iversity Library es in Ww n Cor DS 709.812 Tra’ and China wii 3 1924 023 430 994 was m DS 709 Bia A /O 7a yy TRAVELS AND RESEARCHES IN THE INTERIOR OF CHINA. By E. COLBORNE BABER, CHINESE SECRETARY OF LEGATION, PEKING. ‘Was DS 707 BRR W934 CONTENTS. I. A JOURNEY OF EXPLORATION IN WESTERN SSU-CH’UAN. 1. On vee Roap to tHe Caprran. Leaves Ch’ung-ch’ing ; best modes of conveyance, page 1.—Hiring of coolies, 2.—Road through Western Ssii-ch’uan; stone portals and monoliths (P’ai-lou or P’ai-fang) ; cultivation and condition of country journeyed through to Yung-ch’uan; rainy season on the Tibetan border, 3.—Mines of iron and coal round the village of Ma- fang Bridge; tradition of the Ma-fang bridge, 4.—Brilliancy of the night at Pai- shih-yi, 5.—Yung-ch’uan town; rivers and mountains on the left bank of the Yangtzii river, 6.—Shuang-shih bridge; Ssti-ch’uan province; Chang Hsien-chung, 7.—Immigrants from the Canton province; the market-town of Yu-ting-p’u ; agricul- ture, &e., of district extending from Yu-ting to Tzti-chou, 8.—-Absence of villages in Ssti-ch’uan; cottages in Ssii-ch’uan, 9.—Characteristics of farm life, market-days, and marriages; wooden cannon at Jung-cl’ang Hsien, 10.—Lu-chou river; great heat at Jung-ch’ang Hsien, 11.—Village of Shao-chiu-fang; stone portals ornu- menting highway to Lung-ch’ang, 12.—Ornamentation of houses; the pagoda and p’ai-fang (note), 13.—Ignorance of the Chinese about foreigners; brine well at Nei- chiang, 14.—Buffaloes for working salt-wells, 15.—Boiling-paus for salt; sugar cultivation at Nei-ch’ang; Tzii-chou town, 16.—Ssti-ch’uan manners, 17.—Pai Fo . Ssti—“ white Buddha shrine”—temple, 18.—Symbol of the Tamo of Buddhism (Fig. 1); stone pillar (Fig. 2) at foot of hill on which the temple is built; the two masts in front of official residences, 19.—Ancient tombs on top of hill; Pagoda in eourse of construction, 20.—Bridges of Ssii-ch’uan; ancient pagoda at Chien Chou, _21,—Meaning of Shé-li (note), 22.—A Shou-shan or Mount of Longevity (Fig. 3); a Fu-hai or Sea of Felicity (Figs. 4 and 5), 23.—Inscriptions on a Mount of Longevity ; the Emperor Chien-yen, 24.—Form and use of the Sea of Felicity (note) ; leaves Chien Chou, 25.—Ch’éng-tu plain; Ch’éng-tu, population and trade (note), 26.—Curious monument near North Gate (note), 27. 2. Mount O. Leaves Ch’éng-tu; Marco Polo’s bridge; the waters of the plain, page 28.—Chiang-k’ou and the Nan river; curious subdivision of streams, and delta-structure (note on the “alluvial fan”); name of Min river, 29.—First view of Mount O or Omi; Chia-ting Fu, 30.—The Ya valley; position of Chia-ting Fu ; city of Omi; white-wax inscrip- tion in temple of Pao-ning-ssti (Plate I.); ascentof Mount O; monastery of Fu-hu ssit and vast gallery of Buddhist sculptures; fine colossal Buddha; pine and oak tree CONTENTS, forests, 31.—Extraordinary beggar; staircase path; miles not the same for everybody ; temples of Wan-nien-ssti Monastery; huge ancient copper Buddha; extraordinary work of art, a colossal bronze elephant bearing a gilt Buddhist image, 32.—Remark- able building and dome containing the image, 33,—History of the shrine ; “ revolving spiral” (note), 34.—The patriarch Pu; Hui-t’ung; art and character of the figures, 35.—Tooth of Sakya-muni Buddha (notes); continued wet; Wan-nien-ssti, 36.— Sleeping Buddha and monkish mummies; travelled abbot and his stories; wonders of Mount O; the“Glory of Buddha”; the wilderness and its wonders, 37.—Mount Wa and its remarkable structure (note); tigers and wild oxen, 38.—Lolo sportsmen and dogs; wild oxen, 39.—Marco Polo’s mention of these (note); summit of Mount O; yemains of bronze temple struck by lightning, 40.—Panels and height of bronze temple; the “Golden Summit”; Shé-shén-ngai, “suicides’ cliff”; vast precipice, 41.—Its probable depth; phenomenon called the “ Glory of Buddha”; unexception- able evidence, 42.—Its nature; and analogous instances (notes), 43. 8. Tue T’une River. Return to the city of Omi; Hsiang-ling Pass (note), page 43.—The Liu-sha river; Liu- sha valley; the environing mountains ; dangerous track along the T’ung river; Ch’ing- ch’i, smallest city in China ; reached Fu-lin, 44.—Ta-tu or T’ung river; Lu-ting bridge ; wild region bordering the T’ung; fields of red poppies; undulating plateau devoid of trees; Wu-la-ch’i (note), 45.—Dangerous and difficult track ; “Ch’ien-hu”; Wang, 46.—Burglary at Na-erh-pa; wire suspension bridge across Sung-lin affluent ; drunk Sifans ; punishment of Sifan woman, 47.—Singular formation of Mo-si-mien valley or plateau; magnificent virgin forest; curious appearance of a mound, 48.—The mound an extinct glacier; “ fairies’ scarf” on pine trees; rhododendrons and fran- colins, 49.—Violent winds in Ya-chia-kang Pass; effects of rarefaction on top of mountain : perpetual fog on mountains ; perpetual snow, 50.—The boundary betweer China and Tibet ; legend of volcanic craters; nature of ground on the banks of the ‘L’ung river ; gold and sulphur round 'Ta-chien-lu; Chin-ch’uan or “ gold stream,” 51. —Floods at Chia-ting; “great ferry,” 52—Devastation caused by swollen brook at Ya-shu-p’u; history of Shih Ta-k’ai, 53.—Léng-pien (note); An-ch’ing-pa (note), 54.—Fight at the village of Tzi-ta-ti; ‘Saddle Hill” (note), 55.—Slaughter of local guides; fight at base of Saddle Hill; death of Shih Ta-k’ai, wives, and children, 56. —The plans of Shih Ta-k’ai; Lai’s division enters Chien-ch’ang, subsequent defeat, 57, 4, Tur Cuimn-Cr’anc VALLEY. Prefecture of Ning-yuan; Ser Marco's Cain-du; water-mill for grinding corn (note); falling rocks, page 58.—Inaccessible hills ; village of P’ing-pa; kinds of tobacco; the Lolos; only view of Lolo-land, 59.—Town of Ning-yueh or Hai-t’ang; situation of Hai-t’ang; soldiers in uniform; border Lolos, 60.—Peculiar head-dress of the Lolos (note) ; clothing of a Lolo, 61.—Young Lolo women; Chinese scribe; curious custom of sending letters to dead people, 62.—Escort of soldiers; small village- camps; men of Sifan tribe; Sifan women, 63.—Difficult track; town of Yueh-hsi Ting; stony rice-fields ; strange stone deposit; Yueh-hsiriver, 64.—Government and size of Yueh-hsi Ting; Sifan maidens; custom of presenting a cup of native wine ; speech made by Lolo on drinking wine, 65.—Lolo way of telling the seasons and moons; origin of the Lolos, 66.—The name of Lolo; country occupied by inde- pendent Lolos; “ Black-bone”; “ White-bone”; Wa-tzii or Chinese captives; Lolo treatment of Chinese slaves, 67.—Marriage ceremony between Black-bones ; chorus by bridesmaids at the ceremony, 68.—Custom of beating the bridegroom and bis friends (note) ; grotesque bridal ceremony among some tribes: ceremonies on the births of boys and girls; a female guide the best, 69.—Autonomous tribes not on good CONTENTS, v terms; Buddhism among the Lolos ; ceremonies to prevent disasters ; notes gathered from P’ing-shan captives, 70.—Deities worshipped by Lolos; a few manners and customs of the Lolos; the subdivisions of Lé-su and Ngo-su, 71.—The term Lé-su; Dr. Anderson’s description of his ‘‘ Lee-saws”; table of similarity of the language of the Lolos and Lee-saws; speech of the Independent Lolos, 72.—Vocabulary of Sifan and Lolo languages, 75-78.—Snowy peak north-west of Yueh-hsi (note); valley of Yueh-hsi ; Hsiao-shao, “little guard”; Little Hsiang-ling ; town of Mien- shan; custom town of Lu-ku (or Lo-ku), 79.—Trade in cotton; Chien-ch’ang proper; the Anning river; fertile valley; ‘‘Caindu,” 80.—Meaning of Ta-chien-lu (note); Marco Polo’s reference to the Lolos; list of names of tribes inhabiting valley of Yalung and the upper T’ung; king of Djia-la, 81.—People inhabiting main valley of Chien-ch’ang; tribes inhabiting valley of Yalung river (note); Li-chou city, $2.—Dreadful earthquake at Ning-yuan Fu; account by a sur- vivor, 88.—Unfavourable weather; stay at the Examination buildings; French missionary driven out of the city, 84——Handsome temple built by the com- mandant, 85.—Lake surrounded by hills and fruit groves; sandy region; village of Huang-lien-p’u; Lolo invasion, 86.—Wolves infesting Huang-lien-p’u; people of Ma-li-chai; village of Té-ch’ang ; salt springs at Yen-yuan; Moso tribes, 87.— Moso literature (note), 88.—Chien-ch’ang ; Kung-mu-ying village; Anning river; commanding view from a temple; goitre in women, 89.—Ning-yuan valley; hot water drinking as cure for goitre; districts infested by goitre; goitre attributed to drinking snow-water; populousness of villages; leather paper (note), 90.—Minine region of Hui-li; copper mining a government monopoly ; price of copper; copper coins, 91.—Leaves Pai-kuo-wan; Hwang-sha valley; a panther attacking women and children at I-mén; Hui-li-chou town; commerce and trade of Hui-li-chou ; white copper mines, 92.—Position of Hui-li-chou (note); note on the Sifan tribes; position of the twelve Sifan tribes, 93.—The “ gold stream” ; history of the conquest of Little and Great Gold-stream Countries, 94.—Meaning of Ribdyen Gyripo ; names of Menia tribes (note) ; “ Menia Chu-ka ” ; curious octagonal stone towers, 95.—‘‘ Mount Meniak”; Meli country; Chung-tien; statement of a native of Dege; fertility of Vege, 96.—Distinction between lowlands and highlands in Tibet ; burdensome tax, 97. —The name of Tibet; war between Menia tribes and Dege, 98.—Pun-ro-pa; the land-tax; court fees and convict labour; marriage of Pun-ro-pa’s daughter with the Cuief Deba, 99.—Chantui tribes; Governor-General Lo Ping-ch’ang; schemes of Pun-ro-pa ; his death, 100.—Mr. T. T. Cooper’s account of the Chantui ; Zandi tribes ; Mr, Cooper’s account of Lit’angites, 101.—Connection of Marco Polo’s Ciandu with the Chantui; Mr. Bryan Hodgson’s Manyak; list of numerals of the people of Tzt- ta-ti and Mr. Hodgson’s Manyak; Captain Gill’s Pun-ro-pa and Turkai, 102. 5. Tue Banxs or tHe Goip River. Leaves Hui-li-chou; frequent rains; Mr. Garnier’s route; bare district; girl with clubbed feet; sparse hamlets; wealthy proprietor named Lung, page 103.—Deserted track; hamlet of Tu-ké; perplexity of the currency; ruined temple as a lodging in Tu-ké, 104.—Uncomtortable lodgings; village of Ché-po; the Chief Lu; destruction of his residence at Ché-po, 105.—Village of K’u-chu (note); the Huo-erb-liu; valley of Mu-ti-lung; Chang San Piao-izii; suspicion of the Chinese, 106.—Leaves Ché-po; Marco Polo’s Gold River (note); Chin-sha-chiang; the Yangtzit river (note); discovery of a patch of vertically cleaving loam, 107.—Its depth and extent; ode of formation; plain of Tung-ch’uan, 108.—Cause of the appearance of loess (note); village of P’ei-sha; the river Yangtzi at Yiinnan (note); town of Ch’iao- chia ‘T’ing, 109.—Ignorance of the people; steep zigzag path, 110,— Ai-chuo; perilous path; T’an-péng-tzii; accident to a native; ways in which a torrent wears out hard limestone (note), 111.—Poverty of natives; grand view of the Niu-lan vi CONTENTS. gorges ; village of Wei-ku; old ferry-boat, 112.—Copper mines; silver at Lo-ma- ch’ang; desertion of coolies; a cartroad near Hui-lu-ch’i; village of Ku-chai, 113. —Price of cattle; the Chao-t’ung plateau; poor condition of Pai-fa-ch’i; silver mines; Shih-tzti-nao; 114.—Discovery of a snowy ridge; its height; T’ai-yang ch’iao, the “Sun-bridge’’; mountain ranges of Ssii-ch’uan; Chao-t’ung plateau, 115.—Hua-ku Lake; a miserable night; unceasing rain; dense fog; hamlet of Miao-wa ; view of the Sun-bridge, 116.—General Chung ; the Gold River ; invasion of Lolos; Yang-liu-shu; the Lolo spear, 117.—Chinese captives ; fortified houses ; the Mantzt, 118.—The I-jéa; attack by the Mantzti and capture, 119.—Mantzi cooking ; eating raw meat; a kind friend, 120.—Cruel treatment; offer of ransom ; Mantzi chiefs, 121—Manners of the Mantzti; preparation for death ; an appeal to kindness ; its success, 122.—Pitiful condition; chased out of the house; retreat of Mantzis, 123.—Difficulty of finding a lodging ; a kind act; the Black-bones, 124.— Ya-k’ow ; lodging at a large farmhouse; custom of burning written paper; examina- tion of printed paper, 125.—A specimen of Lolo writing (Plate II.); a rare find; a Lolo medicitie-man, 126.—A few Lolo characters (Fig.) ; Mi-t’ien-pa, 127.—Lung-t’ou, “‘ Dragon’s head”; Lui-po Ting; the Gold River; a Lolo lady resembling a French Sister of Charity; copy of an original Lolo manuscript (8 sheets of illustrations), 128.—Ancient stone monuments; an ancient tumulus; a curious discovery; a sarcophagus ; finding of a polished stone axehead, 129. Objects found in coffins, 130.—Excavations near Ch’ien-wei Hsien (Fig. 6); seulptined lintels (Figs. 7 and 8), ° 131.—Description of excavated dwelling, 132, 183.—A narrow doorway ; comfortable bed, 134.—Remarkable sculpture on triplo lintel (Fig. 9); verandah of grandiose .proportions (Fig. 10), 135.—Dise and label pattern sculptured on verandah (Fig. 11), 187.—Curious carving ; the king’s monument ; the Man Wang Tung, 138.—Descrip- tion of the statue of the king, 139. —Flaborate caverns; portholes in the caves, 140. —Absence of caves on the Yangtzii; colossal statue, 141. : Discussion on the reading of the Paper—Remarks ‘by Lord Aberdare, 141; Sir Ruther- ford Alcock ; M. Terrien de La Couperie, 142, 148. APPENDICES. Appendix A.—Corrected readings of temperature and atmospheric pressure at Ch’ung-ch’ing ; table of monthly means of temperature; table of monthly means of pressure, page 145. Appendix B.—Calculation of altitudes; table of Mr. Baber’s and Captain Gill’s aneroid readings; table of the calculation of altitudes, 146-148. Appendix C.—Table of latitudes of positions, 149-151. Appendix D.—Table of the longitude of positions, 152, Appendix E,—Table cf magnetic variation, 152. II. JOURNEY TO TA-CHIEN-LU, IN 1878. Intentions at starting ; robbed at Na-erh-pa, 153.—Herds of yaks; entry into Tibet, 154, CONTENTS, vii III. NOTES ON THE ROUTE FOLLOWED BY Mr. GROSVENOR’S MISSION THROUGH WESTERN YUNNAN, FROM TALI-FU TO T’ENG-YUEH. Marco Polo’s Carajan, page 154—Tali-fu: Hsia-kuan; Shang-kuan; fish of Chinese rivers and lakes, 155.—Snow of the Tali range ; a Kutung man, 156.—Kutung women ; iceing champagne by snow from mountain top; the river at Hsia-kuan; ruins of temples and houses; temple built by Ts’en, 157—Tu Wén-hsiu; massacre of the people; town of Tali-fu; the yueh-kai or quarterly fair, 158.—A copper knife and stone celt ; eating the betel-nut with prepared lime; colouring the teeth; Zardandan or golden teeth, 159.—The name of Sultan and Suliman; the Mohammedans of Yiinnan ; the main street of Tali; curious objects like howitzers, 160.—The Mekong river; Hsiao-ho-chiang; distance from one place to another depending on which end one started from, 161.—Village of Ho-chiang-po ; the Yang-pi river ; the Ch’iian-chiao stream, 162.—A snowy sierra ; disappearance of Tsao-hsieh-p’u ; the town of Yang-pi ; smugglers and bandits; valley of the Yang-pi, 163.—Name of Yang-pi; the lower town ; discomfort of travelling ; Shang-chéng, 164.—Beautiful view from the hill-top ; steep difficult path; a cotton caravan, 165.—Yang, the generalissimo of Western Yiinnan; the Shan-pi river ; a well-made road; a steep hill; a deserted region, 166. —Plain of Yung-p’ing; misery inflicted by Tartar misrule and Mohammedan rebel- lion; Ch’ii-tung, 167.—Stream having no exit (note); village of Hua-ch’iao; women ~ of the Miao-tzu; Kutung people, 168—A Kutung conductor and his shooting; the young boy and his earrings; the valley of Sha-yang; a way to make a day’s journey in Yiinnan; the ponies and mules, 169.—A temple as head-quarters; the Mekong river; the suspension bridges, 170.—Enter Zardandan; Marco Polo’s accuracy, 171.—The small village of T’ien-ching; difficult and wearisome track; Li-ch’ao a brigand; the Yung-ch’ang plain; village of Pan-ch'iao, 172.—Im- posing appearance of the town of Yung-ch’ang; the dialect of Yiinnan; Wu San- kuei; Marco Polo’s mention of the Plain of Vochan, 173.—The “den of the sleeping lion”; Li-ch’ao and his debt, 174.—A dry atmosphere; a broken bottle of carbolic acid, 175.—Order of marching ; young children as trackers; the Salwen river, 176.— Stories about the river; chain-bridges; a young man with the plague; valley unin- habited during summer months, 177.—Hot air; picturesqueness of the infested valley; people of Tu-shu las Cl’éng: a strange disease, 178.—Pére Fenouil’s account of the disease; attributing it to influence of demons, 179.—A murdered woman ; impenetrable forest; Marco Polo’s route for two days and a half downhill, 180.—Shweli or Lung river; the name Kan-lan-chan; a winding road, 181.—A culti- vated hollow; ‘'aping river; city of T’éng-yueh; the Snowy Mountain; the bandits, 182.—Local outbreaks; Chinese account of Yiinnan; its metal trade; the poppy cultivation, 183.—Opium ducks ; bad trade route from Yiinnan-fu to T’éng-yuch, 184. —Possibility of making a railway ; simplest road to Eastern Yiinnan ; Dr. Anderson’s account of difficulties encountered, 185.—Route recited from the ‘Topography’ ; Ch’-é-li (note), 186.—Table of the latitudes of places ; altitudes, 187.—'T able of mean temperatures and pressures, and heights, 188, 189.—Itinerary from Yiinnan-fu to Tali-fu, 190.—Itinerary from Tali-fu to T’éng-yueh, 191, 192. vill CONTENTS. IV. ON THE CHINESE THA-TRADE WITH TIBET. Ssii-ch’uan tea; area on which tea for Tibetan market is grown; the Yung-ching tea- plants ; qualities of the tea, 193.—Manufacture of the inferior tea brushwood; pre- _paration of the best kind of tea; conveyance of packages, 194.—The quantity of the export calculated from the annual duty paid; brick-tea 195 (and note 196).—The smuggled portion ; the pack-saddle, 196.—The dzo; the expenditure and profit of the exporter; Lhassa, Batang, and Ta-chien-lu prices; rupees, 197.—Tibetan names for the different coins; the Tibetan tea-pot and tea-cup; mode of preparing the tea, 198. —Possibility of Katang as an outlet for Indian tea; practicable way from Assam to Batang; difficulties of a tea-trade between Assam and Batang, 199.—The common dinner plates of the Tibetans; facilities of trade, 200.—Sweet tea on Mount O; tea with natural flavour of milk; a wild tea plant, 201. : MAPS. Distribution of the Sifan Tribes .. ee ee es % x Page 93 Section of Country along Mr. Baber’s Routes .. aia ne a » 152 Route Map of Explorations in Western China. Sheets I. IL II. .. fg 202 yp ol TRAVELS AND RESEARCHES IN THE INTERIOR OF CHINA. By E. Conzorne Baer, Chinese Secretary of Legation, Peking.* — I, A JOURNEY OF EXPLORATION IN WESTERN SSU-CH'UAN. (Read at the Evening Meeting, June 13th, 1881.) Maps, p. 202. 1. On THE Roap To THE CAPITAL. I passep under the western gate of Ch’ung-ch’ing on the morning of July 8th, 1877, full of the pleasurable anticipation which precedes a plunge into the unknown. The road from Ch’ung-ch’ing to the pro- vincial capital had, it is true, been already trodden by more than one European ; but beyond that point the whole of the western border, with slight exception, was untraversed. My project was, after reaching Ch’éng-tu, to make an excursion to the sacred mountain of Omi, and thence, travelling vid Ya-chou, to descend into Yimnan by way of Chien-ch’ang—a route of which no account exists, except the short notes left us by Marco Polo. From Yinnan I intended to return by following as closely as possible the banks of the Upper Yangtzti. I was fortunate enough to complete the journey with no sort of serious difficulty and but little inconvenience. A word or two with respect to transport may be useful. No traveller in Western China who possesses any sense of self-respect should journey without a sedan chair, not necessarily as a conveyance, but for the honour and glory of the thing. Unfurnished with this indispensable token of respectability, he is liable to be thrust aside on the highway, to be kept waiting at ferries, to be relegated to the worst inn’s worst room, and generally to be treated with indignity or, what is sometimes worse, with familiarity, as a peddling footpad who, unable to gain a living in his own country, has come to subsist on China, A chair is far more effective than a passport. One may ride on pony-back, but a chair should be in attendance. I venture to attribute Baron v. Richthofen’s * With additional footnotes supplied by Colonel H. Yule, oz, and Captain W. Gill, n.z. These notes are distinguished from those of Mr. Baber by the uptlits of their authors. VOL. I. B 2 A JOURNEY OF EXPLORATION IN WESTERN SSU-CH’UAN. unlucky encounter on the pass above Ch’ing-ch’i Hsien partly to his having travelled without a chair; indeed, the natives told me that, seeing him ride about the country in what appeared to them a vague and purposeless manner, they imagined him to be a fugitive from some ' disastrous battle. A chair is, moreover, very useful as the safest vehicle for carrying instruments, and for stowing away all those numerous odds and ends which it is troublesome to unpack frequently from trunks. The mat cushions and arm-pillows with which it is furnished make the coolest and most comfortable bed which can be wished for in hot “weather, when laid upon a couple of square tables or a stratum of planks. My coolies were hired by the month, at 300 cash—about ten- pence—per diem for each man. The conventional stipulation is to pay only 100 cash on days when no travelling is done; but, as the weather was at its hottest and I did not intend to linger on the road, this clause was omitted. The traveller should have a written agreement made out, and should insist upon having a fu-t’ou, or head coolie, among his men, who will be responsible for their discipline. — The comfort and convenience of a traveller is very much at the mercy of these porters, more especially in the case of a foreigner. It is far preferable to engage them from a Fu-hong, an establishment licensed for the purpose by the local government. Coolies can be hired off the street more cheaply, but the traveller will ‘possess little control over them. Each porter has to pay ten cash a day to the Fu-hong, which appoints a fu-t’ou to represent its authority en route, and to collect the percentage. The reason of this apparent extortion is that native officials travel free of expense for coolies and baggage animals, and the burden falls upon the Fu-hong, which has to supply them gratis. The per- centage paid. by every coolie—or rather, by every private traveller—is by way of providing for such contingencies, and of yielding beyond these a sufficient surplus for the keeper of the establishment. I engaged fifteen coolies, and was therefore paying about sixpence a day for the travelling expenses of native functionaries. In addition to this levy by the manager of the Fu-hong, the fu-t’ou also collects.a similar percentage for his own use and emolument. In. return for this privilege he is expected to find substitutes for coolies who may fall sick on the road, to be responsible for losses and thefts, to watch the baggage during halts, and generally to maintain order and discipline. The western Chinese are a fair-dealing, justice-loving people, and the fu-t’ou is always a person of prominent honesty. When, therefore, an exorbitant demand has to be made, he invariably suborns one of his coolies to put it forward, and when the exaction is detected, he is the first to condemn the odious conduct of the extortioner. Crossing the grave-covered hills outside the city, we soon reached the fortified post of Fu-t’ou-kuan, about four miles’ distance, a remark- ably picturesque knoll protecting the isthmus of the peninsula of rock A JOURNEY OF EXPLORATION IN WESTERN SSU-CH’UAN. 3 on which Ch’ung-ch’ing is built. So long as the encircling rivers are commanded, and this outpost is held, Ch’ung-ch’ing is secure from attack. Here the road divides, one branch leading to Pi-shan Hsien, and the other, which we were to follow, being the great highway through Western Ssii-ch’uan, and probably the finest road in China. For a few miles beyond it would be considered a handsome road in any country, Passing under numerous stone portals (p’ai-low or p ai-fang) of massive structure and elaborate carving, and paved with large sand- stone slabs or cut through the solid rock, the avenue winds along between rows of huge commemorative tablets. These are monoliths rising in some cases 22 feet above ground, in proportion much like the larger masses of Stonehenge, and engraved with deeply cut characters. They are all more or less recent, as also are the p’ai-lous. The roadway may be said to be undergoing constant renewal wherever it is hewn in the rock, for many of the beggars, who abound near this point, are armed with iron-pointed sticks, with which they prod out an infinitesimal particle of rock while entreating the alms of passers. Three days’ journey of 17 or 18 miles each, carried us to Yung- ch’uan, the first city on the highroad to the capital, through a very broken country, crossed at intervals of about seven miles by ranges of 1000 feet or less elevation above the general level, which run approxi- mately N.N.E. As seen from the road, the land is rather sparsely ‘wooded with bamboo, cypress, oak (Ch’ing-kang), and with the wide- branching banyan, the only use of which seems to be to afford its invaluable shade to wayfarers. Cultivation is everywhere dense; indeed, with the exception of graves and the immediate neighbourhood of houses, and Government works such as the ancient walls which here and there close the approach to a pass over the hills, and the few slopes which are too steep for agriculture, every spot of ground is tilled, and most of it terraced. Not much store is set by the wheat crop, the Ssitch’uanese being, at any rate in the southern districts, a rice-eating people. The wains are very irregular. The present year, however (1879), has returned @ good rice crop, reputed to be nine-tenths of the best possible harvest ; and my register shows that rain fell on ten days in April, eleven in May, thirteen in June, and seven in July. Success seems to depend chiefly upon a plentiful rainfall in June and fine weather in July, but in the early part of the latter month a moderate fall is desirable. Maize and millet have this year shown a deficiency of 50 per cent. below the assumed maximum, owing to the July dryness, but a failure of these crops, which are. devoted principally to the distillation of spirits, is not - 4 serious disaster. On the Tibetan border, but still on the great plateau, i.e. in the region of which Batang may be considered the centre, the rainy season is almost perfectly regular, extending from the beginning of June to the middle of August, the rest of the year being fine; and ’ from what I can gather, this weather system impinges variably upon B2 4, A JOURNEY OF EXPLORATION IN WESTERN SSU-CH’UAN. Western Ssii-ch’uan, making July, which independently should be, perhaps, our dryest month in Ch’ung-ch’ing, a very untrustworthy season. Thus, in July 1878 rain fell on fifteen days. Famines of wide extent are not frequent in the province, but it is easy to gather from the gossip of country folk that local scarcity is neither unknown nor unexpected. It might be supposed that the numerous rivers which permeate the country between Ch’ung-ch’ing and the capital would be available for purposes of irrigation; but they pass through it without effectually watering it.. There are few rivulets, and the surface is so irregularly worn down that there are almost no flat valleys ; even level bottom lands of small extent are rarely met with. The fields, therefore, lie too high above the water- courses to be irrigated from them by means of the usual machines, The soil, again, is by no means rich, and is generally very shallow. * Nevertheless, the industrious and timely care of a numerous popula- tion has made the. district the greenest of all Chinese hill-grounds. Without much claim to the grandeur of abruptness, although some of the ranges rise to 1500 feet above the hollows, the scenery possesses a tranquil charm too varied to be monotonous. The face of the country is all broken up into little nooks, amphitheatres, and dells, so that the road is always turning corners and winding into new prospects, and when it ascends a ridge it sometimes almost loses itself among shrub- beries and plantations, which cut off the view of cultivation, and give a sudden impression of seclusion. Besides the usual farm produce, and a good deal of opium, the district possesses mines of iron and coal. It is very possible that the latter may, before long, when steamers ply on the Upper Yang-tzi, develop into an important source of trade. Even at present it is worked on a considerable scale in a range four or five miles west of a village named Ma-fang Bridge, which seems to be the centre of the coal trade, and to which the output is carried, among other modes of transport, on the backs of cattle shod with straw sandals. I was told that the principal mines are eight or ten in number, and that one of them keeps a hundred men at work day and night to draw the coal from the workings to the pit’s mouth. Each man is said to bring away about a hundredweight ten times in the twenty-four hours, which would give 50 tons per diem for one pit, no small production for a Chinese mine. At Ma-fang Bridge the coal sells for 100 cash per cwt., but at the pits the same quantity may be had for 70 cash, or say five shillings a ton. A small river runs through the village, and will one day, it is to be hoped, float the coal down to the Yang-tzii. The range where the seam occurs is locally celebrated for its general productive- ness; the natives are fond of impressing upon visitors the information that ‘coal grows inside it, and opium outside.” Another local lion is the bridge which gives its name to the village . of Ma-fang. A really pleasing tradition is attached to this unpretending A JOURNEY OF EXPLORATION IN WESTERN SSU-CH'UAN, 5 arch, and is worth recording, if for no other reason than its novelty amid the odious bathos of stories about dragons and pheenixes which form the stock of Chinese folk-lore. The legend relates that when the bridge was completed, and the opening day dawned, a wedding proces- sion escorting a newly-married bride happened to come down the road. It is a custom, or for the credit of the story is said to be a custom, that the person who first crosses a new bridge should be allowed the privilege of naming it; but in practice an official of all available’ distinction is induced to lend his presence for the occasion. On the day in question, however, the local magnate was not forthcoming, so the engineer, with phenomenal gallantry for a Chinaman, invited the bride to supply a name, which she did in an impromptu verse to this effect :— ** Across a new-made bridge to-day, A new-made bride I take my way; The bridge shall bear the bridal sign And join my husband's name with mine.” _ The bride’s name was “ Fang,” and the husband’s “ Ma,” and the bridge is called Ma-fang Bridge to this day. The story obviously ought to be true, but, if it is not, the reason is that young Chinese ladies have neither permission, courage, nor ability, to pronounce themselves in such fashion. We were to have lodged, the first night of our journey, in the large village of Pai-shih-yi, but at 10 p.m. the thermometer showed 93°, and in the crowded precincts of the inn 95° Sleep being utterly out of question, I started again at 11 p.at., and walked on through the night, having been told of a high ridge, six or seven miles ahead, on the crest of which I hoped to find four or five degrees of lower temperature; but it was not until two o'clock in the morning that I neared its base, only to find it separated from me by a deep glen hidden in such trackless obscurity that it was impossible to find the way across. The night, though moonless, was astonishingly brilliant; Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn were all blazing simultaneously, and it was precisely this illumination which threw the hollow into so dense a shadow. The village of Tsou-ma-kang is built on the hither side of the glen, and I looked - about for a spare corner of street to sleep on during the cool hour which precedes dawn; but the villagers, driven out of their houses by the heat, were lying naked on the pavement, and what was still more repulsive, they had lighted fires in the roadway to keep off mosquitos. It is odd how populous a village looks when all its inhabitants, or at any rate the male division, are spread out lengthwise on the streets. There was no help for it but to retrace a good deal of road in search of a clear spot on which to take a nap; and a proof of the density of cultivation in this part, which is one of the few flats, comparatively speaking, of Ssii-ch’uan, is that I spent a good half-hour in finding a bare space large enough to lie on. The roadway was not available, 6 A JOURNEY OF EXPLORATION IN WESTERN SSU-CH'UAN, for passengers were trooping along it pretty continuously. Hiring one of these to fan me, for my cavalcade had not come on, I slept until shortly after daybreak, and then crossed the glen, finding on the other side a cool hill-top crowned by an ancient fortification. Near the summit a fresh, clear stream, the only cold water in the country at such a season, issues from a spring and winds down the sward. Future travellers who may journey westward from Ch’ung-ch’ing in the summer, will do well to make this point their first stage. Yung-ch’uan is a mere country town, possessing no manufacture except that of paper fans, for which it has gained a certain celebrity. A curious industry carried on in its vicinity is that of pickling frogs. The animals are captured by angling in the paddy-fields, and the hind legs are cut off, dried, salted, and sprinkled with chili pepper. Frogs are eaten pretty generally all over China, but I never before heard of this process of pickling. As the river, which runs six miles or so beyond Yung-ch’uan, is neared, a belt of country of a more broken and irregular nature is entered. As above remarked the hill-systems of this part of the pro- vince run N.N.E. and 8.8.W., but the general fall of level of the country is at right angles to this direction, and is followed by the rivers which pay their tribute to the Yangtzii. Such a condition compels the rivers to pierce or turn innumerable obstacles, and gives them very devious courses, which add greatly to the picturesqueness of the district. On the southern side of the Yangtzti much the same character prevails, with the exception that the general slope occurs in a converse sense, and is more severe, the level rising somewhat rapidly towards the border of Kuei-chou, and the mountains being much higher and strangely abrupt. And whereas the rivers on the left bank of the Yangtzti have overcome all obstacles with fair success, some. of the streams on the other side have broken down altogether, and failed to make a passage. When a deadlock of this nature occurs the stream undermines the sandstone and disappears into a chasm to reissue, no doubt, further on. It seems evident that the hollows where this pheno- menon occurs must have been lakes at no remote period; indeed, in many places they still form intermittent lakes, the access of water during the spring and early summer months being too great to find free exit through the tunnels. It thus happens every few years that pro- ductive rice-bottoms are inundated and yield nothing. The population of such valleys, which in favourable years are of course the most fertile, subscribe from time to time a good deal of money for schemes of drain- age, but with very little effective result. This seems a point where the skill of European engineers might be introduced with certain and speedy advantage. A steam pump or two, or perhaps some adaptation of the siphon principle would easily drain off the greater part of such shallow overflows. A JOURNEY OF EXPLORATION IN WESTERN SSU-CIPUAN. 7 The river which the high road crosses by the Shuang-shih bridge a few miles beyond Yung-ch’uan, has an exceptional northern course, and winds delightfully along through a succession of wide pools, separated by beds of rocks and overhung by wooded cliffs. The bridge, evidently a structure of great age, which has undergone frequent restoration, is of a very primitive construction. Stone slabs piled rudely one on another form the piers, which support wooden beams laid across them. The foot-way is forty yards long, and is roofed throughout like all the wooden bridges of Ssii-ch’uan. It is surprising to meet with structures of this rudimentary nature in a province where stone is employed in huge masses with an apparent carelessness of expense, and which boasts the finest stone arches in China. In this instance the bridge is very ancient, and it has been found more convenient to repair it than to replace it; but the same style is still employed in cases where the timid Chinese mason considers the channel too broad for an arch. A little conversation with natives soon satisfies the traveller that Ssii-ch’uan is practically a young province. They speak of K’ang-hsi and Kien-lung as monarchs of remote antiquity, and their chronology hardly reaches further back than the end of the Mings, about 1645. That the country was peopled, or more correctly speaking repeopled, in the early part of the present dynasty, is, however, an historical fact which does not require any additional proof. Some scant account of the anarchy which depopulated the province during the progress of the Tartar invasion will be found in the concluding chapters of De Mailla’s ‘History of China,’ and is no doubt based on the experience of Jesuit missionaries who were in Ssii-ch’uan during the period described, for there is, of course, no Chinese history of the time. ‘The most remarkable and ultimately almost the only figure in the story is a certain Chang Hsien-chung, who gained possession of the province in 1644 and pro- claimed himself Emperor of the West in Ch’éng-tu. There is a difficulty in the way of understanding the policy of this ruler, which it is to be feared will always remain insuperable, for his simple mode of govern- ment was literally to condemn all his subjects to summary execution. I have collected from De Mailla the subjoined list of some of the reforms which the imperial nihilist introduced :— Massacred.—32,310 undergraduates ; 3000 eunuchs; 2000 of his own troops; 27,000 Buddhist priests; 600,000 inhabitants of Ch’éng-tu; 280 of his own concubines; 400,000 wives of his troops; everybody else in the province. Destroyed—IEvery building in the province. Burnt—Everything inflammable. This programme appears to have been got through in about five years, 1644-1649. Many stories are current about this singular potentate; among others the following detail, not recounted by the historian, which occurred after the capture of Ch’éng-tu. By way of diverting his wife, to whom he seems to have been devotedly attached, he cut off the feet of the women who had been slaughtered and built three pagodas 3 _A JOURNEY OF EXPLORATION IN WESTERN SSU-CH’UAN, with them, Unhappily his material was not quite sufficient to complete the third monument, and the artistic eye of his empress detected the lack of symmetry, whereupon the humorous monarch chopped off her feet and added them to the summit. Chang’s hatred of the human race, and indeed of the whole animal kingdom of Ssii-ch’uan, is explained by the Chinese, not adequately, by his having inadvertently sat down upon a bed of nettles, a plant for which the province is famous. His whole story reads like an extravagant burlesque, but its general truth cannot. be doubted. The Ssii-ch’uanese believe that very few of the natives survived, and when I protest that a good many must have been left, otherwise the Tartars, who are known to have slaughtered their hundreds of thotisands, would have had nobody to massacre, they reply that the Tartars massacred the soldiers of Chang Hsien-chung. That devastator was the first of his army to fall by the Tartar arrow. He died a most heroic and glorious death, charging the whole Manchu host alone and almost unarmed.* The present inhabitants of at any rate the southern part of the province are nearly all descendants of immigrants who came in under .the present dynasty from the east. Most of them claim Hu-kuang as their fatherland, but near Jung-ch’ang Hsien I found a colony of immi- grants from the Canton province, who profess to be able to speak Cantonese on occasion ; but from their pronunciation of the numerals and a few other words it is clear that their progenitors were Hakkas. One of these colonists claimed my acquaintance on the ground that his cousin had visited England, but on examination it cae that he had mistaken Shanghai for that country. The market town of Yu-ting-p’u, reached by a steep approach 12 miles or so beyond Yung-ch’uan, deserves passing notice for the com- mercial importance of its central position between the three cities of Yung-ch’uan, Jung-ch’ang, and Ta-tsu Hsien. Its chief industry is the manufacture of agricultural implements from iron which is mined in its vicinity. The little town—for it deserves the name—is a good instance of the populousness of a province in which there are not a few villages rivalling the cities in extent and surpassing them in trade. So far as the country between Ch’ung-ch’ing and the capital is concerned, perhaps the most busy and peopled district is that which begins about this point and extends to the city of Tzu-chou ; it is one of the least mountainous parts; it has good water communication by a commodious river and its affluents with Lu-chou, and consequently with the eastern provinces; _and two specially important products, salt and grass-cloth, furnish staples for a thriving industry. Its agriculture, again, favoured by the comparative level, and in some degree by the exceptional possibility of irrigation from the river and its tributaries, is successful above the average, particularly in sugar. It is to the trade arising from these * De Mailla, however, states that he was surprised during a reconnaissance. A JOURNEY OF EXPLORATION IN WESTERN SSU-CH’UAN, 9 sources that the existence of so many large villages is to be traced. Speaking broadly, the purely agricultural parts of Ssii-ch’uan are remarkable for the absence of villages properly so called. In the eastern provinces proprietors, tenants, and labourers, with a few shop- keepers and artisans, gather together, apparently for the sake of mutual protection, in an assemblage of houses surrounded by a mud wall, often at some distance from their fields. But in Ssii-ch’uan the farmer and his workpeople live, it may be said, invariably in farm-houses on their land, and the tendency is to the separation, rather than to the congrega- tion, of dwellings. Thus when several sons divide an estate and their increasing families demand more house-room, they generally prefer to erect new houses on each separate inheritance, rather than, as in other provinces, to build close to the original family mansion, or to enlarge it. It thus results that the whole country is dotted over with cottages at a short distance from one another, picturesque and frequently spacious edifices composed of a strong timber frame filled up in the interstices with walls of stone below and mud above, and roofed evenly downwards from the ridge pole, with only a slight slope to broad eaves, which—without any upturn at the corners, such as the typical Chinese roof possesses—form a wide verandah. The resemblance which these dwellings bear to the old style of English houses has been noticed, I think, by Captain Blakiston, and, with the exception of the roof, which reminds one of a Swiss chdlet, the similarity is striking in outward aspect; the wooden framework, black with seeming paint, shows out vividly on the whitewashed walls, and embowered as they generally are in a clump of greenery, the Ssii-ch’uan cottages convey a delusive impression of cleanliness, comfort, and neatness which it does not require a very close approach to dissipate. The hypothetical paint turns out to be grime, and the whitewash mostly efflorescence. Being, however, more spacious, they are probably more healthy than the crowded mud-huts of other provinces, and at any rate it must be an advantage to so filthy a people as the Chinese to live as far away from one another as possible. Baron v. Richthofen, in drawing attention to this broadcast distribu- tion of habitations, remarks that ‘‘ people can live in this state of isolation and separation only where they expect peace, and profound peace is indeed the impression which Ssii-ch’uan prominently conveys.” There is doubtless much truth in the observation ; but the expectation of peace must have suffered many and grievous disappointments. Perhaps a more precise explanation is that the immigrants, refugees, and exiles—for tradition relates. that people were sent in chains to colonise the province by K’ang-hsi—who came in from distant localities in the early days of the present dynasty, naturally built apart upon the lands which were allotted them, having in general few family ties which would induce them at the outset to build in communities, and, moreover, speaking 10 A JOURNEY OF EXPLORATION IN WESTERN SSU-CH’UAN, various dialects. No serious invasion occurred to modify this condition for nearly two centuries, until the Taiping outbreak made it necessary to unite for common safety. It is interesting to notice how this emergency was met by so scattered a population. They subscribed together and built stone walls round some convenient hill-top on which they took refuge at the approach of the rebels, leaving their lands and houses to be ravaged. But the separate system having now become established, it did not occur to them to build houses inside the walls ; so that the fortifications remain uninhabited and isolated, and will doubtless so remain until the next invasion. They are very common on prominent heights, especially near the Yangtzii, and Captain Blakiston has indicated several of them on his chart under the name of “yedoubts.” The native name is chai-tzu, a word which has much the same meaning. Another characteristic of the purely farm life, as distinguished from village life, of the agricultural population is the markets (ch’ang). These are generally long streets lining the main roads, consisting of shops owned by the farmers and let to traders on market-days, which. fall on every third, fourth, or fifth day, as the case may be. These gatherings are the centres of news, gossip, official announcements, festivals, theatrical shows, and public, and even family meetings. Ifa bargain for the sale or renting of land has to be concluded, the matter is put off till market-day. If a marriage is to be negotiated by the heads of families, the high contracting parties go to market to draw up the preliminaries and to ratify the convention. All produce is disposed of at the same centre. The peddler, the barber, the blacksmith, and the tinker all repair thither, and it is there that the rustic makes his purchase of the longcloths and woollens of Europe and America. It will easily be understood that these fairs are very lively scenes on the days of meeting. They are indeed so thronged with traffickers and blocked with merchandise that it is difficult to make way through them. A traveller ignorant of the system is exceedingly surprised to find, a few miles beyond so commercial a village, as it appears to him, another of equal or it may be of much greater extent utterly void of inhabitants. On inquiring the cause of its desertion he will be told that it is not market-day, and he will gradually come to understand that there are few villages in agricultural Ssii-ch’uan, but a great many market- places. In manufacturing districts, however, the case is very different, and from Yu-ting-p’u forwards large villages are frequent. On July 12th we passed through Jung-ch’ang Hsien. The public Examination Hall afforded us lodging during the breakfast hour. Ina lumber-room behind the institution I discovered two wooden cannon which had evidently been discharged, though I was told that they were A JOURNEY OF EXPLORATION IN WESTERN SSU-CH’UAN,. 11 loaded with gravel instead of shot. Each was seven feet long, the exterior diameter at the muzzle being about nine inches, and the bore four inches. They were circled with seven bands of hoop-iron less than one-eighth of an inch thick, the band round the muzzle being a little stouter, and, besides these, two strips of iron were laid in along the sides. From the muzzle to the vent, which was simply bored in the wood, measured about four feet, and the rear tapered away to a slightly curved tail. The whole affair weighed about 80 pounds. It was in the teeth of such war-engines that the Taipings, or their fellow marauders, got possession of the place. The interior city seemed rather poor and dilapidated, but it contains a good many handsome shops. A large proportion of the citizens are of Cantonese descent. Starting again at 10 a.m. we passed through the suburb, more than a mile long, and suddenly came upon an affluent of the Lu-chou river. The stream is about 80 yards broad, with little current, and is crossed at the end of the suburb by a handsome stone bridge of six or seven arches, over which the high road passes. Instead of following it, however, we took boat and dropped down with the current some four or five miles, meeting a good deal of traffic, chiefly coal, bricks, and coffin-planks. But the principal industry of the place is grass-cloth (ma-pu), of which we noticed no small quantity laid out to bleach on the banks. Four miles or less from the city a ledge of rock, supporting a slab bridge of some forty arches, runs right across the stream, allowing exit to the water through one narrow opening between six and seven feet broad. All boats must, of course, be built by this inexorable measurement. The thermometer here stood at 101° in the best shade J could find, but a more satisfactory exposure at 3 p.m. showed 98°. A child had died from the heat shortly before we arrived, its parents having brought it down to the river to cool it. Heat apoplexy, known in Ssii-ch’uan as Lei ssu, or death from exhaustion, is a common ard well-known cause of death among the Chinese, and there is, in my poor opinion and experience, no reason to suppose that foreigners are more liable than natives to suffer from it. The latter, no doubt, resist exposure to the direct rays with greater impunity, but they are on the other hand less able to bear up against the weakening effects of a long period of exceptional heat, though relieved by the constant use of the fan and the habit of sleeping naked. The nightly attacks of musquitos are nota whit less formidable to the Chinaman than to the Englishman, and much severer cases of the inflammation known as prickly heat may be found among the Ssii-ch’uanese than among the European colonists of Hong Kong or Shanghai. A native of Chekiang who was with us volunteered the information that in his province fatal cases of sunstroke are unknown, although people sometimes die of drinking cold water. In his opinion, the 12 A JOURNEY OF EXPLORATION IN WESTERN SSU-CH'UAN. Ssii-ch’uanese are more susceptible on account of the thinness of their skins. Disembarking not far from the slab-bridge, we travelled five miles to the large village of Shao-chiu-fang, which owes its importance to a manu- facture of pottery in terra-cotta introduced during the last six or seven years only. Our sole ambition was to make our way westward out of the heat, which rendered abhorrent all thought of visiting kilns and clay-works, but as we neared Li-shih-chén, another spacious and in- dustrious village, 22 miles from our morning station, a cool breeze sprang up and depressed the thermometer to 86° at 9 P.M. On July 138th a heavy fall of rain delayed our start until 8 a.m. Four miles brought us to Shih-yen-kai, a village lying on another small affluent of the Lu-chou river, crossed at this point by a stone bridge on © piers which are carved to represent lions and elephants. The whole place resounded with the clang of smithies. I was told that the iron is not mined in the neighbourhood, but is brought from Lao-jén-shan, in the magistrature of Pi-shan, near Ch’ung-ch’ing. Five miles beyond Shih- yen-kai the affluent is again crossed at the gate of Lung-ch’ang, a Hsien city which is the centre of the grass-cloth (ma-pu) trade. There isa large export of this article to the eastern provinces, as it is both cheap and fashionable; but it is held much inferior to a similar fabric pro- ‘duced in Kiangsi, and is three or four times cheaper. The best quality I could obtain in the city cost me about sixpence a foot. As far as Lung-ch’ang the road is excellent from a Chinese point of view, but beyond that it is in a very ruined. and dislocated condition. Certainly no highway is so handsomely and expensively ornamented as this with stone portals (p’ai-fang). Most of them are erected by dutiful sons in honour of widowed mothers who have restrained themselves from contracting a second marriage. Perhaps the dread of a stepfather accounts in some degree for these pious dedications. Nota few com- memorate the administrative virtues of some local official, but these are notoriously paid for in many cases by the official himself and by an interested claque.