58 SMITHSONIAN M ISCKLLANEOITS COLLECTIONS VOL. 8o 



sliglitly yellow, so that it is thought to resenihle gold dust. The temple 

 is therefore named ( lin Sha Dong, or the cave" of golden sands. On 

 the top of the clifif trees of a forest can be seen, but the sides are so 

 steep that they are bare of vegetation. Here again a place of marvel- 

 lous beauty that natmally arouses feelings of wonder and awe has 

 been chosen as the location for a temple, a holy place set aside for 

 the worship of the gods. 



At Ch'anglinshien there is a temple in which is a mineral spring. 

 Because of the mineral in the water, groups of air-bubbles come up 

 from the bottom which to the Chinese seem to resemble bunches of 

 grapes. They call the temple P'utaogin, or grape well. The hill back 

 of this temple is verdant with l)eautiful bushes and trees. In the 

 temple grounds are a pond and several large trees. Across the plain 

 from the temple high mountains rise to the sky. Here again a scene 

 of marvellous natural beauty that arouses feelings of admiration, 

 wonder, and awe has been chosen as the place for a temple. 



Another illustration is Huang Long Si or the Yellow Dragon 

 Gorge, which is reached from Songpan by crossing a mountain pass 

 over 14,000 feet high. Beginning at the base of a snow mountain 

 called Shueh Bao Din Shan, the stream flows down a canyon for 

 about ten miles, when it joins another stream that flows at right 

 angles to it. The water in this stream is so full of mineral that the 

 mineral substance is deposited all the way down the canyon, forming 

 a bright yellow stone. In many places the water trickles down into a 

 series of terraced pools resembling rice paddies on a hillside, with 

 the outer banks rounded into irregular shapes. Similar pools are 

 found in the Yellowstone Park, but there are many more of them in 

 the Yellow Dragon Gorge. The crystal-clear blue water and the bright 

 yellow stone give these pools a beautiful appearance, which is en- 

 chanced by the surrounding forests that cover all the hillsides, and 

 by a wonderful variety of flowers. At the head of the gorge are lofty 

 mountain peaks that are perpetually covered with snow, and great 

 ribs of white snow reach far down the mountainsides. 



This district would be very interesting to the geologist. In one 

 place the stream has deposited so much of the mineral that a waterfall 

 has been formed. Along the stream the mineral substance is deposited 

 mostly near the edge where the water flows less swiftly, so that the 

 stream constantly builds up banks for itself. There are places where 

 the stream bed is from five to thirty feet higher than the surrounding 

 land. The lowest spots are old, abandoned beds of the stream. 

 Leaves, sticks, and trees that fall into the water are encased in the 

 mineral and buried deeper and deeper. 



