62 A NATURALIST IN WESTERN CHINA 



barriers occur at intervals, but there are no houses. This road 

 is of such a nature that time and neglect can affect it but little, 

 but it is now scarcely used except by occasional pedestrians 

 and salt-carriers when the river is impracticable. I tried hard 

 to discover when and by whom the road was built but found 

 no one who could tell me. It is evidently one of the ancient 

 arteries of China, and probably dates back to the discovery 

 of the salt-wells. It struck me as being an old military road 

 and may probably have been built centuries ago when Kuichou 

 Fu was a place of infinitely greater importance than it is 

 to-day. 



The river I have mentioned, known locally as the Taning 

 Ho, rises near the borders of Shensi, Hupeh, and Szechuan, and 

 after flowing nearly due south enters the Yangtsze at Wushan 

 Hsien. From Chikou boats descend to its mouth, 200 li distant. 



Taning Hsien, alt. 750 feet, the most easterly inland town 

 in Szechuan, is situated on the right bank of the river, here 

 about 100 yards broad, and sweeping from the gorge in a fine 

 curve. The town is wedged in on the side of a mountain-slope 

 up which the city wall ascends for several hundred feet. The 

 river-front is bounded on one side by the city wall, and the shops, 

 houses and yamens are crowded together near the river. The 

 upper slopes enclosed within the city wall are given over to 

 agriculture. The town, comprising about 400 houses, is the 

 residence of a district magistrate, and boasts a trade in salt 

 and odds and ends. Formerly it was the centre of a large 

 opium traffic. 



At Taning Hsien the Chinese Banyan {Ficus infectoria), so 

 abundant and characteristic of the central parts of Szechuan, 

 puts in an appearance. Near a temple, a few hundred yards 

 from the north gate of the town, I observed from the boat 

 what appeared to be a Mantzu cave built in the face of lime- 

 stone rock. On inquiring I was told of four or five similar 

 caves in this neighbourhood. Later I may have something 

 to say about these caves, but it is interesting to be able to 

 register their presence at the extreme eastern edge of the 

 province, since heretofore they have been considered a feature 

 of the more western parts. Physically and geologically 

 speaking, the country east of the Taning River belongs to 



