side. A mile or two south of Yi-lin Fu we passed a massive stone bridge 
spanning the river at a point where it cuts through an outcrop of rock, and 
some miles further south came upon the remains of a swinging chain bridge. 
So far as could be gathered, two chains, their ends fastened to rocks on either 
side, had carried across the river a roadway of timber, In any case the 
contrivance had long fallen into disuse, the chains were rusted nearly through, 
and but fragments of the planking still visible. At other points the passage 
of the river had to be effected by fords, or ferries. Seven small villages were 
passed, and towards the end of the day, after covering twenty-one miles, we 
reached Yii-ho-p’u, a small walled town which at one time held a garrison of 
soldiers, though the present population cannot exceed two hundred all told. 
Our entry was effected over the top of the north wall, where sand had banked 
up to such an extent as to render this possible. Huge mounds of sand from 
twenty to thirty feet high were also noticed inside the wall. 
December 6th saw us once more on the march. The road still continued 
down the valley of the Yii-lin Ho, and was excellent throughout. Shortly 
after leaving Yii-ho-p’u, the last of the sand was left behind. The valley 
widened out considerably, being bounded on either side by low loess hills 
overlying a thick, faultless and slightly undulating stratum of shale. The bed 
of the river was cobbly, but no signs of limestone, or anything but slate, 
sandstone, and shale were visible. The river flowed down a bed some ten to 
twenty feet below the level of the rest of the valley. Round the villages we 
noticed numerous plantations of jujubes valued for their sweet, date-like fruit. 
It was ascertained that wheat, millet, and sorghum form the chief crops 
grown in the valley, and on the surrounding hills. The latter are not so 
carefully terraced as in Shansi, where the natives dislike cultivating any but 
level surfaces. At a village named Yen-wa (literally ‘‘salt scrape” or 
“scratch ’’) extensive salt works were found. To collect the salt, flat surfaces 
are prepared, and allowed to remain for a few days, at the end of which time 
an efflorescence appears. This is scraped off, and put into large perforated 
earthenware jars, through which water is allowed to percolate, thus dissolving 
out the salt. The impregnated liquid is next boiled down, and the salt 
extracted. This product, containing as it did a considerable portion of alkali 
which could not be separated, was found to be of very poor quality. The 
whole population was engaged in this industry, and the village looks a very 
dismal place. We noticed the remains of numerous forts, some perched on 
the hills, others extending across the valley; whilst high mounds at half-mile 
intervals marked the sites of watch towers, which had run in a regular chain 
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