RECORDS OF THE JOURNEY
Kwang you cross the Hwang ho at the following places (distance from Tung Kwang): Wang ti Chuan 20 li, P'antu cheng 40 li and Wang hsiang hsien. A big arbah road leads eastward from here to the railway and a mountain road to Sheng-ngan in the S.
At Tung Kwang I parted from Lukanin and Hsy, who started for Tai-yuan-fu through Shansi with my horses and all the equipment with the exception of a small case and some instruments. With a t'jao for myself and a light cart for the cook and interpreter I took the road to Chenchow, intending, after a short stay at Kai-feng-fu, to proceed thence by railway to Tai-yuan-fu.
E of Wang hsiang hsien the road leads up to a slight eminence, whence, strange to say, the May 21st. view is open for a short time. The Hwang ho flows here in a main branch of considerable Lingpao hsien. width and another, further north, that is rather narrower. The whole sandy bed of the river is several miles in width. On the high ground there are patches of sand. After covering 16-17 li we found ourselves once more in a sunken road that passed through the village of Tatzeying with ioo houses, situated 20 li from Wang hsien. Beyond it the sides of the sunken road are connected by a picturesque high stone gate that looks well against the steep walls of earth, being surrounded by shady trees. — After 22 li we passed the village of Kutho ying with a crenellated wall — 8o houses — in a slightly wider part of the sunken road, and 8 li beyond, the village of San-shih-li-pu with 5o houses. We began to feel the heat, although we had started at 4 a.m. We met small processions of 4. or 5 mules drawing heavily laden arbahs that were only able to pass carts going in the opposite direction with the utmost difficulty. From time to time the monotony was relieved by wheel-barrows, also with heavy loads and in groups of 4 or 5. The wheel is placed in the middle under the vehicle which is drawn by two men, one in front, the other behind, and a donkey harnessed by means of long ropes. Everything along the road, both pedestrians and horses, raised clouds of dust that could not disperse owing to the high walls of the road. At 40 li we crossed a river, 30-35 feet wide, the Chutzu ho, immediately to the E of the village of Chutzu cheng with 15 houses. — Soon afterwards we were again in a sunken road that led us by a long and gentle ascent to a hill of löss, along which we travelled for 2 or 3 li and had such an open view to the north at times that we could see the Hwang ho in the distance. The descent was rather steeper and slightly shorter. A couple of li before reaching Lingpao the sunken road debouched through a stone gate into the valley of the Tsinglung tien ho, about a mile and a half in width. In the N we caught a glimpse of the Hwang ho. The mountain we had left behind was considerable, especially that part of it that lay S of the road and continued without a visible break from the Hwang ho southward along the river Tsing lung tien ho, the opposite bank of which, to the north, was fairly flat as far as the town. Quite close to it, i.e., about a mile from the Hwang ho, there is a solitary hill of soft outline, crowned by a tower, and to the south it is continued by hills of löss that follow the course of the river.
We reached Lingpao after crossing the river which was 40-50 feet in width. The distance was 6o li. The town is said to have been founded by Shih Hwang Ti. The water, it is asserted, has never reached the town during floods. The population is 800 tja. —
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