Observers' Field Reports 115 



F. Brown, on Magnetic Work in the Southwestern Provinces of China and Upper 



Burma, November 1916 to June 1917. 



Having met my chief of party, Dr. C. K. Edmunds, at Pehtaiho in October 1916, 

 I made preparations in accordance with his instructions for an expedition to the extreme 

 southwestern border of China, hoping to reach Bhamo on the Irrawaddy River in Upper 

 Burma. With the exception of dip circle No. 206 with needles 1 and 2, and needles 5 

 and 6 of circle 178, replacing dip circle No. 177 which had met with an accident in Man- 

 churia, and with the addition of a boiling-point apparatus, my instrumental equipment 

 was as hitherto. Mr. Y. T. Wu, a graduate of Nanking University, was taken as in- 

 terpreter-companion. After making observations at Pehtaiho, I proceeded to Chung- 

 king, where I arrived November 24, having made reoccupations of previous magnetic 

 stations at Hankow, Yochow, and Ichang, en route. 



As the river journey would be more expeditious and safer than an overland route 

 through country held by brigands, I engaged passage on a small launch which was leaving 

 Chungking on her maiden trip at daylight, November 26. Mr. C. Neprud of the Chinese 

 Maritime Customs was most helpful, and it is entirely due to his efforts that the owner of 

 the launch Yuan Chi promised to remain one whole day at Luchow and a few hours at 

 Kiangtsing to enable observations to be made. In return I was expected to place myself 

 in a prominent position on the deck if brigands should fire on the boat. Chungking and 

 its teeming thousands were left shrouded in a dense mist on the morning of November 26, 

 when the journey to Suifu, about 200 miles up river, began. The engineer, however, 

 could not get the engine to work properly, very slow time was made, and Luchow was not 

 reached until the evening of November 29. The trip from Luchow to Suifu lasted from 

 daylight on December 1 to the afternoon of the next day, much better time being made 

 on this stage of the journey. Brigands were seen running along the banks at one place, 

 but we were not called upon to stop. 



Between Chungking and Suifu the river winds through low red sandstone hills, and 

 is about one-fourth mile wide. There are numerous rapids, but none is dangerous, and 

 the launch had no difficulty in ascending them. Occasional villages, often surrounded 

 by picturesque clumps of bamboo, line the banks. The chief town on this stretch of 

 river is Luchow, built at the junction of the Lu River with the main stream. Luchow has 

 a population of about 100,000, and is 130 miles above Chungking. Salt and sugar come 

 down the small river and are transshipped at the city into larger boats. 



At a half-day run above Luchow is the small picturesque city of Kianganhsien, with 

 its numerous pagoda-shaped roofs and towers, built on a low sandstone bluff on the right 

 bank of the river at its junction with the Anning Ho. It is famous as the center of the 

 district growing the "chii sen," vegetable bamboo shoots, which are very delicious and 

 considered a luxury in other parts of China. 



December 2 to December 8 was spent in Suifu completing the observations and 

 hiring a caravan of coolies for the overland journey of 23 days to Yunnanfu. The city of 

 Suifu, built at the junction of the Min River with the Yangtze, is about 1,600 miles up 

 river from Shanghai. Steam navigation on the main river ends here, but foreign gun- 

 boats have ascended the Min to Kiatingfu, by which river it is possible to go within a few 

 miles of Chengtu in small boat. Suifu is a shipping point for hides, skins, and pigs' 

 bristles from the hinterland. 



The caravan, consisting of 9 chair-bearers, 12 load-carriers, and a head man to 

 manage the coolies, started after tiffin, December 8. The local authorities insisted on 

 sending an escort of 36 soldiers and an officer to protect the party on account of the 

 activity of a band of brigands who held the pass between the provinces of Szechwan and 

 Yunnan. The road followed the bank of the Yangtze to the little market town of 

 Anpien, 36 miles from Suifu. The Yangtze, locally known as the "Kin sha" (River of 



