150 A NATURALIST IN WESTERN CHINA 



vation. The largest of these areas is the region known as the 

 Chiench'ang Valley, of which the city of Ningyuan Fu is the capi- 

 tal. This narrow strip extends down to the Upper Yangtsze 

 River, being bounded on the east by the independent kingdom 

 of Lolo, which occupies the higher slopes of the Taliang shan 

 and has never been conquered by the Chinese. Immediately 

 to the west of the valley the country is peopled by semi-indepen- 

 dent tribes akin to the Thibetans. Indeed, the Min River, with 

 such land to the immediate west suited to rice-culture, may 

 well be regarded as the real boundary of western Szechuan from 

 Sui Fu on the Yangtsze River to Sungpan Ting, in the extreme 

 north-west corner of the province. An arc-line, commencing 

 at Sungpan Ting and connecting with the boundary stone 

 west of Batang, thence southwards, skirting the right bank of 

 the Drechu (Upper Yangtsze), would form roughly the boundary 

 of Thibet proper. Nominally the whole of this region is con- 

 sidered by the Chinese part of Szechuan province. In certain 

 books and maps parts of this region are referred to as Eastern 

 Thibet, and much confusion has arisen from this misnomer. 



The country included within the boundaries here given 

 constitutes the hinterland between Szechuan and Thibet, and 

 failing a more lucid term it may be designated the " Chino- 

 Thibetan borderland," a title which, if clumsy, has the merit 

 of being both descriptive and accurate. Several trade routes 

 traverse this borderland, but with one exception these have 

 been little travelled by foreigners — the exception being the 

 great highway between Chengtu Fu and Lhassa De, which 

 crosses this region from Yachou, via Tachienlu and Batang 

 to the boundary, and is closely controlled by Chinese. Apart 

 from this highway and the country in its immediate vicinity 

 as far west as Tachienlu, the whole borderland is very much a 

 terra incognita. It is made up of a series of stupendous moun- 

 tain ranges, separated by narrow valleys, well forested in the 

 lower parts with all the higher peaks extending above the 

 snow-line. These ranges are comparable only with the Hima- 

 layas, of which, indeed, they constitute a north-east extension. 

 This rugged region is populated by many independent or quasi- 

 independent tribes, more or less Thibetan in origin, with the 

 exception of the Lolo. 



