THE GEOLOGIC HISTORY OF CHINA. 



119 



In going, south by west from the plateau country, one enters a re- 

 gion of warmer climate and more generous rainfall, which, for want 

 of a more distinctive name, I have called the Central Ranges. This is the 

 part of China which was particularly affected by the rock-folding move- 

 ments of the Jurassic period, and which in a much more recent time 

 has been reelevated and therefore newly attacked by the streams and 

 other erosive agencies. Broadly regarded, it is a complex of sharp 

 mountain ridges and spurs with narrow intervening valleys. The ridges 

 are not so high, however, but that they are clad with vegetation, and 

 the scenery is therefore not alpine. The surface is nevertheless very 

 rugged and its internal relief averages at least 3,000 feet. The rough- 

 est parts of our Carolinas resemble it in a measure. In such a region 

 obviously, there is no room for a dense population. Wherever there is 

 a little widening of the bottom of the valley, there is a farm or oc- 

 casionally a small village; and even the scattered benches high up the 

 mountain sides are reached by steep trails and diligently cultivated. 

 But even when all of these are combined, the total area of land under 

 settlement is relatively small. 



In this region there are no railroads whatever, and although wagon 

 roads could be built in some places, they would be expensive, and the 

 Chinese have not yet attempted to make them. All travel and com- 



:..«j%r_~ : .- V. --■->-_»; 



Fig. 29. River Skiffs in one of the Limestone Gorges of the Central Ranges. 



