had not some men,
more crafty than their fellows, devised a means of overpowering these
fierce savages?

This is the method referred to: On leaving his home the herb-gatherer
of the mountains arms himself with two large hollow bamboo tubes which
he slips over his wrists and arms; he also carries a jar of very
strong wine. When he meets one of the wild men he stands still and
allows the giant to grasp him by the arm. As the giant holds him fast,
as he supposes, in his firm grasp, he quietly and slowly withdraws
one arm from the bamboo cuff, and, taking the pot of wine from the
other hand, quickly pours it down the throat of the stooping giant,
whose mouth is wide open with immoderate laughter at the thought of
having captured a victim so easily. The potent draught of wine acts
at once, causing the victim to drop to the ground in a dead sleep,
whereupon the herb-gatherer either dispatches him summarily with a
thrust through the heart, or leaves the drunken tyrant to sleep off the
effect of his draught, while he returns again to his work of collecting
the health-restoring herbs. In this way have the numbers of these wild
men become less and less, until at the present time but few remain.

The Jointed Snake

The people on O-mei Shan tell of a wonderful kind of snake that is
said to live there. Part of its life is spent among the branches of
the trees; if by chance it falls to the ground it breaks up into two
or more pieces. These separate segments later on come together again
and unite.

Many other marvellous and interesting tales are related of this
mountain and its inhabitants.

The Casting of the Great Bell

In every province of China there is a legend relating to the casting
of the great bell swung in the bell tower of the chief city. These
legends are curiously identical in almost every detail. The following
is the one current in Peking.

It was in the reign of Yung Lo, the third monarch of the Ming dynasty,
that Peking first became the capital of China. Till that period the
'Son of Heaven' had held his Court at Nanking, and Peking had been
of comparatively little note. Now, however, on being honoured by the
'Sacred Presence,' stately buildings arose in all directions for
the accommodation of the Emperor and his courtiers. Clever men from
all parts of the Empire were attracted to the capital, and such as
possessed talent were sure of lucrative employment. About this time the
Drum Tower and the Bell Tow