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Lecture Notes on Data Engineering
and Communications Technologies 15

S. Smys
Robert Bestak
Joy Iong-Zong Chen
Ivan Kotuliak Editors

International
Conference on
Computer Networks
and Communication
Technologies
ICCNCT 2018
Lecture Notes on Data Engineering
and Communications Technologies

Volume 15

Series editor
Fatos Xhafa, Technical University of Catalonia, Barcelona, Spain
e-mail: fatos@cs.upc.edu
The aim of the book series is to present cutting edge engineering approaches to data
technologies and communications. It will publish latest advances on the engineering
task of building and deploying distributed, scalable and reliable data infrastructures and
communication systems.
The series will have a prominent applied focus on data technologies and
communications with aim to promote the bridging from fundamental research on
data science and networking to data engineering and communications that lead to
industry products, business knowledge and standardisation.

More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/15362


S. Smys Robert Bestak

Joy Iong-Zong Chen Ivan Kotuliak


Editors

International Conference
on Computer Networks
and Communication
Technologies
ICCNCT 2018

123
Editors
S. Smys Dr. Joy Iong-Zong Chen
Department of CSE Department of Electrical Engineering
RVS Technical Campus Dayeh University
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India Taiwan, Taiwan

Robert Bestak Ivan Kotuliak


Department of Telecommunication Faculty of Informatics
Engineering and Information Technology
Czech Technical University in Prague Slovak University of Technology
Czechia, Czech Republic in Bratislava
Bratislava, Slovakia

ISSN 2367-4512 ISSN 2367-4520 (electronic)


Lecture Notes on Data Engineering and Communications Technologies
ISBN 978-981-10-8680-9 ISBN 978-981-10-8681-6 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8681-6

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018948583

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2019


This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or part
of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations,
recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission
or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar
methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from
the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the
authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or
for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to
jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721,
Singapore
I dedicate this to all the participants of the
conference ICCNCT 2018
Preface

International Conference on Computer Networks and Inventive Communication


Technologies (ICCNCT 2018) provided a forum for academic scientists, leading
engineers, industry researchers, and scholar students to exchange and share their
experiences and research results. ICCNCT 2018 aims to cover the recent
advancements and trends in the area of computer networks and advanced com-
munication technologies to facilitate knowledge sharing and networking interac-
tions on emerging trends and new challenges.
ICCNCT 2018 tends to collect the latest research results and applications on
computer networks and communication technologies. It includes a selection of 96
papers from 548 papers submitted to the conference from universities and industries
all over the world. All of the accepted papers were subjected to strict
peer-reviewing by 2–4 expert referees. The papers have been selected for this
volume because of quality and relevance to the conference.
We would like to express our sincere appreciation to all authors for their con-
tributions to this book. We would like to extend our thanks to all the referees for
their constructive comments on all papers; especially, we would like to thank the
organizing committee for their hard work. Finally, we would like to thank the
Springer Publications for producing this volume.

Coimbatore, India Dr. S. Smys


Czechia, Czech Republic Dr. Robert Bestak
Taiwan, Taiwan Dr. Joy Iong-Zong Chen
Bratislava, Slovakia Dr. Ivan Kotuliak

vii
Acknowledgements

We thank all the participants of ICCNCT 2018 and the respected session chairs for
their useful suggestions.
We also thank all the conference committee members for their support.

ix
Contents

A Novel on Biometric Parameter’s Fusion on Drowsiness Detection


Using Machine Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
V. B. Hemadri, Padmavati Gundgurti, G. Dharani Chowdary
and Korla Deepika
An IoT-Based Smart Classroom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Chinju Paul, Amal Ganesh and C. Sunitha
Internet and Web Applications: Digital Repository . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
R. Nayana and A. Bharathi Malakreddy
Mining Frequent Itemsets Using Proposed Top-Down Approach
Based on Linear Prefix Tree (TD-LP-Growth) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
M. Sinthuja, N. Puviarasan and P. Aruna
Target Localization Algorithm in a Three-Dimensional Wireless
Sensor Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Sangeeta Kumari and Govind P. Gupta
Green Energy Efficiency in Cellular Communication on LTE-A-Based
Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
V. Manickamuthu, B. V. Namrutha Sridhar and I. Chandra
Spam Detection Using Machine Learning in R . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
K. R. Vidya Kumari and C. R. Kavitha
QOS-Based Technique for Dynamic Resource Allocation in Cloud
Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Jeevan Jala and Kolasani Ramchand H. Rao
Performance Analysis of Energy-Efficient MANETs-Using Modified
AODV (M-AODV) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
H. K. Sampada and K. R. Shobha

xi
xii Contents

A Methodology for Meme Virality Prediction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87


E. S. Smitha, S. Sendhilkumar and G. S. Mahalakshmi
Localization of Nodes with Ocean Current Mobility Model
in Underwater Acoustic Sensor Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
C. Kayalvizhi, R. Bhairavi and Gnanou Florence Sudha
Air Quality Prediction Data-Model Formulation for Urban Areas . . . . 111
Kavita Ahuja and N. N. Jani
Secure Data Deduplication System with Tag Consistency in Cloud
Data Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Pramod Gorakh Patil, Aditya Rajesh Dixit, Aman Sharma,
Prashant Rajendra Mahale and Mayur Pundlik Jadhav
High-Resolution Weather Prediction Using Modified Neural Network
Approach Over the Districts of Karnataka State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
L. Naveen and H. S. Mohan
6LowPan—Performance Analysis on Low Power Networks . . . . . . . . . 145
Nikshepa, Vasudeva Pai and Udaya Kumar K. Shenoy
IMU-Based Indoor Navigation System for GPS-Restricted Areas . . . . 157
R. M. Bommi, V. Monika, R. Narmadha, K. Bhuvaneswari and L. Aswini
An Intelligent Approach to Demand Forecasting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Nimai Chand Das Adhikari, Nishanth Domakonda, Chinmaya Chandan,
Gaurav Gupta, Rajat Garg, S. Teja, Lalit Das and Ashutosh Misra
Reliable Digital Twin for Connected Footballer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185
S. Balachandar and R. Chinnaiyan
Centralized Reliability and Security Management of Data in Internet
of Things (IoT) with Rule Builder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 193
S. Balachandar and R. Chinnaiyan
User Location-Based Adaptive Resource Allocation for ICI Mitigation
in MIMO-OFDMA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
Suneeta V. Budihal, Beena Kumari and V. S. Saroja
An Approach to URL Filtering in SDN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217
K. Archana Janani, V. Vetriselvi, Ranjani Parthasarathi
and G. Subrahmanya VRK Rao
Mitigation of DoS in SDN Using Path Randomization . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
N. A. Bharathi, V. Vetriselvi and Ranjani Parthasarathi
Smart Homes Using Alexa and Power Line Communication
in IoT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Radhika Dotihal, Ayush Sopori, Anmol Muku, Neeraj Deochake and
D. T. Varpe
Contents xiii

Acquisition and Mining of Agricultural Data Using Ubiquitous


Sensors with Internet of Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
M. R. Suma and P. Madhumathy
Reliable AI-Based Smart Sensors for Managing Irrigation Resources
in Agriculture—A Review . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
R. Divya and R. Chinnaiyan
Dynamic Data Auditing Using MongoDB in Cloud Platform . . . . . . . . 275
P. Akilandeswari, Siddharth D. Bettala, P. Alankritha, H. Srimathi
and D. Krithik Sudhan
Securitization of Smart Home Network Using Dynamic
Authentication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287
Shruthi Sreedharan and N. Rakesh
Design and Performance Evaluation of an Efficient Multiple Access
Protocol for Virtual Cellular Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
B. Sreevidya and M. Rajesh
Healthcare Monitoring System Based on IoT Using
AMQP Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
C. S. Krishna and T. Sasikala
Performance Analysis of an Efficient Data-Centric Misbehavior
Detection Technique for Vehicular Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321
S. Rakhi and K. R. Shobha
Maximal Frequent Itemset Mining Using Breadth-First Search
with Efficient Pruning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
K. Sumathi, S. Kannan and K. Nagarajan
User Configurable and Portable Air Pollution Monitoring System
for Smart Cities Using IoT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 345
M. S. Binsy and Nalini Sampath
Smart HealthCare System Using IoT with E-Commerce . . . . . . . . . . . 361
Aswin Baskaran, A. Sriram, Saieesha Bonthala and Jahnavi Venkat Vatti
Comparative Analysis of TCP Variants for Video Transmission
Over Multi-hop Mobile Ad Hoc Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
Sharada U. Shenoy, Sharmila Kumari M. and Udaya Kumar K. Shenoy
Scrutinizing of Cloud Services Quality by Exerting Ultimatum
Response Method, Miscegenation Cryptography, Proximate
Approach and PFCM Clustering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 383
N. V. Satya Naresh Kalluri, Tanimki Sujith Kumar, Korada Rajani Kumari
and Divya Vani Yarlagadda
xiv Contents

A Study on Mobile IPv6 Handover in Cognitive Radio Networks . . . . 399


H. Anandakumar, K. Umamaheswari and R. Arulmurugan
Review of Existing Research Contribution Toward Dimensional
Reduction Methods in High-Dimensional Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 409
P. R. Ambika and A. Bharathi Malakreddy
IoT-Based Patient Remote Health Monitoring
in Ambulance Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 421
C. M. Lolita, R. Roopalakshmi, Sharan Lional Pais, S. Ashmitha,
Mashitha Banu and Akhila
Design of CR-OFDM in 900 MHz Band . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 431
S. B. Mule and G. C. Manna
New Routing Protocol in Ad Hoc Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 443
Bilal Saoud and Abdelouahab Moussaoui
Mobile Communication Based Security for ATM PIN Entry . . . . . . . . 453
G. Nandhini and S. Jayanthy
Design of Direct Digital Frequency Synthesizer with the Technique
of Segmenting in Quarter Wave Symmetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 469
S. Karpagavalli, K. Hariharan, G. Dheivanai and M. Gurupriya
Link Layer Traffic Connectivity Protocol Application and Mechanism
in Optical Layer Survivability Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479
K. V. S. S. S. S. Sairam and Chandra Singh
DORBRI: An Architecture for the DoD Security Breaches Through
Quantum IoT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 491
Beatrice A. Dorothy and Britto S. Ramesh Kumar
An Innovative Way of Increasing the Efficiency of Identity-Based
Cryptosystem by Parallelization of Threads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 497
Sandeep Kumar Pandey, Tapobrata Dhar, Ryan Saptarshi Ray,
Aritro Sengupta and Utpal Kumar Ray
SEER—An Intelligent Double Tier Fuzzy Framework
for the Selection of Cluster Heads Based on Spiritual Energies
of Sensor Nodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515
Maddali M. V. M. Kumar and Aparna Chaparala
Design of Slotted Pentagonal Structure Patch Antenna for RF Energy
Harvesting in Mobile Communication Band . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527
S. Venkata Suriyan and K. J. Jegadish Kumar
Design of Fractal-Based Dual-Mode Microstrip Bandpass Filter
for Wireless Communication Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 537
G. Abirami and S. Karthie
Contents xv

A Sixth Sense Door using Internet of Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 545


John Britto, Viplav Chaudhari, Deep Mehta, Akshay Kale
and Jyoti Ramteke
Secured IoT Based on e-Bulletin Board for a Smart Campus . . . . . . . 557
V. Anuradha, A. Bharathi Malakreddy and H. N. Harinath
An Augmented Line Segment-Based Algorithm with Delayed Overlap
Consideration and Reconfigurable Logic for RSMT Problem . . . . . . . 565
V. Vani and G. R. Prasad
Automatic Accident Rescue System Using IoT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 575
Karanam Niranjan Kumar, C. H. Rama Narasimha Dattu, S. Vishnu
and S. R. Jino Ramson
Enhanced Possibilistic C-Means Clustering on Big Data While
Ensuring Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 583
Shriya R. Paladhi, R. Mohan Kumar, A. G. Deepshika Reddy,
C. Y. Vinayak and T. P. Pusphavathi
IoT-Based Smart Login Using Biometrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 589
C. G. Sarika, A. Bharathi Malakreddy and H. N. Harinath
Big Genome Data Classification with Random Forests Using
VariantSpark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 599
A. Shobana Devi and G. Maragatham
IoT-Based Framework for Automobile Theft Detection and Driver
Identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615
P. Chandra Shreyas, R. Roopalakshmi, Kaveri B. Kari, R. Pavan, P. Kirthy
and P. N. Spoorthi
IoT-Based Smart Food Storage Monitoring and Safety System . . . . . . 623
Saleem Ulla Shariff, M. G. Gurubasavanna and C. R. Byrareddy
Implementation of Haar Cascade Classifier for Vehicle Security
System Based on Face Authentication Using Wireless Networks . . . . . 639
P. B. Pankajavalli, V. Vignesh and G. S. Karthick
Performance Comparison of Asynchronous NoC
Router Architectures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 649
Rose George Kunthara and Rekha K. James
Smart Omnichannel Architecture for Air Travel Applications
Using Big Data Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 661
Hari Bhaskar Sankaranarayanan and Jayprakash Lalchandani
An Architecture to Enable Secure Firmware Updates on a
Distributed-Trust IoT Network Using Blockchain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 671
George Gabriel Richard Roy and S. Britto Ramesh Kumar
xvi Contents

A Survey of MTC Traffic Models in Cellular Network . . . . . . . . . . . . 681


T. N. Sunita and A. Bharathi Malakreddy
An Integrated Approach for Quality of Service (QoS) with Security
in VANETs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 695
C. Kalyana Chakravarthy and Y. Vinod Kumar
Real-Time Network Data Capturing Using Attack Generators
and Data Processing Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 705
Karuna S. Bhosale, Maria Nenova and George Illiev
IoT Fog Cloud Model for Digital Reach in Rural India . . . . . . . . . . . . 717
Saniya Zahoor and Roohie Naaz Mir
Improved Vertical Handoff Decision Scheme in Heterogeneous
Wireless Network Based on SCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 727
M. Naresh, D. Venkat Reddy and K. Ramalinga Reddy
The Future of Cybersecurity: Major Role of Artificial Intelligence,
Machine Learning, and Deep Learning in Cyberspace . . . . . . . . . . . . . 739
B. Geluvaraj, P. M. Satwik and T. A. Ashok Kumar
Exploration of Various Cloud Segments Transference
and Convenience for Cloud Computing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 749
Srihari Bodapati and A. Akila
Smart Blood Bank System Using IOT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 755
Vahini Siruvoru, Nampally Vijay Kumar and Yellanki Banduri
Santhosh Kumar
Implementation of Open Shortest Path First Version 3 (OSPFv3)
with Encryption and Authentication in IPv6 Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . 767
Rahul Sharma and Nishi Yadav
Re-LEACH: An Energy-Efficient Secure Routing Protocol for
Wireless Sensor Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 777
Sonali Pandey and Rakesh Kumar
Psi Slotted Fractal Antenna for LTE Utilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 789
Kirandeep Kaur, Chahat Jain and Narwant Singh Grewal
An Enhanced Round-Robin-Based Job Scheduling Algorithm
in Grid Computing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 799
Turendar Sahu, Sandeep Kumar Verma, Mohit Shakya and Raksha Pandey
Wireless Sensor Network to Monitor River Water Impurity . . . . . . . . 809
Shweta Doshi and Sharad Dube
A Priority-Based Max-Min Scheduling Algorithm for Cloud
Environment Using Fuzzy Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 819
A. Sandana Karuppan, S. A. Meena Kumari and S. Sruthi
Contents xvii

Least Value Cloud Carrier Across a Handful of Cloud Vendors . . . . . 829


U. M. Prakash, Dharun Srivathsav and Naveen Kumar
A Hybrid Approach to Mitigate False Positive Alarms in Intrusion
Detection System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 837
Sachin and C. Rama Krishna
Reliability Evaluation of Wireless Sensor Networks Using EERN
Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 849
M. S. Nidhya and R. Chinnaiyan
Secure Data Concealing Using Diamond Encoding Method . . . . . . . . . 857
A. Christie Aiswarya and A. Sriram
Enrichment of Security Using Hybrid Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 867
Deeksha Ekka, Manisha Kumari and Nishi Yadav
Comparative Study of Transmitter-Side Spectrum Detection
in Cognitive Radio Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 875
G. Shine Let, Songa Christeen, P. Lidiya Priya, B. Keerthi Reddy
and P. Swetha
Enabling Data Storage on Fog—An Attempt Towards IoT . . . . . . . . . 885
A. Padmashree and N. Prasath
Block Link Flooding Algorithm for TCP SYN Flooding Attack . . . . . . 895
C. M. Nalayini and Jeevaa Katiravan
Fuzzification of Context Parameters for Network Selection in
Heterogeneous Wireless Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 907
Shilpa Litake and Mukherji Prachi
Walking and Transition Irregularity Detection Using ANN Approach
for Wireless Body Area Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 923
S. P. Shiva Prakash and Apurwa Agrawal
Implementing MIMO-OFDM for the Improvement of the System
Performance in WPAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 935
N. Rakesh, T. Anjali and B. Uma Maheswari
A Reliable Network System for Railway Track Crack Detection . . . . . 947
Pragati Jadhav, Shivani Kondlekar, Divyata Kotian, Navya Kotian
and Preeti Hemnani
Research on a Novel B-HMM Model for Data Mining in Classification
of Large Dimensional Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 953
C. Krubakaran and K. Venkatachalapathy
Security Framework for Context Aware Mobile Web Services . . . . . . 963
P. Joseph Charles and S. Britto Ramesh Kumar
xviii Contents

Optimal SU Allocation to Multi-PU LCC CR Networks Consisting


of Multiple SUs Using Cooperative Resource Sharing and Capacity
Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 973
Kaustuv Basak, Akhil Gangadharan and Wasim Arif
Development of Advanced Driver Assistance System Using Intelligent
Surveillance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 991
G. Sasikala and V. Ramesh Kumar
Design and Implementation of Hamming Encoder and Decoder
Over FPGA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1005
A. H. M. Shahariar Parvez, Md. Mizanur Rahman, Prajoy Podder,
Mohammad Hossain and Muhammad Ashiqul Islam
Denial of Service (DoS) Detection in Wireless Sensor Networks
Applying Geometrically Varying Clusters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1023
S. S. Nagamuthu Krishnan
Performance Analysis of Fragmentation and Replicating Data Over
Multi-clouds with Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1031
R. Sugumar, A. Rajesh and R. Manivannan
Efficient Energy Re-organized Clustering Based Routing for
Splitting and Merging Packets in Wireless Sensor Network . . . . . . . . . 1041
V. Naga Gopi Raju and Kolasani Ramchand H. Rao
Classification of Seamless Handoff Process in Wifi Network Based
on Radios . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1055
Abhishek Majumder and Samir Nath
Author Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1067
About the Editors

Dr. S. Smys received his bachelor of engineering degree in electronics and com-
munication engineering from Periyar University, India, in 2002 and his master of
engineering degree in digital communication and networking from Anna
University, India, in 2004. He received his Ph.D. degree on virtual structure con-
structions in wireless networks from Karunya University, Coimbatore, India, in
2012. He has 13 years of teaching experience and 8 years of research experience.
He has written more than 50 publications and organized 14 international confer-
ences. He is Associate Editor of the Journal of Computers and Electrical
Engineering (published by Elsevier).

Prof. Robert Bestak obtained his Ph.D. degree in computer science from ENST
Paris, France, in 2003 and M.Sc. degree in telecommunications from Czech
Technical University (CTU) in Prague in 1999. Since 2004, he has been Assistant
Professor in the Department of Telecommunication Engineering, Faculty of
Electrical Engineering, CTU. He is the Czech representative in the IFIP TC6
Working Group. He has served in the steering and technical program committees of
numerous IEEE/IFIP international conferences (networking, WMNC, NGMAST,
etc.), and he is a member of the editorial board of several international journals
(Electronic Commerce Research Journal, etc.). He has participated in several
national, EU, and third-party research projects (FP7-ROCKET, FP7-TROPIC, etc.).
His research interests include 5G networks, spectrum management, and big data in
mobile networks.

Prof. Joy Iong-Zong Chen is a Chinese communications engineer and researcher


and is Full-time Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, Dayeh
University, Taiwan. He obtained his Ph.D. degree from the National Defense
University, Chung Cheng Institute of Technology, Taiwan, in 2002. He has written
over 70 research publications and is a member of the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers and the Institute of Electronics, Information and
Communications Engineers. His achievements include the development of new

xix
xx About the Editors

patents for cellular communication systems. He was the recipient of the 2006
International Association of Engineers Best Paper Award.

Dr. Ing. Ivan Kotuliak, Ph.D. is currently associated with Slovenská technická
univerzita v Bratislave, Bratislava, Slovakia, as Vice-Dean for International
Relations and the Faculty of Informatics and Information Technologies. He has
written 57 research publications. He has over 17 years of research experience in
computer engineering. His areas of interest are computer engineering, communi-
cation engineering, wireless communications, computer networks, wireless ad hoc
networks, and wireless LAN.
A Novel on Biometric Parameter’s
Fusion on Drowsiness Detection Using
Machine Learning

V. B. Hemadri, Padmavati Gundgurti, G. Dharani Chowdary


and Korla Deepika

Abstract The operator driving vehicle in night has become a major problem nowa-
days. The largest number of accidents in the world is due to drowsiness. To overcome
this problem, we have developed a machine for a longer period which detects drowsi-
ness and alert the operator. Early detection of fatigued state has become important to
develop a detection system. According to the previous work, we found a lot of issues
in detecting drowsiness when wearing spectacles and in dark and light condition. In
our research paper, we have overcome these issues to detect drowsiness based on
the fusion of visual parameters like face detection, eye detection, and yawning in all
conditions and wearing spectacles.

Keywords Face detection · Eye detection · Mouth detection · SVM function

1 Introduction

In recent days, increase in the number of accidents is becoming the major threat for
the society. The person with drowsiness may lead his life and others live in danger;
most of the accidents nowadays are due to drowsiness.
Machines are developed for the safety of the driver based on the recent computer
vision and new technologies. Intelligent systems in the vehicle will be totally auto-
matic with the use of intelligent control systems in the present system. The main aim

V. B. Hemadri
SDMCET, Dharwad 580002, Karnataka, India
e-mail: vidya_gouri@yahoo.com
P. Gundgurti · G. Dharani Chowdary · K. Deepika (B)
BVRITH, Hyderabad 500090, Telagana, India
e-mail: korladeepika@gmail.com
P. Gundgurti
e-mail: padmavati.eg@gmail.com
G. Dharani Chowdary
e-mail: dharani1497@gmail.com
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2019 1
S. Smys et al. (eds.), International Conference on Computer Networks
and Communication Technologies, Lecture Notes on Data Engineering
and Communications Technologies 15, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8681-6_1
2 V. B. Hemadri et al.

is to improve the driver or any person safety; these systems will not only automate the
detection of traffic signal and lanes but also for measuring the operators’ behavior.
The major behavior of the operator is to detect the driver drowsiness.
Recent reports say that a leading cause of fatal or injury-causing accidents is due
to person with a fatigue level which is due to the working for a longer period and
boring environment which often causes lack of concentration in an operator and leads
to accidents. Other than fatigue, it might be due to states like happy, depression, short
temper, and disturbance which lead to accident.
India is the highest for road accidents around 800 due to drowsiness according
to recent report of Team-BHP.com. According to this, driver should take break and
sleep for 7 h or need to stop the vehicle, take break, and continue the journey.

2 Literature Survey

In [1], the authors proposed a very good system where it is of low cost using sensors.
The parameters used for detecting drowsiness are PERCLOS, eye closure duration,
blink, face position, and fixed eye gaze. The machine is fully automatic and detected
for real time. It works only without wearing spectacles but fails wearing spectacles.
In [2], the authors proposed an algorithm where it fails to detect because of the
use of low infrared web camera. The driver is the main operator where the light
illumination should be proper to extract the features of the operator and send to the
database to match the frames in dark intensity and no clear frames are formed.
In [3], the authors implemented the identification of fatigue on head position
and geometrical features of mouth. Test was conducted based on the example of
50 video frames and experiments that head movement contributes about 8% and
yawning contributes about 49%. The result fails to identify for very dark condition.
In [4], the authors introduced the dependable system for operator’s drowsiness
detection. The analyzed data is required from real traffic. The information are pre-
processed according to assumptions about driver’s behavior, and it is sent to the
frequency state by means of orthogonal transform. The data is recorded by the bus
system operator. Features are extracted from the operator.
In [5], the author presents the author reviews of the different procedures to resolve
driver drowsiness. The author concluded that by the implementation of hybrid drowsi-
ness detection system, it combines non-intrusive physiological measures with other
system to get accurate and detect the drowsiness of the driver. They also use ECG
and other physical measures for the detection of fatigue of driver.
In [6], the author reviews the different procedures to resolve driver drowsiness.
The author concluded that by the implementation of hybrid drowsiness detection
system, it combines non-intrusive physiological measures with other system to get
accurate and detect the drowsiness of the driver. They also use ECG and other physical
measures for the detection of fatigue of driver.
In [7], the author presents a novel Non-intrusive Intelligent Driver Assistance and
Safety System (Ni-DASS) for assessing within motors. In this challenge to reduce
A Novel on Biometric Parameter’s Fusion … 3

accidents by focusing on creating Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS)


which is able to identify motor, operator, and surrounding conditions to use the
information, it uses an onboard CCD camera to observe the driver’s face. A template
matching approach is used to evaluate the driver’s eye-gaze pattern with a set of eye-
sign frames of the operator looking at different sides rather than concentrating on
driving. The results indicate that the proposed technique could be useful in situations
where it fails in low-resolution estimates of the driver’s drowsiness level.
In [8], the authors presented a brain system which uses electroencephalogram
signals for the identification of fatigue. The system controls the human muscle and
movements of the human communication with the other person. The system is used
to detect the activities of the brain. The result is calculated by placing the electrodes
on the scalp which contains small metal. The main intention is to find the drowsiness
of the driver but fails because every time the driver cannot place the electrodes on
the body; it irritates and it creates irritation and rashes.
In reference to the [9], the authors implemented a non-disturbing model system for
actual time monitor a driver’s drowsiness. The parameters include eyelid movement,
gaze, and face orientation. The main apparatus of the considered system consists
of a hardware system for actual time acquirement of video frames of the operator
and algorithms and their software implementations for real-time eye tracking, eyelid
movement parameters computation, face pose discrimination, and gaze evaluation.
It was tested under several conditions for the illumination of different genders and
ages. It fails for gaze movement and position of the head.
In reference to the [10], the authors say that drowsiness is detected with experi-
mental lab setup of eye movement and yawning of the lower jaw is selected for test
cases where the upper portion of mouth is fixed; it is not going to affect. The results
fail to detect in very dark condition and more lightening.

3 Proposed Method

Our research paper focuses on the design and improvement of drowsiness detection
system based on the eye detection, head movement, and face detection on human
fatigues under different situations. The proposed algorithm to detect the fatigue is
described below:
Procedure fatigue_detection
Step 1 Record the webcam online.
Step 2 Process the video clip into frame by frame.
Step 3 Detect face using HaarCascade classifier.
Step 4 Detect eye using HaarCascade classifier.
Step 5 Detect mouth using HaarCascade classifier.
Step 6 Extract the features of eye and mouth parameters like head position and
yawning.
4 V. B. Hemadri et al.

Fig. 1 System flow diagram

Step 7 Support vector machine is called to find whether drowsy or not.


End of procedure
In the first step, the videos are captured from webcam online completely and
then stored frame by frame. Face is detected using Viola–Jones classifier, then using
HaarCascade classifier eye, mouth is located with a rectangle drawn around them.
Then, the eye opening and closing, and mouth opening and closing are calculated
for each frame and counted. The mouth opening and closing and head positions are
given as input for machine learning technique called machine and Harr classifier to
identify the level of fatigue. The drowsiness detection is shown in Fig. 1.
A Novel on Biometric Parameter’s Fusion … 5

Fig. 2 Detected faces


marked with rectangle box

Implementation The four major modules are involved in the implementation of the
proposed system as follows:
a. Online data collection,
b. Face detection,
c. Eye detection, and
d. Mouth detection.

4 Online Data Collection

The major step in the implementation of drowsiness detection system is online data
collection from the web camera. The camera is placed in front of the driver by which
the video is recorded continuously.

5 Face Detection

After the videos being framed, each frame is sent for the face detection process. The
standard HaarCascade classifier of file haarcascade_frontalface is used for frontal
face detection. The detected face region is marked with a rectangle box as shown in
Fig. 2.
6 V. B. Hemadri et al.

Fig. 3 Detected eyes


marked with rectangle box

Fig. 4 Detected mouth


marked with rectangle box

6 Eye Detection

After successful online data collection, the face and eyes are detected and matched
with stored data, and alarm sounds loud, if 50% eyes close. We use HaarCascade
classifier to locate the region of eye. Eye is detected and the rectangle box is drawn
for the eye region of the face as shown in Fig. 3.

7 Mouth Detection

After successfully detecting the face and locating the eye in each frame, the frame
is processed for locating mouth region. As the region of interest, mouth is detected
as shown in Fig. 4. Yawning is 100% if the voice message is given.

8 Experimental Results

Almost 80 videos were collected of different attributes like with glasses, different
hairstyle conditions, with beard and without beard, head changing positions in dif-
ferent environmental circumstances, etc.
A Novel on Biometric Parameter’s Fusion … 7

9 Conclusion

Our research paper describes how the accidents are going on due to drowsiness and
what are the major steps to be taken throughout India, because ours is the largest in
total number of road accidents. We developed a system using an algorithm projected
and developed which can capture the online video which detects the fatigue. The
parameters of face detection, eye detection, and yawning are used to check the fatigue
level. The process is done under different circumstances like hairstyle, wearing glass
or not wearing glasses, with beard or without, etc. The algorithm works fine till now
and gives 95% result. If drowsiness detected, an alarm that sounds loudly is provided.

Acknowledgements This project was carried out under Research Promotion Scheme grant from All
India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), project Ref. No: 8023/RID/RPS-114(Pvt)/2011-
12. Authors wish to thank AICTE, New Delhi.
Consent of all participants was taken.

References

1. Reddy, B.P.G., Vudasreenivasarao, Mohan, B.V., Srinivas, P.C.: A low cost real time embedded
control system design using infrared signal processing with application to vehicle accident
prevention. Comput. Inf. Syst. Dev. Inf. 3(4) (2012)
2. Khan, M.F., Aadil, F.: Efficient car alarming system for fatigue detection during driving. Int.
J. Innov. Manag. Technol. 3(4) (2012)
3. Gundgurti, P., Patil, B., Hemadri, V.B., Kulkarni, U.P.: Experimental study on assessment on
impact of biometric parameters on drowsiness based on yawning & head movement using
support vector machine. IJCSMR 2(5) (2013). ISSN: 2278-733X
4. Haupt, D., Honzik, P., Raso, P., Hyncica, O.: Steering wheel motion analysis for detection of
the driver’s drowsiness. Math. Models Methods Mod. Sci. ISBN: 978-1-61804-055-8
5. You, C.-W., Lane, N.D., Chen, F., Wang, R., Chen, Z., Bao Martha Montes-de-Oca, T.J., Cheng,
Y., Lin, M., Torresani, L., Andrew, T.: CarSafe App: alerting drowsy and distracted drivers using
dual cameras on smartphones. In: Campbell MobiSys’13, 25–28 June 2013, Taipei, Taiwan
6. Sahayadhas, A., Sundaraj, K., Murugappan AI-Rehab Research Group, Universiti Malaysia
Perlis (UniMAP).: Detecting driver drowsiness based on sensors: a review. Malaysia; Sensors
16937–16953
7. Hafizah, N., Zaid, M., Maguid, M.A., Soliman, A.H.: Eye Gesture Analysis with Head Move-
ment for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems. World Academy of Science, Engineering and
Technology (2012)
8. Rajendra Kumar, G.., Raju, S.V.P., Santhosh Kumar, D.: Classification of Eeg signals for
drowsiness detection in brain and computer interface. GESJ Comput. Sci. Telecommun. 4(36)
(2012). ISSN: 1512-1232
9. Ji, Q., Yang, X.: Real-time eye, gaze, and face pose tracking for monitoring driver vigilance.
Real-Time Imaging 8, 357–3177 (2002)
10. Vidyagouri, B.H., Kulkarni, U.P.: Detection of drowsiness using fusion of yawning and eyelid
movements. In: ICAC3 2013, CCIS 361, pp. 583–594. Springer (2013)
11. Patil, B., Gundgurti, P., Hemadri, V.B., Kulkarni, U.P.: Experimental study on assessment
on impact of biometric parameters on drowsiness detection. In: Proceedings of International
Conference of Computer Science and Information Engineering (ICCIE), 24 May 2013, pp. 1–6.
ISBN: 978-93-5104-130-6 and International Journal of Advanced Trends in Computer Science
and Engineering (IJATCSE), vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 01–06 (2013). ISSN 2278-3091
8 V. B. Hemadri et al.

V. B. Hemadri working as an Assistant Professor in SDMCET, Dharwad, Karnataka, 580002. Her


research area includes machine learning and SVM detection approaches.

Padmavati Gundgurti studying BE in BVRITH, Telagana, Hyderabad, 500090. Her research


area includes machine learning and SVM detection approaches.

G. Dharani Chowdary studying BE in BVRITH, Telagana, Hyderabad, 500090. Her research


area includes machine learning and SVM detection approaches.

Korla Deepika studying BE in BVRITH, Telagana, Hyderabad, 500090. Her research area
includes machine learning and SVM detection approaches.
An IoT-Based Smart Classroom

Chinju Paul, Amal Ganesh and C. Sunitha

Abstract Rapid development of automation technology makes people life very sim-
ple and easy. In today’s world, all of them depend only on automatic systems over
manual system. An IoT-based smart classroom system mainly deals with the automa-
tion of electronic appliances in a classroom based on the Internet of Things (IoT)
protocol called MQTT. The system architecture is comprised of several wireless
nodes, a middleware, and user interface. All the wireless nodes communicate over
dedicated or existing network with the middleware. This communication is based
on Message Queue Telemetry Transport (MQTT) connectivity protocol which is
designed for Internet of things. The MQTT protocol uses publish/subscribe-based
messaging on the top of TCP/IP protocol. Through the user interface section, a user
can interact with middleware of the system. The interaction is done by recognizing
the command of the user through his speech. Mainly, secret commands are used for
the interaction with the middleware. Raspberry Pi is the backbone of the system.
It operates as a middleware, in the system architecture. Wireless nodes used in this
system are called as Node MCU, and this Node MCU is placed in each classroom.
After the execution of user interface section, the control is forwarded to the middle-
ware which is placed in the staffroom. Finally, based on the user secret commands,
the automation of appliances of each classroom will be done through Node MCU
resulting in classroom automation.

Keywords Message queue telemetry transport (MQTT) · Internet of things (IoT)

C. Paul (B) · A. Ganesh · C. Sunitha


Department of CSE, Vidya Academy of Science and Technology, P.O. Thalakottukara,
Thrissur, Kerala, India
e-mail: chinjupaul123@gmail.com
A. Ganesh
e-mail: amal.ganesh@vidyaacademy.ac.in
C. Sunitha
e-mail: sunitha@vidyaacademy.ac.in

© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2019 9


S. Smys et al. (eds.), International Conference on Computer Networks
and Communication Technologies, Lecture Notes on Data Engineering
and Communications Technologies 15, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-8681-6_2
10 C. Paul et al.

1 Introduction

Automation is a method of operating a process using electronic devices with a view


to reduce human effort. The need for developing an automation system in an office
or at home is increasing rapidly. Automation makes not only an efficient system
but also results in reducing the energy wastage. IoT is a platform to connect people
and things at anytime, anyplace, and with anyone. Automation is the most relevant
application of IoT. It monitors the energy consumption and controls the environment
in buildings, schools, offices, and museums using different types of sensors and
actuators that control lights, temperature, and humidity. In today’s world, energy
wastage is an important issue. The major reason for this is people are forgetting to
turn off the appliances. Especially in educational institutions, also students are busy
with their studies and nobody is bothered about the energy wastage. So in order to
avoid such conditions and reduce the human interventions, automation systems have
a great role. Thus, in order to overcome the energy wastage and save money, a system
is introduced here. The system mentioned here is a portable system, and by using
this anyone can be controlled from anywhere in the world using IoT protocol. The
general architecture for the automation system contains the following components:
• User interface: It is used to give order or control the electrical equipments.
• Mode of transmission: Either wired or wireless connection is used to transmit the
control. The protocols which are used for data transfer and control are Ethernet,
MQTT, etc.
• Central controller: It is a hardware component which acts as an intermediate
between user interface and mode of transmission. Sometimes, all the electrical
equipments are connected to this central controller also, e.g., Raspberry Pi, Node
MCU, etc.
• Electronic devices: All the electrical equipments are compatible with the structure.
So, this paper mainly discusses how to automate electrical appliances in a class-
room using an architecture mentioned below. Here, we apply an IoT-based protocol
called Message Queuing Telemetry Transport (MQTT) and to incorporate a speech
recognition service from Amazon (ALEXA) to control various electrical appliances
in classroom such as fan, light, etc. This work is complete on its own in remotely
and automatically switching on and off of any electrical appliances in a classroom.
The system aims to automate IoT and to control various electrical appliances such
as fan, light, etc., through speech and saves energy and money.

2 Related Works

In paper [1], the authors point out an efficient implementation using IoT for moni-
toring and automation system. It aims at controlling electrical equipments in home
via smartphone using Wi-Fi as a communication protocol and Arduino Uno as a
An IoT-Based Smart Classroom 11

central controller. The user here will move directly with a portable system through a
web-based interface over the web, whereas home appliances are remotely controlled
through a website. This system also provides a full smart environment condition and
monitored by various sensors for providing necessary data to automatic detection
and resolution of any problem in the devices. The paper [2] consists of variety of
sensors in the system architecture. Using Wi-Fi module, the Intel Galileo connects
to the Internet and after this connection it will start reading the parameters of sen-
sors. Then, set the threshold levels for each sensor. Data from the sensor are sent
to the web server and stored in the cloud. These data can be analyzed at anytime
from anywhere. If the sensor parameters are greater than the threshold level, then
the respective alarm will be raised and the required action will be performed for
the control of parameters. This model monitors the temperature, gas leakage, and
motion in the house. The temperature and the motion detection are stored in a cloud.
When the temperature exceeds the threshold level, the cooler will automatically turn
on and when the temperature comes to control it will turn off. If there is a leakage
of gas in the house, then alarm is raised giving the alert sound. The required lights
are turned on/off automatically by detecting the light outside the house. The user
can also monitor the electric appliances through the Internet. By simply typing the
IP address of the web server, the lights or any electrical appliances in the home are
turned off remotely. In paper [3], a home automation architecture based on a remote
password operated appliances is mentioned. The system reads the data from Blue-
tooth module, initializes the LCD and UART protocol, and displays the status of the
electrical loads on LCD. The system mainly uses two graphical user interfaces. The
status of the appliances can be known by using this interface. Any changes in the
status of the appliances will give an immediate intimation by showing it in GUI. The
window GUI will act as a server to transmit any data to and from the smartphone. If
there is any failure, then connection can be reestablished using USB cable. The user
can monitor and control the devices from any remote location at any time using IoT.
In paper [4], the authors have proposed a protocol standard for smart homes called
Home Automation Device Protocol (HADP). This system aims for the capacity of
home automation devices across different platforms. The IFTTT (IF This Then That)
service used here to define a set of device communication protocols and actions are
combined to generate and manage interactions through a central node. The system
demands less power consumption, and bandwidth requirements are done using the
minimum data packets to trigger an action on a home automation device.

3 System Overview

The system architecture (Fig. 1) is comprised of several wireless nodes, a middleware,


and user interface. All the wireless nodes communicate over dedicated or existing
network with the middleware. This communication is based on Message Queue
Telemetry Transport (MQTT) connectivity protocol which is designed for Internet
of things. The MQTT protocol uses publish/subscribe-based messaging on the top
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of the Fierce Beasts, for the water assuaged after nine years, and
the ravages of the man-eaters were confined to one place. Opium
has spread with frightful rapidity and heartrending results through the
provinces. Millions upon millions have been struck down by the
plague. To-day it is running like wild-fire. In its swift deadly course it
is spreading devastation everywhere, wrecking the minds and eating
away the strength and wealth of its victims. The ruin of the mind is
the most woeful of its many deleterious effects. The poison
enfeebles the will, saps the strength of the body, renders the
consumer incapable of performing his regular duties, and unfit for
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reduces the miserable wretch to poverty, barrenness and senility.
Unless something is soon done to arrest this awful scourge in its
devastating march, the Chinese people will be transformed into
satyrs and devils!”[20] Many thoughtful Chinese are apprehensive
that opium will finally extirpate the race. This is a severe indictment,
but there are plenty of leading men who will endorse it.
The Republican Government determined to stamp out the evil, and
none but the Chinese could have accomplished so great a reform so
rapidly: in many of the northern provinces there is no poppy grown.
But the Southern Government has not followed suit. No doubt the
question of revenue prevents it; for opium is one of the most
lucrative crops as regards taxation. Naturally there are times of great
scarcity, and then it is quite common for the people to sell their
children for food. A missionary told us of one child being sold for one
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years old. We saw two nice little girls on the road being taken to be
sold as slaves.
After leaving Küticul we found our coolies very troublesome, and
had to have recourse to the magistrate on two occasions, with a
good result. One day the men firmly refused to go more than an
absurdly short stage, and deposited us in the middle of a village. Our
head man stormed and raged, not another step would they budge.
Finally we made a compromise: we stayed there on the
understanding that they would do a hundred and five li next day,
about thirty-two miles. The magistrate later in the day had an
interview with Li and the head coolie, and emphasized the fact that
the agreement had got to be carried out, and the escort was
instructed to come early.
The spell worked! We started about six o’clock on a lovely misty
morning, the dew lying heavy on the grass, and our men walked with
a will for some hours. But like the mist, their zeal evaporated: after
lunch they said they must each have a dollar to go on. Li was in
despair at seeing his remonstrances unheeded. I sent him off to the
magistrate. He counselled giving them ten cents each, and ordered
them to start: there was nothing to be done save agree to it, as the
head coolie had disappeared, evidently feeling unable to cope with
the situation. The men grumbled, but set off, and by a quarter past
six we reached Ping-yi, a stiff twelve hours’ journey. We felt a little
sorry for the luggage coolies and wondered if the loads were not
rather heavy, but as they raced at the end of the stage to see who
would be in first, we felt our pity was misplaced. We stayed in
mission premises where a kind old caretaker was most solicitous for
our welfare. Yao could hardly be persuaded not to prepare our
evening meal, but we decided to prepare it for ourselves and sent
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This was our last night in Yünnan, and we had a wonderful
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me to spend much of the night beside the window, writing letters. It
was an unwonted pleasure to sleep upstairs and to have a view.
Next day in our escort we had a most friendly young policeman,
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dilapidated archway leading into a little village. The usual tutelary
stone lions are on either side the pailou, but those facing into
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those facing into Kweichow have only scales. What is the meaning of
this symbolism? Dust stands for wind and scales for water, and truly
Yünnan has not only rain but also wind in full measure, while as for
Kweichow, we no sooner crossed the threshold than the sun
disappeared and down came the rain.
One day we asked a Kweichow man who had attached himself
uninvited to our company, when we might hope to see the sunshine!
He took a long time to answer the question, and appeared to have
been giving Li an exhaustive discourse on the nature of sunshine.
However, the summary of the discourse was that under the old
Imperial regime things were fixed, and you could count upon them—
but under a Republic you could be sure of nothing!
Chapter IV
The Province of Kweichow

“Methinks there’s a genius


Roams in the mountains.
...
But dark is the forest
Where now is my dwelling,
Never the light of day
Reaches its shadow.
Thither a perilous
Pathway meanders.
Lonely I stand
On the lonelier hill-top,
Cloudland beneath me
And cloudland around me.
Softly the wind bloweth,
Softly the rain falls,
Joy like a mist blots
The thoughts of my home out.”

—(Ch’ü Yüan: Fourth Century b.c.)


Translated by Cranmer Byng.

Chapter IV
The Province of Kweichow

Not only is there a gateway leading out of Yünnan, but also one of
a quite different character leading into Kweichow, and situated at the
other end of the little frontier village. It is a solid stone gateway in a
stone wall.
We passed
along a short
bit of level
street at a
height of
6,200 feet
before we
came to the
wall, and
then we
plunged
down a steep
rocky path,
with a
wonderful
view of deep
valleys
surrounded
by abrupt
and jagged
mountains.
We found
A HAYSTACK.
that day
seven new
varieties of
roses, all very sweet-scented, also rhododendrons, azaleas and
irises. At our halting-place for the night (5,300 feet) we climbed a
little hill crowned with a Buddhist temple, and looked down on trees,
which formed a floor of delicate white blossom as light as
snowflakes, trees quite unknown to me, and no one there seemed
able to give us even a Chinese name for them. It is very difficult to
get information, and we had not the time for making collections.
I tried to learn about them when I came home, and found that
there is in existence a large folio of manuscript of descriptions and
specimens of plants collected by French fathers in this province; but
as no one visits Kweichow there was no demand for such a work,
and there is no hope of it being published. The collection is at the
Edinburgh Botanical Gardens. It was the same with other things: the
mountains often had the strangest forms, and I made careful
drawings of their outlines. Photos were usually out of the question,
as the mountains were too close; they rose up like walls all round us,
and the light was always in the wrong quarter. On my return home I
went cheerfully to learned societies with confident hope of slaking
my thirst for knowledge, but alas! No books on such an unknown
part, the very name of course unknown. When my drawings had
been duly inspected, the remark made was, “I must compliment you
on your sketches, I have never seen mountains like that!” Was there
a touch of irony in the remark?
Truly Kweichow is a wonderful country and beautiful in the
extreme, as the late Dr. Morrison (adviser to the Chinese
Government) told me when I went to get his advice before starting.
“You could not have chosen a more interesting part to travel in,” he
said, “nor a more beautiful one”; and he had travelled in almost every
part of China. It is full of different aboriginal races of whom very little
is known, its flora is remarkably rich and varied, and its geology a
continual surprise.
The second day across the border we crossed a small plain from
which rise a series of round low mounds, like pudding-basins, from
the flat ricefields—an extraordinary contrast to the lofty, jagged
mountains from which we had just descended. In the midst of it all
was a curious tumbled heap of lava-like appearance, looking as if it
had been ejected from the earth by some colossal earthworms. Sir
Alexander Hosie says[21] that there is a parallel row of these mounds
about ten miles to the south: they run east and west. In the ricefields
I saw a brilliant kingfisher, hanging poised in mid-air in search of
prey, while a heron stalked away at our approach.
The rain grew more and more persistent, and the roads were
muddy and slippery to the last degree. Even the sure-footed Chinese
kept tumbling down, and it was almost less trying to walk than to be
bumped down in our chairs. As we advanced into the province the
culture of the opium poppy (papaver somniferum) increased till it was
as much as ninety-nine per cent. of the crops, and the appearance of
the inhabitants showed only too plainly its disastrous effects. In
some of the villages the children were naked, although it was still
cold weather, being only the beginning of April. In the markets the
goods were of the meanest and cheapest description, and the
people looked abject. They rushed out to beg from us. The main
industry of the district was evidently the making of coal balls. The
coal lies actually on the surface, and has only to be scraped
together, mixed with a little earth and water, and then dried: it burns
quite well. Some of the coal is used for fertilizing the ground, being
reduced to ash by being burnt in pits with stones piled on it. Lime
also is used for the poppy fields. Sometimes the coal holes by the
wayside are a couple of yards in diameter. The coir palm is to be
seen in every village, and loquats and walnut trees are cultivated for
their fruit.
We struggled along through a thick mist one day, and one after
another went down like ninepins on the slippery path. One of my
bearers cut his ankle, and was thankful for the doctor’s attentions.
Suddenly I heard an ominous roaring sound, and looked in vain for
the cause. It proved to be produced by a big stream, which
disappeared into a hole in the earth; this appears to be quite a
common phenomenon, and later on we saw one bubble out of the
ground in the same strange fashion.
Another shape of hill attracted my attention, and as I tried to
reproduce it accurately on paper it became obvious that this was one
of the Chinese mountain forms with which one has been familiar
from childhood in their pictures, and which one had supposed to be a
work of imagination. As they always hold in their canons of art that
“form” is quite subsidiary to “spirit,” I imagined that it was not inability
to imitate form accurately, but a deliberate intention of ignoring it in
order to express some more important truth that was the cause of
their drawing, what seemed to me, such unnatural mountains. But
here one discovered that these forms are natural in China, and it is
after all only our ignorance that makes us so misjudge them.
There were hedges by the roadside all bursting into leaf and
blossom, and I never saw such a wealth of ferns of many kinds.
There was material for a whole volume on ferns alone. Lofty trees of
catalpa bungei with their purple blossom, and Boehmeria nivea grew
by the roadside, and rhea grass in the village gardens.
We generally started the day in a damp mist, and were happy
when it cleared away, even though there was no sunshine. We
scanned the hedges for roses, and felt quite aggrieved if we failed to
find fresh varieties every single day. A lovely blush rose filled us with
delight, but pink moss-roses were only seen on one occasion. We
decided that nowhere else could a greater variety of roses be found:
we counted twenty-three varieties before we left the province, and
felt sure we should have found many more had we stayed longer, for
they were hardly in full bloom by the end of April. One day I picked
up a broken branch on the road, thrown away by some passer-by no
doubt because it had no blossoms on it, but the bright green leaves
were a lovely violet on the under side, and I searched in vain to find
a bush of it growing, in order to see what the flowers were like.
Then, too, the birds were reminiscent of home—magpies, larks,
woodpeckers, wagtails, and even the aggravating cuckoo. But there
was one elusive little fellow, known to all dwellers in Kweichow,
though no one could tell me his name: he had a long shrill note with
a short tut-tut-tut at the end. We both watched for him daily, as he
seemed to haunt our path continually, but never could we catch a
sight of him, so dexterously did he hide himself. Occasionally we
thought we saw him, but it was so momentary a glimpse that we
were never sure; the bird we saw looked about the size and shape
and colour of a linnet.
The fourth day in Kweichow we came to a splendid three-arch
bridge in a fertile valley, and spent the night in a very different village
from most—Kuan Tzu Yao. A number of fine new houses were in
course of construction, built largely of stone; amongst others, a post
office next door to our inn. The postal system in China is really
wonderful, even in this backward province, and we had a most
charming surprise at the first post town we entered. Our interpreter
went to the post office, and was surprised at being asked if he were
travelling with English ladies. On admitting this, he was asked to
inform us that if we were in need of money we could draw as much
as was necessary at any office we came to, by order of the postal
commissioner at Kwei Yang. The reason for this delightful
arrangement was that the English Commissioner at Taiyuanfu,
whose advice we had asked about transmitting money, said he
would write to his Chinese colleague and ask him to help us if we got
into difficulties, because of the prevalent highway robberies. This
gentleman was ill at the time the letter reached him, but he
telegraphed to Taiyuanfu as soon as he was fit, that he would do
what he could—and this was his splendid way of meeting the
difficulty. No finer testimony could be wanted of the way the Chinese
trust our people.
The postal system is a fine piece of organization: it reaches to the
utmost bounds of the empire, and although the mails are mainly
carried by runners on foot, they travel very rapidly. The stages are
not long, and there is no delay when the bags are handed from one
runner to the next. For instance, we were told that on this particular
road, what we did in seventeen days the mails would do in four, and
we did an average of eighteen miles a day. We had postal maps
given us of the provinces we were going to visit. On them are
marked all the postal stations, with the distances from one to
another; the line of route; the various grades of offices; the limit of
the district; daily or bi-daily day and night service; daily, bi-daily or tri-
daily service; less frequent ones; postal connexion by boat;
telegraphic connexion; rural box offices, etc. The names of the main
towns are in both Chinese and English, the others only in Chinese.
On the whole, letters travel wonderfully safely. The old postal system
was quite hopeless, and in the interior the missionaries used to
organize their own. Even Peking used to be closed to the rest of the
world yearly for several months. I remember six months when we
had no letters from my sister in Shansi, due to a misunderstanding at
a transmitting station, and there was no telegraphic communication
in those days. Now the old Chinese system has practically died out.
We had another proof of the thoughtfulness of the Chinese
commissioner later. Having heard from one of the missionaries that
we were going into the Miao country before coming to the capital, he
sent up all our letters, a tremendous boon after being weeks without
any. The postal service is under international control, having been
originated in 1896 and built up by Sir Robert Hart in connexion with
the customs: in each province there is a commissioner; nearly all are
Europeans.
As we got further into the province the vegetation grew more and
more luxuriant. The banks were carpeted with lycopodium and
primula and the hedges were full of roses, white and yellow jasmine,
hawthorn, clematis montana, Akebia lobata—a very curious creeper
with wine-coloured blossom, both male and female. The brilliant
yellow-blossomed cassia forms a most impenetrable hedge, with
upstanding thorns, like nails, all along its tough stems. We tied water
jars into our chairs, so as to keep the flowers fresh, and by the end
of the day the chairs were perfect bowers, our men vying with one
another to get us the choicest blossoms. Perhaps the most beautiful
of any was the large white, sweet-scented rhododendron, the
Hymenocallis. This is rare; we only found it once.
The scenery was very grand; long ranges of jagged mountains
and precipitous cliffs, but the road was not in the least dangerous
from that point of view. It was extremely slippery and a heavy mist
lay over everything in the early hours of most days: our men kept
tumbling down. The only one who seemed always steady was Yao,
and he constituted himself my guardian on slippery days, holding my
elbow with a relentless grip, which certainly prevented my tumbling
down and gave me confidence.
At Kuan Tzu Yao we found a nice clean new inn, courtyard behind
courtyard, and each raised a step or two above the last: ours was
the innermost, and we felt unusually secluded. The next night our
immediate neighbours were two fine water buffaloes with their
calves. They are the most valuable domestic animals throughout this
country, as they plough the ricefields quite happily when they are
under water. These two were taken out to work in the early morning,
and we were amused to see a little tatterdemalion bringing them
back in a perfect fury to fetch their calves, which had been left in the
shed. The buffaloes seem to be generally left in the care of boys,
who manage them with much skill, and love to disport themselves on
their broad backs, often lying negligently at ease along them, looking
as much at home as if they were an integral part of the creature.
They are sluggish animals, coming originally from the Philippines.
Leaving Tu Tien our men seemed possessed of a sudden energy,
and went at a great rate, doing nearly seven miles in two hours.
Sometimes we thought we were lacking in humanity to give them
such heavy loads; but then again our scruples seemed foolish in the
light of certain experiences. For instance, one man carried two heavy
suit-cases and a chair, another two large carved window-frames and
a bed, but it didn’t prevent them taking a steep bank at a run, or
having a race at the end of a thirty-mile stage to see who would be in
first. The Chinese coolie is really an amusing creature, and even if
he is clad in rags he finds life a cheerful business. I used to try and
count the patches on the coat of one of my coolies, and never made
them less than forty-six between the neck and waistband, not
including those on the sleeves!
Then the incidents of travel have a humorous side, even on a wet
day in a dangerous neighbourhood. Instead of having our light
midday meal as usual by the roadside near the village, where the
men get theirs, one is obliged to have it in the chairs, placed side by
side in the main street of a busy town. Our escort draws an
imaginary cordon round us, and no one dares approach within two
yards as long as they mount guard. It was a thrilling sight for the
assembled crowd to watch the barbarians wielding knives and forks,
instead of the dear, familiar chopsticks. I must say they behaved
beautifully.
When I sat down to sketch a lovely river scene outside a village
gateway, though many came to look on they did not jostle. These
entrance gates are often quite imposing and of infinite variety. Just
inside was a fine litter of pigs, with a most important-looking sow,
and it was amusing to watch their antics. On a doorstep, extended at
full length lay a large hairy black pig. Its face wore a beatific
expression, with half-closed eyes of rapt enjoyment, while a woman
vigorously groomed it with her brush.
The mountains of Kweichow give shelter to many wild animals,
and even tigers, as well as leopards, are to be found, which cause
great havoc in some of the villages. One story we heard throws an
interesting light on the way the natives look at them. A tiger had
been doing so much damage that the peasantry determined to have
a battue, having tracked it to a certain hill, from which they thought it
would be impossible for it to escape. They formed a cordon round
the hill and gradually drove it to the top. The tiger, in search of
refuge, looked into a shrine, and its pursuers saw this: they
exclaimed, “It is certainly the God of the Hill”; so they turned tail and
fled. Naturally, the tiger seeing this took the opportunity of attacking
them in the rear, and several were badly mauled.[22]
Some of the mountains are very barren, others wonderfully
cultivated, on terraces right up to the very top, and in rocky hollows
only about a foot in diameter, with a mere handful of soil in them.
How the scanty population can do such a vast amount of cultivation
was a mystery we could never solve. One day we started from an
altitude of eighteen hundred feet and climbed over a pass of forty-
eight hundred, whence there was a wonderful panoramic view; our
road could be seen for many miles, winding along the mountainside
above a narrow valley; then diving down into it and up the opposite
side. Our men said the last part of that day’s march, ten li (three
miles), would be on the level, which sounded pleasant news. In point
of fact we dropped nine hundred feet. A fine entrance gate led into
Lang Tai Fung. Just outside the wall were the ruins of an old temple
with a handsome stone carved bridge in front of it, enclosed within a
wall. The inn was a good one, and the weather having suddenly
turned cold we were glad of a brazier. The town seemed much more
prosperous than most. There were large cotton looms, where
weaving was going on in the open air, as well as in a disused temple.
Handsome carved window-frames delighted me so much that I
determined to have some made for the women’s institute at
Taiyuanfu. They were about a yard square in size with a good deal of
carving, so the sum named (twenty dollars including carriage to
Anshun, about fifty-five miles distant) did not seem excessive! It took
us three days to get to Anshun, and the windows arrived within the
fortnight stipulated. We picked them up later, and they formed rather
a large item of our luggage, requiring an extra coolie.
As we neared Anshun the road was less mountainous and the
villages better built. Many of the houses are of grey stone, some built
with mortar, some without. There was a fine waterfall, a hundred and
sixty feet in depth, into the Rhinoceros Pool, near the town of Chen
Lun, and above it a five-span bridge of noble proportions. A busy
market was going on in the town; and a funeral, with the usual paper
horses and servants for burning at the grave, formed an additional
interest to the gay crowd. There were a number of picturesque
tribeswomen, looking as usual very sulky, and not mixing with the
Chinese. From afar we saw the lofty turrets of a Roman Catholic
Church, so we went to see what it was like. The architecture and
fittings were entirely Western, and we had no sooner entered the
church than the fine-looking old French priest came forward and
greeted us. He invited us into his room and we had an interesting,
long talk. He had been thirty-two years in China, but only two in this
district, and seemed very discouraged. I asked about the numbers of
converts, and he said there were about sixteen hundred, but added
dejectedly that they were not at all satisfactory. How hard it must be
to go on working under such circumstances, and with no hope of
return to his own country.

“Work without hope draws nectar in a sieve,


And hope without an object cannot live.”

Generally missionaries seem a wonderfully hopeful set of people,


even under very adverse circumstances, and we came to a most
cheerful group at Anshunfu, where we had a few days of welcome
rest in their hospitable house.
Anshun is a very pretty town, with its shady trees, its winding
waterways and handsome stone balustrades along them. On a
picturesque bridge were shrines, which made a subject to delight an
artist’s eye: indeed it was a continual trial to me to have so little time
for drawing when there was such a wealth of material. Facing the
house where we stayed was a temple transformed into a
government school, and it had an ornamental wall such as I had not
seen elsewhere. There were panels at intervals, about three and a
half feet from the ground, of various sizes, with open stucco work,
looking like designs from Æsop’s fables. They lent a great charm to
the garden, in which the wall seemed to be only of decorative value.
Throughout China the human figure and animals are used in all sorts
of architectural ways which would never occur to us. Anshun is
situated in a small plain, and a fine road leads to it with pailous
(memorial arches) at intervals. We walked across the fields one day
and climbed a neighbouring hill, surmounted by the usual temple;
from it there was a magnificent view of all the country round. A lurid
thunderstorm heightened the effect. There were oleanders in full
bloom in the courtyard, and the priests were polite and friendly,
bringing tea to us, while we waited for the storm to clear away.

“Lonely I stand
On the loneliest hill top.”

Page 98

There is a hospital at Anshun built by the Arthington Fund, but as


there is only one doctor attached to it, and he was away on furlough,
the place was closed. As it is the only hospital for hundreds of miles,
indeed there is only one other hospital in the province, for
11,300,000 people, this seemed a dreadful pity. The coming of my
doctor was quite an event, especially for a lady who badly needed
her advice. In the whole province there are only these two European
hospitals, as far as I heard, and no Chinese ones.
We made Anshunfu our starting-point for a trip into the
unfrequented mountains, where aboriginal tribes are to be found in
great numbers. No census can be taken of them, and it is only by
years of unremitting toil, in the face of continual danger, that
missionaries have succeeded in making friends with them. Mr.
Slichter, of the C.I.M., was our guide, and as soon as we left the city
we struck up a pathway into the hills to the north of it. After several
hours’ travelling we came to a river, which until recent years was the
boundary, beyond which no foreigner was allowed to go because of
the acute hostility felt by the tribes-people against all strangers. It
was a rapid, swirling river, lying in a deep narrow gorge, and we
were ferried across.
We climbed up a long hot ascent on the further side, and reached
a Keh-lao village,[23] where a fair was going on. The contrast was
extraordinary, quite as great as if we had gone from one European
country into another. It was only with difficulty, and because he was
known, that Mr. Slichter could persuade some one to boil water for
us, and then it was only very little, whereas in any Chinese village
you could get as much as you wanted. We spent about twelve hours
reaching our destination—a village perched up on a steep hill-side.
Seeing us from afar, a laughing group of Miao boys and girls came
running down the path to greet us, looking a most picturesque group
in their red, white and blue clothes.
In another chapter I shall try and give a detailed account of these
people, so will for the present only say a little about the country.
From the top of the crag on which the village of Ten-ten is situated
there may be counted fourteen ranges stretching away into the far
distance, and in such hollows as are practicable for agriculture,
wheat, poppy, rice and hemp are grown. There are most curious
trees, which we saw for the first time, called Rhus vernicifera, from
which varnish is obtained. They are plentiful in the district, and
itinerant tappers come round from time to time to hire their services
to the owners, for the varnish is a valuable crop, but must be
carefully handled. It is most poisonous, and people even lose their
lives by handling it carelessly. We found Mrs. Slichter at Ten-ten; she
had been seriously ill as the result of using a branch of the tree for a
walking-stick. The varnish causes terrible pains in the head, loss of
sight for several days, and an eruption of the hands rendering them
useless for a time.
The first Miao church was built at Ten-ten, and would hardly be
recognized as such, I fear, by the orthodox: it looked like a cross
between a goods shed and a hall, with a ladder at each end leading
to a couple of rooms to accommodate visitors. The only clerical
detail was a pulpit, but close beside it was a cooking-stove, and in
vain I protested that our meals were not to be prepared while service
was going on. The people seemed to find it quite natural, and when
Yao was not too concerned in his cooking he lent an interested ear
to what was being said. One thing was clear, and that was that the
congregation was thoroughly in earnest, and gave undivided
attention to the service. It meant so much to them and especially to
the women, who took part in the prayer-meeting quite simply and
fervently. On the Sunday morning we were about one hundred
people, who attended a baptismal service, which was performed in a
dammed-up stream in the ricefields. It was extraordinarily
picturesque to see the Miao in their short full-kilted skirts, trooping
down the zigzag path to the spot, where twenty-five received
baptism. They have names given them, as many, if not most of them,
have none.
After spending a few days at Ten-ten we continued our journey
northwards, but were somewhat tried by the difficulty of getting any
guide. One of the tribes-people took us a certain distance across the
mountains, but the path was not only steep and rough, but the lanes
were so narrow and thorny that we thought our chairs would be torn
to pieces, and our clothes to ribbons: the thorns and brambles
overhanging the path made it difficult to get the chairs along. We
found it decidedly preferable to walk, and enjoyed the glorious
scenery up hill and down dale, the air laden with the scent of roses
and sweetbrier, and the hill-sides carpeted with mauve-coloured
orchids and primulas.
We soon lost our way, and there was no one to be seen in all the
wide landscape to set us right. We wandered on for hours till we
came to a tiny hamlet, where we found a pottery in full swing. With
much persuasion and the promise of a good tip, we barely
succeeded in coaxing a boy to show us the way to the village of I-
mei, where we proposed spending the night. We set off again in
more cheerful mood, but alas! for our hopes: after about two hours
the lad admitted that he didn’t know the way. We wandered on down
a tiny valley, watered by a charming stream, where countless
wagtails and other little birds beguiled us by their chatter. As we
emerged from the valley into some fields the lad suggested this must
be I-mei, but when we asked some women at work in the fields they
said “Oh no! it is far away.” They went on to tell us that if we
succeeded in reaching it that night, we should probably find no
accommodation. There was a comfortable-looking farm-house within
sight, and they thought we might get put up there, so we sent to
inquire. They were friendly folk, who were willing to vacate a room
for us and to lodge the rest of the party somewhere; so we were
quite pleased to have this new experience. I had never slept in a
Chinese farm-house before, and in point of fact we did not get a
great deal of sleep, as the partitions were thin and there was plenty
of animal life, both large and small, to share the building, all living on
the most intimate terms with the owners. A cat was very put out
about it, and hurried to and fro in our room in the middle of the night.
We tried to shoo her away, and then heard a reproachful voice from
the other side of the partition calling gently “Mimi, Mimi!” upon which
the pussy-cat quickly sidled away to her master.
Next day we were up betimes, and our host said his white-haired
brother would act as our guide. These two old gentlemen still wore
attenuated queues, almost the only ones we saw on the journey. We
found the whole family kind and interested in their visitors. I feel sure
no other Europeans had ever visited the little valley. We gave the
lady a piece of soap, evidently quite a novelty to her: it seems
strange to have to explain the use of such a thing. But this province
has curious natural resources in the way of soap. One tree, the
Sapindus mukorossi, has round fruit, which have only to be shaken
in water to make it quite soapy, and the pods of the Gleditschia
sinensis are to be found for sale in most of the markets: they are
used in washing clothes. European firms have started the soap
industry in China, and there is certainly a good opening for the trade.
We had a long climb up a lovely mountain pass, well named in
Chinese “Climbing to the Heavens,” and came across magnolia and
other delicious shrubs. After a stage of about fourteen miles we
reached the town of Pingüan, and stayed there till next day, as it was
such a pleasant, clean-looking place. Our room had varnished walls
—quite a novelty—and small panes of glass among the paper ones.
We had a larger crowd of interested spectators than usual, but at
intervals Yao came out like a whirlwind and scattered the chaff. Our
hostess brought us a bunch of camellias and peonies as an excuse
for consulting the doctor about her cough!
We left Pingüan early next morning, and facing the gateway by
which we went out was a typical bit of landscape—in the foreground
a bridge leading to a little poppy-covered plain, out of the centre of
which rose a steep rock crowned with a pagoda and a temple. At the
foot of the rock were several shrines. It seemed impossible for the
Chinese to miss making use of any such natural feature of the
landscape for a religious purpose in past days; though now the
shrines are so neglected, except under the stress of plague, famine
or rapine, which incites the worshippers to devotion. The crops in
this district were entirely opium poppy.
At our next halting-place, Ch’a-tien, we had to put up with
miserable quarters: our tiny room looked on to the street, so that we
had a large and interested audience all the time; they lined up on the
window-sill across the road, a good point of vantage, while the small
fry discovered quite a unique point of observation. There was a
hiatus at the bottom of the woodwork of the wall about a yard long
and six inches deep, so by lying with their faces flat on the ground
and close to the opening they could get a fair view of our doings. The
row of bright eyes and gleaming teeth was quite uncanny. Our
thermometer registered 66°, so we felt it rather stuffy with every
breath of air excluded.
During the day we had passed most attractive newly-built houses
in lath and plaster. They had small oval windows in the gable ends
with simple but effective designs in them. The contrast was very
striking with the other villages in this district, where the inhabitants
wore the filthiest-looking rags I have ever seen, and had a most
degraded look.
At the entrance to every village is at least one little shrine, which
generally has a god and goddess sitting side by side in it; but in this
neighbourhood we noticed a good many shrines without images.
They had inscriptions instead, such as “The only true God, from
ancient to present times.” They looked very neglected as a rule, and
hardly ever did we see a newly-erected one.
Our next inn at Ch’a Tsang had a highly decorated wall about
eighteen feet high, facing the chief guest-rooms. There was a large
parti-coloured mosaic made out of broken crockery at the top, below
which were two hares rampant in stucco, supporting a shield
between them; they were flanked by ornamental plants in pots. It
was interesting to find so elaborate a decoration in so humble an inn,
but that is one of the charming surprises on the road, even in the by-
ways of China.
Ta-ting was our next important stopping-place, as word had been
sent to the mission there, requesting them to summon as many
tribes-people as possible to meet us. It is the centre of work among
them, and there is a flourishing boys’ school and also a training
school for evangelists. The whole school had turned out in our
honour, and made a gay show on the hill-side, waving boughs of
crimson rhododendrons, which contrasted with their bright blue
gowns. They had come by a winding road two or three miles outside
the city wall, headed by one of the ladies on horseback: the welcome
was as picturesque as it was cordial, and they had learned an
English greeting for us, which they gave in great style, as soon as
we got out of our chairs. Then they turned back, and we brought up
the rear of their procession in single file, passing through a fine
gateway before we reached the entrance to the city.
Ta-ting is a Chinese town, although it is in the centre of a district
full of tribes-people, with whom they have always been in conflict. A
mission station was opened there many years ago especially for
work amongst the aborigines, and at the present time is manned by
four German ladies, of whom two were on furlough at the time of our
visit. When the order came from the Chinese Government that all
Germans were to leave the country, as China was joining the Allies,
the magistrate of Ta-ting begged that these ladies be allowed to
remain, as there had been so much less trouble with the tribesmen
since they had come under their influence. This request was
granted, and I take this opportunity of stating my firm conviction that
the direct result of mission work is to bring these warring races into
friendly relations with one another and with the Chinese. The
Chinese despise them on account of their illiteracy and low morality,
and both these objections are changed by Christian teaching.
We spent a few days very happily at Ta-ting, but it was long
enough to see how isolated a life the missionaries must lead, and
under most trying climatic conditions. The city lies in a hollow
surrounded by mountains at an altitude of 5,100 feet, continually
shrouded in mist. The sun is only visible one day in four all the year
round, and then perhaps only for a few minutes. We did not see the
complete outline of the mountains while we were there, and we were
constantly reminded of Scotch mists, rolling up for a few moments
and then obliterating everything again. This was the only place
where we heard so dismal a report of the weather.
Some Chinese ladies came to call on us and brought us charming
embroidered spectacle-cases and puffed rice as gifts, but practically
all our time was devoted to studying the aborigines and hearing
about them. They were extraordinarily friendly, and one old hunch-
back, who came from a village more than thirty miles away, had
brought two fine fowls as gifts to the ladies and ourselves. I
presented her with a woollen jacket, as the people suffer much from
the cold, and when she next came to service on a broiling August
day she was still wearing it with great pride!
I should like to have spent months making studies of these people,
and tried in vain to make notes of all the details possible of such

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