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had to share the house with local fauna.
I have lots of company over here in the way of rats and bats and in the summer scorpions and mosquitoes. Last summer Mrs. Malcolm killed ten scorpions over here and caught about half that many rats. The bats are here still,...29
Single women missionaries in larger communities, especially those teaching in schools, were found by Jane Hunter to be sharing quarters. They tried to furnish their residences to resemble their own homes as much as they could, some even bringing with them piano and other pieces of furniture. In comparison, Edith's quarters at Taiho were basic indeed. There were rugs in the bedrooms, which the local population duly admired, but elsewhere the floors were of cold brick.30 Chinese tiled roofs might be picturesque, but they did not serve well when it rained.
I had to have the roof mended not long ago for every rain saw me placing basins and pails around. And the roof mender nearly landed through twice, much to my consternation.31
Edith began to wear Chinese clothing as soon as she arrived at Yangchow. Describing this novelty, she wrote to Louese:
Our Chinese clothes are very warm. You would laugh if you could see me, so we did at each other when we first put them on. Would you be interested for me to describe what I have on? We wear foreign underclothes, but try to dress as much like the natives on the outside as possible.12
Despite efforts on the part of foreign missionaries to fit into the Chinese community, they remained an enigma to the local populace. The Chinese women could not understand what Edith was doing in their midst and gave their own interpretations.
They cannot understand single women away from home in a strange place. I am generally accepted as Mr. Malcolm's