CHAPTER VIII - A LOOP-CAST TOWARDS THE NORTHERN ALPS

Summary

May 10.—I sent Chin-Tai to the French missionaries with my card, to inquire at what time it would be convenient to them to receive me. But in the morning Monseigneur Desflêches paid me a visit. He made excuses for Monseigneur Pinchon, the bishop here, who, he said, was not very well. He welcomed me warmly to the provincial capital, and the charm of his manner and his cordial reception soon made me forget where I was, and I could almost fancy myself nearer the Arc de Triomphe than the gate of the city of Ch'êng-Tu. He promised to help me to find a better place to stop in than that I now occupied, which was simply disgusting. The walls were hung with cobwebs of the blackest description. There was a bedstead with some carving at the top, the interstices in which were nearly filled with dust and dirt; bits of string hanging from the beams had nearly lost their original character from the coating of filth that had accumulated on them, and every gust of wind brought down a shower of dirt from the roof on to my head. Under the bed I dared not look. This unwieldy piece of furniture had probably stood there for years, and according to Chinese custom, whenever the room had been swept during that time, the sweepings had been left underneath it. To clean the room would have taken at least a couple of days, and to have half cleaned it would by stirring up the accumulated abominations only have made matters worse.