I 12 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



new and hitherto lower part of its surroundings. By the long contin- 

 uance of this process of repeated shiftings and fillings, the great eastern 

 plain of China and many smaller plains have been produced. It is 

 here, where the population is densest and the rivers least confined, that 

 the devastation by floods and their attendant famines is greatest. 



By this succession of events the surface of China is believed to 

 have reached its modern . condition. We may now consider it piece- 

 meal and see how the existing geologic conditions, which are the re- 

 sult of this long series of past changes, influence the habits, occupations 

 and even mental traits of the people. Because space is limited and also 

 because I have not seen all the physiographic divisions of China, it will 

 not be possible for me, even briefly, to describe each of them. A few 

 are therefore selected to show the range of variety of the whole. 



Fig. 14. Cave Houses in the Loess, 

 faced with stone. 



Fig. 15. Men and Donkeys carry- 

 ing Coal from the Mines in Shansi. 



Fig. 16. A Pack Train of Donkeys, 

 on the Imperial Highway over the 

 Loess Plateau. 



Fig. 17. A Roadside Village and 

 small Fields at the Bottom of the 

 Mountain Valley. 



The mountains of northeastern China, typified by the province of 

 Shantung, are unlike those of the rest of the country in several respects. 

 Although the individual peaks are often sharp and rocky, they are gen- 

 erally separated by wide, flat-bottomed valleys. The process of erosion 

 has here gone so far that the rivers have already carried away most of 

 the land, leaving only isolated groups of low mountains. The broad 

 valleys accommodate a relatively large number of people, who congre- 

 gate in the villages dotting the intermontane plains. In contrast with 

 most mountainous regions, travel between the different valleys is com- 

 paratively easy here, because many of the passes are but little higher 

 than the plains themselves and constitute scarcely any obstacle to prog- 



