city seems to be a beautiful place. When, however, you enter it, you
soon find that it is dirty and full of foul smells.
[Illustration: A Chinese Street.
(From the picture by T. Hodgson Liddell, R.B.A.)]
4. The streets are very narrow, and are always crowded with people. Many
of them are roofed in to keep them cool. Most of them are so narrow that
no carriage can pass along them. People who wish to ride must be carried
in a kind of box on the shoulders of two or more men.
[Illustration: {Person riding in a box}]
5. I am sure you would like to see the signboards that hang down in
front of the shops. The strange letters on them are painted in gold and
in bright colours. They look very gay indeed.
6. The shops sell all sorts of things--silk, books, drugs, flowers,
china, and birds. Some of the shops only sell gold and silver paper. The
Chinese burn this paper at the graves of their friends. When they do
this they think that they are sending money for their dead friends to
spend in the other world.
7. Many things are also sold in the streets. The street traders carry a
bamboo pole across the shoulder. From the ends of this pole they sling
the baskets in which they carry their wares. Many workmen ply their
trades in the open street, and you are sure to see quack doctors,
letter-writers, and money-changers.
8. The Chinese do in the open street many things which we do inside our
houses. A Chinaman likes to eat his meals where every one can see him.
9. Sometimes he will sit in front of his house and wash his feet.
Yesterday I saw a man having his tooth drawn out of doors. A crowd stood
round him, watching to see how it was done.
10. How should you like to go for a ride in a wheelbarrow? In China the
wheelbarrow is often used for carrying people or goods from place to
place. It has a large wheel in the middle. Round the wheel there is a
platform for people or goods.
[Illustration: {People riding in a wheelbarrow}]
11. A broad river runs through the city. It is crowded with boats, in
which live many thousands of people. Many of these people never go
ashore at all.
12. Over the sterns of the boats there are long baskets. These are the
backyards of the floating city. Hens, ducks, geese, and sometimes pigs,
are kept in these baskets.
[Illustration: {A boy on a boat}]
13. The little boys who live on the boats have a log of wood fastened to
their waists. This keeps them afloat if they fall overboard. The little
girls have no such lifebelts. In China nobody troubles about the girls.
14. Nearly all the boats have an eye painted on their bows. Perhaps this
seems strange to you. The Chinese, however, say,--
"S'pose no got eye, no can see;
S'pose no can see, no can walkee."
* * * * *
20. CHINESE BOYS AND GIRLS.
1. Chinese fathers and mothers are very glad when their children are
boys. In China the boys are much petted. Their mothers give way to them,
and let them do as they please.
2. Girls, however, are not welcome. Sometimes they are called
"Not-wanted" or "Ought-to-have-been-a-boy."
3. A Chinese boy has always two names, sometimes four. He has one name
when he is a child, and another when he goes to school. He has a third
name when he begins to earn money. When he dies he has a fourth name.
4. Chinese boys are very fond of flying kites, which are shaped like
fish or butterflies or dragons. Old gentlemen are just as fond of
kite-flying as boys.
5. In China you will often see boys playing hopscotch or spinning
peg-tops. They also play shuttlecock, but they have no battledore. They
kick the shuttlecock with the sides of their feet.
6. Chinese boys love to set off fireworks, such as crackers, wheels, and
rockets. If the fireworks make a loud noise, so much the better.
7. Chinese children are taught to show very great respect to their
parents. They all bow and kneel to their fathers and mothers. A boy who
is not kind and good to his parents is thought to be a wicked wretch.
8. A few days ago I went to see a Chinese school. The boys sit on stools
at tiny tables. In front of them they have a stone slab, a stick of
Chinese ink, and some brushes with which they write.
[Illustration: {A boy at a table at school}]
9. There is always a great din in a Chinese schoolroom. The boys shout
at the top of their voices. If they do not make a noise, the teacher
thinks that they are not learning.
10. When a boy knows his lesson he goes up to his master to say it. He
turns his back to his master, and does not face him as you do.
11. A Chinese boy becomes a man at sixteen years of age. He chooses his
work in life when he is quite a baby. Let me tell you how he does it.
12. When he is one year old he is seated in the middle of such things as
money, books, and pens. Then the parents watch him to see what he will
play with.
13. If he takes up the money, they say that he must be a trader or a
banker. If he takes up a book or a pen, they say that he must be a
writer or a teacher or a scholar.
* * * * *
21. HAIR, FINGERS, AND TOES.
1. Chinese men shave their heads, all but a small patch of hair. This is
allowed to grow very long, and is plaited into a pigtail. I have seen
Chinamen with coloured ribbons woven into their pigtails.
[Illustration: {Two Chinamen}]
2. When men are at work they twine their pigtails round their heads.
When they wish to show respect to any person they let down their
pigtails. A man who has a long, thick pigtail is very proud of it.
3. Sometimes men who are sent to prison have their pigtails cut off.
This is thought to be a great disgrace. When they leave prison they buy
false pigtails to wear.
4. When Chinamen fight they pull each other about by the pigtail.
Sometimes a schoolmaster punishes bad boys with his pigtail.
5. Rich women are very proud of their tiny feet. Chinese ladies can wear
shoes about four inches long. Fancy mother wearing a doll's shoes!
[Illustration: {Chinese women holding fans}]
6. Girls have their feet bound up tightly when they are five years of
age. The bandages are made tighter every week, until the foot stops
growing. Of course, the poor girls suffer very much. The Chinese have a
saying: "Every pair of bound feet costs a bath of tears."
7. When the girls grow up they cannot walk. They can only totter along,
and they have to lean on the arm of a maid to keep themselves from
falling.
[Illustration: {Woman walking with the support of her maid}]
8. I am glad to say that many parents do not now bind the feet of their
girls. They have learnt that it is both wicked and foolish to do so. At
one school in China all the girls have their feet unbound. They skip and
play about almost as well as Kate and May.
9. You and I think that only dirty, untidy people let their nails grow
long. Rich people in China never cut their nails. They let them grow so
long that they have to wear shields to keep them from being broken.
10. The dress of a Chinaman is very simple. He wears trousers and
several cotton or silk tunics. The outside tunic has very long, wide
sleeves; these are used as pockets.
11. The trousers are loose, and are covered up to the knee by white
stockings. When a Chinaman is in full dress he wears a long gown. The
Chinese boy wears the same kind of clothes as his father. Every man,
woman, and child carries a fan.
12. Chinese boots are made of cloth or satin, never of leather. The
soles are made of rags or paper. We blacken the uppers of our boots.
Chinamen whiten the soles of theirs.
[Illustration: {Chinese boots}]
13. Now I must end this letter. When I come home you must ask me to tell
you about the rice fields and the silk farms and the Great Wall. I have
a hundred more things to tell you about this wonderful land.--Your
loving FATHER.
[Illustration: A Rich Chinaman's House.
(From the photograph by J. Thomson, F.R.G.S.)]
* * * * *
22. A LETTER FROM JAPAN.
1. MY DEAR CHILDREN,--Once more I have made a long sea voyage, and once
more I am safely on shore. I am now in Japan.
2. The Japs live on islands, just as we do. They are brave and clever
and busy, and they have many fine warships. Because of all these things
they are sometimes called the Britons of the Far East.
3. Most of the people in the East are very backward. They have stood
still while the people of the West have gone forward. Not so the Japs.
They have learnt everything that the West can teach them. You will see
in Japan all the things on which we pride ourselves.
4. The Japs are first-rate sailors. Some of their captains learnt to be
sailors on board our warships. They are also fine soldiers. You know
that not many years ago they beat the Russians both by land and by sea.
5. I like the Japs better than any other people that I have met in the
East. Many of them still wear the dress of olden days, and keep to their
simple and pretty ways. Their country is beautiful, and they love
beautiful things.
6. They are very fond indeed of flowers, which they grow very well.
Their gardens are lovely. When the flowers are in bloom the Japs troop
in thousands to see them. It is pretty to watch the delight of fathers
and mothers and children at the form, colour, and scent of the flowers.
7. The Japs are very clever workmen. I have often stood and watched them
at work. They always try to beat their own best. Good work of any kind
gives them joy; bad work gives them pain.
8. I have bought Jap fans for Kate and May. On these fans there are
pictures of a snow-clad mountain shaped like a sugar loaf. There is no
more beautiful mountain in all the world.
[Illustration: {Snowy mountain}]
9. This mountain began as a hole in the ground. Melted rocks boiled up
out of the hole and built up the mountain. In time the rocks grew cool
and hard. Some Japs believe that it was formed in a single night!
10. Steam still comes out of a crack in the side of the mountain. This
shows that any day melted rocks may boil forth again. About two hundred
years ago the mountain threw out so much ash that it covered a town
sixty miles away.
11. Sometimes the earth shakes and opens in great cracks. When the earth
"quakes" houses tumble down, and the tops of tall trees snap off. Very
often lives are lost.
* * * * *
23. JAP CHILDREN.
1. When a Jap boy is born there is great joy in his home. His mother's
friends all come to see him. They bring him presents, such as toys,
dried fish, and eggs.
2. Very early in his life the little Jap baby is strapped on to his
sister's back. He goes with her wherever she goes. If the weather is
cold, the little girl covers him with her coat. When the sun is hot she
shelters him with her sunshade.
3. When she plays she jumps and skips and runs about, and all the time
baby's little head jerks to and fro. He does not mind; he is quite
happy. You never hear a Jap baby cry.
4. When a boy is about three years of age he learns to walk. He soon
finds his feet, and runs about on high wooden clogs.
5. Jap boys are fond of pets and games. Wherever a boy goes he carries
with him a long pole. With this he makes flying leaps and does many
clever tricks.
6. Every boy in Japan wishes to be either a soldier or a sailor when he
grows up. Even tiny little mites play with flags and drums and little
guns. When the boys are older they are taught to be brave, and to die if
need be for their country.
7. The great day of the year for Jap boys is the fifth day of the fifth
month. On this day the Feast of Flags is held. Over each house where
there is a boy you see big paper fish floating in the air.
[Illustration: {Flags on poles outside houses}]
8. The shops are then full of toys. Most of the toys are soldiers, and
sometimes they are like the soldiers of olden days. Some are on foot,
and some are on horseback; some are generals, and some are drummers.
[Illustration: The Toy Seller.
(From the water-colour painting by H.E. Tidmarsh.)]
9. The boys love to play at war. You can always make Jap boys happy by
giving them a toy army to play with.
10. The greatest day of the year for the girls is the Feast of Dolls. On
this day the girls give doll parties to their little friends. All the
dolls, however old, are brought out and dressed up in fine new clothes.
The Feast of Dolls is a time of great fun and laughter.
11. Jap children now play many of our games. They are very fond of
"prisoner's base," "fox and geese," and "tag." The boys love
kite-flying.
[Illustration: {Children at play}]
12. Sometimes they put glass on the strings of their kites, and with it
try to cut the strings of other boys' kites. They are very clever at
this game, and there is great laughter when a string is cut.
13. In the house, during the day, girls like to blow soap bubbles. At
dusk they are fond of hunting fire-flies, and driving them to and fro
with fans.
14. In the summer they catch grasshoppers, and keep them in small bamboo
cages. They say that the chirping of the grasshoppers brings them good
luck.
15. All Japs are polite--even boys. When a boy goes to the house of a
friend he squats on his heels. Then he places his hands on the floor,
and bows until his forehead touches his toes. This he does again and
again, and all the time he speaks very politely.
[Illustration: {Boys bowing}]
16. Jap children are taught to be very kind and helpful to their elders,
and to the poor and the weak. Yesterday I saw a little girl run from her
mother to take the hand of a blind man and lead him across the street.
17. Now, my dears, I must end this letter. To-morrow I start on my
homeward way. I shall sail across the ocean to the great land of
America. I hope you are all well, good, and happy. Your loving FATHER.
* * * * *
24. A LETTER FROM CANADA.
1. MY DEAR CHILDREN,--Look at the globe in my room and find Japan. Then
find America. You will see that a broad ocean lies between them. It is
called the Pacific Ocean. I have crossed this ocean, and I am now in the
great country of Canada.
2. I am sure that you cannot guess where I am writing this letter. I am
writing it in the train. I have already been three days in the train,
and I am only half-way across Canada.
3. I am glad to say that I am once more under the Union Jack. The whole
land of Canada is British, from sea to sea. Our flag floats above every
city.
4. The first part of my journey pleased me most. The train ran through a
beautiful country, filled with splendid trees. Some of them are as high
as a church tower, and have trunks many yards round. There are no finer
trees in all the world.
5. Later in the day our train ran by the side of a rushing river, which
was deep down in a narrow valley between the mountains.
6. In this river there are millions of salmon. I saw men catching them.
You will see tins of salmon from this river in most of the grocers'
shops at home.
7. As the train ran on, the mountains rose higher and higher, until
their tops were covered with snow. We then began to cross the great
Rocky Mountains. Up and up the train climbed, until the rails reached
their highest point.
[Illustration: {The Rocky Mountains}]
8. Then we began to descend. We ran through dark clefts in the rocks,
along the edges of steep cliffs, across rivers, and by the side of
lakes. High above us were the snowy mountain tops. It was all very grand
and very beautiful.
9. At last we left the mountains behind us and reached the plains. We
are now speeding over these plains. The country is as flat as the palm
of your hand. Here and there, far apart, I can see farm-houses. On these
plains the best wheat in the world is grown.
10. In winter the whole land is covered deep with snow, and the rivers
are frozen over. In April winter gives place to spring. Then the snow
melts, and the ice on the rivers breaks up.
11. No sooner has the snow gone than the wheat begins to spring up. The
wheat grows very fast and ripens very quickly. Much of it is sent to
Britain. Very likely the loaf which you ate for breakfast this morning
was made of wheat which grew on the plains of Canada.
[Illustration: Harvest-Time in Canada.
(From the picture by Cyrus Cuneo, R.I. By kind permission of the
C.P.R. Co.)]
12. In other parts of Canada there are forests which cover thousands of
miles of country. The trees in these forests are cut down, and are made
into planks which are sent to all parts of the world.
13. The trees are felled during winter. Their trunks are piled up by the
side of a river. When the thaw comes they are thrown into the water. Men
follow them and push them back into the water if they drift ashore.
[Illustration: {Men rolling logs}]
14. The stream carries the logs down to the sawmills, where they are cut
up into planks. Love to all. FATHER.
* * * * *
25. CHILDREN OF CANADA.
1. MY DEAR CHILDREN,--I am staying for a few days with a friend who has
a farm on the plains. His house is five miles from the railway.
2. My friend met me at the station with a motor car, and drove me over
rough roads between huge fields. There are no hedges in this part of the
country. The fields are divided from each other by fences.
3. This farm is much larger than any farm which you have seen in
England. The house is built of wood. All round it is a pretty garden.
Not far away are the stables and the barns.
[Illustration: {Large farmhouse}]
4. I am sure you would like to hear something about the farmer's
children. There are three of them--a girl and two boys. The girl is the
youngest, and she is about eight years of age.
5. All the children make themselves very useful in the house. Servants
are hard to get in Canada, so people must learn to help themselves. The
boys clean the boots and chop wood. The girls think nothing of helping
to scrub the floors.
6. After breakfast the children trudge off to school, which is three
miles away. They take their lunch with them. When they return in the
evening they have many odd jobs to do.
7. In the playground of their school you will see many young trees
growing. There are very few trees on the plains, and far more are
needed.
[Illustration: {Canadian schoolhouse}]
8. On one day in each year the children make holiday, and plant trees in
the school grounds. The teacher tells them that when they grow up they
must plant trees on their farms.
9. Harvest is the busiest time of the year. Then the children rise at
half-past four, and work all day long in the fields. Every one who can
work at all must do so at harvest time.
10. There is also plenty of work to be done in the autumn. Everything
needed in the house must be brought in before the snow begins to fall.
11. Winter is the real holiday time. No work can then be done on the
land. The rivers and lakes are frozen, and everywhere there is plenty of
skating. The wheels are taken off the carriages, and runners are put on
instead. Horses draw them very swiftly over the frozen snow.
12. Look at the picture post-card which I send you with this letter. It
shows you how Canadian boys are dressed in winter. On the ground you see
a pair of snow-shoes. The boys can travel very quickly on these
snow-shoes without sinking into the snow.
[Illustration: Boys of Canada in winter.]
13. In the picture you also see a toboggan. It is a small sledge. The
boy drags his toboggan up to the top of a hill. He seats himself on it
and pushes off. Away he goes over the frozen snow like an arrow from a
bow. It is splendid fun.
14. Those boys and girls whose homes are in towns live very much as you
do. They go to school, and they play in the streets and parks. When
summer comes many of them go to the seaside or to the lakeside for a
holiday.
15. Sometimes a whole family goes camping in the woods. They then live
in tents or in little huts by the side of a river or a lake. What happy
times the children have! They go fishing, they bathe, and they dart to
and fro in canoes.
16. Most of the young folks of Canada are strong and healthy. They are
happy and bright, and they are not afraid of work. No children are more
useful to their parents than the boys and girls of Canada.
* * * * *
26. THE RED MEN.
1. Tom will not forgive me unless I tell you something about the Red men
of America. He has often asked me about the picture of Red men which is
in my room at home.[1]
[1] See page 102. {Page 102 contains the illustration below}
[Illustration: Red Men and White Men.
(From the picture by Cyrus Cuneo, R.I. By kind permission of the
C.P.R. Co.)]
2. In the old days, before white men settled in America, the Red men
were masters of the land. They were tall and strong, and their skin was
of a dark copper colour. Their eyes were jet black, and their hair was
long and straight.
[Illustration: {Red men in wigwams}]
3. They wore very little clothing, even though the winters in North
America are very cold. From the time when they were babies they were
trained to bear heat and cold, hunger, thirst, and pain without
grumbling.
4. When the white men landed in America, the villages of the Red men
were to be found all over the country. Each of these villages was the
home of a tribe. The houses were tents made of skin or huts made of
wood.
5. The women or squaws did all the hard work. They planted and tilled
the fields, cooked the food, and made the clothes. The babies were put
into little bark cradles, which were sometimes hung from the branches of
trees, and were rocked to and fro by the wind.
6. The Red men were nearly always at war, either amongst themselves or
against the white men. In battle they were very crafty and skilful.
Those who fell into their hands were sometimes treated very cruelly.
7. Before the Red men went on the "warpath" they painted their faces, so
as to frighten their foes. Then they took up their bows and hatchets,
and, following their leader, strode silently away.
8. The Red men did not care to fight in the open. They always tried to
catch their foes asleep or to take them by surprise.
9. In those days the land was full of deer and other wild animals. On
the great plains where the wheat now grows huge herds of bison used to
feed.
10. The Red men hunted the bison on their swift little ponies. When they
were close to the animals they shot at them with arrows. If the arrows
missed their mark, the Red men killed the bison with their knives.
[Illustration: {Red men on horseback hunting bison}]
11. When the white men came they hunted the bison with guns, and soon
killed them off. Only a few bisons remain, and these are now kept in
parks.
12. There are not many Red men left in North America. Most of them have
died off. Many of those who now remain have given up their old way of
living.
* * * * *
27. THE ESKIMOS.
1. Here is another picture for you. Look at it carefully. It shows you
the people who live in the far north of Canada. They are called Eskimos.
[Illustration: Amongst the Eskimos.]
2. In the upper part of the picture you see a man on a sledge. He is
dressed in furs, and has fur gloves on his hands. His head and ears are
covered with a hood. In the far north of Canada the cold is so bitter in
winter that men's hands and ears would be frost-bitten if they were not
kept warm in this way.
3. In winter the sea and the land are thickly frozen over. The whole
country is covered with ice and snow. The Eskimo has to travel over the
ice to get from place to place. He uses a sledge drawn by dogs. There is
a team of dogs in the upper part of the picture.
4. Sometimes the sledge is overturned, and the men and dogs are thrown
into deep, wide cracks in the ice. Sometimes fierce storms arise, and
men and dogs perish together. Sometimes food runs short, and they die of
hunger.
5. In the middle part of the picture you see a tent. The Eskimos can
only live in tents during the short summers; during the long dark
winters they live in huts. The walls are made of stones and sods. The
roof is of wood which has drifted to their shores. You must remember
that no trees will grow in these very cold lands.
6. Some Eskimos make their winter houses of blocks of snow, with sheets
of ice for the windows. Perhaps you shiver at the thought of living in a
snow house, but you need not do so.
[Illustration: {Snow house}]
7. Really, a snow house is quite a snug home. The snow keeps in the heat
of the house, just as a blanket keeps in the heat of your body. Perhaps
you know that it is the blanket of snow spread over the ground in winter
which keeps the roots of the plants from being frozen.
8. When summer comes, the snow and ice melt along the edge of the sea.
Then the Eskimo leaves his winter quarters for the seashore.
9. The sea-shores of these very cold lands abound in bears, seals,
foxes, and other wild animals. The sea is full of fish, and millions of
gulls, geese, and other birds fly north for the summer.
[Illustration: {Polar bear}]
10. When a boy is ten years of age his father gives him a bow and arrows
and a canoe. Then he thinks himself a man indeed. In the lower part of
the picture you see a man in an Eskimo canoe. He is going to hunt seals
and small whales.