read, and probably cause their destruction if ever they found their way into the Chinese Empire." {117a} Borrow left nothing to chance; he thought out every detail with great care before venturing to put his plans into execution.

Although busily occupied in an endeavour to stimulate Russian government officials to energy and decision, Borrow was not neglecting what had been so strongly urged upon him, the perfecting of himself in the Manchu dialect. In reply to an enquiry from Mr Jowett as to what manner of progress he was making, he wrote

"For some time past I have taken lessons from a person who was twelve years in Pekin, and who speaks Manchu and Chinese with fluency. I pay him about six shillings English for each lesson, which I grudge not, for the perfect acquirement of Manchu is one of my most ardent wishes." {118a}

This person Borrow subsequently recommended to the Society "to assist me in making a translation into Manchu of the Psalms and Isaiah," but the pundit proved "of no utility at all, but only the cause of error."

Borrow was soon able to transcribe the Manchu characters with greater facility and speed than he could English. In addition to being able to translate from and into Manchu, he could compose hymns in the language, and even prepared a Manchu rendering of the second Homily of the Church of England, "On the Misery of Man." He had, however, made the discovery that Manchu was far less easy to him than it had at first appeared, and that Amyot was to some extent justified in his view of the difficulties it presented. "It is one of those deceitful tongues," he confesses in a letter to Mr Jowett, "the seeming simplicity of whose structure induces you to suppose, after applying to it for a month or two, that little more remains to be learned, but which, should you continue to study a year, as I have studied this, show themselves to you in their veritable colours, amazing you with their copiousness, puzzling with their idioms."{118b} Its difficulties, however, did not discourage him; for he had a great admiration for the language which "for majesty and grandeur of sound, and also for general copiousness is unequalled by any existing tongue." {118c}

However great his exertions or discouragements, Borrow never forgot his mother, to whom he was a model son. On 1st/13th February he sent her a draft for twenty pounds, being the second since his arrival six months previously. Thus out of his first half-year's salary of a hundred pounds, he sent to his mother forty pounds (in addition to the seventeen pounds he had paid into her account before sailing), and with it a promise that "next quarter I shall try and send you thirty," lest in the recent storms of which he had heard, some of her property should have suffered damage and be in need of repair. The larger remittance, however, he was unable to make on account of the illness that had necessitated the drinking of a bottle of port wine each day (by doctor's orders); but he was punctual in remitting the twenty pounds. The attack which required so drastic a remedy originated in a chill caught as the ice was breaking up. "I went mad," he tells his mother, "and when the fever subsided, I was seized with the 'Horrors,' which never left me day or night for a week." {119a} During this illness everyone seems to have been extremely kind and attentive, the Emperor's apothecary, even, sending word that Borrow was to order of him anything, medical or otherwise, that he found himself in need of.

CHAPTER VIII: FEBRUARY-OCTOBER 1834

Borrow had at last found work that was thoroughly congenial to him. It was not in his nature to exist outside his occupations, and his whole personality became bound up in the mission upon which he was engaged. Not content with preparing the way for printing the New Testament in Manchu, he set himself the problem of how it was to be distributed when printed. He foresaw serious obstacles to its introduction into China, on account of the suspicion with which was regarded any and everything European. With a modest disclaimer that his suggestion arose "from a plenitude of self-conceit and a disposition to offer advice upon all matters, however far they may be above my understanding," he proceeds to deal with the difficulties of distribution with great clearness.

To send the printed books to Canton, to be distributed by English missionaries, he thought would be productive of very little good, nor would it achieve the object of the Society, to distribute copies at seaports along the coasts, because it was unlikely that there would be many Tartars or people there who understood Manchu. There was a further obstacle in the suspicion in which the Chinese held all things English. On the other hand, he tells Mr Jowett,

"there is a most admirable opening for the work on the Russian side of the Chinese Empire. About five thousand miles from St Petersburg, on the frontiers of Chinese Tartary, and only nine hundred miles distant from Pekin, the seat of the Tartar Monarchy, stands the town of Kiakhta, {121a} which properly belongs to Russia, but the inhabitants of which are a medley of Tartary, Chinese, and Russ (sic). As far as this town a Russian or foreigner is permitted to advance, but his further progress is forbidden, and if he make the attempt he is liable to be taken up as a spy or deserter, and sent back under guard. This town is the emporium of Chinese and Russian trade. Chinese caravans are continually arriving and returning, bringing and carrying away articles of merchandise. There are likewise a Chinese and a Tartar Mandarin, also a school where Chinese and Tartar are taught, and where Chinese and Tartar children along with Russian are educated." {121b}

The advantages of such a town as a base of operations were obvious. Borrow was convinced that he could dispose "of any quantity of Testaments to the Chinese merchants who arrive thither from Pekin and other places, and who would be glad to purchase them on speculation." {121c}

Russia and China were friendly to each other, so much so, that there was at Pekin a Russian mission, the only one of its kind. These good relations rendered Borrow confident that books from Russia, especially books which had not an outlandish appearance, would be purchased without scruple. "In a word, were an agent for the Bible Society to reside at this town [Kiakhta] for a year or so, it is my humble opinion, and the opinion of much wiser people, that if he were active, zealous and likewise courageous, the blessings resulting from his labours would be incalculable." {121d}

He might even make excursions into Tartary, and become friendly with the inhabitants, and eventually perhaps, "with a little management and dexterity," he might "penetrate even to Pekin, and return in safety, after having examined the state of the land. I can only say that if it were my fortune to have the opportunity, I would make the attempt, and should consider myself only to blame if I did not succeed." Borrow was to revert to this suggestion on many occasions, in fact it seems to have been in his mind during the whole period of his association with the Bible Society.

Acting upon instructions from Earl Street, Borrow proceeded to find out the approximate cost of printing the Manchu New Testament. He early discovered that in Russia "the wisdom of the serpent is quite as necessary as the innocence of the dove," as he took occasion to inform Mr Jowett. The Russians rendered him estimates of cost as if of the opinion that "Englishmen are made of gold, and that it is only necessary to ask the most extravagant price for any article in order to obtain it."

In St Petersburg Borrow was taken for a German, a nation for which he cherished a cordial dislike. This mistake as to nationality, however, did not hinder the Russian tradesmen from asking exorbitant prices for their services or their goods. At first Borrow "was quite terrified at the enormous sums which some of the printers . . . required for the work." At length he applied to the University Press, which asked 30 roubles 60 copecks (24s. 8d.) per sheet of two pages for composition and printing. A young firm of German printers, Schultz & Beneze, was, however, willing to undertake the same work at the rate of 12.5 roubles (10s.) per two sheets.

In contracting for the paper Borrow showed himself quite equal to the commercial finesse of the Russian. He scoured the neighbourhood round St Petersburg in a calash at a cost of about four pounds. Russian methods of conducting business are amazing to the English mind. At Peterhof, a town about twenty miles out of St Petersburg, he found fifty reams of a paper such as he required. "Concerning the price of this paper," he writes, "I could obtain no positive information, for the Director and first and second clerks were invariably absent, and the place abandoned to ignorant understrappers (according to the custom of Russia). And notwithstanding I found out the Director in St Petersburg, he himself could not tell me the price." {123a}

Eventually 75 roubles (3 pounds) a ream was quoted for the stock, and 100 roubles (4 pounds) a ream for any further quantity required. Thus the paper for a thousand copies would run to 40,000 roubles (1600 pounds), or 32s. a copy. Borrow found that the law of commerce prevalent in the East was that adopted in St Petersburg. A price is named merely as a basis of negotiation, and the customer beats it down to a figure that suits him, or he goes elsewhere. Borrow was a master of such methods. The sum he eventually paid for the paper was 25 roubles (1 pound) a ream! Of all these negotiations he kept Mr Jowett well informed. By June he had received from Earl Street the official sanction to proceed, together with a handsome remittance.

For some time past Borrow had been anxious on account of his brother John. On 9th/21st November, he had written to his mother telling her to write to John urging him to come home at once, as he had seen in the Russian newspapers how the town of Guanajuato had been taken and sacked by the rebels, and also that cholera was ravaging Mexico. Later {123b} he tells her of that nice house at Lakenham, {123c} which he means to buy, and how John can keep a boat and amuse himself on the river, and adds, "I dare say I shall continue for a long time with the Bible Society, as they see that I am useful to them and can be depended upon."

On the day following that on which Borrow wrote asking his mother to urge his brother to return home, viz., 10th/22nd November, John died. He was taken ill suddenly in the morning and passed away the same afternoon.

In February 1832 John Borrow had, much against the advice of his friends, left the United Mexican Company, which he had become associated with the previous year. He was of a restless disposition, never content with what he was doing. Thinking he could better