se first called
for a whisky warmer. Supplied with that, he would go out and buy
his whisky, coming back he would set it in the charcoal fire to
warm, and then slowly drink it from the tiny wine cups common in
China, inviting me to join him, and wondering at a man who could
evidently afford it, not treating himself to two ounces of whisky,
and wondering still more when he learned that I did not use
tobacco. It would be an exaggeration, but not a great
exaggeration, to say that every man who entered the eating-house
began his meal by drinking whisky. In replying to the question put
by my street audiences as to how they were to get good harvests, I
would ask them, after finishing the tobacco question, "How about
your whisky drinking?" Frequently they would anticipate me in this,
and say, "If tobacco is wrong, how about whisky?" To convince them
of the wrong of whisky was never difficult. To ask good harvests
from heaven, then take grain given by heaven for food, and turn it
into whisky, they did not need me to tell them this was wrong. And
there in that district it is a very crying wrong. The quantity used
is immense. Not only does it seem so to me, but natives from other
parts of China are struck by the excessive use of it.

'The first time I travelled in the district, I was struck by the
manner in which they described the size and amount of trade of
towns about which I made inquiries. Such and such a place had or
had not a distillery and pawnshop. Such and such a town had so many
distilleries, and so many pawnshops. One travelling about the
country soon notes that nearly every imposing trading establishment
with grand premises seen from afar is either a distillery or a
pawnshop, or both combined. The bank notes current among the people
are issued, at but a small percentage, by distilleries and
pawnshops. The first crop to ripen in the district is barley, and
that, the natives will tell you, all goes to the distillery. On the
road you will meet large carts drawn by six or seven mules. The
load is grain, and of these carts a large number are owned by
distilleries, and go round the country collecting grain, from which
to brew whisky. One of the first things to be heard in the morning
after daylight, in a quiet market town, is a peculiar beating of a