Among the Celestials : vol.1 / Page 33 (Color Image)

0033	Among the Celestials : vol.1

CHAP. i.] CHINESE CURIOSITY.

everything we possessed, feel our clothes to see

what sort of cloth they were made of, and

question us unceasingly about our ages, where

we had come from, how long we meant to stay,

and where we were going. Even when we had

cleared our room, they did not desist from

pestering us, but, while we were undressing,

poked holes with their fingers in the paper

windows, and then applied their eyes to these

easily-made peep-holes. Looking up in the

middle of our ablutions, we would see a mass

of eyes just the eyes, with nothing else visible

—peering at us. The effect was peculiarly

irritating, and we would dash out with furious

remonstrance ; but as soon as we were inside

again they would come back exactly as before,

and we had eventually to resign ourselves to

the inevitable.

But these are the ordinary experiences of

every traveller in China, and I am only re-

peating what has been described a hundred

times before. We were kept a week at

Mukden, making up a caravan of mules to

take us into the mountains. We accordingly

had time to see the sights of the place, and go

some excursions in the neighbourhood. Of

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