Peking to Lhasa : vol.1 / Page 76 (Color Image)

0076	Peking to Lhasa : vol.1

46 PEKING TO LHASA

there is a strain of childishness in the Chinese

which comes out even in their wrath. If they

have a grievance against a foreigner they will

often write him an anonymous letter in which the

(usually imaginary) offence is magnified out of all

proportion, and the culprit is informed that the

wrath of heaven will fall upon him, whilst the

powers of justice will first punish him in this

world ; if he goes by train he will be smashed up ;

if by boat he will meet with a watery grave. In

the same way the young student spirit comes out

in the Peking papers published in English. They

ignore the present state of China with its rampant

corruption and its brigandage. And, posing as

the representatives of a state endowed with all

the virtues, they censure the foreigner for his

cupidity and double-dealing.

Chinese boys are, Pereira says, a curious pro-

duct of humanity. Like all Chinese they are

born schemers. If he caught his boy out in some

offence the boy would try to point out that he-

Pereira—was in the wrong, for which the blame

really rested with Pereira. If he was late it would

be Pereira's watch which was wrong. However,

on the road, when difficulties had to be overcome,

he always rose to the occasion. He was an

autocrat among the coolies and an excellent

organiser.

The Chinese, with the oldest civilisation in the

world and plenty of intelligence and capacity for

hard work, ought to have gone ahead of all other

nations. But for some inexplicable reason they

have dropped behind the nations of Europe and

run to seed. This is partly on account of their

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