About half-way between Chén-yiian and Ch’ing-yang we came upon a 
most remarkable cave-village, evidently long deserted. All the dwellings had 
been hewn out of the solid sandstone cliff forming one side of a broad valley. 
There was now not a scrap of woodwork left, whilst rank foliage had covered 
the courts, and in some cases great masses of rock had fallen away, leaving 
the higher caves inaccessible. The rooms, cubical in shape, were not large, 
but showed traces of kangs and broken stone mangers. The scene was 
suggestive of the Stone Age, and this impression was enhanced when two 
children, naked and unkempt, ran out of one of the caves, attracted no doubt 
by the strange voices. These little troglodytes were not in the least 
embarrassed at the invasion of their sanctum, but eagerly took the biscuits 
and cake offered them. They looked in need of better nourishment. So 
thoroughly did the spot conjure up visions of a remote past, that we decided 
to rest awhile and enjoy the illusion to the full. But alas! the inevitable 
staring crowd soon collected—not very large, but none the less annoying—and 
the last vestige of enchantment was dispelled when someone volunteered the 
information that the cave-village had only been deserted some thirty years. 
Whereupon the disgusted travellers mounted their ponies and rode away ; 
not, however, before some photographs had been taken. It may be added that 
the wretch who had destroyed our day-dreams about the cave-village ascribed 
its desertion to the massacres that took place throughout the country during 
the Mohammedan rebellion. On the opposite side of the valley was a temple, 
wherein were some large caves not unlike those of the Sung dynasty temples 
at Yen-an Fu. They were said to date from the same period as those at 
Yen-an Fu, but were in a much better state of preservation, although in this 
case the sculptures were not so fine, nor were the walls so completely covered 
with images. 
After arrival at Ch’ing-yang Fu it was necessary to make astronomical 
observations, and two days elapsed before a suitable set could be obtained. 
During our short sojourn in the city we received several visits from Father 
Calbrecht, a Roman Catholic missionary stationed there. Conversation had 
to be carried on in Chinese, this being the only language equally familiar to 
both parties. Ch’ing-yang Fu, a city of considerable dimensions, showed 
none of the prosperity that might have been expected. The greater part of 
the buildings enclosed within the high strong walls were in ruins; the broad 
streets in many places overgrown with grass and weeds; the temples and 
official residences in sad disrepair; the inhabitants few and poverty-stricken. 
The city, once populous and wealthy, formed one of the chief strongholds of 
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