In those parts not disfigured by the smoke vomited out from the huge fire-chimneys of factories, mines, and the like, nor by the nearness of great towns, the country presents a green and cultivated look; nearly as well tilled as our provinces, Quang-tun and Chiang-su. The villages, Temples with lofty towers, great Houses of the High-Castes, here and there; trees, gardens, smooth fields of fine verdure, over which cattle and sheep are feeding; rising hills and sheltered valleys, rich with copses, orchards, and groves--all seen in moving views--give an aspect of peace, comfort, and wealth. You do not see the poverty, nor, too closely, observe the dwellings of the poor. In winter it is cold, and the whole appearance changes. Far to the North, the sun gives but little light--and, like the climate of our provinces by the great Northern Wall, the cold is severe, and the gloom deeper. Ice is formed upon the streams and canals, and snow frequently covers the ground. In approaching great towns, you often catch glimpses of the crowded, wretched streets, where misery only thrives. In some places, in the winter cold, smoke and darkness, life becomes intolerable to many. Out of doors you can hardly find your way, and thieves and beggars emerge from covert to ply their trades. In the night, at such times, it is only possible to move by the glare of many torches; and people are often robbed, or bewildered and lost. At this season of darkness many go mad. There is a strong vein of _horror_ in the Barbarian imagination, derived from their ferocious ancestors, from their old idolatries, and deepened by the new. In the gloom, the misery, the wretchedness--sometimes in sheer disgust of life--many rush upon self-destruction--throwing themselves under the wheels of the steam-chariots, and from the bridges into the canals and rivers. Many persons are thrown down, maimed or killed in the highways, by horses or by vehicles moving along. Yet, in the grim humour of these barbarians, this is the very time when the High-Castes begin their _revelries_, and the Low-Castes most indulge in drink and riot. In travelling through the country, you will occasionally notice, seated upon an eminence, some strong Castle, or Place, of hewn stone, belonging to a High-Caste. It will be approached through long avenues of lofty trees, and stand pre-eminent among fine groves, surrounded by broad lands. These wide Parks contain many thousands of acres [met-si], left untilled and unproductive; merely with their green slopes and spaces, interspersed with trees, to give grandeur to the Castle and its Lord. Still, if you look closely, you will discover near by, the squalid huts where _huddle_ the _Serfs_, who are starving in the midst of this rich profusion--Serfs, who never have an _inch_ [toe] of land of their own, and to whose wornout _carcases_ is begrudged a pauper grave!