












  THE CRITIC
  IN THE ORIENT




[Illustration:

     The Taj Mahal at
      Agra. This Tomb,
    Built by Shah Jahan
    to Immortalize His
     Favorite Wife, Is
    Conceded to be the
  Most Beautiful Building
       in the World
  "Matchless, perfect in
     form, a miracle
  Of grace and tenderness
      and symmetry,
  Pearl-pure against the
    sapphire of the
          sky"]




                       THE CRITIC
                     IN THE ORIENT


                  GEORGE HAMLIN FITCH

                       AUTHOR OF
           "COMFORT FOUND IN GOOD OLD BOOKS"
            "MODERN ENGLISH BOOKS OF POWER"
              "THE CRITIC IN THE OCCIDENT"


           East is East and West is West and
              never the twain shall meet,
           Till Earth and Sky stand presently
             at God's great Judgment Seat.
                       --Kipling


                      ILLUSTRATED
                          FROM
                      PHOTOGRAPHS


                 PAUL ELDER AND COMPANY
               PUBLISHERS. SAN FRANCISCO




                   _Copyright, 1913_
               by PAUL ELDER AND COMPANY

                  The chapters of this
            book appeared originally in the
  Sunday supplement of the San Francisco _Chronicle_.
           The privilege of reproducing them
             here is due to the courtesy of
                  M. H. de Young, Esq.

                 The author is greatly
           indebted to Isaac O. Upham, Esq.,
     for the fine photographs which illustrate the
            section on Japan and for several
                 photographs of Indian
                         scenes




                 TO MY FELLOW TOURISTS
                ON THE MINNESOTA, WHOSE
                COMPANIONSHIP MADE MANY
                TEDIOUS JOURNEYS BY LAND
                   AND SEA ENJOYABLE




  CONTENTS


                                                            PAGE

  Introduction                                                IX


  The Best Results of Travel in the Orient                  XIII


  Japan, The Picture Country of the Orient                     1

  First Impressions of Japan and the Life of the Japanese--
  The Japanese Capital and its Parks and Temples--The
  Most Famous City of Temples in all Japan--In Kyoto,
  The Ancient Capital of Japan--Kobe, Osaka, The Inland
  Sea and Nagasaki--Development of the Japanese Sense of
  Beauty--Conclusions on Japanese Life and Character--
  Will the Japanese Retain Their Good Traits?


  Manila, Transformed by the Americans                        49

  First Impressions of Manila and Its Picturesque People--
  American Work in the Philippine Islands--Scenes in the
  City of Manila and Suburbs.


  Hongkong, Canton, Singapore and Rangoon                     63

  Hongkong, the Greatest British Port in the Orient--A
  Visit to Canton in Days of Wild Panic--Singapore, the
  Meeting Place of Many Races--strange Night Scenes in
  the City of Singapore--Characteristic Sights in Burma's
  Largest City.


  India, The Land of Temples, Palaces and Monuments           93

  Calcutta, the Most Beautiful of Oriental Cities--Bathing,
  and Burning the Dead at Benares--Lucknow and Cawnpore,
  Cities of the Mutiny--The Taj Mahal, the World's
  Loveliest Building--Delhi and Its Ancient Mohammedan
  Ruins--Scenes in Bombay When the King Arrived--Religion
  and Customs of the Bombay Parsees.


  Egypt, The Home of Hieroglyphs, Tombs and Mummies          135

  Picturesque Oriental Life as Seen in Cairo--Among the
  Ruins of Luxor and Karnak--Tombs of The Kings at
  Ancient Thebes--Sailing Down the Nile on a Small
  Steamer--Before the Pyramids and the Sphinx.


  Hints for Travelers                                        167

  Some Suggestions That May Save the Tourist Time and
  Money.


  Bibliography                                               171

  Books Which Help One to Understand the Orient and
  Its People.


  Index                                                      175




  ILLUSTRATIONS

                                                            PAGE

  The Taj Mahal at Agra                           _Frontispiece_

  The Yomei-mori Gate, Ieyasu Temple, Nikko          _Facing_ 14

  The Daibutsu or Great Bronze Buddha at Hyogo                30

  Imperial Gate, Fort Santiago, Manila                        56

  The City of Boats at Canton                                 74

  Hindoos Bathing in the Ganges at Benares                   100

  Front View of the Taj Mahal, Agra                          114

  One of the Main Avenues of Bombay                          126

  The Great Hypostyle Hall at Karnak                         146


  PLATES

                                                           PLATE

  Japan                                 _Following page_ 48

  Street Scene, Asakusa Park, Tokyo                            I

  Entrance Hall of Modern Home of a Tokyo Millionaire         II

  Bronze Lanterns and Sacred Fountain, Shiba Temple, Tokyo   III

  Sacred Red Bridge at Nikko                                  IV

  Avenue of Cryptomeria to Futaaru Temple, Nikko               V

  Avenue of Cryptomeria Trees, near Nikko                     VI

  Great Bronze Torii, Nikko                                  VII

  Stone Lanterns, Kasuga Temple Park, Nara                  VIII

  Religious Procession, Kyoto                                 IX

  Scene on Canal, Kyoto                                        X

  Street Scene in Kobe                                        XI

  A Group of Japanese Schoolboys                             XII

  Japanese Peasant Group by the Roadside                    XIII

  Scene in Large Private Garden, Kyoto                       XIV

  Iris Bed at Horikiri, near Tokyo                            XV

  Private Garden, Kamakura                                   XVI


  Manila                                _Following page_ 62

  A Glimpse of the Escolta, Manila                          XVII

  Old Church and Bridge at Pasig                           XVIII

  The Binondo Canal at Manila                                XIX

  On the Malecon Drive, Manila                                XX

  View on a Manila Canal                                     XXI

  A Filipino Peasant Girl on the Way to Market              XXII

  The Carabao Cart in the Philippines                      XXIII

  The Nipa Hut of the Filipino                              XXIV


  Hongkong, Canton, Singapore, Rangoon  _Following page_  91

  Queen's Road in Hongkong.                                  XXV

  Flower Market in a Hongkong Street                        XXVI

  Coolies Carrying Burdens at Hongkong                     XXVII

  The Spacious Foreign Bund at Hongkong                   XXVIII

  Chinese Junks in Hongkong Harbor                          XXIX

  View of the Water-front at Canton                          XXX

  The New Chinese Bund at Canton                            XXXI

  A Confucian Festival at Singapore                        XXXII

  A Main Street in the Native Quarter of Singapore        XXXIII

  The Y. M. C. A. Building at Singapore                    XXXIV

  The Great Shwe Dagon Pagoda at Rangoon                    XXXV

  Entrance to the Shwe Dagon Pagoda                        XXXVI

  Burmese Worshipping in the Pagoda at Rangoon            XXXVII

  Riverside Scene at Rangoon                             XXXVIII

  Trained Elephant Piling Teak at Rangoon                  XXXIX

  Palm Avenue, Royal Lakes, Rangoon                           XL


  India                                 _Following page_ 134

  One of the Main Gates to Government House, Calcutta        XLI

  A Street Scene in Calcutta                                XLII

  The Great Burning Ghat at Benares                        XLIII

  View of the Bathing Ghats at Benares                      XLIV

  A Holy Man of Benares Under His Umbrella                   XLV

  The Residency at Lucknow                                  XLVI

  Tomb of Itmad-ul-Daulet at Agra                          XLVII

  The Mutiny Memorial at Cawnpore                         XLVIII

  Detail of Carving in the Jasmine Tower, Agra              XLIX

  The Jasmine Tower in Agra Fort                               L

  Snap-shot of a Jain Family at Agra                          LI

  The Fort at Agra Which Encloses Many Palaces               LII

  Kutab Minar, the Arch and the Iron Pillar, near Delhi     LIII

  Shah Jehan's Heaven on Earth, Delhi                        LIV

  Street View in Delhi                                        LV

  A Parsee Tower of Silence at Bombay                        LVI


  Egypt                                 _Following page_ 164

  A Typical Street in Old Cairo                             LVII

  An Arab Cafe in One of Cairo's Streets                   LVIII

  Women Water Carriers in Turkish Costume                    LIX

  The Rameseon at Karnak                                      LX

  The Avenue of Sphinxes at Karnak                           LXI

  An Arab Village on the Nile                               LXII

  The Colossi of Memnon, near Thebes                       LXIII

  The Great Sphinx, Showing the Temple Underneath           LXIV




Introduction


This book of impressions of the Far East is called "The Critic in the
Orient," because the writer for over thirty years has been a
professional critic of new books--one trained to get at the best in all
literary works and reveal it to the reader. This critical work--a
combination of rapid reading and equally rapid written estimate of new
publications--would have been deadly, save for a love of books, so deep
and enduring that it has turned drudgery into pastime and an enthusiasm
for discovering good things in every new book which no amount of
literary trash was ever able to smother.

After years of such strenuous critical work, the mind becomes molded in
a certain cast. It is as impossible for me to put aside the habit of the
literary critic as it would be for a hunter who had spent his whole life
in the woods to be content in a great city. So when I started out on
this trip around the world