and the process of pumping water attracted the attention of the boys.
An endless chain, with floats on it, was propelled through an inclined box
by a couple of men who kept up a steady walk on a sort of treadmill.
There were spokes in a horizontal shaft, and on the ends of the spokes
there were little pieces of board, with just sufficient space for a man's
foot to rest. The men walked on these spokes, and steadied themselves
on a horizontal pole which was held between a couple of upright posts.
Labor is so cheap in China that there is no occasion for employing steam
or wind machinery ; it was said that a pump coolie was able to earn from
IN A CHINESE TAVERN.
359
MODE OF FRRIOATING FUJLDS.
five to ten cents a day in the season when the fields needed irrigation,
and he had nothing to do at other times.
The night was passed at a village where there was a Chinese tavern,
but it was so full that the party were sent to a temple to sleep. Beds
were made on the floor, and the travellers managed to get along very well,
in spite of the fleas that supped and breakfasted on their bodies, and would
have been pleased to dine there. The boys were in a corner of the tem-
ple under the shadow of one of the idols to whom the place belonged,
while the Doctor had his couch in front of a canopy where there was a
deity that watched over him all night with uplifted hands. Two smaller
idols, one near his head and the other at his feet, kept company with the
larger one ; but whether they took turns in staying awake, the Doctor was
too sleepy to inquire.
They were up very early in the morning, and off at daylight, somewhat
to the reluctance of the guide, who had counted on sleeping a little longer.
The scenes along the road were much like those of the day before, and
they were glad when, just at nightfall, the guide pointed to a high wall in
front of them, and pronounced the word "Pekin." They were in sight
of the city.
" I'm disappointed," said Fred. " Pekin isn't what I thought it
was."
360
TIIK HOY TRAVELLERS.
THE DOCTORS BEDROOM.
" "Well, what did you expect to find ?" queried Frank.
" Why, I thought it was on a hill, or something of the sort ; I had no
reason to think so, of course, but I had formed that picture of it."
" Nearly every one who comes to Pekin is thus disappointed," said
Doctor Bronson ; " he expects to see the city from a distance, while, in re-
ality, it is not visible till you are quite close to it."
The walls were high, and there was nothing to be seen inside of them,
as none of the buildings in that quarter were equally lofty. But the ef-
fect of the walls was imposing; there were towers at regular intervals
and the most of them were two stories above the level of the surrounding
structure. For nearly a mile they rode along the base of. one of the walls
till they came to a gate that led them into the principal street. Once in-
side, they found themselves transferred very suddenly from the stillness of
Ihe country to the bustling life of the great city.
" I'm not disappointed now," Fred remarked, as they rode along in the
direction indicated by the guide ; " the streets are so wide in comparison
with those of the cities we have seen that they seem very grand, in-
deed."
"You've hit it exactly, Fred," Doctor Bronson replied, "Pekin is called
the ' City of Magnificent Distances ' on account of the width of its streets,
FIRST DAY IN PEKIN.
301
WALL OF TKKIX.
the great extent of the city, and the long walks or rides that are necessary
for going about in it."
" Evidently they took plenty of room when they laid it out," said
Frank, " for it isn't crowded like Shanghai and the other places we have
seen."
It was dark when they reached the little hotel where they were to
stay. It was kept by a German, who thought Pekin was an excellent
place for a hotel, but would be better if more strangers would visit the
city. His establishment was not large, and its facilities were not great,
but they were quite sufficient for the wants of our friends, who were too
tired to be particular about trifles. They took a hearty supper, and then
went to bed to sleep away the fatigues of their journey.
Next morning they were not very early risers, and the whole trio were
weary and sore from the effect of the ride of ninety miles on the backs
of Chinese ponies. Frank said that" when he was sitting down he
hesitated to rise for fear he should break in two, and Fred asserted
that it w r as dangerous to go from a standing to a sitting position for the
same reason.
They determined to take things easily for the first day of their stay in
Pekin, and confine their studies to the neighborhood of the hotel. With
this object in view, they took short walks on the streets, and in the after-
noon ventured on a ride in a small cart ; or, rather, they hired two carts,
as one was not sufficient to hold them. These carts are very abundant at
Pekin, and are to be hired like cabs in European or American cities. They
are not dear, being only sixty or seventy cents a day, and they are so abun-
dant that one can generally find them at the principal public places.
The carts, or cabs, are quite light in construction, and in summer they
have shelters over the horses to protect them from the heat of the sun.
362
THE BOY TRAVELLERS.
.
A PKKIX CAB.
The driver walks at the side of his team ; and when the pace of the horse
quit-kens to a run, he runs with it. No matter how rapidly the horse mav
go, the man does not
seem troubled to keep
alongside. The carts
take the place of se-
dan - chairs, of which
very few are to be
seen in Pekin.
Another kind of
cart which is used in
the Korth to carry
merchandise, and also
for passengers, is much
stronger than the cab,
but, like it, is mounted
on two wheels. The
frame is of wood, and there is generally a cover of matting to keep off
the heat of the sun. This cover is supported on posts that rise from
the sides of the cart ; but while useful against the sun, it is of no conse-
sequence in a storm, owing to its facility for letting the water run
through. The teams for propelling these carts are more curious than
the vehicles themselves, as they are indifferently made up of what-
ever animals are at hand. Oxen, cows, horses, mules, donkeys, and
sometimes goats and dogs, are the beasts of burden that were seen by the
boys in their rambles in Pekin and its vicinity, and on one occasion Fred
saw a team which contained a camel harnessed with a mule and a cow.
Camels come to Pekin from the Desert of Gobi, where great numbers of
them are used in the overland trade between China and Russia. They are
quite similar to the Arabian camel, but are smaller, and their hair is
thicker, to enable them to endure the severe cold of the northern winter.
In the season when tea is ready for export, thousands of camels are em-
ployed in transporting the fragrant herb to the Russian frontier, and the
roads to the northward from Pekin are blocked with them.
Walking was not altogether a pleasant amusement for our friends, as
the streets were a mass of dust, owing to the carelessness of the authorities
about allowing the refuse to accumulate in them. There is a tradition
that one of the emperors, in a period that is lost in the mazes of antiquity,
attempted to sweep the streets in order to make himself popular with the
people ; but he found the task too large, and, moreover, he had serious
SCENE IN NORTHERN CHINA.
363
doubts about its being accomplished in his lifetime. So he gave it up, as
he did not care to do something that would go more to the credit of his
successor than of himself, and no one has had the courage to try it since
that time. The amount of dirt that accumulates in a Chinese city would
THE BOY TRA-VELLERS.
breed a pestilence in any other part of the world. Not only do the Chinese
:i]>jH-ur uninjured by it, but there are some who assert that it is a necessity
of their existence, and they would lose their health if compelled to live in
an atmosphere of cleanliness.
One of the most interesting street sights of their first day in Pekin
was a procession carrying a dragon made of bamboo covered with painted
paper. There was a great noise of tom-toms and drums to give warning
of the approach of the procession, and there was the usual rabble of small
boys that precedes similar festivities everywhere. The dragon was carried
by five men, who held him aloft on sticks that also served to give his body
an undulating motion in imitation of life. He was not pretty to look
upon, and his head seemed too large for his body. The Chinese idea of
the dragon is, that he is something very hideous, and they certainly suc-
ceed in representing their conception of him. Dr. Bronson explained
that the dragon was frequently carried in procession at night, and on these
occasions the hollow body was illuminated, so that it was more hideous, if
possible, than in the daytime.
A CHINESE I'KAi.u.N.
GENERAL APPEARANCE OF 1'EKIN.
CHAPTER XXVII.
SIGHTS IN PEKIN.
FROM their own observations and the notes and accounts of travellers
who had preceded them, the boys made the following description of
Pekin :
" Pekin stands on a great sandy plain, and has a population of about
two millions. It consists of two parts, which are separated by a wall ; that
towards the south is called the Chinese city, and that on the north the
Tartar city. The Tartar city is the smaller both in area and population ;
it is said to measure about twelve square miles, while the Chinese city
measures fifteen. There are thirteen gates in the outer walls, and there
are three gates between the Tartar and the Chinese city. In front of each
gate there is a sort of bastion or screen, so that you cannot see the en-
trance at all as you approach it, and are obliged to turn to one side to
come in or go out. The Chinese city has few public buildings of impor-
tance, while the Tartar city has a great many of them. The latter city con-
sists of three enclosures, one inside the other, and each enclosure has a
wall of its own. The outer one contains dwellings and shops, the second
includes the government offices, and the houses of private persons who
are allowed to live there as a mark of special favor; while the third is
called the Prohibited City, and is devoted to the imperial palace and
temples that belong to it. Xobody can go inside the Prohibited City
without special permission, and sometimes this is very hard to obtain ; the
wall enclosing it is nearly two miles in circumference, and has a gate in
each of its four fronts, and the wall is as solid and high as the one that
surrounds the whole city of Pekin.
" We had no trouble in going to see the imperial palace, or such parts
of it as are open to the public, and also the temples. We could readily be-
lieve what was told us that the temples were the finest in the whole
country, and certainly some of them M'ere very interesting. There are
temples to the earth, to the sun, the moon ; and there are temples to agri-
culture, to commerce, and a great many other things. There is a very
306
Till: BOY TRAVELLERS.
fine structure of marble more than a hundred feet high, which is called
"The Gate of Extensive Peace." It is where the emperor conies on great
public occasions ; and beyond it are two halls where the foreign visitors
are received at the beginning of each year, and where the emperor ex-
amines the implements used in the opening of the annual season of
ploughing. The ploughing ceremony does not take place here, but iu
another part of the city, and the emperor himself holds the plough to
turn the first furrow. There are some very pretty gardens in the Pro-
hibited City, and we had a fine opportunity to learn something about the
skill of the Chinese in landscape gardening. There are canals, fountains,
bridges, flower-beds, groves, and little hillocks, all carefully tended, and
forming a very pretty picture in connection with the temples and pavil-
ions that stand among them.
A PAVILION IN THE PROHIIJITEU CITV.
"We have seen many temples so many, in fact, that it is difficult to
remember all of them. One of the most impressive is the Temple of
Heaven, which has three circular roofs, one above another, and is said to
be ninety-nine feet high. The tiles on the top are of porcelain of the color
of a clear sky, and the intention of the builder was to imitate the vault of
heaven. On the inside there are altars where sacrifices are offered to the
memory of former emperors of China, and on certain occasions the em-
peror comes here to take part in the ceremonies.
" Then we went to see the great bell, which is one of the wonders of
the world, though it is not so large as the bell at Moscow. It is said to
TEMPLE OF CONFUCIUS.
367
weigh 112,000 pounds, but how
they ever weighed it I don't
know. It is a foot thick at the
rim, about twenty feet high, and
fifteen feet in diameter ; it was
cast more than two hundred
years ago, and is covered all
over, inside and outside, with
Chinese characters. There is a
little hole in the top of it where
people try to throw copper cash.
If they succeed, it is a sign that
they \vill be fortunate in life ;
and if they fail, they must leave
the money as an offering to the
temple. All of us tried till we
had thrown away a double-hand-
TEMPLE OF HEAVEN.
So
ful of cash, but we didn't get a single one of them through the hole,
if we fail now in anything, you will know the reason.
" The Chinese have a great many gods, and pretty nearly every god
has a temple in some part
of Pekin. There is a fine
temple to Confucius, which
is surrounded by some trees
that are said to be five
hundred years old ; the tem-
ple has a high roof which
is very elaborately carved,
and looks pretty both from
a distance and when you
are close by it. But there are no statues in the temple, as the Chinese
do not worship Confucius through a statue, but by means of a tablet on
which his name is inscribed. . The other, deities have their statues, and
you may see the god of war with a long beard and mustache. The Chi-
nese have very slight beards, and it is perhaps for this reason that they
frequently represent their divinities as having a great deal of hair on their
faces, so as to indicate their superiority to mortals. Then they have a god
of literature, who is represented standing on the head of a large fish, and
waving a pencil in his right hand, while he holds in his left a cap such as
is worn by the literary graduates after they have received their degrees.
PEKIN CASH.
THE BOY TRAVELLERS.
TRADITIONAL LIKENESS OF CONFUCIUS.
GOD OF WAR.
The god of literature is worshipped a great deal by everybody who is
studying for a degree, and by those whose ancestors or other relatives
have been successful in carrying away the honors at an examination.
Think what it would be to have such a divinity in our colleges and schools
GOD OF LITERATURE.
GOD OF THIEVES.
THE BOARD OF PUNISHMENTS.
369
in America, and the amount of worship he would get if the students
really believed in him !
" The Chinese have a god of thieves ; but he has no temple, and is
generally worshipped in the open air. All the thieves are supposed to
worship him, as he is a saint who made their business successful ; and, be-
sides this, he is worshipped by those who wish to become wealthy in hon-
est ways. He is said to havte been a skilful thief, and very pious at the
same time. He was kind to his mother, and the most of his stealing was
done to support her.
" One of the interesting places we have visited is the office of the
Board of Punishments, which corresponds pretty nearly to our courts of
justice. But one great point of difference between their mode of admin-
istering justice and ours is that they employ torture, while we do not.
Xot only is the prisoner tortured after condemnation, but he is tortured
before trial, in order to make him tell the truth ; and even the witnesses,
under certain circumstances, are submitted to the same treatment. "We
saw some of the instruments that they use, and there was not the least at-
tempt to keep us from seeing them. It is customary to have them piled
or hung up at the doors of the courts, so that culprits may know what to
expect, and honest persons may
be deterred from wickedness
through fear. It is the same
principle that is followed by
some of the school-teachers in
America when they hang up in
full view the stick with which
they intend to punish unruly
boys.
" When we went into the
court-room, a man had just been
sentenced to receive twenty
blows of the bamboo, and the
sentence was immediately car-
ried out. He was ordered to lie
down with his face to the floor ;
his back was then stripped, and
while his legs and arms were
held by attendants, the execu-
tioner laid on the twenty blows
with a bamboo Stick about six A MANDARIN JUDGE DELIVERING SENTENCE.
24
370 THE BOY TRAVELLERS.
feet long and two inches wide. One side of the stick was rounded and
the other was flat. ; the flesh was blistered at every stroke, or raised in a
great puff, and it is certain that the man must be some time in getting
well, lie did not scream or make the least outcry, but took his punish-
ment patiently, and was raised to his feet at its end. He bowed to the
judge, and, perhaps, thanked him for the attention he had received, and
was then led away to make room for some one else.
" The Chinese don't seem to have any nerves compared with what we
have. They do not suffer so much as we do under tortures, and this is
perhaps one of the reasons why they are so much more cruel than the
people of Europe and America. For example, it would nearly kill a Euro-
pean to travel a week in carts such as we saw on the road from Tien-
tsin to Pekin. The Chinese don't seem to mind it at all ; and the best
proof that they do not is that they have never invented any better or
more comfortable way of travelling, or tried to improve their roads. And
it is the same with their punishments in the courts. They don't care
much for whippings, though it is not at all probable that they like them,
and the only things that they appear to fear very much are the punish-
ments that are prolonged. There are a good many of these, and I will
tell you about some of the most prominent and best known.
" Several times we have seen men with wooden collars three or four
feet square, and with a hole in the centre, where the poor fellow's neck
comes through. It is made of plank about two inches thick, and you can
see that the load is a heavy one for a man to carry. He cannot bring his
arms to his head ; and if he has no friends to feed him, or no money to
pay some one else to do so, he must starve. On the upper surface of the
plank is painted the name of the criminal, together with the crime he has
committed and the time he has been ordered to wear the collar. This in-
strument is called a ' cangue,' and is said to be in use all over China from
one end of the country to the other.
" There is a mode of torture which is chiefly used to extort confessions
from persons accused bf crime, and the result of its use is said to be that
many a man has been induced to confess crimes of which he was entirely
innocent, in order to escape from the terrible pain which is produced.
The victim is compelled to stand against a post, and his cue is tied to it
so that he cannot get away. His arms are tied to a cross-beam, and then
little rods are placed between his fingers in such a way that every finger
is enclosed. The rods are so arranged that by pulling a string the press-
ure on the fingers is increased, and the pain very soon becomes so great
.that most men are unable to endure it. If you want to know just how a
MODES OF TORTUKK.
371
SQUEEZING THE FINGKR8.
little of it feels, I advise you
to put one of your fingers be-
tween two lead -pencils and
then squeeze the pencils to-
gether. You won't keep do-
ing so very long.
" They squeeze the ankles
in much the same way, by
making the man kneel on
the ground, with his ankles
in a frame of three sticks
that are fastened together at
one end by a cord like that
of the finger-squeezer. Then,
when all is ready, they pull
at the cord and draw the
sticks nearer to each other,
so that pressure is brought
on the ankles. The pain is intense, and the most demure Chinaman is
not able to stand it without shrinking. This mode of torture, like the
other, is used to make prisoners confess the crimes of which they are ac-
cused, and they generally confess them. It is said that witnesses may be
subjected to the ankle torture, but with the modification in their favor
that only one ankle can be squeezed at a time. Very kind, isn't it ?
" We went near the prison while we were in the Tartar city, and so it
was proposed that we should see what there was inside. It was the most
horrible place I have ever seen, and
the wonder is that men can be found
inhuman enough to condemn people
to be shut up there. There was a large
cage so full of men that there was not
room on the floor for them all to lie
down at once, even if they had been
as close together as sardines in a can.
We could see through the bars of the
cage, as if the captives had been wild
animals instead of human beings, and
they looked so worn and wretched
that we all pitied them very much.
SQUEEZING THE ANKLES. If a iiiau is sent to prison in China,
;\ - 2 THE BOY TRAVELLERS.
and lias no money to pay for his food, he will die of starvation, as the jail-
ers are not required by law to feed the prisoners under their charge.
Thrre were men chained, with iron collars around their necks; and others
tied, with their hands and feet brought close together. The suffering was
terrible, and we were glad to come away after a very few minutes. It is
positive that we do not want to see another prison as long as we stay in
this country.
"In the Chinese prisons they torture men to make them confess, and
also to compel them to tell if they have money, or any relatives or friends
who have it. One of these cruelties is called 'putting a man to bed,' and
consists in fastening him on a wooden bedstead by his neck, wrists, and
ankles in such a way that
he cannot move. lie is
compelled to pass the
night in this position ;
and sometimes they give
him a coverlet of a sin-
gle board that presses on
A BED OF TOHTUEB.
ally weighted to make it
more oppressive. The next morning he is released and told that he can
be free until night, when he will be again tied up. Generally a man is
willing to do anything in his power rather than pass a second night on
such a bed. If he has money, he gives it up ; and, no matter how reluc-
tant he may be to call on his friends, he does so, sooner or later, and throws
himself on their generosity.
" They suspend men by the wrists and ankles ; sometimes by one wrist
and one ankle, and at others by all four brought closely tbgethe'r. Then
they place a victim in a chair with his arms tied to cross-sticks, and in this
position he is compelled to sit for hours in the most terrible pain. An-
other mode is by tying a man's hands together beneath his knees, and then
passing a pole under his arm and suspending him from it. This is called
' the monkey grasping a peach,' and it is frequently employed to compel a
rich man to pay heavily to escape punishment. How it got its name no-
body can tell, unless it was owing to a supposed resemblance to the posi-
tion of a monkey holding something in his paw.
"Just as we were coming out of the prison-yard we saw a man stand-
ing in a cage with his head through a board in the top, while his toes just
touched the bottom. Unless he stood on tiptoe, the weight of his body
fell on his neck ; and everybody knows how difficult it is to remain on
HOW ROBBERS ARE PUNISHED.
373
FOUR MODES OF PUNISHMENT.
tiptoe for any length of time. Sometimes men are compelled to stand in
this way till they die, but generally the punishment is confined to a few
hours. It is the form most frequently employed for the sentence of crim-
inals who have been robbing on the public highway, and are convicted of
using violence at the time of committing their offences.
" I could go on with a long account of the tortures in China, but they
are not very pleasant reading, and, besides, some of them are too horrible
for belief. I w T ill stop with the torture known as 'the hot-water snake,'
which consists of a coil of thin tubing of tin or pewter in the form of a