﻿32 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 78 



and Kiating are the worst they have been for years." In preparing 

 for the trip to Kiating, soldiers commandeered Graham's boat, but 

 eventually he recovered it, and on June 2y the foreign party, con- 

 sisting of five boat loads, with twenty cargo boats, started on the 

 journey. 



At Sin Shih Pien, the foreigners were delayed a day or two, and 

 the officers in charge of the escort compelled them to pay $900.00 

 for protection to Kiating. On June 29 they left Sin Shih Pien and 

 at night camped at Nang Chang, on the north side of the stream, 

 with a band of robbers just across the river. On June 30 they made 

 further progress, reaching Si Chi, and on July i went 40 li to Mal- 

 intsang, where they learned that the Eighth Regiment had come out 

 and taken Chien Way. The escort was at war with the Eighth Regi- 

 ment, and did not dare go any farther. Graham writes : " We there- 

 fore arranged to allow them to depart, and for us to go on with some 

 militia escorting." 



On July 3 the party reached Ho Keo, 20 li from Chien Way. where 

 they found that civil war had suddenly come upon them again. The 

 party secured permission to continue on its way. though progress was 

 rendered difficult by heavy rains, which caused the river to rise sev- 

 eral feet. On July 5 the party sent a messenger ahead to Kiating, as 

 they were out of money and nearly out of bread and coolies. Mr. 

 Graham writes : " I have travelled up the Min River many times, 

 but this has been the slowest and worst trip I have ever made. This 



is due to the cargo boats, to high water, and to the brigands 



From Suifu it has been impossible to shoot birds because of brigands 

 and military operations." The party reached Kiating on July 7, and 

 having gone thus far, Mr. Graham decided to try for Washan Moun- 

 tain, and had actuall}' started, when on the 12th a messenger arrived 

 with a letter saying conditions were getting worse down the river, 

 that many British subjects were leaving Szechwan. and that all 

 foreigners might be ordered to leave, also advising that he abandon his 

 plan to visit Washan. He notes : " It is a keen disappointment, but it 

 seems unwise to go on, so to-morrow I'll go back toward Mt. Omei 

 and spend the summer as profitably as I can." On July 14 he re- 

 ceived a letter stating that conditions were improving and that the 

 foreign community withdrew its request that he should not attempt 

 the trip to Washan. He thereupon again headed for that mountain, 

 and on July 23 reached the summit, which he sa\s is the highest 

 point in central Szechwan. On every side " it is a sheer clifif several 



thousand feet high, with only one road to the top and back 



The road made a few circles, and soon I found myself walking along 



