170
WEI PEH T'I
Rees made that right. And then when we arrived at Yangchow it was as dark as any night could be and only two or three little Chinese lanterns that were not more than will-o-the-wisps in the darkness. We were soon surrounded, when we landed ourselves and our much luggage on the muddy bank, and then if it had not been for Miss Rees I would have felt like turning back in despair. The missionaries at Chinkiang knew what we would have to encounter and I suppose laughed at me when I said it was too bad to take Miss Rees.
We found our way or rather our chair bearers did through the gate of the city and through such narrow streets that the poles grazed the walls as we turned the corners, and we, in sedan chairs and our luggage on barrows, arrived safely at the Yangchow House Friday night, December 26th and our long journey was at an end.
There are nineteen girls here, most all from England. And we have everything as comfortable as can be in China, and what we appreciate most of all is a large garden enclosed in a high brick wall, where we take our exercise without going on the street. So I do not come in contact with the people yet, except as I go to the Chapel every other Sunday. Then I see that the streets are mere alleys, very dirty, sometimes blocked with a pig and full of small boys looking like dirty rag dolls in their wadded clothes. Today as they have come here they are quite elegant; for the day before New Year is the day for the annual bath and new clothes to celebrate the event the next day. The people dress in blue and you see nothing but blue, except on New Year's day when red is a favourite colour or pink or green according to the wealth of the family. I can see from my room a thoroughfare, it can hardly be called a street, and I get so interested in the people sometimes that it is hard to study. Chinese material is very cheap here and they think cloth must be very dear in our home countries because the people wear their clothes so tight. I could tell you some very funny stories if I had the time to write them all out. When we look at home customs with Chinese eyes they seem very queer even to us.
I have made slow progress with the language and I have been