[109] Probably the finest specimen of the _ginkgo_ or maidenhair tree in the Territory is that in the grounds of Pei-k'ou Temple. Besides being very tall, it measures fourteen and a half feet in circumference five feet from the ground. See p. 381 for remarks on another of these trees. [110] For temporary purposes of trade. [111] Sale of children by starving parents is a painful feature of famines in some parts of China. [112] This criticism from a Chinese writer is interesting, when we remember that the practice is much the same throughout the greater part of the Empire. [113] This is exceptionally rare at the present time. The overwhelming majority of women are married before the age of twenty-five. [114] Mercenary views are held all the same. [115] In proportion to the population there are very few concubines in Weihaiwei, and most of them are imported from Peking and other places. [116] It is a curious fact, and one never yet satisfactorily explained, that people of non-European races all seem to lose their native grace of manner after a period of contact with Europeans. This does not apply to Asiatic peoples (Indian and Chinese) only: it is apparently equally true with regard to certain African races. Miss Bleek, in a recent work published by the Clarendon Press under the auspices of the Royal Anthropological Institute, remarks that the Bushmen are by nature truthful, clean, honest and courteous. "Once another Bushman visited ours for a few days. He was so much rougher than the other that our man was asked why his friend was different. He said, 'Missis must excuse: this man lost his parents early and was brought up by white people.'" [117] _The United States and China_, by Wei-ching W. Yen (American Association for International Conciliation: New York). [118] See illustration. [119] See illustration. The _T'ien Kou_ is the Japanese _Tengu_. See _Trans. As. Soc. Jap._ Pt. ii (1908). [120] For the magic uses of peach-wood see De Groot's _Religious System of China_, vol. iv. pp. 304 _seq._ [121] "I see no race of men, however polished and educated, however brutal and barbarous, which does not believe that warnings of future events are given, and may be understood and announced by certain persons." Cicero's words, after the lapse of a couple of thousand years, are still true. (See Cic. _de Divinatione_, i. 1.) [122] A very similar method of divining is practised in the Malay States. See Swettenham's _Malay Sketches_, pp. 201-7, and Skeat's _Malay Magic_, p. 542.