FROM TALI TO TSEKOU 



foot pink primulas made a gay carpet. The enjoyment of these 

 cool forests in contrast to the turmoil of the inns was great. 

 On the 22nd as the wood thinned the villages increased, and 

 we came to some salt pits at Tien-eul-tsin. These we inspected 

 before our departure. The rock-salt is obtained by means of 

 shafts about 65 feet deep, and is drawn up by a double bucket. 



'V>^ 



Hanging Bridge over the Yang-pi. 



The slush is then tilted into a trench, which conducts it to large 

 stone vats, whence it is again transferred by hand into wooden 

 receptacles. A Chinese overseer at a counter checks the work- 

 men as they issue with their dripping loads. The next process 

 is to heat the mass in small coppers placed on kilns (called 

 tsao-fang, of which there might be about si.xty in the village), 



and the residuum is blocked in spherical wooden moulds. The 



149 



