SPORT AND SCIENCE ON THE 



about forty li, finally reaching a large village 

 named T'ien-ch'eng-ts'un, where we put up at a 

 comfortable inn. 



From this point westward to Yang-kao we 

 traversed the same road as on our outward journey. 

 At Fen-cheng we received word that Yang-kao 

 had just been looted by mutinous troops. This 

 made us somewhat anxious, but two days later, 

 when we reached that town, we found that order 

 had been restored, though all the tradespeople 

 had been cleaned out, several streets burnt, and 

 $12,000^ looted from the grain merchants. 



As I wished to examine more carefully the geo- 

 logy of the country along the Chang-sui Extension 

 line, I sent Warrington on by rail with our outfit, 

 while I took the three ponies and traversed the 

 distance between Yang-kao and Kalgan by road. 

 During this journey, which took three days, we 

 experienced very bad weather indeed. Several 

 severe hailstorms, followed by heavy rain, caused 

 the Nan-yang Ho to swell, flooding the valley so 

 that we could only proceed along the railway 

 embankment. In one place where we were taking 

 shelter under a railway arch, the hailstones, 

 ranging in size from marbles to pigeons' eggs, lay 

 from three to six inches deep, giving the effect of a 

 heavy fall of snow. 



^ Owing to this town being the temporary terminus of the 

 newly-opened Chang-sui Extension Line, an extensive trade 

 in grain had sprung up, to carry on which the merchants had 

 large sums of ready money in hand. — A. de C. S. 



134 



