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0421 Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.2
Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.2 / Page 421 (Grayscale High Resolution Image)

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doi: 10.20676/00000213
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ridge, accounts for this refreshing verdure as well as for
the name of Chia-yü-kuan, 'the Barrier of the Pleasant
Valley.'

To this inviting camping-ground I at once led my
caravan through a big gap in the wall offering a convenient
short cut. I had scarcely selected a shady clump of trees
under which to pitch my tent, when Shuang Ta-jên emerged
in great style from his stronghold. He proved an ex-
tremely pleasant old gentleman, full of genuine kindness.
Though the constant flow of officials and others whom
he must have seen passing through his Gate since taking
charge some twelve years before, ought to have somewhat
cooled his hospitable ardour, he would brook no excuse
of mine meant to save him the trouble of a collation at his
Ya-mên. Soon we were so absorbed in talk about the
ancient frontier he was guarding that I forgot my longing
for a 'tub' and change, and allowed myself to be carried off
without further ado to the Ya-mên of the cheery old major.

The short walk through the gates and streets of Chia-
yü-kuan was a treat for the eyes (Fig. 225). The high
walls of reddish clay kept in fair repair, with their loop-
holed battlements and numerous towers, took one back
straight to the middle ages, or the East such as old
travellers' sketches show it. Not less than three big
vaulted gates had we to pass through before we reached
the little castrum that hides behind these circumvallations.
That the gates were all as wide open as the bars of certain
London streets, and the armament of the place made up
only of stones disposed in little heaps on the parapet, did
not detract from the illusion. Within the second gate I
passed a fine temple, said to date from Ming times, with
a profusion of excellent wood-carving, and a roof of
beautifully glazed green tiles (Fig. 227). The little town
within the innermost wall looked sadly decayed, half the
houses of its single broad street being roofless ruins. But
the Ya-mên of the commandant was still a comfortable
abode, and neat flower-beds in the inner courtyard relieved
the faded colours of the woodwork.

How grateful I felt for the forethought of our kindly
host who before treating us to a simple but neatly served