CHANG’S FIRST APPEARANCE.
CHAPTER XI
FURTHER ADVENTURES OF CHANG
The tale of a tub--Sayonara--Board-ship acquaintance--Queer company.
There is one more reminiscence of that happy summer I must recall; I recollect it very nearly ended disastrously for my hero.
We started one morning at sunrise, a party of four foreigners, twelve coolies, a guide, and one wildly-excited yellow dog, to the little island of M----, where there is a curious old monastery inhabited by Buddhist monks. After a steep descent of nearly two hours, we reached the valley, and drove off gaily, three coolies to each rickshaw, two pulling tandem in front and one pushing behind.
Our road lay close along the coast: on one side the blue waters of the Inland Sea, with the waves rippling upon the yellow sand; on the other, the green rice-fields, with the women hard at work at their monotonous labour, looking, nevertheless, very picturesque in their short blue linen kimonos and white handkerchiefs tied over their black hair. A peculiarity we noticed in this locality was that the female portion of the population seemed to do all the work. Women, mares, and cows are be seen everywhere as beasts of burden, whereas the masculine element appears to enjoy comparative leisure.
This is by the way, however.
After a three hours’ ride, at the rate of about five and a half to six miles an hour, during which time the sun had risen and become very powerful, whilst we felt the change from the invigorating mountain air we had come from, we at last arrived at a small and exceedingly dirty tea-house. The first stuff they brought us we could not drink. It was only daikon, our guide assured us; wholesome possibly, but very nasty.