The meetings of the Woman's Auxiliary were held in their new tent placed near the mission house, and there, each morning, afternoon and evening, they met to give in their reports, tell what was on their minds and in their hearts about the mission work, and then to deposit their offerings, which were larger than ever before. It is not the amount, however, which interests us so much as the manner in which it is gathered and the intelligent interest in missions shown in the distribution of each of these offerings.

Officials from the agency and other white neighbors came and camped with us or drove in for the Sunday services, and so satisfied their desire to know actually how the Christian Indians conducted themselves at such a gathering. Few have realized how much of the work is and has been done by the Indian missionaries themselves. Visitors to our annual convocation are always greatly surprised to see the keen and intelligent interest of lay delegates, as well as of the educated native clergymen, whenever any matter of business or question of doctrine or discipline is under discussion.

A devoted Churchwoman from a New England diocese was with us, and we wish that many, many others of our good friends might come next year!

our

I was one of the girls in St. Margaret's School, Tokyo, Japan. I was introduced to St. Margaret's School by the manager, Mrs. T. Komiya, as a heathen girl from a heathen family. In two years in the school I was brought back to Father's Flock, and was baptized and Soon confirmed by Bishop Williams. after my mother and whole family were brought to Christ through my being in St. Margaret's School. Ever since I have taught so many of my own people about Christ, and I am a most happy girl myself.

Where do all the Japanese clergymen's wives and catechists' wives, and Biblewomen come from? Why! They are from all the Christian schools. And another thing-people think that Araki San of St. Luke's Hospital, Tokyo, Japan, is such a wonderful and efficient nurse. Did she not come out from St. Margaret's School?

At any rate people do not see the necessity of Christian schools. I meet many ladies and tell them about the help which St. Margaret's School needs seriously, but they do not seem to take any interest about it. I am so glad to see the article in THE SPIRIT OF MISSIONS (September number) about it.

If you good friends only knew what great thing it is to have a school like St. Margaret's you will not hesitate to send a very small sum to help them out from their difficulties.

RAKU AKIYAMA.

Na recent article, Professor

Sir W. M. Ramsay says: "One remembers the ancient idea, nowhere stronger than in Anatolia, that all lofty peaks were the chosen home of divine power." It may be that no land may outstrip Anatolia, but for the antiquity and the persistence of its reverence of lofty peaks as "the chosen home of divine power," China certainly leads the world in the present day.

Confucius was born within the borders of the modern province of Shantung,

NOTE. The picture used as the initial of this article is a photograph of one of the stones from the Tai Mountain standing at a street corner. The grinning cat-face and the threatening inscription below are supposed to frighten away the devils.

where is situated the Tai Mountain, first among the five mountains which are celebrated in the very earliest Chinese literature and have always received religious honors. According to the ancient ritual of China sacrifice could only be offered to those mountains by the sov ereign, and on one occasion Confucius, being shocked at the presumption of an earl who was preparing to sacrifice, exclaimed, "Will one say that the Tai Mountain is not as discerning as man?"

The Tai Mountain is far away from us who live in Hunan, but its fame reaches even here, and not its fame only but its power too, for at every street corner we find a stone tablet facing us on which are carved the characters: "A Stone from the Tai Mountain, 'Who dares come this way?" This inscribed

stone is expected to deceive all evil spirits into thinking that the power of Tai Mountain is at hand and thus force them to retreat.

In China every high hill has its high place with its pillars and Asherim, generally surrounded with a pleasant grove of green trees. But from the earliest times five peaks of from 3,000 to 5,000 feet have been reverenced as the abiding places of the most powerful spiritual agencies. In the Book of History, which was compiled by Confucius about 500 B.C. the Emperor's progress through the country is marked out by his arrival on certain dates at the eastern, central, southern, western, and northern high places, these being mountains respectively in Shantung, Honan, Hunan, Szchuen and Shansi.

The Southern High Place of China is

CHINESE MAP OF THE SOUTHERN MOUNTAIN

situated about two hundred miles south of Changsha, the capital of Hunan. Province; and though to the Emperor, who yearly sends his special representative to worship and offer incense, it is but one of five such high places, to the people of our province it is the high place, and the home of the highest gods in their divine calendar.

Across the river from Changsha is a low hill, about 500 feet high, covered with a sacred grove. This is indeed the outermost of the seventy-two peaks included in the sacred territory of the Southern Mountain. Whenever we happen to visit this hill, we are sure to be accosted by Chinese, who ask us whether in our land we have such high hills and such large trees. You may imagine how a people who consider a five-hundredfoot hill high, would reverence a peak rising abruptly three or four thousand feet into the air; still more when, coming from the treeless plain, they find its sides covered with majestic trees, measuring several feet in circumference and rising to a height of eighty to one hundred feet.

At the present time, this Southern Mountain is the Mecca of great numbers of pilgrims throughout the year. The numbers reach their maximum in September in connection with the Chinese Harvest Home Festival. In the latter part of the summer it is a common thing to see a man dressed in black with red trimmings and wearing an apron. on which are inscribed the characters "To the Southern Mountain to burn incense"; or if he be returning, it will read "Brightness reflected from the Southern Mountain." He has straw sandals on his feet and straw pads on his knees, and carries in front of him with both hands a small four-legged stand bearing three sticks of incense. At every third, fifth, or tenth step, as his conscience may dictate, he bows himself to the earth in obeisance, and so he travels, sometimes for hundreds of miles. This uniform, which is shown in the accompanying illustration, is the

dress of a condemned criminal and signifies that the pilgrim confesses himself a sinner before heaven and before men for one or two reasons, either because his parents have become ill, or have died at an early age. This distinction is shown in the dress, yellow taking the place of red in the case of deceased parents. There is one class, the members of which come mostly from a city in the western part of the province, who carry asceticism to the extreme. They wear a small dipper attached by a string to their coat lapel, and this badge signifies that the wearer is fasting; i.e., that he will take nothing but water from the time he leaves home until he has finished his oblations at the top of the mountain. He does not stop at inns. He rests on the road only until he has strength enough to push on again. Many go to fulfil vows made in times of great sickness or peril, and one case has been reported to me of a man who made the pilgrimage to return thanks for the recovery of a prodigal son.

The evident sincerity of these men and women has attracted the attention of many. I have included women purposely, for large numbers of them are seen journeying on the same road with the men. The Rev. S. C. Huang, of our Changsha staff, made a special visit to this ancient high place during the height of the season. He was much impressed with the performance of one small-footed

woman

who journeyed along with him for two and a half days. She actually kept up

with his chair in spite of her bound feet and the delay occasioned by making obeisances at every shrine on the road.

An English Wesleyan missionary travelling in a part of the province most remote from the Southern Mountain counted several hundred pilgrims passing him in a few hours. This missionary also visited the mountain shortly after Mr. Huang, and he estimates the number of pilgrims ascending the mountain daily to be about three thousand. The Buddhist Abbot, Chin Lien, of whom readers of THE SPIRIT OF MISSIONS have heard before as a friend of the mission in Changsha, has now become the Abbot in charge of the Southern Mountain, and he tells me that the daily average is ten thousand.

as

In answer to doubts as to the honest performance of these rites, such bowing every fifth step or fasting throughout, the missionary mentioned above very pertinently remarked: "Whom would they deceive? They do it all for themselves. Not another person in the world cares. They are urged to it by no organization, not even by a solitary priest. They gain nothing from it except a satisfied soul, and this can only be obtained by carrying out to the letter what they believe to be the correct ritual."

Both visitors remarked the difference between the crowd of pilgrims at the foot of the sacred mountain and any other Chinese crowd, for among the pilgrims

there was no clamor or fighting, and-most sig nificant of all-the smell of opium was absent.

On arriving at the foot of the mountain a pilgrim changes his attire and proceeds to burn incense and cash paper and do obeisance at each of the shrines in turn until he has reached the mountain top, when, having finished his oblations, his pilgrimage is at an end. The British missionary was struck by the fact that after all their long, tedious journey, faithfully fulfilled, not one word was spoken to them of forgiveness or of peace, either for themselves or their parents. His heart went out to them as sheep having no shepherd.

What did he mean? Were there no priests in the temples? Yes, strangely enough, there are both Buddhist priests and Taoist priests, the Buddhists living in little temples along the left side of the main temple, and the Taoists living along the right side. The two kinds of priests have an amicable arrangement by which they take turns in the management of the temple. One day the management and offerings go to the Buddh

ists, and the next day to the Taoists. Yet when a pilgrim arrives the priests do nothing for him, but as soon as he has finished his oblations, they present to him a subscription book for the maintenance of the temple and themselves.

In this connection there is an interesting point in regard to the imperial envoy. He is generally some high official of this province or from Hupeh. He is required to obtain as a certificate of faithful performance of his duties three seals, that of the Buddhist abbot, that of the imperial official in charge of the temple, and that of the civil magistrate of the city at the foot of the mountain. When he arrives at the temple he is neglected in the same manner as any other pilgrim; not even a cup of tea is offered to him. The abbot explains that this is necessary in order to prevent the growth of precedents about his reception which would upset the whole ceremony.

When Mr. Huang reached the top of