We turned off the highway and took a road that was said to be better, but the latter was also indescribably cut up and bad.
After 15 li Ehr pa tzu with 15 houses in a cultivated cleft. On we went to the NNE along the bottom of a cleft. After i8 li Muoniwan with 20-30 houses, 20 li Tiucheng Hwaian with 70-80, after crossing a broad bed with 2 arms, 7 and 14 feet wide and of only slight depth. The road now went along a sunken road. After 23 li Santia tien with 3 houses near the bank of the Hung to shuigo. It was said to come from Nasago near Huai an hsien. The river, flowing in 2 arms, 7o and 20 feet wide, had to be crossed incessantly throughout almost all the rest of the journey. The bottom was sandy. At first its depth was only up to our ankles, but towards the end of the day it came halfway up our legs. Our course was now NE. After 30 li San-shih-litien with 7o houses on the right bank of the river, after 35 li Taiping chuang with Zoo on the opposite side. Millet, tchumiza, wheat, jumi, rice, kunsjut, mustard, peas and opium, average crop 6 fold. There are no oxen in the village, but 20 horses, 5o donkeys and 40 sheep.
The mountains now became more and more stony and rocky. On the right bank, in particular, they were large with very rugged outlines. The right ledge of the bank was 105 feet in height. There was tilled land in the valley. After 40 li the village of Hsia Chiatun with 40 houses and at 45 li Chochia kou with 30. — We met many people on foot carrying birds in large cages, wrapped in cloth. After 55 li Hsia kou yuan with 150 houses. We were now out of the mountains. The right bank alone still had some low mountains. In the distance, in front of us, a large valley opened up, in which the broad ribbon of the Yang ho could be seen sparkling. After 65 li Huchiatun with 200 houses. A little further on, on the left, on the opposite bank, Tsuowei, formerly a town with walls and towers, with a population of 800 tja. After 73 li Sanlitai with 80-90 houses, where we spent the night under a common arch in the löss, as draughty as it was long. Millet, tchumiza,
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