EFFECTS OF LANDSLIP 207 



been nearly destroyed by a landslip, or, rather, mudslip, 

 since my last journey through. Quite half the houses had 

 ])een utterly destroyed, and many of those remaining 

 were filled with a deposit of mud and stones. It may 

 seem difficult to understand how these houses are thus 

 filled with rubbish, because one would be apt to think 

 they would be thrown down ; but the Chinese build their 

 houses in a different manner to what we are accustomed 

 to see, for they first get uprights of timber fixed in the 

 ground, upon which plates are laid and the roof is built 

 upon them. Then the walls are built between the 

 uprights, and are composed of stone, brick, or mud, ac- 

 cording to the locality and the means of the builder. 

 When a flood or a landslip occurs and reaches a 

 liouse so built, the first thing to go is one of the walls, 

 and if they are not all demolished, a large deposit takes 

 place, naturally, within the building. On my journey 

 westward a hill had to be descended, liere a dry water- 

 course was crossed by a bridge, and an ascent made on 

 the other side. Now there was a nearly level road 

 across, and the bridge was either swept away or buried. 

 Hundreds of acres of level and cultivated ground had 

 been covered with earth and stones to a depth of seven 

 or eight feet, and all the crops destroyed. What had 

 been a scene of prosperity was now one of desolation, 

 and the mischief had probably been caused by the sudden 



