SPOUT AND SCIENCE ON THE 



many places riglit up to tlu* l)aillcinenls. lorniing 

 an easy entrance for the belated traveller. \\c 

 exj)lored all the temples inside the city, but found 

 nothing of extraordinary interest. 



At length having made a sufTiciently large 

 collection, we decided to make a move, and on 

 May 14 left the city by the East Gate, heading 

 in a north-easterly chreetion. Gradually we 

 approached the Wall, and did not lose sight of 

 its grey towers till we were within a day's journey 

 of the Yellow River and Shansi. 



At intervals of about twelve miles we passed 

 the dilapidated remains of small garrison towns 

 now inhabited by a few poverty-stricken families. 

 The country as we journeyed became more broken, 

 and the nuiles had considerable difficulty in 

 negotiating the steep slopes covered with drifts 

 of sand. Towards the end of the first day we 

 found ourselves on somewhat more elevated land, 

 cut up in every direction by frightful chasms, 

 wliich descended abruptly for hundreds of feet. 

 Here our mules were momentarily threatened with 

 destruction, as the path frequently led along the 

 ver^' edges of these precipices, and the loose soil 

 continually broke away under their feet. 



These chasms have certainly formed since the 

 building of the Wall, for they frequently cut 

 right across its length. To circumvent an un- 

 usually long one, we had to cross the Wall and 

 make a long detour into the desert. 



30 



