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Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books
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The heart of a continent : vol.1 |
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happiness being merely a relative quality, we felt thoroughly
happy on the following day as we trudged along beside the
mules, with no weight on our backs to crush the heart out
of us.
Our intention now was to descend the Sungari to Kirin,
one of the principal towns of Manchuria, and situated about
three hundred miles from the source of the river, near where
it enters the more open part of the country. We had still
many days of weary plodding through the forest, climbing
ridge after ridge, crossing and recrossing tributary streams,
one of which we had to ford twenty-four times in the course
of a single march, and everywhere waist-deep. But at
length, and very suddenly, we found ourselves clear of the
forest, and in a populous district of extraordinary fertility.
The soil—all reclaimed from the forest—was almost black,
and, judging from the crops, must have been wonderfully
rich. The houses were all new, large, and well built, and
provisions could be obtained in plenty. After rough travelling
in uninhabited parts, one really appreciates being amongst
men again and seeing active life all round; and here, as
before, we were impressed by the vigour and prosperity of
these Chinese colonists breaking through the forest. In Asia
one sees plenty of the old age-worn life, but on that conti-
nent it is only in very few places that one can see the fresh
young life of a colony pushing vigorously ahead.
On August 12 we reached Kirin, and the first round of
our journey was completed. Kirin is a large town of from
eighty to one hundred thousand inhabitants, very picturesquely
situated among wooded hills, on a bend of the Sungari, here,
only three hundred miles from its source, a majestic stream
a quarter of a mile broad and twenty feet deep. But it rained
incessantly while we were there, and the filth and smells of
the place, increased in consequence of this, prevented us from
enjoying as we should have done all its natural beauties
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