CHAPTER XI.
THE CITY OF TONGCHUAN, WITH SOME REMARKS UPON INFANTICIDE.
When I entered Tongchuan the town was in commotion; kettledrums and tomtoms were beating, and crackers and guns firing; the din and clatter was continuous and deafening.

An eclipse of the sun was commencing--it was the 6th of April--"the sun was being swallowed by the Dog of Heaven," and the noise was to compel the monster to disgorge its prey.
Five months ago the Prefect of the city had been advised of the impending disaster, and it was known that at a certain hour he would publicly intervene with Heaven to avert from the city the calamity of darkness.

I myself saw with my own eyes the wonderful power of this man.
The sun was darkened when I went to the Prefect's yamen.

A crowd was already gathered in the court.

At the foot of the steps in the open air, a loosely built framework of wood ten feet high was standing, displaying on its vertex a yellow disc of paper inscribed with the characters for "voracity." As we waited the sun became gradually clearer, when, just as the moon was disappearing across its edge, the Prefect in full dress, stepped from his yamen into the court, accompanied by the city magistrate and a dozen city fathers.