heavy rains being experienced, which rendered the roads very bad. The latter, 

 being cut in the loess, became very slippery and treacherous. So bad w^as the 

 weather that we were forced to make a halt of one day at Kan-ch'iian Hsien 

 ("The dry fountain town"). In the Lo Shui, which flows down the valley, 

 numerous mud-turtles were seen, and the party indulged in the (to them) 

 novel sport of turtle-shooting. Sowerby, of course, claimed the bag for 

 scientific purposes, and the ugly creatures were carefully preserved in alcohol. 



On the third day after leaving Fu Chou we entered the fine game 

 preserves where deer were shot the previous winter, and we decided to camp 

 there that night and try our luck. We were amply rewarded for our pains, 

 each securing two roedeer that evening, while Sowerby shot a magnificent 

 wild boar next morning, an account of which is given in the chapter on the 

 general biological work of the expedition (Chapter X.). 



On August 22nd Yen-an Fu was reached, and astronomical observations 

 were taken. Next day we ascended a peak some distance south of Yen-an Fu, 

 where we made solar observations for latitude. The temperature on this peak 

 was now about 90° Fahr. in the shade — a striking contrast to that experienced 

 in January, when the party visited the same peak for similar purposes. The 

 thermometer then registered — 1° Fahr. at 10 a.m. 



On August 25th we left Yen-an Fu and travelled northward to Sui-td 

 Chou. Nothing worthy of mention occurred on this part of the road, which 

 has been dealt with already, except that one of the mules died from the 

 excessive heat. Travelling up the deep loess ravines the caravan was cut off 

 entirely from any cooling breezes, and the heat became insupportable. It is 

 noteworthy that in this same district the travellers had suffered most severely 

 from cold during the previous winter, when the temperature fell to 

 —6° Fahr. 



After leaving Sui-t^ Chou the party turned eastward once more till the 

 Yellow River was reached two days later at a place named K'ang-chia-t'a. 

 The crossing was effected once more in safety, and all rejoiced at setting foot 

 again on Shansi soil. The road now lay along the rocky boulder-strewn 

 valleys so characteristic of Shansi. The first large town passed was a busy, 

 evil-smelling place named Liu-lin-chen. This town should have been called 

 " the city of flies," for nowhere in all our travels had we seen such swarms of 

 these noisome insects. The food on the street stalls was literally buried 

 beneath black masses, which, when disturbed, flew up in dense clouds— the 

 air filled with the hum of myriad wings. They swarmed on the mules and on 

 the naked backs of the natives, who, however, did not seem to mind them in 



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