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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.
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
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
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
xi
xii Contents
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
Korla Deepika studying BE in BVRITH, Telagana, Hyderabad, 500090. Her research area
includes machine learning and SVM detection approaches.
An IoT-Based Smart Classroom
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.
1 Introduction
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
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.
“Lonely I stand
On the loneliest hill top.”
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