Crimes & Mysteries

CHAPTER VI.THROUGH LOLODOM AND THE VALLEY OF CHIEN-CH'ANG.A Tibetan criminal in a cage—The armed ruffians of Chiung Chou—A floating bamboo bridge—Brick tea for Tibet—Fraternizing with Tibetan pilgrims on the summit of the Flying Dragon Pass—Chinese originality—Over the Ta Hsiang Ling Pass—A non-Chinese race—Across the Ta-tu River under Sifan protection—In the country of the Lolos—Lolo language—Sifan language—Asbestos cloth—A dangerous country—Lolo rogues—Over the Hsiao Hsiang Ling Pass—Lolo women—The valley of Chien-ch'ang—Ning-yuan Fu.Leaving the city by the south gate and crossing the bridge...

CHAPTER V.FROM CH'UNG-K'ING TO THE CAPITAL OF SSŬ-CH'UAN.Fu-t'ou-kuan—The country and its products—Chinese New Year—Charcoal from bracken—Ramie fibre and grass-cloth—Down a tributary of the T'o—The T'o and its commercial importance—The salt wells of Tsŭ-liu-ching—Sugar and Safflower—The Chêng-tu plain—Beggars—The capital of Ssŭ-ch'uan.In February, 1883, I found myself at liberty to carry out the resolution which I had made to visit Ta-li Fu and the west of Yün-nan—all that remained for me to do was to decide what route I should follow. Mr. Baber's admirable description of that part of Western ...

CHAPTER IV.THROUGH NORTH-EASTERN YÜN-NAN TO THE YANG-TSZE.The city of Yün-nan Fu—P'u-êrh tea—Opium-smoking chair-bearers and personal care—Exposure of robbers' heads—Chinese school—Rainbow superstition—Entertainment at Tung-ch'uan Fu—A successful ruse—Stopped by a mountain torrent—Lodged in a byre—On the banks of the Niu-lan River—The Chao-t'ung plain and its lakes—Stories of Lolo bloodshed—Down from the plain—Narrow escape of a porter—Back to Ssŭ-ch'uan—Descent of the Nan-kuang River—Down the Yang-tsze to Ch'ung-k'ing.Yün-nan Fu is a walled city, over three miles in circuit, 6420 feet above t...

CHAPTER III.WESTWARD TO YÜN-NAN.White wax insects—Terrible hailstorm and its effects—Miao-tzŭ houses and women—An-shun Fu—Limestone cave—Pai-shui waterfall—Reception at Lang-t'ai T'ing—Lang-wang Mountain and the "Cave of the Spirits"—Caught in a thunderstorm—The pebbly strand of the Mao-k'ou River—Pack-animals and their treatment—The Yün-nan frontier—A cart at last—Exploring a cave—Underground rivers—Exceptional courtesy—Goître—Breeding ground of the Yün-nan pony—Trade route to Tonquin—Marching knee-deep in mud and water—Poverty of inhabitants—Queen's birthday dinner in a back-yard—Chinese inq...

CHAPTER II.CH'UNG-K'ING TO THE CAPITAL OF KUEI-CHOW.My overland caravan—Harvesting opium—Field-fishing—Wood-oil—The manufacture of paper—Salt carriers—Silk-worms and their food—Rice or Pith paper, and its manufacture—The Kuei-chow frontier—Minerals—First meeting with Miao-Tzŭ—Poetical description of Chinese inns—T'ung-tzŭ, its poppy valley and tunnelling—Ingenious bamboo water-wheels—Scant population amid ruins of fine houses—Coal-dust as fuel—The Wu Chiang river—Destruction of the iron suspension bridge—Northern Kuei-chow, a Miao-tzŭ graveyard—Opium-sodden inhabitants—The capital of the Provi...

 THREE YEARS IN WESTERN CHINA.CHAPTER I.UP THE YANG-TSZE TO WESTERN CHINA.Western China and the interest attaching to it—The way thither—An unsuccessful attempt to reach Ichang—Ichang at last—Difficulties of navigation—Commercial importance of Ichang—My native passenger-boat, opium-smoking skipper, and crew—The navigability of the Upper Yang-tsze by steamers—Dangers and difficulties of the Ching T'an Rapid—Up and down the rapid—The poppy—Ch'ung-k'ing.The most interesting part of China, from a geographical and ethnological point of view, is the West—geographically, because its recesses hav...