Chapter 11
Who is the traveller who is seen hastening over the principal water or carriage routes and up the canals and rivers of the Celestial Empire? He goes on and on, not knowing at evening where he will be the next day. He passes through cities without seeing them, and stops at hotels or inns only to catch a few hours’ sleep, and at restaurants to take hasty meals. Money does not stay in his hand, for he throws it around to facilitate his progress.
It is not a merchant on business; it is not a mandarin whom the minister has charged with some important mission, an artist in search of the beauties of nature, a savant whose tastes lead him to seek ancient documents stored in the temples of bonzes or llamas in old China. Neither is it a student going to the Pagoda of Examinations to get
