toward K'ai-fung-fu, instead of escaping to Si-ngan. Being, however,
herself a Tartar, she might have been expected to act in a way
contrary to precedents set by Chinese dynasties. Obviously, she
chose the latter as a place of refuge because it lay near the borders
of Tartary. It is noteworthy that a loyal governor of Honan at that
very time prepared a palace for her accommodation in K'ai-fung-fu,
and when the court was invited to return to Peking, he implored
her not to risk herself in the northern capital.

Honan is a province rich in agricultural, and probably
[Page 43]
in mineral, resources, but it has no outlet in the way of trade.
What a boon this railway is destined to be, as a channel of
communication with neighbouring provinces!

I crossed the Yellow River in 1866, but there was then no bridge
of any kind. Two-thirds of a mile in width, with a furious current,
the management of the ferry-boat was no easy task. On that occasion
an object which presented stronger attractions than this wonderful
bridge had drawn me to K'ai-fung-fu--a colony of Jews, a fragment
of the Lost Tribes of Israel. As mentioned in a previous chapter, I
had come by land over the very track now followed by the railroad,
but under conditions in strong contrast with the luxuries of a
railway carriage--"Alone, unfriended, solitary, slow," I had made my
way painfully, shifting from horse to cart, and sometimes compelled
by the narrowness of a path to descend to a wheelbarrow. How I
longed for the advent of the iron horse. Now I have with me a jovial
company; and we may enjoy the mental stimulus of an uninterrupted
session of the Oriental Society, while making more distance in
an hour than I then made in a day.