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146 lotus-seeds in syrup, and other delicacies, the receipts for which remain locked in the bosoms of Celestial cooks.

The college for modern learning, erected in compliance with the peace protocol of 1900, I found in a flourishing condition, with 378 students voraciously seeking the knowledge of the peoples of the West. It started late and badly, a building for the purpose having been reluctantly erected by official orders in 1904, which building had shortly afterwards to be destroyed as unsafe, the contractor having expended upon it only 10,000 out of the 30,000 taels for which he contracted to do the work. Students were not easy to find; but with the tremendous impetus given to innovation in all parts of China as the Russo-Japanese war developed, a change came over the people of Ssŭch'uan, and before long the difficulty of securing students was replaced by the difficulty of accommodating all those who desired to learn. Before leaving Ch'êngtu I cashed a draft obtained in Shanghai. The ancient banking system of China is in the hands of the men