sprained his ankle severely. Coming, as it did, soon after an earlier injury 

 sustained out pheasant-shooting, just before we left Yen-an, the sprain 

 assumed a dangerous aspect. It was only by exercising the greatest care that 

 he could set foot to the ground by the time Hsi-an was reached. Needless to 

 say, the rest of the journey was rendered anything but enjoyable to the victim 

 of such misfortune. Soon after the departure from Ts'a-feng a steep ascent 

 was made, and we found ourselves upon a flat wide plateau of loess, cut up in 

 every direction by canons of considerable depth. These, however, were not 

 noticeable till the observer got within fifty, or one hundred yards. After 

 travelling across this table of loess for some five or six miles, the party came 

 to the edge of a vast valley, across which lay the road. On the other side of 

 the valley could be seen the commencement of a second tableland, and this 

 sort of experience was repeated all this day, and half of the next. It seems 

 probable that this formation represents a great loess deposit in its early stages, 

 before the action of rain and water has rounded the great sections between the 

 caiions and ravines into the hills and ridges so typical of most loess country'. 

 Indeed, the moulding process was noticed along the sides of the larger valleys, 

 where, instead of the abrupt cliffs and sharp edges of the ravines and canons, 

 the sides were rounded off, and sloped with comparative ease to the stream 

 below. On the plateaux some bustards were seen not far from the road, 

 whilst a fox was put up from a clump of graves. Pheasants were noticed still 

 on the fields, but they were few in number and very shy. The surfaces of the 

 plateaux were under cultivation, but nowhere could any villages be seen. 

 This was explained, when it was discovered that the villages were either built 

 on the sides of the smaller ravines, or formed by extensive excavations below 

 the surface level. In the latter case each dwelling would consist of one large 

 square pit, twenty to thirty feet deep, and forming the courtyard, from which 

 opened deep cave-rooms, occupied by the members of the family and their live 

 stock. The courtyards were reached by long and gently sloping shafts, fitted 

 at their lower ends with stout wooden doors. The villages built above ground 

 were the larger and more important, and few and far between. After crossing 

 three plateaux, the caravan stopped, late in the evening, at the town of 

 Lo-ch'uan Hsien, where the usual well-ventilated quarters were secured. This 

 day's journey was eighty li. 



The following day, after crossing two more plateaux, and winding up and 

 down several deep valleys, the party reached Chung-pu Hsien, close to which 

 is situated a huge mound, supposed to be the grave of the great Huang Ti, or 

 Yellow Emperor (B.C. 2700), one of the five mythical emperors of Chinese 



36 



