the keeper sitting by 
 the door, and getting a light from him, touched 
 it to a piece of paper upon which some Chinese 
 characters were written, and held it until it was 
 all burned up. 
 
 "That's the way the Chinese pray. They 
 send up their prayers in smol?:e," said Dr. Bal- 
 kom. " They send money, clothing, horses, etc., 
 to their dead friends in the same way; that is, 
 ^they make pictures of the money, or clothing, or 
 horses, and burn them up. Most of those whom 
 we saw buying prayers will take them either to 
 the temples, where tliey will burn them before 
 
HOUSEKEEPING IN CANTON. 165 
 
 the idols, or they will take them home and burn 
 them before the household altar. Here " — stoop- 
 ing and pointing to an object just within the 
 door of the house they were passing — "is a 
 household altar. Do you see that block of wood 
 all carved, and with characters written upon it ? 
 That is an 'Ancestral Tablet.''' 
 
 The tablet to which Dr. Balkom pointed was 
 made of wood, and was about twelve inches high 
 and three inches wide. It consisted of three 
 pieces, a pedestal, an upright piece, and a block 
 upon which certain Chinese characters were 
 carved. 
 
 "Often,'' said Dr. Balkom, "a place is cut in 
 the back, in which pieces of paper containing 
 the names of the ancestors are placed. Every 
 day, incense and paper prayers are burned before 
 this tablet." 
 
 "Do they pray to their dead fathers?" asked 
 Mr. Anson. 
 
 "Yes, to them, not for them. They also go 
 and pray at the graves of their ancestors. I 
 
16G THE ANSOXS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 ANCESTRAL TABLET. 
 
 have at home a prayer, 
 given me bj one of my 
 converts, which I will 
 translate for you some 
 time. The Chinese be- 
 lieve, you should remem- 
 ber, that every man has 
 three souls: one of 
 which at his death goes 
 to heaven, one remains 
 with the body in the 
 grave, and one is brought 
 home, and lives in the 
 ancestral tablet. In v 
 April of each year, a 
 day is selected, when, 
 especial worship is paid 
 at the graves. Every 
 man, woman, and child 
 hastens away to 
 the family tombs, 
 taking oiferings 
 
HOUSEKEEPING IN CANTON. 167 
 
 and candles to worship at the gi-ave. To neglect 
 this ceremony is counted a slight to one's dead 
 parents." 
 
 This is the translation of the prayer offered 
 at the grave which Dr. Balkom gave to Mr. 
 Anson : 
 
 ** Tankwang, ISth Year, Sd Moon, 1st Bay. 
 
 "I, Lin Kwang, the second son of the third 
 generation, presume to come before the grave of 
 my ancestor, Lin Kung. E-evolving years have 
 brought again the season of spring. Cherishing 
 sentiments of veneration, I look up and sweep 
 your tomb. Prostrate, I pray that you will 
 come and be present, and that you will grant 
 to your posterity that they may be prosperous 
 and illustrious. At this season of genial showers 
 and gentle breezes, I desire to recompense the 
 root of my existence, and exert myself sincerely. 
 ^Always grant your safe protection. Most rev- 
 erently, I present the five-fold sacrifice of a pig, 
 a fowl, a duck, a goose, and a fish; also, an 
 offering of five plates of fruit, with libations 
 
168 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 of spirituous liquors, earnestly entreating that 
 you will come and view them. With the most 
 attentive respect, this announcement is presented 
 on high." 
 
 Dr. Balkom remarked, after reading and 
 handing the prayer to Mr. Anson: 
 
 " To a Chinaman there is no greater sin than 
 
 to neglect the 
 g worship of an 
 ^ ancestor ; n o 
 ^M - greater calam- 
 ity can hap- 
 pen than that 
 he should die 
 and be buried 
 away from his 
 native land. 
 
 BRINGING HOME SOTIL. il-imOSt CVCry 
 
 steamer that crosses the Pacific from America 
 carries one or more preserved bodies of China- 
 men, taking them home to be buried.'^ 
 
 A few days later, when the Ansons, with the 
 
HOUSEKEEPIXG IN CANTON. 169 
 
 native preacher, were sauntering in the suburbs, 
 they met a man carrying a bamboo over his 
 shoulder, from the end of which hung a ball 
 with a coat below it. He was bringing home 
 one of the souls of his dead father, which was 
 to dwell in the Ancestral Tablet. 
 
 The weel^ slipped away rapidly in the pleas- 
 ant company of Dr. and Mrs. Balkom, and in 
 ceaseless sight-seeing. The Ansons thought 
 that, on the whole, the Chinese were not as 
 lovable a race as the Japanese, but that they 
 were fully as much in need of the gospel. Dur- 
 ing the latter part of their stay, Mr. Anson 
 noticed a thoughtfulness on Bertie's face, when- 
 ever they began to talk about mission work in 
 China. The noble character and self-denying 
 zeal of Dr. Balkom so impressed the boy, that 
 within his own heart there began to be started 
 searching questions. It was pleasant enough to 
 travel about as they were doing, but what if he 
 were always to live in this noisy, filthy city of 
 Canton? Why should he not become a mission- 
 
170 THE Als'SONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 ary? There was evidently need of many more 
 like Dr. Balkom. The questions were not to 
 be answered at once. When the time came 
 for saying good-bye, as the steamer was to 
 bear them down to Hong-Kong, Bertie could 
 not help feeling that there might be truth in 
 Dr. Bi'lkom's words : 
 
 " I feel, for some reason or other, that we 
 may see you again in Canton, my boy." 
 
 In a day or two the Ansons were again upon 
 the ocean, steaming around the corner of China, 
 in the direction of the Land of the White Ele- 
 pliant. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 IN THE LAND OF THE WHITE ELEPHANT. 
 
 TT had been Mr. Anson's purpose to visit 
 Cochin China on his way to Siam, but the 
 unsettled state of that country, on account of the 
 French and Chinese wars, led him to propose 
 going to Siam direct. So the family took a 
 French steamer to Saigon, in Cochin China, and 
 a sailing vessel from Saigon to Bangkok, Siam. 
 This last was not so pleasant a way of traveling. 
 After crossing the bar at the mouth of the 
 Kiver Meinam, the Ansons took their places in 
 a small tow-boat, and started up the river to 
 Bangkok, thirty miles above the entrance. The 
 banks of the river were lined with dense vege- 
 tation; gigantic palms and other tropical trees 
 were covered with trailing vines coiling around 
 their huge trunks. Here and there a fisher- 
 man's hut was built out over the river. Many 
 
 171 
 
172 THE AKSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 small boats were plying to and fro. The party 
 landed in, what seemed to them, the midst of a 
 forest of cocoanut and other trees; but they 
 soon found that it was the foreign portion of 
 Bangkok. The native city was yet three miles 
 further up the river. Mr. Anson had been in- 
 formed, while in China, of the only foreign 
 hotel in the city; and, under the guidance of 
 the man in charge of the little steam-launch, 
 proceeded to the place. The hotel was on the 
 bank of the river, a little way above the land- 
 ing ; almost all of the houses front on the river, 
 which is a sort of street for Bangkok. Very 
 many canals run off from the river among the 
 houses. 
 
 Bangkok is the Siamese capital, and has about 
 half a million inhabitants; among these, there 
 are more than twenty thousand priests of the 
 Buddhist religion. There are multitudes of 
 Chinese in Siam, as there are in all parts of the 
 East, and they have their own temples and 
 priests. It happened one morning, while Bertie 
 
LAND OF THE WHITE ELEPHANT. 173 
 
 was sitting on the veranda of the hotel, waiting 
 for breakfast, that he saw a priest's begging-boat 
 come down the river. After breakfast, he 
 thought that it would be a good idea to write 
 down what he had seen, as a part of one of his 
 letters home. 
 
 "It is a curious sight to see the begging 
 priests. They all wear yellow gowns, and their 
 heads are so clean shaven that they look as if 
 they had been polished. Each boat contains one 
 priest and a boy-paddler. Before the priest 
 stands a covered basket. The boy rows up be- 
 fore a house, then the priest, in absolute silence, 
 takes oif the lid of the basket ; some one belong- 
 ing to the house steps to the door, and takes 
 from a kettle of rice a ladleful, and empties it 
 into the priest's basket. The boy pulls away. 
 Nobody speaks a word. The priests seem to be 
 a lazy set of folks. They lie around smoking 
 and chatting most of the day." 
 
 A day or two after, several missionaries came 
 to see Mr. Anson, among them the venerable 
 
174 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 Dr. Kean, who liad been working axaong the 
 Chinese, either in Siam or China, nearly fifty 
 years. His long white beard swept his breast, 
 and he seemed a veritable patriarch; yet the 
 tenderly affectionate way in which he kissed 
 Bessie, as he bade them welcome to Siam, won 
 the hearts of all the Ansons. After a little 
 pleasant conversation, he turned to Mr. Anson 
 and suggested a stroll in the garden. 
 
 "I wanted to mention one little thing to you. 
 I do not want to be officious, but as a Christian 
 brother, I want to serve you, if I can. You can 
 throw away my advice, or you can act upon it, 
 as you like. My long experience in the East 
 makes me see that which would escape the notice 
 of another. If I am not mistaken, your good 
 wife is beginning to be subject to that fever 
 which is so great a trouble to foreigners in the 
 East. She is but in the beginning of the attack. 
 I do not think that you can check it while in 
 these tropical countries. If I were you, I would 
 say nothing to Mrs. Anson about the matter, 
 
LAND OF THE WHITE ELEPHANT. 175 
 
 but I would just quietly arrange my plans so 
 that you shall see all that is of importance in 
 Siam, Burmah, and India, and then hasten to 
 the Holy Land, and thence to Turkey and home. 
 You are here just in the best season, for the 
 winter months are endurable in the troj^ics, or 
 else I would urge you to retrace your journey 
 directly to America, or to go to Europe." 
 
 " I am indeed grateful to you, Dr. Kean, for 
 your thoughtful kindness. I assure you that I 
 appreciate it. I have noticed a quietness, a de- 
 pression of spirits, a loss of appetite and sleep, 
 in Mrs. Anson, except when we were aboard 
 ship. She then seems much better. I will re- 
 consider my plans. This is, I suppose, one of 
 the dangers to which we are subject in traveling. 
 We shall try to see several temples in Bang- 
 kok, and in a day or two start for Rangoon, 
 Burmah." 
 
 " The best temples for you to see, and they 
 will give you an idea of all of the rest, are the 
 Wat Chang Pagoda, and the Temple of the 
 
176 THE AKSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 Emerald Idol. I will be your guide this 
 afternoou to Wat Chang, if it will suit you.^' 
 
 The same afternoon saw them in Dr. Kean's 
 boat, ascending the river to the pagoda. 
 
 Passing through a large building with a 
 sloping roof, our friends, under Dr. Kean's 
 guidance, stood beneath the famous Wat Chang 
 Pagoda. From one of the priests, Mr. Anson 
 bought several handsome photographs of the 
 pagoda and its spire. As he wrote in his 
 journal on returning to the hotel : 
 
 ^' This is the most splendid temple I have 
 seen since leaving Japan. The pagoda is shaped 
 somewhat like a bell. It rises to a height, so 
 Dr. Kean tells me, of two hundred and fifty 
 feet. Every inch of its surface glitters wdth 
 curious ornaments and carvings; the forms of 
 men and beasts are like nothing in heaven 
 above, nor earth beneath, nor waters under the 
 earth. The spire is made of brick, and plastered 
 on the outside. In large niches in the sides, 
 about two-thirds of the way to the top, are 
 
The Ansoijs. 
 
 WAT CIIAJSTG PAGODA. 
 
 Page 176. 
 
LAND OF THE WHITE ELEPHANT. 177 
 
 images of Gautama Buddha, riding on M'hite 
 elephants made of shining porcelain, each facing 
 one point of the compass. A sharp spire 
 rises from the top. All over this temple tower, 
 from the base to the summit^ from every pro- 
 jecting point hang a great number of small, 
 sweet-toned bells, swinging and ringing in the 
 slightest breeze, filling the air with liquid 
 melody. Within the Wat Chang enclosure, 
 besides the pagoda and temple, are smaller 
 temples, priests' dwellings, idols, a preaching- 
 hall, and small parks, with flower and fruit- 
 gardens, ponds, caves, and stone statues of 
 famous saints, presenting a scene of bewilder- 
 ing richness.'^ 
 
 ^'What are you thinking of, my boy?" 
 kindly asked Dr. Kean, touching Bertie on 
 the shoulder. 
 
 "I am trying to think of some verses that 
 I recited at one of our school entertainments, 
 about the bells. Those little bells swinging 
 and ringing in the breeze, brought it to my 
 
178 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 miDd. But all I can remember distinctly is 
 this one verse : 
 
 How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, 
 
 While the stars that oversprinkle 
 
 All the heavens, seem to twinkle 
 
 With a crystalline delight ; 
 
 Keeping time, time, time, 
 
 In a sort of Runic rhyme. 
 
 To the tintinnabulation that so musically wells 
 
 From the bells, bells, bells, bells. 
 
 Bells, bells— 
 From the jingling and the tinkling of the bells. 
 
 " Yes, the bells above us do suggest that, and 
 yet the poet's bells were bells that we never hear 
 in this snowless land. They do jingle and 
 tinkle melodiously. I often lie awake listen- 
 ing to them in the stillness of night. But 
 shall we drop in and make a visit to his 
 majesty, the White Elephant, while we are in 
 his neighborhood.'' 
 
 "Yes," replied Mr. Anson, "we should like to 
 see a genuine white elephant; we have heard so 
 much about them in America lately." 
 
 "You must not expect to see a snowy- white 
 
LAND OF THE WHITE ELEPHANT. 179 
 
 elephant, but only a coffee-colored creature; I 
 will warn you, to save you disappointment," 
 added Dr. Kean. 
 
 "Do the Siamese actually worship the White 
 Elephant?" asked Bertie. 
 
 "You will see for yourself. Here is his maj- 
 esty." 
 
 On a splendid Persian carpet, stood a large 
 yellowish-brown elephant. His tusks had golden 
 rings upon them, and around his neck hung a 
 huge necklace. Around the carpet's edge, a 
 dozen Siamese were kneeling in prayer. 
 
 " Do they really believe that the elephant is a 
 god?" questioned Bertie. 
 
 " Yes," said Dr. Kean. " They believe that 
 Gautama Buddha lives in white elephants, and 
 so the beasts are made sacred. This fellow was 
 caught in the woods. The king and his fol- 
 lowers received him with a great procession, and 
 escorted him to his palace of a stable. Men 
 were appointed as his slaves, and he was suf- 
 fered to want for nothing. The Siamese regard 
 
180 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 the white elephant as the symbol of royalty. 
 They stamp his image on their coins and em- 
 broider it on their flags. It is to them what 
 the cross is to Christians, or the crescent to the 
 Turks." 
 
 " That is why they call Siam the ' Land of the 
 White Elephant/ is it?" asked Bertie. 
 
 " Yes ; that is the origin of the name. Japan 
 is the 'Land of the Rising Sun/ China the 
 'Middle Kingdom/ and so Siam is the 'Land 
 of the White Elephant.' Now, I think you 
 had better rest awhile, for to-morrow I want to 
 take you to the Temple of the Emerald Idol. 
 I must first go and get a Siamese friend to 
 secure me the permission to take you in." 
 
 All through the night Mrs. Anson seemed 
 restless and uneasy, though being able to secure 
 some sleep. The next morning she seemed dis- 
 inclined to go with the rest of the party. Mr. 
 Anson's persuasions could not rouse her from 
 her dejection. She insisted that the rest should 
 go, and leave her alone. So Mr. Anson waited 
 
LAND OF THE WHITE ELEPHANT. 181 
 
 quite anxiously for Dr. Kean's coming, and his 
 first greeting, as he met him in the walk to the 
 hotel, was : 
 
 "Well, doctor, I am in a quandaiy. My wife 
 passed a bad night, and she wants us to do our 
 sight-seeing to-day without her." 
 
 "And leave her alone?" 
 
 "Yes, and leave her by herself." 
 
 "That will never do. It would do her more 
 harm than good. But I will arrange it." 
 
 Then calling a servant, Dr. Kean dispatched 
 him with a note to Mrs. Kean. After delaying 
 their departure on various pretexts, finally Mrs. 
 Kean put in an appearance. Without ^ny delay 
 she asked : 
 
 "Are you all going away to-day?" 
 
 "No; I am not going," said Mrs. Anson. 
 
 "Is that so? Well, I am almost glad, be- 
 cause I want you to myself to-day. We live 
 away from the regular lines of travel, unlike our 
 friends in India, or China, or Japan, and we 
 rarely see travelers from our own lands. Dr. 
 
182 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 Kean tells me that you are going to stay here 
 but a day or two longer, and I am hungry to 
 have you all to myself.'^ And without giving 
 Mrs. Anson an opportunity to say no, before 
 she knew what she was doing, good, motherly 
 Mrs. Kean had bundled her off to her boat, say- 
 ing to the rest, " Don't be in a hurry to get back ; 
 I will take good care of mamma." 
 
 Soon Mrs. Anson was stretched out on a long 
 bamboo chair, with Mrs. Kean at her side, knit- 
 ting. In bright, cheerful conversation, an hour 
 passed, and then one of Mrs. Kean's classes of 
 Chinese women came to receive their usual daily 
 instruction. 
 
 " Just sit right on the veranda here ; we will 
 have our lessons where the foreign lady can see 
 us,'' she said to them, in Chinese. 
 
 Soon the strange sounds began to go to and 
 fro among them. For awhile, Mrs. Anson stud- 
 ied their interested faces, but gradually the hum 
 of the unintelligible sounds lulled her to sleep. 
 After a refreshing nap, she awoke to find herself 
 
LAND OF THE WHITE ELEPHANT. 183 
 
 resting comfortably, while one of the Chinese 
 girls was fanning her. Mrs. Kean soon re- 
 turned with the news that luncheon was ready. 
 The afternoon sped away so cheerfully that it 
 seemed to Mrs. Anson as if the day was an oasis 
 in a great desert of dullness and despondency. 
 
 Mr. Anson, the children, and Dr. Kean, were 
 admitted without difficulty to the Emerald IdoFs 
 Temple. It proved to be one of the most re- 
 markable and beautiful buildings of its kind in 
 all the East. The outside was adorned with 
 lofty eight-sided pillars, with queer doors and 
 windows, all carved with a great variety of em- 
 blems, the lotus and palm occurring most fre- 
 quently. This temple, like all Siamese temples, 
 is built of brick, with roof after roof rising 
 above it, aftd reaching out over great porches. 
 The entire outside is plastered with a white ce- 
 ment. The roof is covered with differently col- 
 ored tiles. But the altar was the most wonderful 
 part of the temple. 
 
 During the afternoon, Mrs. Anson, in looking 
 
184 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 over Mrs. Kean's books, found a volume con- 
 taining the reminiscences of an English govern- 
 ess during her life in the Siamese Court. She 
 happened to turn to the description of the Tem- 
 ple of the Emerald Idol, and wrote out, with 
 Mrs. Kean's permission, her account of the 
 altar : 
 
 "The altar is a wonder of dimensions and 
 splendor — a pyramid one hundred feet high, 
 terminating in a fine spire of gold, and sur- 
 rounded on every side by idols, all curious and 
 precious, from the bijou image in sapphire to the 
 colossal statue in plate gold. A series of tro- 
 phies these, gathered from the triumphs of 
 Buddhism over the proudest forms of worship 
 in the old pagan world. In the pillars that 
 surround the temple, and the spires that taper 
 far aloft, may be traced types and emblems bor- 
 rowed from the Temple of the Sun at Baalbec, 
 the proud fane of Diana at Ephesus, the shrines 
 of the Delian Apollo; but the Bmliminical sym- 
 bols and interpretations prevail. Strange that it 
 
LAND OF THE WHITE ELEPHANT. 185 
 
 should be so with a sect that suffered by the 
 slayings and the banishments of a ruthless per- 
 secution at the hands of their Brahmin fathers, 
 for the cause of restoring the culture of that 
 simple and pure philosophy which flourished 
 before Pantheism. 
 
 " The floor is paved with diamond - shaped 
 pieces of polished brass, which reflect the light 
 of tall tapers that have burned on for more than 
 a hundred years, so closely is the sacred fire 
 watched. The floods of light and depths of 
 shadow about the altar are extreme, and the 
 effect overwhelming. 
 
 "The Emerald Idol is about twelve inches 
 high, and eight in width. Into the virgin gold 
 of which its hair and collar are composed, must 
 have been stirred, while the metal was yet molten, 
 crystals, topazes, sapphires, rubies, onyxes, ame- 
 thysts, and diamonds — the stones crude, or rudely 
 cut, and blended in such proportions as might 
 enhance to the utmost imaginable limit the 
 beauty and the cost of the adored ef^gy. The 
 
186 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 combination is as harmonious as it is splendid. 
 No wonder it is commonly believed that Buddha 
 himself alighted on the spot, in the form of a 
 great emerald, and by a flash of lightning con- 
 jured the glittering edifice and altar, in an in- 
 stant, from the earth, to be a house and a throne 
 for him there ! '^ 
 
 Within a few days the Ansons were once more 
 upon the water, for the steamer was bearing 
 them around the Malay Peninsula and up to- 
 wards Burmah. Dr. and Mrs. Kean had accom- 
 panied them almost to the mouth of the river, 
 and it was with great reluctance that they bade 
 them good-bye. Often in Bertie's mind came up 
 the cheerful, contented faces of their friends, and 
 it was one more link in the chain of golden in- 
 fluences that was binding the boy's heart to the 
 missionary work. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 UNDER THE SHADOW OF SHWAT DAGON. 
 
 rpHE voyage to Barmah was an uneventful 
 one. The Rangoon River, at its mouth 
 about two miles broad, and with its shores low 
 and wooded, narrows to about one-third of a 
 mile in width opposite the great city of Ran- 
 goon. There are several hotels in Rangoon, 
 and the Ansons had no difficulty in finding 
 comfortable quarters. Most of the European 
 houses are raised upon piles; they are built 
 of teak boards, and have tile roofs. From 
 the steamer's deck, the Ansons could see the 
 English settlement, with several English-looking 
 churches ; and beyond, the large pagodas. Far 
 away, to the horizon, stretched the forest of 
 green palms, bamboos, and banana trees. The 
 most wonderful sight in all Rangoon is the 
 Shway Dagon, or Golden Pagoda. Indeed, 
 
 187 
 
188 THE AlN^SOlsS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 this is the most monstrous pagoda, not only 
 in Burmah, but in all the world. It is really 
 a mile from the city, situated on a high hill. 
 It so haj)pened that the King of native Burmah 
 had recently presented some diamonds, to be 
 added to the " umbrella " — the hHee — on the 
 top of the pagoda; and the sloping sides were 
 yet covered with the bamboo scaffolding used 
 in re-erecting the hHee, Consequently, no one 
 of the Ansons had noticed the Shway Dagon 
 until the day after their landing. Bertie, all 
 impatient to see what was to be seen, had risen 
 early, and, while glancing around, happened to 
 see the gigantic pagoda casting its great shadow 
 as the sun struck its sides. He ran in to his 
 papa and begged him to come out and see the 
 pagoda. 
 
 "Wait until I get my hat, and we will walk 
 out to see it," said Mr. Anson. Bertie was 
 all eagerness to go. After a brief stroll they 
 reached the temple grounds and leisurely ex- 
 amined the great structure from without. 
 
UNDER SHADOW OF SHWAY DAGON. 189 
 
 ^' There will be time enough by-and-by for 
 us to examine it more thoroughly ; besides this, 
 we have not yet had breakfast. I imagine that 
 we should have some difficulty to get about in 
 the temple grounds, unless we had some one to 
 guide us/^ Mr. Anson replied to Bertie's sug- 
 gestion that they go inside. 
 
 While seated at breakfast, a servant brought 
 in a card, with the name ^'E,ev. I. K. Wilson 
 and wife" upon it. 
 
 " I do not know who this can be," said Mr. 
 Anson ; " but, doubtless, it is some one of our 
 kind missionary friends come to look us up. I 
 will go right out to see them." 
 
 Advancing to the parlor, he met a dark-eyed 
 young man, who held out to him his left hand — 
 for his right was missing — saying : 
 
 " I presume that you do not know me, though 
 I recollect you very well." 
 
 " No," replied Mr. Anson, " you have the ad- 
 vantage of me." 
 
 " I used to be one of your Sunday-school at 
 
190 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 DicksoD, Ohio. You had not then become a 
 minister. May-be you will remember me as the 
 little boy — I must have been about seven years 
 old then — who used to bring grasshoppers and 
 toads to Sunday-school. I do not. know that 
 you knew that I did it, for you never caught 
 me at it; but I think it likely that you sus- 
 pected me.'' 
 
 " Well, well, are you that little chap ? And 
 you a minister and a missionary ! I never 
 thought it then,'' added Mr. Anson. 
 
 " Yes, and I heard and remembered more of 
 what you said, than you thought that I did. 
 Well, now that you recognize me, I want you 
 to come home with me. My wife and I are 
 alone, and we would be real glad to have you 
 occupy our spare room." 
 
 " No, I cannot do that " — and Mr. Anson told 
 Mr. Wilson of his plan in this tour in Asia. 
 "You missionaries are all warm-hearted and 
 hospitable, but I am so confident that, with 
 my entire family, I should be a burden upon 
 
UNDER SHADOW OF SHWAY DAGON. 191 
 
 you, that I have determined, wherever it was 
 possible, to look out for myself." 
 
 "Well, I do not want to insist in pressing 
 my home upon you, but you will, at least, bring 
 your family and dine with us occasionally dur- 
 ing your stay. I came to know that you were 
 here by hearing one of our brethren speak 
 of your visit to Japan; and from his descrip- 
 tion, I was quite sure that it was my old 
 teacher of whom he was speaking, and so, 
 with my wife, hastened in to be the first to 
 claim you." 
 
 Just then the rest of the Ansons came in, and 
 shortly Mrs. Anson and Mrs. Wilson were hav- 
 ing a quiet chat together, while Mr. Anson pro- 
 ceeded to get Mr. Wilson's advice as to the best 
 way to use the week that would elapse before a 
 steamer would leave for Madras. Mr. Wilson 
 suggested a day or two at Maulmain, and the 
 rest of the time to be spent in and about Ran- 
 goon. Mr. Anson had already mentioned the 
 state of Mrs. Anson's health. 
 
192 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 "Suppose," suggested Mr. Wilson, "that to- 
 morrow morning, just before sunrise, while it is 
 yet cool, you and I and this young man climb 
 to the top of Shway Dagon. You can get a 
 glorious view from its top, and we can get up 
 with no great difficulty.'^ 
 
 " That will be like climbing up the Pyramids 
 of Egypt, will it not?'' inquired Bertie. 
 
 " Yes ; very much like it," Mr. Wilson replied, 
 adding, "you must not go into the sun without 
 an umbrella, nor had you better go out of doors 
 at all during the heat of the day. About four 
 o'clock, when I have dismissed my teacher, I 
 will come and take you through the grounds of 
 Shway Dagon." 
 
 In the afternoon of the same day, the three 
 strolled through the streets of Rangoon out to 
 Shway Dagon. Something attracted Bertie's 
 eyes, and he said : "What are those things for?" 
 
 "Those are griffins, or guardian dogs. They 
 are put there to keep out evil spirits. I suppose 
 that we shall not be troubled by them." 
 
UNDER SHADOW OF SHWAY DAGON. 193 
 
 Passing between the griffins into a long pas- 
 sage-way, the Ansons found some very humble 
 and yet very costly paintings — not very beauti- 
 ful, but with so much gilding as to make them 
 costly. "These show the tortures of wicked 
 people," explained Mr. Wilson. 
 
 Then coming to the foot of a flight of stairs, 
 which they climbed, they found themselves upon 
 a platform, about a thousand feet square, and 
 from the middle of the platform rose the great 
 golden pagoda, some five hundred feet in diam- 
 eter at the base, and towering to a height of 
 three hundred feet. 
 
 " Do you think you will be afraid to climb up 
 there, Bertie?" asked Mr. Anson. 
 
 " We shall hire a few coolies to help us ; they 
 will not let us fall," said Mr. Wilson. 
 
 For an hour they rambled about the platform 
 and grounds, among tlie smaller pyramids. 
 Within the pagoda are some shrines and idols; 
 the larger idols being made of brick and mortar 
 gilded over, and the smaller ones of metal. 
 
194 THE ARSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 "I will bring Dr. Finney, our veteran mis- 
 sionary father, to see you to-night,'^ Mr. Wilson 
 said. "He has been here some twenty-four or 
 five years. He knows all about Burmah, and 
 can tell you, as he told it to me, the story of the 
 Shway Dagon. You will be interested in it, I 
 know, and it will give you a better understanding 
 of Buddhism and pagodas than you can get 
 otherwise." 
 
 Mrs. Anson, looking pale and weak, met Ber- 
 tie and his father on their return. Bessie had 
 stayed to care for her mother in their absence. 
 Mr. Anson's heart was full of anxiety as he no- 
 ticed Mrs. Anson's appearance. He made no 
 other remark, however, than to say : 
 
 "Dr. Finney and his wife are coming to see us 
 to-night. I remember seeing Mrs. Finney some 
 years ago, and I think that she will help you to 
 feel qiiite bright and cheerful. Mi's. Wilson is 
 coming for you with a pony and ^trap' to- 
 morrow morning, when Mr. Wilson takes us to 
 climb the Shway Dagon." 
 
UNDER SHADOW OF SHWAY DAGON. 195 
 
 "What is a ^trap/ papa?" asked Bessie. 
 
 "Don't you remember the low, broad carriages 
 that we saw in Yokohama and in Shanghai?" 
 asked Bertie. "Those are 'traps.' Is Mr. Wil- 
 son rich, papa ? " 
 
 "No; one of his friends, an English mer- 
 chant, has bidden him use it whenever he wants, 
 while he is taking a business trip up to Cal- 
 cutta." 
 
 Dr. Finney was a quiet, gentle-voiced, yet evi- 
 dently learned speaker. He had translated the 
 Buddhist legends from the Burmese, and had 
 made himself familiar with the whole history of 
 the Shway Dagon. Bertie sat in a bamboo chair, 
 a little outside of the circle gathered upon the 
 veranda, and, in the dusk, jotted down a few 
 catchwords, from which he wrote out afterwards, 
 with his father's help, 
 
 THE STOEY OF SHWAY DAGON. 
 
 "Two brothers from Burmah, once upon a 
 time, made an oiFering to Gautama Buddha. 
 
196 THE ANSOIfS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 He, in return, gave them eight hairs that came 
 out when he stroked his head. He told them 
 to build a pagoda over them. They started to 
 return home, but on the way lost six of the 
 hairs. In a miraculous way, they found them 
 again. A good spu'it, a sort of fairy, told them 
 where some other relics, of which Gautama had 
 spoken, might be found. They dug a hole, and 
 secured a water-scoop of one great saint, a robe 
 of another, and the staff of a third. They built 
 a shrine over these relics and the eight hairs. 
 Others, later on, enlarged the pagoda over the 
 relics, until it got to be of its present size. 
 About four hundred and twenty-five years ago, 
 a Burmese king cast a gigantic bell for the pa- 
 goda. The whole of the outside is covered with 
 gold leaf, a little 'patchy/ because put on at dif- 
 ferent times, and with gold leaf of different fine- 
 ness. The Ktee, or umbrella-shaped finial on the 
 top, is made, as you will see to-morrow, if the 
 guard will let you go near enough, of a number 
 of gilded iron rings, from which hang a great 
 
UNDER SHADOW OF SHWAY DAGON. 197 
 
 many little silver and bra.ss bells, that are swung 
 and rung by the wind. N.^ ]^„g ^^^^ ^^^ ^^ 
 the kings put up a new h'tee.. It was studded 
 
 WORSHIPING A TOOTH OF BUDDHi 
 
198 THE ARSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 hundred thousand dollars. The present king has 
 given a few gems. 
 
 " The bell near the pagoda, big enough for a 
 man to stand upright within it, was once carried 
 off by the British. But they could not load it, 
 it was so heavy, and it fell into the sea. The 
 Burmese say that the gods restored it to the 
 Shway Dagon. The bell has a great deal of gold 
 in it." 
 
 After much pleasant conversation, the Finneys 
 and their friends retired, leaving the Ansons 
 alone. The next morning they were to rise 
 early and make the ascent of the pagoda. But 
 in the night a fierce wind blew, and so shattered 
 the scaffolding that it was deemed unsafe for peo- 
 ple to climb it. 
 
 The next morning, therefore, instead of going 
 to Shway Dagon, together with Mr. Wilson, the 
 Ansons went aboard the little steamer that was 
 to bear them to Maulmain. As they entered 
 the Salweu River, on which Maulmain is situ- 
 ated, ]Vfr. Wilson pointed out the enclosure 
 
UNDER SHADOW OF SHWAY DAGOI^. 199 
 
 in which is the grave of the first Mrs. Judson ; 
 wliere sixty years ago her body had been laid 
 away to rest. 
 
 Rangoon and its neighborhood was level and 
 flat, but Maulraain was situated in a hilly 
 country. Pagodas crown every hill-top. It 
 seemed to Mr. Anson as if the whole neighbor- 
 hood was full of historic associations with Dr. 
 Judson's work. If Bertie had been impressed 
 with his visit to the missionaries in Japan and 
 China and Siam; if any feelings that possibly 
 he ought to be a missionary had been started in 
 his heart, by his conversations with Sasaki, or 
 with Dr. Kean, he was much more moved by 
 the sights of Maulmain, the missionaries' graves, 
 their old homes, and the scenes of their labors. 
 Here, for the first time, he ventured to tell his 
 mamma of what he had been thinking:. Press- 
 ing him to her heart with all a mother's love, 
 she said: 
 
 " We should be glad to have you always with- 
 in easy reach of us, Bertie. We love you 
 
200 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 dearly. It would indeed be a great sacrifice '^ 
 — ^and the tears began to flow at the thought of 
 a separation — " to have 
 you thousands of miles 
 from father or mother. 
 Yet you will be a man 
 
 PAGODA OF MAULMAIK. 
 
 then, and we must not let our love for you be 
 stroncrer than our love for our Saviour. Do not 
 
 make any promises, my boy; but think about 
 
UNDER SHADOW OF SIT WAY DAGON. 201 
 
 it, pray about it, and our Heavenlr Father will 
 surely tell you what to do Avhen tlie time 
 comes." 
 
 "What is that, mamma?" Bertie had not 
 yet, he felt, grown too old to use the child- 
 like "mamma." 
 
 "Don't you recognize the bells, my son? 
 They are the pagoda bells. On the Maulmain 
 pagoda's Wtees the bells are almost all of silver. 
 How sweetly the bells ring ! Did you ever read 
 Mrs. Emily Judson's poem, * Watching,' the one 
 that was composed while Dr. Judson lay in his 
 sickness? ISTo? Let me repeat a few of the 
 lines : 
 
 On the pagoda spire, 
 
 The bells are swinging, 
 
 Their little golden circlet in a flutter, 
 
 With tales the wooing winds have dared to utter, 
 
 Till all are ringing, 
 
 As if a choir 
 
 Of golden-nested birds, in heaven were singing ; 
 
 And with a lulling sound, 
 
 The VQ.\mG floats around, 
 
 And drops like balm into the drowsy ear ; 
 
 Commingling with the hum 
 
202 THE anso:j^s in Asiatic temples. 
 
 Of the Sepoy's distant drum, 
 And lazy beetle ever droning near. 
 Sounds, these of deepest silence born, 
 Like night made visible by morn ; 
 So silent, that I sometimes start. 
 To hear the throbbings of my heart, 
 And watch, with shivering sense of pain, 
 To see thy pale lids lift again. 
 
 For several long hours they conversed to- 
 gether of Dr. Judson's earnest career, and, when 
 they knelt together, side by side, in silent 
 prayer, Bertie felt that he had been brought 
 to know more perfectly that his young heart 
 and his whole future life belonged to his 
 Saviour. An earnest prayer for God's guid- 
 ance of their son went up from both father's 
 and mother's heart, after Mrs. Anson had told 
 her husband of their boy's thoughts. 
 
 " Perhaps," suggested Mr. Anson, " God will 
 send him as my substitute." The tears trembled 
 in his eyes, as he once more recalled his own de- 
 sire to be a missionary and the denied pleasure. 
 "God save my boy from such a disappointment 
 as mine ! " he said to Mrs. Anson. " We must 
 
UNDER SHADOW OF SHWAY DAGON. 203 
 
 try to train him physically, as well as men- 
 tally and spiritually, to qualify him for his 
 work." 
 
 After a thorough exploration of the pagodas 
 of Maulmain, and after another day of pleasant 
 Lord's Day worship with the Christians of the 
 city, the Ansons and Mr. Wilson started on their 
 return to Rangoon. Mrs. Anson seemed, owing 
 doubtless to the short trip from Rangoon to 
 Maulmain, to be in somewhat better health 
 than when they landed in Burmah. 
 
 The evening before they set sail for Madras, 
 the missionaries of Rangoon met for their 
 monthly missionary prayer-meeting. The piety 
 and devotion of the missionaries was apparent 
 in their prayers and words, and Mr. Anson 
 seemed to feel that his own spiritual strength 
 had been revived by being in the meeting. 
 
 "Yet," thought he, "how hard it must be 
 where • the missionaries are situated in lonely 
 places, and where from year's beginning to 
 year's end they hear no other voice in prayer 
 
204 THE ANSOXS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 than that of those who look to them for direc- 
 tioD ! Surely they need our prayers." 
 
 Nor did the memory of the missionaries, es- 
 pecially of Mr. Wilson and of Dr. Finney, fade 
 away, as, from the steamer's deck, they waved 
 their hands in a good-bye. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 FROM RANGOON TO MADRAS. 
 
 A S the wind blew steadily from the east, the 
 vessel spread all its sails, and under press 
 of steam and sail the passage from Rangoon 
 to Madras, from Burmah to India, was quickly 
 made. The Bay of Bengal is ^Hhe vast and 
 wandering" grave of our great Dr. Judson; 
 the Indian Ocean is the mighty tomb in which 
 the precious remains of Dr. Binney are laid. 
 Here their bodies rest, till the sea gives up 
 its dead. Here, not far from the land they 
 loved, whose graves shall yield their dead, too, 
 when the Lord shall come. 
 
 Many boats were at the steamer's side almost 
 as soon as she had anchored. The boats, as 
 Bertie saw at once, were unlike any of those 
 that they had seen in other countries. They 
 were made of long planks sewed together. The 
 
 205 
 
206 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 seams were calked, yet appeared to be leaky. 
 The flat bottom was covered with twigs, to keep 
 the feet of the passengers dry. The sides seemed 
 to be bent very easily, but in that consisted their 
 safety. The oars, Bessie thought, looked like 
 huge spoons. It was a delicate task, getting 
 to shore without a wetting. The sea is always 
 rough, the waves always rolling, and the surf 
 always breaking. There is a huge harbor in 
 process of building at present; gigantic break- 
 waters are to enclose a basin nearly a thousand 
 yards square. Had the Ansons come a few 
 years later, they might have been saved much 
 unpleasantness in landing. As it was, Mrs. 
 Anson and Bessie had to be let down into the 
 little Masula boats in arm-chairs lowered by 
 ropes. It seemed, sometimes, as if the tiny 
 boats would be swamped by the waves. But the 
 Ansons reached the beach in safety, and were 
 carried through the wet sand by the boatmen. 
 
 Gharries, or bullock-carriages, stood along the 
 beach, and Mr. Anson put Bessie and Mrs. 
 
FROM RANGOON TO MADRAS. 207 
 
 Anson into one, while he and Bertie trudged 
 behind, screening themselves from the hot sun 
 by their white umbrellas. They went imme- 
 diately to the hotel nearest the landing, kept by 
 a Swiss lady. The voyage had greatly strength- 
 ened Mrs. Anson, and, once more, her husband 
 ventured to hope that they could complete their 
 tour more leisurely, and take in all the places 
 they had planned to visit. Mr. Anson had 
 hoped to go by the railway, and visit Bangalore, 
 Trichinopoly, and Madura, taking his family 
 with him. Later he had thought to take a 
 steamer and proceed to Calcutta. It was now 
 midwinter ; yet the heat at noonday was very op- 
 pressive, and Mrs. Anson seemed to feel almost 
 immediately the change from the sea to the 
 shore. This disconcerted Mr. Anson's plans, 
 yet he knew not how to re-arrange them. As 
 had happened everywhere else, so in Madras, 
 the American missionaries began to call on Mr. 
 Anson. It was one of the pleasantest parts of 
 th:; journey, this privilege of meeting so many 
 
208 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 of the missionaries. Some of the missionaries 
 were resident in Madras; yet others had come 
 to attend a meeting of the missionary workers 
 among the Telugu people. Among the rest 
 were several who had just returned from a 
 furlough in America, and had delayed their 
 departure for Guntoor and Nellore, until after 
 the missionary meeting. Mr. Anson met these 
 friends at the gathering to which he had been 
 invited. In the course of conversation, one of 
 them, Mr. Newhold, from Guntoor, hearing Mr. 
 Anson mention that his plans were upset and 
 that he scarcely knew what to do, suggested a 
 scheme, which Mr. Anson soon afterwards 
 adopted. Mr. Newhold remarked: 
 
 "It will be better that Mrs. Anson should 
 be as little exposed as possible to the dangers 
 of a land residence. Yet you would wish her to 
 see as much of the country and people as pos- 
 sible. The places which are of great missionary 
 interest are right along the road to Guntoor, 
 Ongole for instance. Now you and your family 
 
FROM RANGOON TO MADRAS. 209 
 
 can leave Madras and go with me to Guntoor. 
 I will see you across the Godavery River to 
 Masulipatam, where the Calcutta steamers stop. 
 Then you can all go on together to Calcutta, 
 or Mrs. Anson and Bessie can take the steamer, 
 and yourself and your son proceed overland by 
 way of Juggernaut to Calcutta." 
 
 "But I think that I had better not leave 
 Mrs. Anson ; she is hardly able to look out 
 for herself, in her condition of health," re- 
 plied Mr, Anson. 
 
 "I notice," said Mr. Newhold, "that she 
 looks as if the fever had touched her. But 
 you can determine your course after you get 
 to Guntoor. Yet, wait a moment, till I speak 
 with one of the ladies yonder." 
 
 "Now, do not go to any trouble," called Mr. 
 Anson after him. 
 
 Mr. Newhold approached the ladies, saying: 
 
 " May I interrupt you ? I would like to ask 
 if any of you ladies are going on to Calcutta 
 shortly." 
 
210 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 "Yes/' said a rather stout, yet active and 
 pleasant little woman. "I am going, but not 
 at once. I must wait over a steamer till our 
 Miss McCally comes back from Madura, where 
 she has gone to see a friend." 
 
 " Let me see," continued Mr. Newhold ; " that 
 will be about three weeks from now, will it not. 
 Miss Bristow ? " 
 
 " Yes, just about." 
 
 " Could you look after a lady and her daugh- 
 ter, in Calcutta, if they met you on the steamer 
 at Masulipatam ? That is the lady over yonder." 
 
 "Well, I think that I could. Shall I have 
 to look after her husband too ? " she asked, with 
 a smile. 
 
 "No, I think that he may go by land to 
 Calcutta, while he sends his wife by sea." 
 
 "Of course, I shall be glad to do anything 
 for her." 
 
 "And anybody else. Miss Bristow; you are 
 wonderfully kind-hearted," appreciatively re- 
 marked Mrs. Newhold. 
 
FROM RANGOON TO MADRAS. 211 
 
 "Please introduce me to her, Mr. Newhold, 
 and then I can tell her, myself, how glad I 
 shall be of her company," said Miss Bristow. 
 
 The matter was soon arrano^ed ; and a day or 
 
 WORSHIP IN TEMPLE OF KRISHNA. 
 
 two afterward, in company with the Newholds 
 and several other missionaries, the Ansons set 
 off for Guntoor. Tlie first ninety miles was 
 
212 THE AKSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 traveled in a boat on the canal; the rest of 
 the way to Nellore — about seventeen miles — 
 by palanquin. At Nellore, they arrived just 
 before the Lord's Day. It was a delightful 
 day of rest, spent in worship with the Telugu 
 Christians. Just about sunset ten or eleven can- 
 didates were baptized in the baptistery in the 
 midst of the garden, a most beautiful spot for 
 the burial ceremony, the resurrection ordinance. 
 While at Nellore, Dr. Downing showed to 
 Mr. Anson a little gold coin that has a curious 
 history. About a hundred years before, a peas- 
 ant ploughed against some brick-work. On dig- 
 ging deeper, he found the ruins of an old Hin- 
 doo Temple of Krishna, or Juggernaut. The 
 centre of this worship is now carried on farther 
 up the coast. Many pictures of that worship, 
 as it existed in olden times, are yet to be had. 
 Underneath the temple, this peasant found a 
 pot full of Eoman coins and medals of the 
 second century after Christ. They were sold 
 as old gold and, all but thirty, were melted 
 
FROM RANGOON TO MADRAS. 213 
 
 down. The one in Dr. Downing's possession 
 had the name of Trajan upon it. It seemed 
 strange to find old Roman coins in a Hindoo 
 Temple. 
 
 Leaving Nellore, about seventy-five miles fur- 
 ther on, they came to Ongole. Ongole is only 
 about one-fourth the size of Nellore, but it is a 
 town occupying a large place in the hearts of 
 American Christians, because of the famous in- 
 gathering of thousands of Telugu converts in the 
 church at this place. The pagoda of a heathen 
 shrine towered up on one side, as our friends ap- 
 proached Ongole, while the missionary buildings 
 gleamed in the sunshine on the other. In the 
 background rose the hill upon which Dr. Jewett, 
 in the days of discouragement, had prayed God 
 to save Ongole, and God responded by sending 
 Mr. Clough, the earnest and successful missionary. 
 
 Here, again, came impressions w^hich strength- 
 ened and deepened the convictions in Bertie's 
 heart. The hours flew by all too quickly during 
 their two days' tour among the Christian ham- 
 
214 THE ANSOXS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 lets. The visit to "prayer-meeting hill" the 
 repetition of the story of the great occurrence 
 
 on its top, 
 
 the prayer- 
 meeting that 
 the visitors 
 held there, 
 were events 
 never to be 
 
 TEACHING A CHILD TO WORSHIP GANESHA. 
 
 Beyond Ongole, just before reacliing Guntoor, 
 in passing a shrine, Bessie, who had lefl her 
 
FROM RANGOON TO MADRAS, 215 
 
 palanquin, peeped in. Running quickly to her 
 mamma's palanquin, she motioned the bearers to 
 stop, and then asked her mamma to come and 
 see something. Walking to the entrance of the 
 shrine, they saw a Hindoo mother, with her veil 
 thrown back, kneeling, and holding her little 
 boy's arms, while evidently teaching him to say 
 his prayers to an ugly old idol with an ele- 
 phant's head. 
 
 "What is it?" called back Mr. Newhold. 
 
 "Something very funny," said Bessie. 
 
 "Yes, and very sad," added Mrs. Anson. 
 
 '^Tliat is Ganesha, the God of Wisdom," said 
 Mr, Newhold. "He is a very popular god. He 
 is, as you see, partly a man and partly an ele- 
 phant. The children in the schools are taught 
 to pray to him, and he is adored by all who wish 
 to become acquainted with Hindu learning and 
 so-called wisdom. You will see his images and 
 shrines in temples and schools, and also, occasion- 
 ally, under the trees by the roadsides. I will 
 show you one about a mile further on." 
 
216 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 When they reached this wayside idol, Mr. 
 I^ewhold stopped, and all rested in the shade 
 before the great idol. 
 
 "What is the elephant's head for?" inquired 
 Bertie. 
 
 " The elephant is one of the most sagacious of 
 animals; the Hindus recognize this, and they 
 choose to use the elephant as the symbol of 
 wisdom and prudence and sagacity, as others 
 worship the serpent as the symbol of cunning, 
 and the sun as the symbol of power. Ganesh, 
 or Ganesha, as we generally call him, has his 
 great festivals, like the other gods. There is 
 one festival, up in northern India, so I have 
 read, where they place Ganesh upon a boat, and, 
 accompanied with other boats containing priests 
 and musicians, they row up and down the 
 Ganges. The crowds that line the shore make 
 the air to resound with their shouts and songs." 
 
 Passing Hindus stopped, even while the vis- 
 itors tarried, and mumbled over prayers to 
 Ganesha. 
 
The Ansons. 
 
 Page 216. 
 
 A WAYSIDE IDOL. 
 
FROM RANGOON TO MADRAS. 217 
 
 Guutoor was reached soon, and the party were 
 
 GUARDS BEFORE THE HETDU TEMPLE. 
 
 made quite at home in Mr. ISTewhold^s quarters. 
 On Mr. Newhold's suggestion that Guntoor was 
 
218 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 a remarkably healthy town, Mr. Anson con- 
 cluded to stay here during the three days that 
 must elapse before the steamer would leave for 
 Masulipatam. There were no temples of any 
 note in the vicinity of Guntoor. A single trip 
 was made to the hills, a short distance back of 
 the town, to visit the cave temples. Before the 
 entrance of the chief temple stood a pair of 
 mystic horses, with their grooms, the whole be- 
 ing the guardians of the place. These cave 
 temples were at one time Buddhist places of 
 worship; but long since they were converted 
 into Hindu temples, and the images of Buddha 
 altered into Hindu gods. 
 
 In the pleasant and cheerful home of Mr. and 
 Mrs. Newhold, the days passed swiftly away. 
 The little, one-storied bungalow, with its simple 
 furniture, seemed a little paradise, owing to the 
 warm hospitality, and the quiet yet sincere piety 
 of the home-keepers. There were but few serv- 
 ants about. 
 
 "This is one reason," said Mrs. Newhold, 
 
FROM RANGOON TO MADRAS. 219 
 
 "why we prefer so small and slightly furnished 
 a bungalow, that we need fewer servants. In 
 India, a servant can do only one thing. If you 
 see some dirt on the floor, and tell a chamber- 
 maid to brush it up, she cannot do it, but will 
 tell the head-servant to send tlie sweeper to 
 brush up the dirt. If you take a bath, you 
 must have one servant to fill the tub and another 
 to empty it. The more you multiply your con- 
 veniences, the more you must increase the num- 
 ber of servants." 
 
 Bessie was particularly delighted with one of 
 the Hindu women, who, on becoming a Chris- 
 tian, took up her residence on the compound. 
 She had learned a little of the English language, 
 and seemed to take a great deal of pleasure in 
 trying to talk with Bessie. Her expressions of 
 Christian joy, and her delight in the Scriptures, 
 touched tlie little American girl's heart. 
 
 Mr. Newhold accompanied the Ansons across 
 the Godavery River, and saw them safe in Ma- 
 sulipatam. Before returning, he secured as a 
 
220 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 guide for Mr. Anson, an Eurasian, a man whose 
 father was an Englishman, and whose mother 
 was a Hindu. This Eurasian, John Christian 
 by name, was to take the entire charge of Mr. 
 Anson and Bertie, and to accompany them to 
 Calcutta. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 JUGOERNAVT AND KALI. 
 
 rilHE British India Steam Navigation Com- 
 pany's steamer was very nearly on time 
 at Masulipatam, and as the Ansons and Mr. 
 Newhold reached the head of the gangway, 
 they saw the bright, round face of Miss Bristow 
 shining upon them. 
 
 *^I am glad to see you once more. Are you 
 better or worse than when we left you at 
 Madras? I mean, do you feel stronger? We 
 shall take good care of Mrs. Anson, when we 
 get her in our Mission Home in Calcutta. I 
 am planning to take her with me in some of my 
 visits to the zenanas — where we met the Hindu 
 women, you know. If she is quick at em- 
 broidery, we shall give her a chance to do 
 some mission work, in trying to teach some 
 of our Hindu pupils some new stitches.'' 
 
 231 
 
222 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 "Won't that be splendid, mamma? I can 
 help a little too ; can't I ?" asked Bessie. 
 
 "Yes, indeed/' replied Miss Bristow; "we are 
 glad to get all the help we can. I hope that 
 Mr. Anson will not hurry to get to Calcutta, 
 for we should like to keep you a long time to 
 ourselves." 
 
 After a little, when Mr. Anson was walking 
 the deck with Miss Bristow, he communicated 
 to her his plans until reaching Calcutta. 
 
 "We are going to continue on the road run- 
 ning along the bay, through Ganjam, Pm-i — 
 where the temples of Jagannath, or Juggernaut, 
 are, and where we shall stay several days — and 
 then by Katak and Midnapur to Calcutta. If 
 Mrs. Anson should become ill, will you please 
 send me word by special messenger to one of 
 these places, and I will hurry on?" 
 
 "Certainly, if you wish it; but I hope that 
 she will not need your presence," said Miss Bris- 
 tow in assent. 
 
 "We shall not, but I shall rest more easy if 
 
JUGGERNAUT AND KALI. 223 
 
 I know that, if I do not hear to the contrary, 
 she LS not ill. You are indeed wonderfully kind 
 to us strangers. God bless you for it!" said 
 Mr. Anson. 
 
 "We are expecting to 'entertain angels/ 
 though not altogether 'unawares.' You may 
 rest easy about Mrs. Anson, for we will give 
 her the best care possible, should she need it. 
 By the way, I have a letter which was brought 
 to Madras just after you left, addressed in the 
 care of one of your missionaries. He asked 
 me to bring it to you when we should meet 
 you here." 
 
 "Oh, this is for my son, and not for me. I 
 received several letters from home, and I could 
 not imagine from whom this could come. I 
 will hand it to Bertie. Here, Bertie, is a 
 letter for you." 
 
 "A Garfield five cent stamp! Then it is 
 from America," said Bertie; "and from Phila- 
 delphia. I do not know that I am acquainted 
 with any one there.'' 
 
224 THE anso:n^s in Asiatic temples. 
 
 " Open it and see/^ suggested Mr. Anson. 
 Bertie did so and read : 
 
 "Philadelphia, N^ov. S7, I884. 
 
 "Mk. Albekt a. Anson. 
 
 "Dear Sir: — You will pardon me, or I 
 ought to say, us — for I am writing for others 
 — for trespassing upon your good nature. Our 
 teacher happened to see in one of the Chicago 
 papers that your family were going around the 
 world. She met your father at a Sunday-school 
 Convention several years ago. We have a Mis- 
 sion Band, who are making a ^stay at home' 
 tour in mission lands. We are reading and 
 studying about the temples and the mission 
 work in Asia. When we left China, we hap- 
 pened to hear of you, and our teacher suggested 
 to us to write to you, so that the letter would 
 reach you at Madras, and ask you to tell us 
 something about the Juggernaut Temple at 
 Puri. We will read your letter to our Band, 
 and we shall be very glad to get information 
 from one who has seen that of which he writes. 
 
JUGGEENAUT AND KALI. 225 
 
 Our Band has made imaginary journeys in 
 Japan and China, and are now in Burmah, and 
 we shall reach India just about the time your 
 letter reaches us. It is because we are so much 
 interested in our plan of study — and we have 
 such a good leader to help us in it — that we 
 have asked this great favor of you. 
 "Yours truly, 
 
 "Eugene R. Copeland." 
 
 " Well, I think that I can do that much for 
 them," thought Bertie. 
 
 Bidding good-bye to each other, the family 
 separated, and soon the Masula boats bore Mr. 
 Newhold, Mr. Anson, and Bertie ashore. John 
 Christian met them as they landed, and took 
 Mr. Anson and Bertie under his care forth- 
 with. From Masulipatam to Puri the journey 
 was uneventful. Many interesting temples and 
 shrines were to be seen. But in Mr. Anson's 
 mind, in spite of his efforts to the contrary, 
 there was an uneasiness about Mrs. Anson 
 
 until he reached Puri. When he came to 
 
 p 
 
226 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 that city, he sent John Christian to the col- 
 lector's house — where the messenger was to 
 have been sent — to see if any word had come 
 from Miss Bristow. Finding none, he was 
 considerably relieved, and went to examining, 
 with interest, the Juggernaut temples. One 
 afternoon, when somewhat wearied with sight- 
 seeing, while his father lay stretched out under 
 a panhha^ or punkah^ a swinging fan, Bertie 
 began his letter to the young man in Phila- 
 delphia. In but a few days it would be Christ- 
 mas time, and Christmas thoughts had been 
 running through Bertie's head all day : 
 
 " PuRi, December 23 ^ I884. 
 
 ^' Mr. Eugene R. Copeland, 
 
 " DeaPw Sir : — Your letter was brought to 
 me just before we started for this place, where 
 are the Juggernaut temples, of which you 
 wrote. I write the answer under the shadow 
 of the temples. Do not think that I found 
 out all that I write, myself; my father and 
 our Eurasian guide helped me in getting to 
 
JUGGERNAUT AND KALI. 
 
 227 
 
 know about the temple. We came here two 
 days ago, and shall stay several days more. 
 "I think that your plan of study must be 
 
 TEMPLE OF JUGK3EENAUT AT PUKI. 
 
 a very interesting way of getting information, 
 and better than just writing essays and j-eading 
 pieces from missionary books. 
 
228 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 "Papa suggests that I had better ask your 
 indulgence before I begin, because my letter 
 will have to be pretty long to tell you about 
 the worship of Juggernaut and his temples. 
 We have seen other temples and shrines be- 
 longing to his worship, but nothing so large 
 as these at Puri. 
 
 "Juggernaut is a celebrated god. He is 
 called the " Lord of the World." His images 
 are as ugly as you can imagine. Generally, 
 they are made of wood; in some temples 
 placed three together, one of blue, one of 
 white, and one of yellow. Juggernaut has 
 many temples ; the one at Puri, on the western 
 shore of the Bay of Bengal, being the largest, 
 and esteemed the most holy. The pagoda stands 
 at the end of the principal street of the city, 
 which is very wide, and lined with dwellings 
 for the priests, small shrines, and other sacred 
 buildings. The wall that surrounds the temple 
 is twenty-one feet high, and forms an enclosure 
 six hundred and fifty feet each side. The prin- 
 
JUGGERNAUT AND KALI. 229 
 
 cipal building rises to the height of one hundred 
 and eighty-four feet. The main gateway is 
 crowded with Fakirs, or devotees — ' cranks/ 
 we should call them. On each side of the 
 entrance is a mammoth lion. Just before us, 
 as we enter, is an image of the monkey-god, 
 Hanuman. 
 
 " The temple is dedicated to Krishna, or 
 Juggernaut — sometimes written Jagan-nath — 
 and his companions, Siva and Sathadra. The 
 idols of each are rude, hideous looking sculj^- 
 tured blocks of wood, each about six feet high. 
 The faces of these idols are hideous. Krishna 
 is painted dark blue, Siva white, and Sathadra 
 yellow. Before the altar an image of the hawk- 
 god, Garounda, is placed. Every day, we are 
 told, the idols are feasted. Their food consists 
 of four hundred and ten pounds of rice, two 
 hundred and tw^enty-five pounds of flour, three 
 hundred and fifty pounds of butter, one hundred 
 and sixty-seven pounds of treacle, sixty-five 
 pounds of vegetables, one hundred and e'ghty- 
 
230 THE ANSOXS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 six pounds of milk, twenty-four pounds of 
 spices, thirty-four pounds of salt, and forty- 
 one pounds of oil. While the food is being 
 placed before the gods, all but a favored few 
 are excluded from the temple, and the doors 
 are shut. There are over twenty thousand holy 
 men connected with this temple, and we can 
 easily guess that they help the idols to get rid 
 of this great mass of food ; at any rate it all 
 speedily disappears. The idols, strange as it 
 may seem, are washed and dressed daily with 
 great seriousness. 
 
 "On June 18, Juggernaut's great festival oc- 
 curs. Formerly, great multitudes assembled at 
 this time from every part of the laud. Men, 
 women, and children, in crowds, thronged to the 
 city days in advance, and waited with impatience 
 for the festival day to come. The Car Festival, 
 celebrated at Puri, is usually attended by more 
 than five hundred thousand pilgrims, nearly half 
 of whom are females. There is great suffering 
 among these pilgrims, and many of them die of 
 
JUGGERNAUT AND KALI, 231 
 
 excessive fatigue, exposure to the annual rains, 
 and the want of suitable and sufficient food. 
 TJie plains, in many places, are literally whitened 
 with their bones, while dogs and vultures are 
 continually devouring the bodies of the dead. 
 
 '^At the appointed time, each idol was washed, 
 dressed in silk and gold, and placed upon his 
 triumphal car. The car of Juggernaut con- 
 sists of an elevated platform, thirty-four feet 
 square, supported by sixteen wheels, each of 
 them six and a half feet in diameter. It is 
 covered with cloth of gold and costly stuffs, 
 and a Juggernaut is placed under a canopy. 
 Six ropes or cables, three hundred feet in length, 
 are attached to the car, by means of which the 
 people draw it from place to place. The whole 
 car is covered with sculptures in the Hindu style. 
 
 "Thousands seize these ropes, as many as 
 could get hold. In their fanatical frenzy, they 
 crowded and shouldered and shoved one another, 
 counting themselves happy if they could only 
 lay a hand on the ropes. The Car Festival 
 
234 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 talking was heard outside the door^ and in a 
 moment John Christian pushed his way in, 
 saying : 
 
 "Master, here is some one who wants to see 
 you." 
 
 "Well, I will come right away." 
 
 Clad in his pajamas, Mr. Anson went to the 
 door and found a stout, swarthy Hindu un- 
 wrapping a letter, which he handed, with many 
 salams, to Mr. Anson. 
 
 "Mem sahib, the missis, she sick," he mut- 
 tered to John Christian. 
 
 It was indeed true; Miss Bristow had hastily 
 written that Mrs. Anson was taken sick. It 
 might be only a slight attack of the fever, or 
 it might be more serious. She had felt it her 
 duty, as she had promised, to write Mr. Anson. 
 They had good physicians, and everything would 
 be done for Mrs. Anson that could be done. 
 This only partially relieved Mr. Anson's anxiety. 
 AYhen he had dismissed the messeno;er, havino; 
 paid him, he sat down to think it all over and 
 
JUGGERNAUT AND KALI. 235 
 
 to pray for the safety of his loved wife. He 
 had not noticed John Christian sitting on the 
 floor near the door. Finally, John ventured 
 to say : 
 
 "Master, may I speak?" 
 
 "Yes, what is it, John?" 
 
 "A steamer will leave for Calcutta to-morrow. 
 If master will go in it, he can be in Calcutta in 
 two or three days from now." 
 
 " Can we? I am glad you have spoken of it. 
 We will go." 
 
 "But, master, it is hard to get to the steamer, 
 the surf is so very bad." 
 
 "Well, we will venture it." 
 
 "We might get some life-belts, master, and 
 then it wonld be safer." 
 
 "Well, get two, John, for Bertie and me. 
 You can go back to Guntoor, though I will 
 pay you just as if you had gone on to Calcutta, 
 for you have taken good care of us." 
 
 It was well that life-belts had been provided, 
 for Bertie lost his hold when the boat rose on an 
 
236 THE ARSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 unusually heavy wave, and was tossed into the 
 water. For a moment, he struggled, and then 
 allowed himself to be borne up by his belt. The 
 boatmen soon fished him into the boat, though 
 with considerable difficulty. The steamer was 
 reached a few moments later, and Bertie soon 
 appeared in a borrowed suit, while his own 
 clothes were spread in the sun to dry. 
 
 When Calcutta was reached, Mr. Anson and 
 Bertie entered one of the great crowd of gharries 
 that stood about the wharf, and were quickly 
 brought to the Woman's Mission Home. To 
 his great joy, Mr. Anson found Mrs. Anson in 
 an improved condition and able to sit up. In a 
 few days she was able to drive out. Pleasant 
 hours were spent in the Botanical Gardens, and 
 in riding on the Maidan, or the Esplanade of 
 Calcutta. From one of the missionaries' libra- 
 ries. Miss Bristow had borrowed for Mrs. 
 Anson's use, quite a number of illustrated 
 volumes on India and its temples. In this 
 way, Mrs. Anson sought to get that informa- 
 
JUGGERNAUT AJ^B KALI. 237 
 
 tion which Mr. Anson was getting by actual 
 observation. Her recollection of the pagodas 
 of Eangoon and Maul main caused Mrs. Anson 
 to feel a particular interest in the Buddhist 
 monuments of India, the land where the Bud- 
 dhist religion was born. The great topes, or 
 pagodas, as they might be called elsewhere, 
 are all in ruins, yet they give signs of a 
 former magnificence. One of the greatest of 
 these is the Sanchi Tope. This is a dome-like 
 structure of solid brick and stone, about sixty 
 feet high. There are entrances at all the four 
 points of the compass. These gate- ways are 
 picturesque objects, even in their ruins. In 
 the very heart of the tope an Englishman 
 found small caskets, carved in precious marbles, 
 containing pieces of burnt bone and ashes, all 
 that was left of Buddhist saints who lived 
 twenty-one hundred years ago. All the topes 
 are monuments over Buddhist relics. 
 
 One hideous idol, which Bertie and his papa 
 were taken to see, was that of the bloody goddess 
 
238 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 IDOL OF THE GODDESS KALI. 
 
 Kali. The missionaries persuaded, with little 
 eiFort, Mrs. Anson and Bessie to refrain from 
 going to Kali's Temple. 
 
JUGGERNAUT AND KALI. 239 
 
 "This is a queer idol," said Bertie, to the 
 missionary who had accompanied them to the 
 temple. "I should think nobody would ever 
 care to worship such a hideous, murderous-look- 
 ing goddess." 
 
 "On the contrary, Kali is a very popular 
 goddess, even though her images are the pic- 
 tures of terror. She wears a head-dress of 
 snakes, and a necklace consisting of a chain of 
 skulls. In her hand she holds a murderous- 
 looking knife. Kali is the wife of Siva, the 
 destroyer. In September, a festival is held in 
 her honor, called the Doorga-pooja. In all of 
 Kali's temples, her idols are gayly adorned with 
 floAvers, and prayers are offered to her during 
 days of dancing and singing. 
 
 There used to be a sect of murderous 
 stranglers, known as Thugs, who were es- 
 pecially devoted to the worship of Kali, and 
 who performed their murderous work as a re- 
 ligious service to that goddess. The story of 
 this people opens up a chapter of the greatest 
 
240 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 cruelty, going far beyond all the ordinary 
 records of crime. Yet it was all done from 
 a religious motive, as well as for love of 
 plunder. Strange that it could be so ! The 
 legend that accounts for their origin is as 
 follows : 
 
 "A long while ago a giant demon infested 
 this world, destroying mankind. The goddess 
 Kali, to save mankind from utter destruction, 
 attacked this demon and cut him down; but 
 from the drops of blood that fell to the ground, 
 immediately there sprang up other demons — a 
 host of them. The Kali created two men, to 
 whom she gave handkerchiefs, and whom she 
 taught to strangle the demons without shedding 
 blood. This was done, lest, if their blood be 
 shed, more demons should spring up. Kali 
 intended, in this way, to destroy the whole 
 brood. When these men had strangled all the 
 demons, she bade them strangle men in the 
 same way, to repay her for her service to man- 
 kind. From these two men the Thugs came.'' 
 
JUGGERNAUT AND KALI. 241 
 
 During all the time the missionary was giving 
 this description of Kali and the Thugs, the peo- 
 ple were coming and going, bringing their of- 
 ferings and presenting their prayers. The con- 
 ception seemed so horrible that it was a relief to 
 get into the open air. Though, for many days, 
 Kali haunted Bertie like a nightmare. 
 
 The health of Mrs. Anson improving, and 
 the doctor interposing no objection, preparations 
 for continuing the journey were made, and the 
 overland trip was begun after several weeks had 
 been spent in Calcutta. 
 
 Q 
 
CHAPTER XY. 
 
 VER LAND THR UGH ISDIA. 
 
 A N extensive railway journey in the land of 
 elephants' howclahs, of huWoGk-gha7TieSj 
 of palanquins, of masula boats, was indeed a 
 novelty. Since leaving Japan's short railroads, 
 none had been encountered until now. There 
 liappeued to be no one else in the compartment 
 of the car that the Ansons occupied. The cars 
 were unlike those in America, in that each car 
 was divided up into rooms. Very soon after 
 starting, Bertie found that there was a sort of 
 shelf, or berth, that could be lowered over the 
 wide, cushioned seats on either side of the com- 
 partment. They had started in the evening, by 
 Miss Bristow's advice, so that Mrs. Anson might 
 not become over-wearied. So the discovery of 
 the bunks was quite opportune. Anticipating 
 that the cold would be greater in traveling at 
 
 242 
 
OVERLAND THROUGH INDIA. 243 
 
 night, Mr. Anson had provided four thick 
 traveling rugs. He and Bertie mounted to 
 the upper berths, and Mrs. Anson and Bessie 
 slept on the sofas. For several hours they kept 
 up a conversation, but late in the evening tliey 
 slept quietly. They took their breakfast at 
 Mokamah, where there was a delay of an hour 
 or so. At Dinapur there ^vas another oppor- 
 tunity of getting refreshments. The country 
 along the railroad was low and flat, with mud- 
 huts rising here and there. Everywhere the 
 natives were getting ready their breakfast of 
 plain boiled rice, the one great article of food 
 in Asia. Often the railroad wound along the 
 banks of the Ganges River. Many strangely 
 shaped boats were moving to and fro. Oc- 
 casionally, a crocodile could be seen, on the 
 outlook for his morning meal. 
 
 Benares, the Holy City of India, was to be 
 the first stopping point. At Mogul Serai, where 
 they changed cars, Mr. Anson sent a dispatch 
 — as he had been advised to do — to secure two 
 
244 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 rooms in the best hotel of Benares, and that a 
 carriage might meet them. Thus they experi- 
 enced no difficulty in getting through the crowd 
 of porters thronging the neighborhood of the 
 station. They crossed the river on the bridge 
 of boats, and soon the carriage was climbing 
 the cliff upon w^hich Benares is built. The 
 Ghats, or flights of steps, leading up to the 
 temples, or sacred rest-houses for pious pil- 
 grims, rose from the river's edge to the cliff 
 above. 
 
 That same afternoon, under the guidance of a 
 servant from the hotel, the Ansons took a ride 
 upon the River Ganges in a steam-launch. This 
 gave the best opportunity for a first view of the 
 city, and also afforded many chances of seeing 
 tlie scenes characteristic of the Holy City and 
 the Sacred River. On the way they visited the 
 Durga Temple, often called the Monkey Temple, 
 because of the myriads of monkeys that live 
 in the gigantic trees near it. 
 
 The steam-launch ascended the river to the 
 
OVERLAND THROUGH INDIA. 
 
 245 
 
 bridge of boats, and then, returning, stopped at 
 the will of the passengers, giving them the priv- 
 ilege of climbing the Ghats and viewing the 
 temples. From sunrise, daily, thousands of pil- 
 grims come to bathe in the Ganges. The dy- 
 ing are brought there, 
 and have their mouths 
 stopped with the sacred 
 
 PRAYING BY THE RIVER GANGES. 
 
 mud. Their dead bodies are burned by the 
 side of the river, and their ashes flung into its 
 current. Here the faithful come to pray. The 
 crocodiles occasionally catch some unwary bather 
 and devour him. 
 
246 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 Benares seemed to be, as Bertie quoted it from 
 his Testament, "a city wholly given to idola- 
 try." Devotees, pilgrims, and priests thronged 
 the city. Temples were far more numerous than 
 in any other city that they had seen, and it was 
 easier to find an idol than a man, as was said of 
 Athens of old time. Everywhere, the people 
 made way to let the foreigners pass, not — as Ber- 
 tie at iirst supposed — out of respect, but to avoid 
 pollution. 
 
 " Where are we going next ? " asked Bertie. 
 
 "We shall stop at Lucknow and Cawnpore, 
 where we shall see the scenes of the great Sepoy 
 mutiny ; then we shall go on to Agra, and visit 
 the great mausoleum, the beautiful monument to 
 a loved wife, the Taj Mahal." 
 
 "What is the Taj Mahal?" asked Mrs. Anson. 
 
 " It is the sort of monument I should like to 
 build, to show the world the depth of a hus- 
 band's love for his wife. It is a beautiful 
 building of marble, not very large, but wonder- 
 fully well built. I will tell you the story : 
 
OVERLAND THEOUGH INDIA. 247 
 
 "A Mohammedan ruler of India, Shah Jehan, 
 was married in 1615 to Princess Mumtaz-i-Ma- 
 hal. She died in 1629. The Mogul determined 
 to build the most magnificent monument that 
 man could conceive of. For twenty-two years, 
 twenty thousand workmen were engaged in erect- 
 ing the building. It cost more than fifteen mil- 
 lions of dollars to build it. It has been called 
 the jewel of India. An American traveler 
 wrote, as I noted it in a fly-leaf in my guide- 
 book here: *As you approach it, it is not ex- 
 posed abruptly to view, but is surrounded by a 
 garden. You enter under a lofty gateway, and 
 before you is an avenue of cypresses, a third of 
 a mile long, whose dark foliage is a setting for a 
 form of dazzling whiteness at the end. That is 
 the Taj. It stands, not on the level of your 
 eye, but on a double terrace; the first, of red 
 sandstone, twenty feet high, and one thousand 
 feet broad, at the extremities of which stand 
 two mosques, of the same dark stone, facing 
 each other. Midway between, rises the second 
 
248 THE AXSOXS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 terrace, of marble, fifteen feet bigb, and three 
 hundred feet square, on the corners of which 
 stand four marble minarets. In the centre of 
 all, thus "reared in air,^' stands the Taj. It is 
 built of marble — no other material than this, of 
 pure and stainless white, was fit for a purpose so 
 sacred. It is one hundred and fifty feet square — 
 or, rather, it is eight-sided, since the corners are 
 truncated — and surmounted by a dome, which 
 rises nearly two hundred feet above the pave- 
 ment below.' 
 
 "But we shall see it for ourselves, and we are 
 losing some of this pretty scenery through which 
 we are passing." 
 
 After a few days at each of the places of which 
 Mr. Anson had spoken, and when their fondest 
 expectations had been far surpassed, they con- 
 tinued on their journey to Delhi. The Ansons, 
 when they reached Delhi, took rooms at the 
 Northbrooke Hotel, kept by a European. All 
 of the country hereabouts is full of interesting 
 objects connected with the occupation of India 
 
OVERLAND THROUGH INDIA. 249 
 
 by the English. Mr. Anson felt that, in the 
 uncertainty of Mrs. Anson's health, it would be 
 better to devote their attention chiefly to the 
 temples and mission work of the cities where 
 they stopped, and to give but a passing glance 
 at historic sites. 
 
 "What is that great building yonder?" asked 
 Bertie, one morning, as they passed out of the 
 Chandni-Chowk, the bazar street of Delhi. 
 
 " It looks like a temple, yet it is unlike a 
 Hindu temple in its style,'' answered his father. 
 
 " We will go near to it and find out." Look- 
 ing through an opera-glass, Mr. Anson could 
 make out certain strange characters carved on 
 the sides of the entrance. "I do not know 
 what that is; these are not Hindu letters." 
 
 "Let me see, if you please, papa," asked 
 Bertie. 
 
 "Certainly, my son; but I think that you 
 cannot read them either." 
 
 Bertie looked through the glass at them, and 
 after a moment's thouo;ht, said : 
 
250 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 "I remember seeing something like them in 
 your ^Arabian Nights Entertainment/ papa." 
 "Let me see again, my son. Yes, you are 
 
 GRAND MOSQUE OP DELHI. 
 
 right; they are Mohammedan letters. This 
 
 must be a Mohammedan Mosque. We had 
 
 better go back to the hotel and get a guide.'' 
 
 It was the Jam'i Masjid, the Great Mosque, 
 
OVERLAND THROUGH INDIA. 251 
 
 one of the finest in all India, before which they 
 had been standing. With the guide they re- 
 turned and climbed up the forty steps — as Bertie 
 counted them — that led to the magnificent gate- 
 way. The gates were overlaid with plates of 
 brass. Passing through the gateway, they stood 
 Avithin a court about three hundred feet square. 
 In the centre is a marble fountain and basin. 
 Climbing to the top of one of the minarets with 
 the guide, Bertie looked down upon the rest 
 from the dizzy height, and had a most extensive 
 view of Delhi and all the surrounding country. 
 When he returned, one of the Moslem priests 
 took them through the mosque. After a little 
 talk w^ith the guide, the priest took them to one 
 side, and slowly and reverently unlocked the 
 door of a little closet cut into the solid marble. 
 He opened a casket with great care, and showed 
 to the visitors — a single hair from Mohammed's 
 beard. To see only a hair sadly disappointed 
 Bertie. All the show of mystery and caution 
 had led him to expect some great thing. 
 
252 THE A.NSOXS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 "Pshaw! only a hair! Who knows if it is 
 really Mohammed^s?^^ he exclaimed. 
 
 "This astonishes me/' said Mr. Anson to his 
 wife, " that these Mohammedans should indulge 
 in relic- worship, when Mohammed was so fierce 
 a hater of idols and relics." 
 
 The building is of marble and red sandstone. 
 
 On another day, an excursion was made to the 
 gigantic Kuttub Minar, a sort of tower or spire 
 rising right out of the ground to a height of tw^o 
 hundred and forty feet. Standing in the midst 
 of a vast plain, it seems much higher. It is 
 about one hundred and forty feet in circumfer- 
 ence at the base, and about twenty-seven feet at 
 the top. Bands of inscriptions are carved in its 
 sides of red sandstone, and it is, in all respects, 
 a beautiful minaret. Its use, like that of all 
 other minarets, probably, was for the Moslem 
 priests to call the people to prayer. 
 
 From Delhi, the Ansons proceeded to Alla- 
 habad, and thence, without any delay, to Bom- 
 bay. Just such scenes as one may see in cross- 
 
(254) 
 
 THE FAKIR OF THE LONG UAIR. 
 
OVEKLAND THROUGH INDIA. 255 
 
 ing the Alleghany Mountains, in Pennsylvania, 
 were to be seen from the car windows, after 
 leaving Jubbulpur, where a change of cars had 
 been made. Notwithstanding the beautiful and 
 romantic scenery, it was a pleasure to be settled 
 in the hotel at Bombay. In a week or ten days 
 the Ansons would bid farewell to India, and 
 these last days must be crowded with sight- 
 seeing. 
 
 Bombay "Vvas a city of temples. Holy men 
 of all sorts seemed to abound. One order of 
 priests, so Bertie learned, seemed bent on trying 
 to see how many curious ways of self-torture 
 they could devise. These were the Fakirs. 
 One Fakir had a huge iron collar forged 
 about his neck; another, whose long hair, as 
 Bertie suggested, would furnish a safe hiding- 
 place for the pestiferous insect that the man 
 seemed to be trying to find as the Ansons passed 
 him, had iron bands on his arms and ankles; 
 another had held his arms immovably fixed 
 above his head, while pious (?) people fed him. 
 
256 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 These men hope in this way to obtain favor 
 with the gods, and the people rather respect 
 and fear them, on account of their supposed 
 
 DYING BKAIXMIN AND SACliKl) CO\V. 
 
 holiness. Truly in Indian minds, "cleanliness 
 is" not "akin to godliness." 
 
OVERLAND THROUGH INDIA. 257 
 
 "Why, mamma, look at that man and the 
 others standing around him. See, they are 
 trying to keep his hand on the cow's tail," 
 said Bessie, as they stepped within a temple, 
 in the very heart of Bombay. 
 
 "He must be dying," said Mr. Anson; "he 
 looks like it." 
 
 "Do they thiok that taking hold of the cow's 
 tail will make him well ? " asked Bertie. 
 
 "I do not know. We shall have to ask 
 somebody to tell us. I wonder if any of these 
 men can speak English. A great many of the 
 Hindus of Bombay can, I know. I will ask 
 that one standing alone." Then Mr. Anson 
 drew near a poorly-clad, but intelligent looking 
 Hindu. 
 
 "Do you speak English ?" 
 
 "Yes, master, a leetle. I go Christian school 
 sometime. I merchant's errand-boy." 
 
 "Can you tell me what that means?" — 
 pointing to the sick man and the cow. 
 
 "Yes, he sick man; he Brahmin, high caste 
 
 R 
 
258 THE AlfSOJS^S IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 man. He dying. That cow, holy cow. He 
 keep hold of cow tail, will take him into — 
 what you say? '^ and he pointed upward. 
 
 " Heaven ? ' added Mr. Anson. 
 
 "Yes, heaven. I no believe that." 
 
 "No, no," said Mr. Anson; "you believe 
 in Jesus Christ; you try to please him; then 
 you go to heaven. I thank you for telling 
 me what that means," as he slipped some pice 
 — the Indian coin — into the man's hand. 
 
 On rejoining the group he explained it all to 
 them. 
 
 " Isn't it pitiable ! such superstition ! " re- 
 marked Mrs. Anson; "and they might know 
 better, if they would but listen to the mis- 
 sionaries." 
 
 "Well, good-bye, India!" exclaimed Bertie, 
 as, a day later, the steamer bore them out of 
 the harbor. 
 
 "God bring you light!" said Mr. Anson. 
 
 It was a bright moonlight evening, and, as 
 
OVERLAND THEOUGH INDIA. 259 
 
 if in confirmation of his wish, he saw a sight- 
 in the sky, whither his eye had been turned. 
 The floating clouds had seemingly massed them- 
 selves until they had assumed the shape of 
 India, the edge clearly marked all the way 
 from Arabia around by Ceylon, and up to Ben- 
 gal, and then rounding again down to Burmah. 
 As he looked, the edge alone was marked with 
 a line of light. It seemed like a saying, ^^So 
 is India lighted, but upon its edge, as it were.'' 
 Just then, the full moon sailed out from behind 
 the clouds, and threw its radiance full on the 
 face of the cloud, and lo, India was bright with 
 light, like all the rest of the clouds. 
 
 '^So may it be! so shall it be!'' thought 
 Mr. Anson. That vision he never forgot. 
 
CHAPTER XYI. 
 
 7xV MOSLEM LANDS. 
 
 rriHERE were so many English passengers on 
 the steamer who were going home, that a 
 little tinge of home-longing touched the hearts 
 of the other passengers. The voyage was a very 
 quiet one. The heat was intense, so that the 
 passengers spent most of the days and nights on 
 deck ; it seemed to be getting yet more uncom- 
 fortable as they approached the coast of Arabia 
 and the entrance to the Red Sea. Aden is about 
 ninety miles from the Straits of Bab-el Mandeb, 
 the beginning: of the Red Sea. ^yllen the vessel 
 cast her anchor, scores of little boats, each with 
 one or two Somali boys, paddled about the ship, 
 crying, "Overboard! overboard!" 
 
 "What do they mean, papa?" asked Bertie. 
 
 "I do not know; let us wait and see." 
 
 Just then an Englishman flung a small coin 
 260 
 
IN MOSLEM LANDS. 261 
 
 into the water; immediately each boat lost one 
 boy, as they dived into the water after the 
 money. At this moment, a fellow passenger 
 said : 
 
 "The captain has posted the notice of sail- 
 ing." 
 
 At once, most of the passengers turned to the 
 stairway leading to the dining-hall, and then got 
 themselves in readiness to go ashore, to escape 
 from the heat aboard ship, and from the dust 
 stirred up while the steamer took in coal. They 
 found Aden to be the Gibraltar of Asia. Water 
 is sold in Aden, because it is so precious; for 
 there are no wells, or springs, or rivers. 
 
 Leaving Aden, and entering the straits, the 
 steamer was upon the Red Sea. It seemed to 
 Bertie that they were entering upon a sacred 
 part of the earth. 
 
 "Why do they call this the Red Sea?'' asked 
 Bessie. " The water is not red." 
 
 " !No," said Mr. Anson ; " but the hills around 
 are red, and the weeds yonder are red." 
 
262 THE ANSOIsS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 If it was hot in India, it was hotter on the 
 Indian Ocean, and hottest on the Red Sea. To 
 Mrs. Anson, the heat was so oppressive that it 
 seemed as if she must die. Tiie strong wind 
 that blew from the south was almost scorching. 
 But when about one-third the way through the 
 Red Sea, they met the fresh breeze from ihe 
 north, which is usually blowing strongly, and it 
 greatly revived all the weak passengers. At the 
 first, the thermometer in the cabin was up to 
 100°, but the third day it became so cool that 
 the passengers shivered in their overcoats. 
 
 In passing Jeddah, the port of Mecca, Mr. 
 Anson took occasion to tell the story of Moham- 
 med, the Arabian camel-driver, who founded a 
 great religion. Mohammedanism overran India, 
 though it has since almost entirely lost its power 
 in that country; it conquered, also, Arabia, 
 Northern Africa, including Egypt; and crossed 
 into Spain, where the Moors were finally con- 
 quered by the Spanish Christians ; and it over- 
 ran Turkey. 
 
IN MOSLEM LANDS. 263 
 
 "In Mecca, Mohammed's birthplace/' contin- 
 ued Mr. Anson, "is the ^ Caaba,' or shrine, with 
 the famous 'Black Stone,' which the Moslems, 
 or Mohammedans, or Mussulmans, as they are 
 variously called, believe to have been brought 
 from heaven by angels. Mecca is seventy miles 
 from Jeddah, and thousands of Moslems make 
 pilgrimages to Mecca every year." 
 
 " Can we go there ? " asked Bertie. 
 
 "No, indeed; any foreigner caught entering 
 the city would certainly be stoned to death." 
 
 In entering the Gulf of Suez, one arm of the 
 Red Sea, Mr. Anson pointed out to his family 
 Mt. Sinai. Through the captain's glass, they 
 could see but few signs of vegetation, and it 
 seemed, indeed, a "wilderness." 
 
 "Now we shall soon cross over the spot — 
 though no one knows to a certainty just where 
 it is — where the Children of Israel, under Moses, 
 crossed the Red Sea," said Mr. Anson. 
 
 A few hours later, the steamer cast anchor 
 some distance from the shore, just opposits Suez. 
 
264 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 Suez is a decayed- looking, ruinous town, having 
 about fifteen thousand inhabitants. It owes all of 
 its importance to the Suez Canal. There were 
 several steamers anchored off Suez, awaiting 
 their turn to enter the canal. The steamers 
 must move slowly, so as not to break down 
 the sides of the canal, and they must keep a 
 certiiin distance apart. At regular intervals, 
 there are turn-outs, like the switches and side- 
 tracks on a railway, where the vessels pass one 
 another. 
 
 Many of the passengers took the train from 
 Suez to Cairo. But Mr. Anson was afraid to 
 prolong their stay in such an unhealthy climate 
 as that of Egypt, and so kept with the steamer 
 till it reached Port Said, at the end of the Suez 
 Canal. Here he took a steamer, on which were 
 hundreds of Moslem pilgrims returning from 
 Mecca, and crossed the Mediterranean, passing 
 by the island of Crete, and through the Grecian 
 Archipelago, until the Hellespont, or Darda- 
 nelles — across which Leander, and, many centu- 
 
IN MOSLEM LANDS. 265 
 
 ries later, Lord Byron, swam — into the Sea of 
 Marmora, and thence to Constantinople. 
 
 "It seems to me," said Mrs. Anson, as they 
 approached Constantinople, "that I have never 
 seen any lovelier view than this. It is so bright, 
 so varied in outline, and so gorgeous in splendid 
 buildings. Those strange old fortifications, the 
 roofs, the domes, the minarets of Stamboul'^ — as 
 the main part of Constantinople is named — " on 
 the left, and the cemeteries and the cypress 
 groves on the Asiatic shores, the Bosphorus 
 opening, and the scenery beyond, present, in- 
 deed, a beautiful picture." 
 
 "But wait a little," suggested one of their 
 fellow-passengers, an English resident of Con- 
 stantinople, "and a grander view than even this 
 will be before you. There; now we shall go 
 around the Seraglio Point into the Golden Horn. 
 See, to the south, here, the seven low hills, 
 crowned with their domes and slender minarets 
 and odd-looking houses. Then, over on the 
 north, in Galata, with its crowded buildings. 
 
266 THE ARSONS i:^ ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 and on the heights of Pera the splendid resi- 
 dences of the European embassies. Behind us, 
 now, we have left Scutari.'^ 
 
 '^ It is, indeed, a specimen of Oriental splen- 
 dor," said Mr. Anson. 
 
 By the advice of their English acquaintance, 
 they took rooms in the Hotel d'Angleterre, in 
 Pera, to which they were taken by the agent of 
 the hotel, who looked after their landing. 
 
 Under the guidance of a "dragoman," or 
 guide, the Ansons went to visit the Sultanas 
 Seraglio, several of the mosques, and even across 
 to Scutari, to see the Whirling Dervishes. On 
 several of these occasions Mrs. Anson was com- 
 pelled to remain in her room at the hotel; the 
 fever seemed to have taken a fresh hold upon her. 
 Mr. Anson was in some alarm about her, and it 
 interfered not a little with his enjoyment. To 
 the children, it seemed as if their mother was 
 but weary; and the bright colors, the quaint 
 buildings, the odd costumes, were a source of 
 unvarying delight. 
 
IN MOSLEM LANDS. 
 
 267 
 
 Taking a carriage one morning, tliey crossed 
 tlie New Harbor Bridge, and driving around by 
 the railway depot, they passed tlie Seraglio, and 
 
 MOSQUE OF ST. SOPHIA. 
 
 stopped before the Mosque of St. Sophia, just 
 adjoining. 
 
 "The Sultan's women have not far to go to 
 church," suggested Bertie. 
 
 "Do you know why Constantinople is so 
 called, Bertie?" asked Mr. Anson. 
 
r 
 
 268 THE AXSOXS IX ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 "Yes, sir; after Constantine the Great. He 
 founded the city, did he not?" 
 
 "Oh, no," replied his father. "You will have 
 to brush up jour history. It was founded nearly 
 a thousand years before, -and was called Byzan- 
 tium. Constantine simply adopted the ruined 
 Byzantium as his capital, and raised it to a yet 
 greater glory. Did you ever hear the story of 
 the founding of Byzantium?" 
 
 "No, sir." 
 
 "I will tell it to you. IN^early seven hundred 
 years before Jesus was born, some Megarian em- 
 igrants asked their oracle to tell them where to 
 found a new city. 'Found your city opposite 
 the land of the blind men,' was the advice. 
 They traveled to find the 'land of the blind 
 men.' Wlien they came to Chalcedon — called 
 Kadi Keui now — they at once perceived that 
 the curving shores of the Golden Horn offered 
 a site for a city far surpassing any place they 
 had yet seen. Then they understood that the 
 'blind men' were they who could not see the 
 
IN MOSLEM LANDS. 269 
 
 advantages of the opposite shore. There they 
 settled. St. Sophia — Sophia is the Greek word 
 for wisdom, and refers to Jesus as the incarna- 
 tion of wisdom — was, at the first, a Christian 
 church. Its foundations were laid in the days 
 of Constantine. It was destroyed several times, 
 but was rebuilt with yet greater splendor. The 
 emperor designed to surpass Solomon's Temple. 
 The East was ransacked for beautiful marbles. 
 Gold was used lavishly. The emperor said that 
 an angel had revealed its plan in a dream. Now 
 let us see it.'' 
 
 The Ansons first removed their shoes and 
 put on slippers, as all are required to do in 
 entering Moslem mosques; then they went to 
 the gallery from which they could have a view 
 of the magnificent interior. 
 
 "The great dome seems to hang in the air," 
 said Bessie. "These beautiful columns come, 
 so I have read, from many old temples in 
 Egypt, Ephesus, and Athens. The building 
 was sixteen years in erecting. When it was 
 
270 THE ANSOXS IX ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 finished, the emperor ran in, exclaiming : ^ God 
 be praised, who hath esteemed me worthy to 
 complete such a work. Solomon, I have sur- 
 passed thee ! ' " 
 
 Nearly an hour they tarried in the mosque, 
 going from point to point ; now they stood be- 
 fore the Mihrab, where the holy book, the 
 Koran, is kept ; now they approached the altar, 
 or walked around under the great dome, whose 
 circumference was less than the space between 
 the columns, and which truly seemed to hang in 
 the air, without visible suj^ports. Whenever 
 any Mohammedan came in to pray, he turned 
 his face toward the Mihrab, and so to the south- 
 east; the building being exactly square, and 
 built in an exact line with the points of the 
 compass, the worshipers thus oddly faced the 
 corners of the mosque, and not the centre of 
 the eastern side, where formerly stood the altar. 
 
 When they stood without, Bertie called at- 
 tention to the crescent over the dome. 
 
 " That crescent is worth, so tliey say, fifty 
 
IN MOSLEM LANDS. 271 
 
 thousand dollars in gold/' remarked Mr. 
 Anson. 
 
 ^' What does the crescent mean ? '' asked 
 Bertie. 
 
 ^^About four hundred years before, the Mace- 
 donians had besieged the city of Byzantium. 
 One dark night they intended to take the city 
 by surprise. Just as they had commenced their 
 assault, the clouds parted, and by the light of 
 the crescent moon, the soldiers on the walls 
 saw the enemy approaching. Thenceforth it 
 became their symbol. When the Turks con- 
 quered Constantinople, they adopted it as their 
 symbol.^' 
 
 Dismissing the carriage, they descended to the 
 water's edge, and crossed in a small boat to 
 Scutari, to the Ronfai Convent, where the 
 Whirling Dervishes reside. It was just a little 
 before one o'clock when they had arrived. The 
 Dervishes entered and seated themselves in a 
 circle, and prayed a short prayer five times 
 over. Then rising, they began, at first slowly 
 
272 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 then more rapidly, to say, "ia ilah illallah/' 
 
 THE WHIRLING DERVISHES. 
 
 meaning, "there is no God but God/^ They 
 pronounced it thus: ^^ La-i-lah-il-la-lahJ^ At 
 
IN MOSLEM LANDS. 273 
 
 the first syllable they bowed forward, at the 
 second stood straight, at the third bent back- 
 ward, and so on. Kapidly and yet more rapidly 
 they seesawed up and down. Then the sheik, 
 or leader, began to stamp. At once they seemed 
 to increase their motion four-fold, and began to 
 whirl round and round, and bend up and down 
 like crazy men. All this time they cried out 
 their sentence, which now sounded like one 
 "/aA," interrupted occasionally by ^'hoo! yah 
 hoo ! " meaning, " He, He is God.'' By-and-by 
 they joined hands and swung to and fro, with 
 their long hair flying like a cloud. Finally, 
 some fell down foaming at the mouth, others 
 sw^ooned and were carried out. It became more 
 than the Ansons could stand; Bertie's head 
 seemed to be dizzy. 
 
 When they reached the hotel, Mr. Anson was 
 met at the door by a servant, who told him that 
 Mrs. Anson had been so ill that they had had to 
 call in the doctor. He hastened to his room and 
 found the doctor there. 
 
CHAPTER Xyil. 
 
 THE INVALID'S JOURNEY HOME. 
 
 T AM Dr. Stevenson; this is Mr. Anson, I 
 judge," spoke up the physician, quickly. 
 "We have a rather sick lady here. Please tell 
 me about her. I have but this moment reached 
 here." 
 
 "It was when we were in Siam* that my at- 
 tention was first drawn to the fact that my wife 
 was ill. I had thought, before that, that it was 
 simply weariness." 
 
 "Where did you come from, before reaching 
 Siam ? " asked the doctor. 
 
 "From Canton, China, where we lived for 
 quite a little while on the banks of the river." 
 
 "H'm, h'm, just so. The fever plainly. It 
 is a hard thing for us Englishmen or Ameri- 
 cans to stand the malarious atmosphere of such 
 
 spots. I often wonder how the missionaries 
 274 
 
THE invalid's JOURNEY HOME. 275 
 
 manage to live there for years. But, to get to 
 business, you had better get this lady away from 
 here as soon as possible. You can go to Switz- 
 erland, or you can go right to America. It will 
 not require much more of an effort to cross the 
 ocean, if she is a fair sailor." 
 
 "She has generally been better on the water 
 than ashore," said Mr. Anson. 
 
 "So much the better. Get some thick cloth- 
 ing ready, because you will be going to much 
 colder latitudes. In the meanwhile, I will leave 
 some medicine to act as a tonic for your wife. 
 We cannot reach the cause of the trouble with 
 medicine; that you will have to leave to the sea 
 voyage to accomplish. How are you going 
 home? Have you fixed on a plan?" 
 
 "I had thought to take the Austrian Lloyd's 
 mail steamer to Trieste, and thence by Venice, 
 Milan, Turin, and across the Alps into France, 
 and thence to England," replied Mr. Anson. 
 
 " Have you bought tickets for that route ? " 
 
 "No, for I have made no fixed plan yet." 
 
276 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 "You are wise not to have done so^ for one 
 nev€r knows what may happen. I would sug- 
 gest that you take one of Burns and Mclver's 
 first-class Liverpool steamers, and go all the 
 way to America by water. You can stop at 
 Malta and Gibraltar. You can lie over in 
 England as long as you please. However, there 
 is no place like home; and, unless your wife 
 gets thoroughly well, you had better go right 
 on to the States." 
 
 "Thank you, doctor; I will study the matter 
 over. It is almost certain that I will do as you 
 suggest." 
 
 In a week Mrs. Anson was able to leave her 
 bed, and they were soon sailing away from 
 Asia to the home-land westward. The voyage 
 through the Mediterranean was especially enjoy- 
 able, for the air was balmy and mild, and the 
 sea smooth. Daily, Mrs. Anson was carried on 
 deck, and carefully screened from the sun's rays 
 and from draughts of air. She thus mended 
 rapidly. The rest of the family hung about the 
 
THE invalid's JOUENEY HOME. 277 
 
 convalescent, now reading to her, now chatting 
 with her, now singing in concert, now discussing 
 the journey over which they had come, or fore- 
 casting their arrival at home. They never 
 wearied when talking over the various interest- 
 ing things they had seen from the day when 
 they first started for their long tour. Of course 
 they found that the hours flew apace. 
 
 At Malta, Bertie and his father paid a flying 
 visit to St. John's Cathedral, with the Crusaders' 
 graves. They climbed the fortress towers, to ob- 
 tain the beautiful view over the harbors. Four 
 days later, Gibraltar was reached. The six 
 hours' stay of the steamer was utilized by Mr. 
 Anson and Bertie to visit the castle and the 
 formidable batteries. The time was too short 
 to allow them to climb the heights of the 
 Rock of Gibraltar, towering upward to a 
 height of twelve hundred feet. 
 
 The glassy green ocean now appeared, chang- 
 ing from the deep blue of the sea. Without 
 any delay, the Ansons reached liiverpool with 
 
278 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 but time to be transferred to the Cunarder about 
 to start for New York. Unvarying kindness 
 was shown on both the steamers to the invalid 
 lady. A very pleasant friendship had sprung 
 up between the passengers and officers, on the 
 longer voyage from Constantinople to Liver- 
 pool. It was with genuine regret that they 
 parted company at Liverpool. 
 
 A few days after leaving Queenstown, Ireland, 
 Mrs. Anson was lying upon her easy sea-chair, 
 knitting. Bertie sat by her side, reading his 
 Bible. 
 
 " What are you reading, my son ? Read it to 
 me, will you not ? " 
 
 "I was reading the seventeenth chapter of 
 John's Gospel, and I stopped reading and be- 
 gan thinking over this verse : ' As thou hast 
 sent me into the world, even so have I sent them 
 into the world.' " 
 
 "What did you think of it?" asked his 
 mother. 
 
 "Why, that Jesus was a foreign missionary. 
 
THE invalid's JOUENEY HOME. 279 
 
 Then I thought that his disciples were to be like 
 him, and to go into the world too. But, mam- 
 ma, all Christians can't go.'^ 
 
 "No, my son; some only can go, and some 
 must send them. Your papa could not go; I 
 suppose'' — with a smile — "that I should get too 
 sick, if I were to go, even if your papa was not 
 my husband." 
 
 "Well, mamma, how can anybody know cer- 
 tainly just whether he ought to go, or to stay ? " 
 
 "Let us be frank with each other, Bertie. 
 Are you thinking of yourself?" 
 
 "Why, yes, mamma, I believe I am." 
 
 "You are a Christian, yourself, my son. That 
 is the first thing. You cannot tell the gospel to 
 others until you have experienced its power your- 
 self. Then, too, you have tried — I have seen it 
 when you thought I did not notice it — to per- 
 suade some of your school friends to be Chris- 
 tians." 
 
 "Why, of course, mamma; I could npt help 
 that," interrupted Bertie. 
 
280 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 "That is just it; you did it so naturally that 
 it shows that you have the missionary spirit. 
 Now, the next thing is, where are you most 
 needed, and for what work are you most fitted? 
 These are two most important questions. I do 
 not know that you are old enough to answer the 
 last question. One moment, papa" — calling to 
 Mr. Anson, who was leisurely pacing the deck — 
 *^ can you help us ? " And she detailed the con- 
 versation thus far. 
 
 " Why," said he, " Bertie's character has so far 
 shown itself that I think we can determine if he 
 has, even undeveloped as yet, the germs of those 
 qualities needed for missionary work at home 
 and abroad. He has a sound body for a foun- 
 dation." 
 
 " Yes," added his wife, " we have taken pains 
 with that from babyhood." 
 
 "Then, too," continued Mr. Anson, "he 
 seemed to pick up quite easily the German, as 
 it is spoken in the German quarter of our town. 
 He gets along fairly well at school. I do not 
 
THE invalid's JOURNEY HOME. 281 
 
 know that he lacks any of the qualifications 
 needed by a foreign missionary, except such as 
 may be given him in the course of his educa- 
 tion/' 
 
 " Well, we can let that stand. How about the 
 need for missionaries?'' asked Mrs. Anson. 
 
 "Well, there are needy fields in the territories 
 and in the large cities in the Eastern States," 
 said Mr. Anson. 
 
 "But," said Bertie, "there are none as needy 
 as the countries of Asia, and the great cities 
 other than the ones where the steamers stop. It 
 seems to me, papa, that the people are so low, so 
 superstitious, so wicked, that they ought to have 
 more missionaries to preach to them about Jesus, 
 I can't call to mind the beautiful temples we 
 have seen without thinking of the way they wor- 
 ship in them, and the idols to whom they pray. 
 I think of it most of the time." 
 
 "Perhaps God is leading you towards giving 
 yourself to be a missionary. You must ask him 
 about it." 
 
282 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 "I have, papa; and I will keep on asking/' 
 
 "I believe/^ added Mrs. Anson, "tliat the 
 noble example of the godly men whom we met 
 on our tour, and their earnest work, has made 
 me feel an intense interest in their work, and 
 that it has impressed Bertie also." 
 
 "I do not doubt it," said Mr. Anson. 
 
 Just then the gong sounding for luncheon 
 interrupted the conversation. 
 
 That same evening, chancing to be alone, the 
 parents began to talk of the morning's conver- 
 sation. 
 
 "I do not question that our Heavenly Father 
 is leading Bertie to be willing to give himself to 
 Christ's service in heathen lands, and that it will 
 come about that, unless something should inter- 
 pose, we shall see our boy a foreign missionary/' 
 Mrs. Anson said. 
 
 "God grant it! even if it be hard for us to 
 send him far from us," answered Mr. Anson. 
 
 *'But I have been thinking of Bessie. She, 
 too, seems impressed by what she has seen, and 
 
THE invalid's JOUENEY HOME. 283 
 
 those whom she has met. Yet she has said 
 nothing about becoming a missionaiy.^' 
 
 ^'Well, my dear wife, we do not know what 
 has been passing in her mind. Neither do we 
 know but that God will let the seeds sown in 
 this journey lie in her heart until some later 
 occurrence may develop them. In the mean- 
 while, I am sure that our little Mission Band 
 will be the better by having had its representa- 
 tives in foreign lands.'' 
 
 We need not follow the Ansons to their home 
 in Illinois. They w^ere welcomed with joy by 
 the people of their congregation, both old and 
 young. For awhile, there seemed danger lest 
 Mr. Anson should be overtaxed by the demands 
 upon him from other churches to come and tell 
 of his travels. Finally, however, he reduced it 
 to system; and many were the times that he 
 thanked God for the privilege he had enjoyed 
 of seeing for himself the mission work of Asia, 
 and for the further privilege of telling others 
 what he had seen and learned on his long tour. 
 
284 THE ANSONS IN ASIATIC TEMPLES. 
 
 He soon saw the results, in an increased interest 
 in the great work among the members of the 
 churches that he visited. 
 
 It was nearly a year before Mrs. Anson's 
 health was fully restored. Her experience in 
 this direction enabled both her husband and 
 herself to sympathize more fully than they 
 could otherwise have done with invalided mis- 
 sionaries. 
 
 THE END.