﻿464 
  

  

  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  194 
  3 
  

  

  important 
  role 
  in 
  human 
  history 
  ; 
  but 
  the 
  latter, 
  known 
  in 
  part 
  as 
  the 
  

   now 
  famous 
  Burma 
  Road, 
  has 
  come 
  into 
  renewed 
  prominence 
  of 
  late. 
  

  

  The 
  sea 
  route 
  between 
  the 
  Occident 
  and 
  the 
  Far 
  East 
  did 
  not 
  come 
  

   into 
  use 
  until 
  much 
  later, 
  well 
  on 
  in 
  the 
  historical 
  period 
  — 
  not, 
  in 
  fact, 
  

   until 
  sails 
  and 
  seagoing 
  ships 
  had 
  long 
  been 
  known 
  in 
  the 
  Near 
  East. 
  

  

  Surface 
  features. 
  — 
  Northern 
  China 
  is 
  preeminently 
  a 
  vast, 
  low- 
  

   lying 
  alluvial 
  plain, 
  bordered 
  by 
  the 
  sea 
  on 
  the 
  one 
  hand, 
  on 
  the 
  other 
  

   by 
  rugged 
  areas 
  that 
  form 
  the 
  scarp 
  of 
  the 
  central 
  Asian 
  plateau. 
  The 
  

   Ch'in-ling 
  chain 
  of 
  hills 
  — 
  dwindling 
  outliers 
  of 
  the 
  mighty 
  K'un-lun 
  

   Mountains 
  of 
  inner 
  Asia 
  — 
  divides 
  the 
  basin 
  of 
  the 
  Huai 
  River 
  from 
  

   that 
  of 
  the 
  Yangtze 
  and 
  forms 
  a 
  faunal, 
  botanical, 
  and 
  historical 
  

   boundary 
  of 
  great 
  importance. 
  

  

  Figure 
  1. 
  — 
  The 
  "steppe 
  corridor" 
  and 
  the 
  Far 
  East. 
  

  

  Southern 
  China, 
  on 
  the 
  contrary, 
  is 
  in 
  general 
  hilly 
  — 
  in 
  parts 
  even 
  

   mountainous; 
  but 
  its 
  elevations 
  do 
  not 
  form 
  continuous, 
  well-defined 
  

   ranges. 
  

  

  Loess 
  soil. 
  — 
  Over 
  much 
  of 
  northern 
  China, 
  and 
  extending 
  far 
  into 
  

   central 
  Asia, 
  lies 
  a 
  thick 
  mantle 
  of 
  loess 
  soil 
  (likewise 
  found 
  in 
  other 
  

   parts 
  of 
  the 
  world, 
  as 
  for 
  instance 
  in 
  many 
  of 
  our 
  western 
  States 
  and 
  

   portions 
  of 
  Europe) 
  . 
  This 
  type 
  of 
  soil, 
  of 
  a 
  fine 
  powdery 
  consistency 
  

   and 
  grayish 
  yellow 
  in 
  hue, 
  is 
  divided 
  by 
  geologists 
  into 
  two 
  varieties, 
  

   primary 
  (eolian) 
  and 
  secondary 
  (alluvial) 
  loess. 
  Of 
  these, 
  the 
  first 
  

   was 
  deposited 
  by 
  the 
  wind, 
  in 
  the 
  form 
  of 
  dust, 
  during 
  the 
  (geologically 
  

   speaking) 
  Recent 
  epoch, 
  since 
  the 
  close 
  of 
  the 
  last 
  ice 
  age 
  ; 
  while 
  the 
  

   second, 
  a 
  derivative 
  of 
  the 
  first, 
  has 
  been 
  laid 
  down 
  by 
  water 
  (which 
  in 
  

   this 
  way, 
  for 
  example, 
  created 
  the 
  great 
  North 
  China 
  plains 
  just 
  

   mentioned) 
  . 
  (Cressey, 
  1934, 
  pp. 
  184-189 
  and 
  passim 
  ; 
  Anderson, 
  1934, 
  

   passim.) 
  

  

  