University of Nanking - Linguist Yearbook (Nanking, China)

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68 THE LINGUIST flowers filling the air. That evening my cabin companion and I sat out on one of these verandas and lazily watched the insects-their wings shone with all sorts of colors in the light. There was no other sound but the noise of the crickets and they were obviously busy. The next strange experience was in Hong Kong, where we went to the top of the peak in the funny little tram. It seemed almost a tempting of Providence to risk one's life trying to climb up an almost perpendicular ascent. I wonder if flies have the same feeling as I had when they try climbing up a window pane. But it was worth even that to see the view of the harbour and to sleep in a civilized bed in a bungalow almost at the top of the peak. It made me hate the idea of having to return to the boat with that terrible engine panting all night-though once it was stopped for two hours and there was a high wind and a heavy swell and very few present at dinner so after that we were not so anxious for the engine to take a holiday. But the longest journey comes to an endI suppose and ours ended at Shanghai, where in spite of muddles and such exeitements as other passengers running off with my baggage by mistake, though it could hardly have been marked in larger letters, I made my way to the hotel. After a seven hourtrain ride I reached Nanking at last and entered the Language School. INIARY G1u1f1fI'r1A1s l -061 T , l I l Our tirst ' reception committee ,-wharf beggars in their boats beside the ship begging for copper e

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FROM Tl-IE EAST AND FROM THE WEST 67 FROM THE EAST AND FROM THE WEST. , THE SEA VOYAGE. - ' S soonlas the tender had left Tilbury, -..: ,gg,,g.:,g and the faces of those who had come ,.'.g7:- 'fff?li ' down to see us off were no longer 'A' 'W distinguishable, I felt then that the great adventure had begun. There was not a soul on boardl knew,-and at that time the only acquaintance I had was my bag- gage, which I had seen a great deal of for many weeks before- hand. It was some hours before we finally started and we sailed down the dear old Thames, with the lights along the banks. I watched until it was time to turn in. The next morning we were out in' the open sea, with no vestige of land in sight. l didn't like that feeling very much at first, but soonlgot used to it. We all seemed to be on the lookout for the merest suggestion of land. It was lovely to see the white cliffs of the Isle of Vtfight during the first morning. We missed several places of interest during the nights,-Gibraltar for instance, and we only saw Malta in the dim distance. People became very excited when the north coast of Africa came into view, with its bold cliffs and stretches of sand. Everyone collected at the front of the ship as we neared Port Said. My first impressions of the Orient were not very favorable. VVe had hardly anchored before the ship was surrounded by little boats filled with dark skinnell,turbanned men, in long robes, making a real Babel of noise. They scrambled up the stairs,-l wondered half of them were not pushed into the water in the general confusion. And ina surprisingly short time the deck was converted into an Oriental market. They are people who simply refuse to take No for an answer and seem to have the idea that our great object in life is to possess ourselves of numberless strings of beads and feathered fans, and to feed on Turkish delight. It was no use trying to escape to a quiet corner of the deck. We were pursued everywhere with people dangling beads and fans in our faces. It was even worse on shore and I was quite relieved when we put off again and entered the Suez Canal. It makes me glad to think Ihave been through that wonderful achievement of man's skill. It certainly is not much to look at. But to see large vessels passing each other in what seemed just a narrow river but with sufficient depth at the very edges for a vessel to tie up, was a wonderful experience. That night was the beginning of the hot weather and though it was November, we could hardly breathe, the heat was so oppressive. Colombo made up for the deficiencies of Port Said. The ap- proach to it is so beautiful. We could see church towers and fine buildings surrounded by tropical trees. That evening we Went ashore. And it was just like being in fairyland-passing the bungalows with their colored lights on the verandas and the scent from tropical

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THE VOYAGE FROM THE E,-XST 69 THE VOYAGE FROM THE EAST V As we put off toward the Golden Gate, a sum- . mer fog settled down over the Bay, making dim, then I ity, y blotting out those faces, long dear to us, which we -A ix f hope to see again. X 2.3. .The China was American registered, part I Chinese owned and the crew except officers, was WR f Chinese. Our cabin boy wore black silk pants and a pp 15 'Q ,. white coat. When he met us in the passage way he V ' went to the left, a habit we have since learned to el ,D 4, accept out here.. And after a few days he smiled ,iq 5 back at urs, and brought oranges and apples and pears, .' I after the refrigerator was opened. ,iq V YQ: Speaking of refrigerators, we had fresh milk, pg 'yfi1'151ff kept frozen until wanted. The chief steward said ll that inthe old days travellers had milk only now and 4. .ff again, Now when they left the States, and Again ,ig U is 3 when they returned. -L' During the happy, carefree days we played N' -5 shuflleboard, or deck tennis, or swam in the tank. Between times we tried to read books with long -qs, sounding titles, suggested by Sherwood Eddy or some E of the other older men. The new' people persuaded the experienced missionaries to give us lectures, and Mr. Eddy took us through the Sermon on the Mount. At the date line Neptune came on board, an experience never to be forgotten by some, and then there were the children who made things interesting. Little jean Follette was the belle of the boat. VVe had a day in Honolulu: red and green, with here and there atouch of yellow flowers. Blue sea, white surf, brown bodies flashing, rainbow after sudden showers. Then there was a tree which looked like an acacia, had pods like a locust, and love red blossoms, soft as rose petals, or as a skin you love to toucl1, we saw bananas growing where they could be picked from the dining room window, sugar cane in large quantities, and here and there a leaning cocoanut palm, while sweet odors came from far olf flowering trees. Ten days later we were in Yokohama. Here in the cool of the day we walked through the japanese city. Men were home from work, children out from school, boys were catching birds and insects with gummed Iishing poles. Two or three boys had locusts which made perfectly lovely noises when squeezed, but the boys never batted an eye, you would never know they were enjoying it. QChinese boys are more expressivel Women were drawing water from street hydrants with family keys. Before each door were the familyls sandals, all in a neat row. Inside we could see the people resting on mats, or eating or bathing or reading the evening paper. All were sincerely polite, except the richsha men. At Kobe we went through a market street, covered over with matting, to keep out'the heat, small stores, flies on the lishjpeddlers