Page:A wandering student in the Far East vol.1 - Zetland.djvu/187

Rh accomplished long marches of 100 li each, though for some inscrutable Chinese reason we were informed that the 100 li march of the second day was not so far as the 100 li march of the first. The towns we now encountered were large and apparently prosperous. Considerable quantities of English piece-goods were always to be seen, and many shops appeared to flourish solely on the proceeds of fancy goods from continental Europe. My tour of inspection at Yang-chia-kai, a town at which we spent the night of December 8th, evoked a chorus of canine disapprobation,—a proceeding which Joe (who is acutely conscious of the unerring instinct by which the Ssŭch'uan dog singles out foreigners and beggars for his disapproval) attributed to the unwonted fact that the sun was shining. "The dogs of Yang-chia-kai are true Ssŭch'uan dogs," he remarked pleasantly to the crowd of gaping onlookers, whereat every one laughed. They laughed still more when a moment later a beggar in rags came hobbling along and shared with us the general howl from the pack of curs.

Among the shops dealing exclusively in