Letter from Henry to Mattie, June 22, 1885

Letter from Henry to Mattie, June 22, 1885

Travel; Snakes; Baptism; Opium abuse; Flood damage

Henry writes to Martha about his trip to the interior of China. Henry writes about an encounter he had with a snake. Henry remarks on how the people inland are very different than the ones in Canton. They spent two days examining the baptism candidates and received nine out of the twenty that applied. These were the first protestant baptisms on the island.

Noyes, Henry Varnum

The College of Wooster, Special Collections, Noyes Collection, Box #3

Unpublished

1885-06-22

Council on Library and Information Resources Hidden Special Collections Grant

PDF

eng (English)

Text

noyes_c_cor_805

[Note: Additional note sideways on page one]
Excuse the drop of oil it got on after I had written the
letter
Canton June 22d 1885
Dear Mattie
I think I wrote to
Edward from Hoihow but am
not quite sure. It has been
some time since I have
written. I had a pleasant
trip into the interior with
Mr Jeremiassen which took
about three weeks, though I
was away in all about a
month. We went some
ninety miles inland to
the chapel at a place called
No-doa . We walked most
of the way there and back
although I got a sore heel
and went in a chair two
days , and we had a chair
between us the last day on
our return -- one night or
rather evening as we were
lying on a mat in the yard
of a Chinese in the moonlight
I felt something like a small

rope moving acros my ancle
which had no stocking on.
I instantly jumped to the correct
conclusion that it was a snake
and instinctively gave a kick
which threw it off. I raised
up and it was coming towards
me- Mr Jeremiassen who had
got up took his shoe and
killed it- The next morning
as he was going along the path
a snake raised itself to strike
and [illegible]. He looked and
saw from the way in which
it spread out its neck that
it was a [u]cobra[/u]. He said it
was the first one he had seen
on the island. The country on
our route was in some places
fairly well settled and in
other places there were wide
tracts covered with grass and
low shrubs. Partridges were
singing in the fields everywhere
There is a great deal of [?game?]
people but we did not see
much ---- The inhabitants are

very different from the people of
Canton. With the exception of
one Hunan soldier we did not
meet with any incivility during
our journey- At No-doa where
the chapel is we found the
people prepared to give us a
cordial welcome- [--Went--] We spent
from Friday noon till [illegible] at
night and all Saturday fore-
noon examining Candidates
for baptism and received
9 of the 20 who applied. We
were quite thorough in our
examination - would not receive
any who had not made a
business of attending church
for at least three months-
Of those deferred I presume
most will be received at
the next communion. Three
or four however are opium
smokers and have not yet
left off the habit - Forty have
put down their names as
wishing to attend church
regularly- The nine baptised

were the first Protestant baptisms
that ever took place on the island
Some of the neighboring villages are
very friendly- While I was
gone Bella and the children were
in Macao. I was glad the Mission
had a house rented there so
that they could have this change
which they needed and which
I think did them good-
We are just now having
the highest water I have ever
known since I came to China
It is over the walk in front
of the house -- in the chapel of
the school house and as
high as the seat of a chair
in the Kitchen-The whole yard
between the house and the school
house is up to ones' knees --
The damage in the country must
be very great - Embankments have
given way- The rice crop destroyed
in all the plain country - villages
swept away and doubtless many
drowned. We shall hear more about
it in a few days ----
With love to all Your Aff Bro
--Henry--



[注：第一页的附加说明]
原谅我写完后滴油
信
广州 1885 年 6 月 22 日
亲爱的玛蒂
我想我写信给
来自 Hoihow 的 Edward 但我
不太确定。它一直
自从我有一段时间以来
书面。我有一个愉快的
与
Jeremiassen 先生
大约三周，虽然我
离开了所有关于
月。我们去了一些
向内陆九十英里
小教堂在一个地方叫
不许。我们走了最多
来回的路
虽然我的脚后跟酸痛
然后坐在椅子上两个
天，我们有一把椅子
我们之间的最后一天
我们的回归——一晚或
和我们一样是晚上
躺在院子里的垫子上
月光下的中国人
我觉得有点像小

绳子穿过我的脚踝
没有长袜。
我立即跳到正确的
结论是它是一条蛇
并且本能地踢了一脚
这把它扔掉了。我提出了
起来，它正朝着
我——耶雷米亚森先生
起身拿起他的鞋，
杀了它- 第二天早上
当他走在路上
一条蛇抬起自己来攻击
和[难以辨认]。他看着
从方式上看到
它张开脖子
那是一条眼镜蛇。他说
是他见过的第一个
在岛上。国家在
我们的路线在某些地方
相当安定和在
其他地方很宽
被草覆盖的大片和
低矮的灌木。鹧鸪是
到处在田野里唱歌
有很多游戏
人，但我们没有看到
很多----居民是

和国人很不一样
广州。除了
我们没有的一名湖南士兵
期间遇到任何不文明行为
我们的旅程-在No-doa where
教堂是我们找到的
人们准备给我们一个
热烈欢迎 - 我们花了
从星期五中午到 [无法辨认]
晚上和整个星期六前-
中午考试考生
受洗并接受
20 人中有 9 人申请。我们
在我们的过程中非常彻底
考试 - 不会收到
任何没有做过的人
参加教会事务
至少三个月——
我认为在那些被推迟的人中
大多数将在收到
下一次圣餐。三
或四个是鸦片
吸烟者，还没有
戒掉这个习惯——四十个
记下他们的名字
想去教堂
定期- 九人受洗

是最早的新教洗礼
岛上曾经发生过的事
一些邻近的村庄是
非常友好-当我在
贝拉和孩子们走了
在澳门。我很高兴使命
在那里租了房子，所以
他们可以有这个改变
他们需要哪些，哪些
我认为他们做得很好-
我们刚刚拥有
我有史以来最高的水
来中国就知道了
在前面的步行道上
房子的——在教堂的
校舍和作为
像椅子一样高
在厨房里-整个院子
在房子和学校之间
房子快到膝盖了——
国内的损失必须
非常棒 - 堤防有
让路-水稻作物被毁
在所有平原乡村 - 村庄
一扫而空，无疑是许多
淹死了。我们将听到更多关于
过几天就好了----
爱你所有的兄弟
--亨利--

Letter