CHINA is not known abroad as a land of beautiful scenery, yet everywhere one finds himself in the midst of unparalleled magnificence—mountains and rivers to the right and to the left; majestic mountains, alps beyond alps that pierce the sky, and matchless rivers, both on a scale that awakens wonder in one familiar even with the glories of Switzerland, or the largest waters of the Western hemisphere. The fertility of the land, the picturesqueness of the scenery, were a constant source of surprise and wonder.
A Pagoda.
Every word relative to the inhabitants, if true to facts, will seem exaggerated. In the South of China the people, compared with those in the North, are pigmies. In the northern provinces they are physically of noble proportions and dignified bearing, in height ranging often between five feet ten inches and six feet four inches, with a proportionate weight often of two hundred or more pounds. The people are thrifty, industrious, virile, and capable of deeds of rule and of war. Their defeat by the Japanese was due to the lack of leadership, equipment, and training. Give them leaders, and they will match the strength and skill of any nation. Their history is not all back of them. They are a peace-loving race, devoted to agriculture and trade.
Never was there a land in which children are so much in evidence. They are a most interesting part of the population. They are not stunted and puny, but eager and full of lusty energy, and with promise for the future. Their mirthfulness is a disclosure. In China, people laugh and smile and joke and have fun. They are splendid material on which the Gospel can work. Poverty and ignorance are indeed everywhere prevalent; but, viewed in the light of its possibilities, no race on earth has inherently larger promise for the future.—D. W. Pratt, in N. Y. Observer.
