been brought to light, the object of all being one and the same--to keep
back the marauding Tartars.

Over the length and breadth of their boundless empire, with all its
varying climates and inhabitants, the Chinese people are free to travel,
for business or pleasure, at their own sweet will, and to take up their
abode at any spot without let or hindrance. No passports are required;
neither is any ordinary citizen obliged to possess other papers of
identification. Chinese inns are not exposed to the annoyance of
domicilary visits with reference to their clients for the time being;
and so long as the latter pay their way, and refrain from molesting
others, they will usually be free from molestation themselves. The
Chinese, however, are not fond of travelling; they love their homes too
well, and they further dread the inconveniences and dangers attached
to travel in many other parts of the world. Boatmen, carters, and
innkeepers have all of them bad reputations for extortionate charges;
and the traveller may sometimes happen upon a "black inn," which is
another name for a den of thieves. Still there have been many who
travelled for the sake of beautiful scenery, or in order to visit famous
spots of historical interest; not to mention the large body of officials
who are constantly on the move, passing from post to post.

Among those who believe that every nation must have reached its present
quarters from some other distant parts of the world, must be reckoned a
few students of the ancient history of China. Coincidences in language
and in manners and customs, mostly of a shadowy character, have led some
to suggest Babylonia as the region from which the Chinese migrated to
the land where they are now found. The Chinese possess authentic records
of an indisputably early past, but throughout these records there is
absolutely no mention, not even a hint, of any migration of the kind.