breakfasted, and started our carts and litters. In our enjoyment
of the cool, delicious morning air, we walked for several
li. Just before the sun rose, we crossed a low ridge and from
its crest, I counted no less than thirty villages in front of us,
while behind there were about as many more, the average
population being apparently about 500 each. For days at a time,
my road lay through the narrow, crowded street of what seemed
to be an almost continuous village, the intervening farms being
often hardly more than a mile in width.

Imagine half the population of the United States packed into
the single state of Missouri and an idea of the situation will be
obtained, for with an area almost equal to that of Missouri,
Shantung has no less than 38,247,900 inhabitants. It is the
most densely populated part of China. But the Province of
Shan-si is as thickly settled as Hungary. Fukien and Hupeh
have about as many inhabitants to the square mile as England.
Chih-li is as populous as France and Yun-nan as Bulgaria.

The density of China's population may be better realized by
a glance at the following detailed comparison between the
population of Chinese provinces and the population of similar
areas in the United States:

{FIX THIS TABLE}
Area
Provinces Square miles Population
Hupeh, 71,410 35,280,685
Ohio and Indiana 76,670 5,864,720
Honan, 67,940 35,316,800