of Ichang was one of four ports open to foreign trade, and the highest reached by steamers. The city of Ichang was situated right in the center of China, on a low promontory on the North bank of the River Yangtze. It was a prefectural city of considerable importance in the province of Hupeh, and conveniently situated as a mart for the tea trade of Hoh-fung-chow. Opium was also grown in the district, as was the tung tree, from which tung oil is extracted. ‘The China Inland Mission possessed a number of unique features which set it apart from established missionary societies and gave it an intensity and, perhaps, a glamour, which other more conventional organisations must have envied.’ During his stay in China, Aeneas wrote the poem Voice of an Oracle (in Old China). In December 1926, Aeneas received a worrying letter from the Church of Scotland offices in Edinburgh talking of anxious happenings in Hankow and the possibility of a General Strike in China. In the House of Commons, the Foreign Secretary Austen Chamberlain intimated that the British Government was talking of taking immediate steps to protect U.K. nationals stationed in China. The letter also mentioned that alternative arrangements had been made for the Williams' two 10-year-old children, Alfred and Beatrice. Soon after, Clara and her two children departed from China for their safety and sailed to the U.K. When Clara and her two children arrived back in the U.K., they travelled to Edinburgh, where they temporarily resided with Clara's brother in Leith. Due to the political instability in China and the uncertainty of whether Clara and her children could return, the two children attended school in Edinburgh, Alfred at George Watson's Boys’ College, Edinburgh, and Beatrice at George Watson's Ladies’ College, Edinburgh. Their first term commenced on 11 March 1927, and both children would continue their studies at the College until 26 July 1934. Also, in March 1927, due to growing civil unrest in Ichang and localised uprisings in the surrounding province, Aeneas was advised by the British Consulate (Ta Ying ling-shih-shu) to leave China for his own safety. Aeneas departed Shanghai on 4 April 1927 just before the Shanghai massacre occurred on 12 April 1927. From Shanghai, Aeneas sailed to British Columbia on missionary work, and then to Vancouver. In late April 1927, Aeneas sailed from the Port of Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, on board