ON THE • EAVES OF THE WORLD.* WE can find
it in our hearts to be envious of Mr. Reginald Ferrer and of his companion Mr. Purdom. All through that summer of 1914, during which we passed from the shadow of war to the dreadful thing itself, these two enthusiasts, ignorant of the storm which had burst over Europe, were hustling for Alpine plants upon the eastern fringes of Tibet. They left Peking in March, and continued their labours until the middle of November, when they halted for the winter in Lanehow, the capital of )(alien. The work of flower-collection was continued in 1915, but these volumes cover only the first season spent in the Marches of Tibet.
Books describing geographical exploration are wont to be dull - reading, but this is not an exploration book. Messrs. Ferrer and Purdom were after flowers, and there is nothing to suggest that they ever measured a height or took a bearing. When they had tracked down known varieties to their wild lairs, or had chanced upon others never before knostm and cultivated, they marked then down in the summer and returned later at any risk to collect and bear homethc seeds. It was an expedition full of danger, for Kansu, far away in Western China, was overrun by White 'Wolves, who
• Os th. Noses of Mc Warrd. By Reginald Purer. I vats. With Illuatrations sad Map. London E. Arnold. [sat, net.) burned and slew as seemed good to them, and the Tibetan priests of the Marches, convinced that the travellers were really prospecting for gold, made more than one attempt to cut their throats. As one reads the book one scarcely knows how to account for the immunity of the expedition from robbery and death. It was a small expedition practically unemned—thres revolvers, one rifle. a shot.gun which would not shoot, and an "elegant sword-stick' comprised its trifling armoury—and it bore about with it mosses of silver with which to pay its daily expenses. In China the resit ex- plorers were safe—except for the White Wolves—for the Chinese are the most peaceful and law-abiding people in the world. But the Tibetans of the Starches pay no heed to Chinese safe-conducts, and would slaughter strangers with the more pleasure if they thought that their destruction would make trouble for Chinese Viceroys.
What we like best about the book are the descriptions of travel and daily life in North China and the appreciations of the civiliza- tion of the Chinese people. Mr. Ferrer writes simply and admirably of these things, but when he gets to flowers his language becomes bombastic and turgid. He can write well when he likes, but too often deliberately writes very badly. When ho is straightforwerd and simple, he is good ; when he girds up his loins for" fine writing," he is lamentably bad. A skilful collaborator with a ruthless blue pencil could have compressed these two volumes into one, and greatly improved them in the pruning process.
Mr. Ferrer does full justice to the consideration shown bins by Chinese officials, and to the real protection that they secured for him. Whenever he wished to issue forth with his wagons or mule. loads of silver ingots into disturbed districts they did their best to detain him, and he recognizes that their dilatory methods were in- tended to save him from the consequences of his own rashness. Even when he had prevailed upon Viceroys and Mandarins, against their own better judgment, to let him proceed, they continued to do their utmost to protect him from the perils which he faced ;—
"The Chinese official," he says, "is four thousand miles and four thousand years removed from the brutal offensiveness of a European policeman or douanier ; no functionary in the world so well repays and understands the amenities of life and the laws of politeness in controversy. Meet him in his own spirit and all difficulties and un- pleasantnesses are ironed out automatically ; give rein to your its. patience, show yourself peevish and ill-mannered, immediately his civility takes a colder tone and a passive and intangible opposi- tion will Impede your plans on every side.. . . We were certainly the last Europeans to be allowed out of Sian, the only ones who dreamed of going on into the west, farther and farther into the gathering storms. The missionaries were amazed at our good fortune and success."
The missionaries might well have been amazed, for the luck of the expedition was extraordinary. It ought to have been wiped out half-a-dozen thnes When the disturbed regions were reached nothing but what Mr. Ferrer calls the "extreme felicity" of their flights saved the travellers from the White Wolves .—
"Again and again we just eluded the Wolf's army by the merest good chance, arriving just after it, or slipping aside from the road just before it came along, skimming zigzag, beyond his ken, to and fro between China and Tibet. The better luck for us, for thoughsome of his forces had respect for foreigners, the major part were an un- controllable wild horde of roughs, gathering and dissipating round him from district to district, who would certainly have had much less regard for our persons than for the large loads of silver with which our mules smre laden for the two years supply. In point of fact the wires of China were already thrilling with aasiety about our whereabouts, and the SULI1Orities grievottely regretted having allowed us to pass westward out of Sian in times so stormy, though even yet they did not know the worst."
The Viceroy of Lanchow woe telegraphing desperately upend down the country, and issuing passionate edieta to the local Governors " to catch and cage these wanderers on the first occasion, and keep them safe out of harm's way—at a moment, ton, when the luckless men were turning grey with the urgency of keeping their verycities safe and their own throats uncut." Mr. Ferrer certainly does full justice to the efforts of the Chinese authorities to hold him scathless, but they could not have succeeded if he had not been under an im- penetrable mantle of a Luck stronger and more enduring than mortal man has any right to expect.
It is claimed by Mr. Ferrer that the expedition had great success in its primary purpose of collecting Alpine plants and seeds. He gives full details of the work done, and lovers of those fascinating plants will find his volumes a mine of information. But for us, and for the general reader, the book is most valuable for what it tells of the intimate inner Woof North China. South China has been written of a hundred times, but we know of no work which brings the North so closely before us. To Mr. Ferrer, and to his intimate friend and colleague Mr. Purdom, the Chinese appeared to be far more civilized than most of the European pooplea. China has had a con. tinuoun civilization for over four thousand yearn, and is tho ono country in the world which is deliberately anti-militarist. Whether it can continue to regard the soldier as of the lowest social casm may be doubted. The result is that such regiments as it possesses lack discipline and readily revert to brigandage, yet for genera- tions, even for centuries, it has set its face against war in all
forms. That there exists a remarkable sense of order, unsupported by military force, is clear from Mr. Farrer's own experiences :— " When once your contract is stamped the whole machinery of the Chinese Empire is pledged to its fulfilment without any further trouble on your part, even as it is pledged to your own safeguard if you hold the proper passport. Nor is this a special favour to the foreigner ; it is the unvarying and immemorial ride of the Empire. Let a muleman be cheeky, or an innkeeper recalcitrant, the headman of the village is immediately responsible to the officer of the nearest small town, and he to the Mandarin of the district, and he to the Governor of the local Walled City, and he to the Prefect, and he again to the Viceroy of the province, and the Viceroy of the pro- vince to the Emperor on the Dragon Throne. I have to insist upon this point, as it is the keynote of Chinese travel, perhaps the most marvellous organization in a land of marvellous organizations, and one which seems quite unknown to the people at home in general."
Though there is much in these two volumes with which the reader could dispense, much is of the greatest interest, and it is very well worth reading if only for the insight which one gains into the mys- terious life of China's millions Viewed through Mr. Farrer's eyes, the Chinese of the North are very lovable, and as we read we come to like them almost as much as he does.
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