Page:The Boy Travellers in the Russian Empire.djvu/361

Rh "I shall read the book with great pleasure," was the reply, "now that I have met the youths whose travels are described in it. As you have seen the Chinese at home, and know their manners and customs, I won't take your time by telling you what I saw in Mai-mai-chin, which is just like any other Chinese city in nearly every respect.

"I may add that it is said to be the cleanest town in all China. It is only half a mile square, carefully laid out, and its streets are swept daily.

Only the merchants and their employés, with a small garrison of soldiers, are allowed to live there, and consequently there is no poor population such as you always find in the other cities of the Empire."

"That must be a great relief," Fred remarked. "Wherever we went in China we saw so much degradation and suffering that it destroyed a great deal of the pleasure of the journey."

"I didn't see a beggar in Mai-mai-chin," continued Mr. Hegeman,