the exploration of each. If one is precluded from such leisurely
observation, undoubtedly the next best thing is to see them through
the eyes of those who have travelled in and have made a special
study of those regions.

To more than half of the provinces I can offer myself as a guide.
I spent ten years at Ningpo, and one year at Shanghai, both on the
southern seacoast. At the northern capital I spent forty years;
and I have recently passed three years at Wuchang on the banks
of the Yang-tse Kiang, a special coign of vantage for the study
of central China. While residing in the above-mentioned foci it
was my privilege to visit six other provinces (some of them more
than once), thus gaining a personal acquaintance with ten out of
the eighteen and being enabled to gather valuable information at
first hand.

A glance at the subjoined table (from the report of the China Inland
Mission for 1905) will exhibit the magnitude of the field of
investigation before us. The average province corresponds in extent
to the average state of the American Union; and the whole exceeds
[Page 6]
that portion of the United States which lies east of the Mississippi.

CHINA PROPER

---------------------------------------------
PROVINCES | AREA | POPULATION
| SQ. MILES |
-------------------|-----------|-------------
Kwangtung (Canton) | 99,970 | 31,865,000