China Childhood Memories - River Trips

We had a cow in China. It didn't give us much milk, but it was better than not having one. One time while traveling up river to a new station, the river was swollen and flooding. Our cow was tied in the back section of the Chinese junk. As we moved out into the river, the cow lifted her head, and saw the wildly swirling water. She panicked and jumped overboard, nearly tipping the boat over. They cut her lose, and she swam back to shore. When she was recaptured, the boatmen tied her head lower in the junk, so she couldn't see the water. The "cow man" had to talk to the cow all the way to calm her down. And we made it safely to the next station.

Another time, my doll fell in the water, and the doll's head swelled up from being waterlogged. The Chinese boatmen thought it was a baby floating down the river, and were quite excited until they were finally convinced it was just a doll.

Sometimes, when the river narrowed and there were rapids, the boatmen would tie ropes to the junk and run along the shore, pulling the boat along. They would sing and chant, to keep in rythmn.

Traveling was certainly different in that era - and it makes me appreciate our ease of travel here in America. In many mission fields today, there are still very primitive and dangerous methods of travel. We need to pray for our missionaries.