Page:Ling-Nam; or, Interior views of southern China, including explorations in the hitherto untraversed island of Hainan (IA cu31924023225307).pdf/91

 Among the Palms. 87

On one of the islands off this coast, called by the Chinese Sheung-chun, and by Europeans St. John, pro- bably an imitation of the Chinese name, is the tomb of Francis Xavier, the first Jesuit missionary to the far east. A church, which may he seen from the deck of passing steamers, stands near the tomb. Pilgrimages are annually made to this shrine, excursion boats running from Hong- kong and Macao for the accommodation of the pilgrims. The people in these districts speak a peculiar patois, entirely unlike anything heard in other parts of the province, It differs widely from the pure Cantonese, and is strictly confined to this particular section of country. Go ten miles beyond to the east, north, or west, and almost pure Cantonese is heard, A syllabary of this dialect has been made by Mr. A. Don, of New Zealand, formerly resident in Canton. No certain clue has been found as to the cause of the strange peculiarities of the speech of this people. Some seek to find in this dialect traces of the original language of the indigenous tribes found when the Chinese first came to the south, Certain resemblances to dialects in central and north China, and especially to the southern mandarin, have led to the theory that the remnants of the army that followed the last Sung emperor, and others of his adherents who escaped destruction, were scattered over these districts, found homes among the peasants of the land, and leit their permanent mark in the speech of the people. We have no certain knowledge as to the number of these who followed the fortunes of the Sungs, but they must have formed a very considerable force to have held Kublai’s Mongols at bay so long, When Luh-siu-fu rushed into