66 Prof. Milne — Across Europe and Asia. 



wliicli, wlien the wind is blowing, becomes unbearable. At times 

 this was so thick that you appeared to be surrounded by a fog, and 

 on one occasion it was so bad that a midday halt was called, and we 

 sought refuge in an inn, where we remained until next morning. 

 The fine impalpable dust, which is raised in clouds at every puff 

 of wind, indicates the nature of the loam with which these plains 

 are covered, and also tells us something of its origin, which was 

 probably as a sediment from the flooding of some large river. The 

 fresh-water origin of these plain deposits has often been before 

 referred to, a view which is confirmed by shells I found in it above 

 the Nankan Pass, and afterwards in Shantung. These were Cyrena 

 and a Helix, and in the more recent river deposits, Glaucomya and 

 Anodon. 



Mr. Pumpelly, in the paper to which I have before referred, 

 speaks at length about somewhat similar sediments to these which 

 he considers to have been deposited in a chain of connected lakes. 

 Unfortunately his explanation of the origin of these lakes is very 

 vague, what he says being that it is probably to be sought in the 

 dislocation forming the plateau wall to the north of them, the 

 descent of the land previous to that event having probably been 

 toward the Gobi, in which direction also the Yellow Kiver flowed, if 

 it existed at that time. How far this lake theory may be applied to 

 districts covered with alluvium lying far back in the interior of 

 China, as in Ordos, the land lying in the northern bend of the 

 Hwang Ho, or to the deposits in Hupeh on the Yangtse, I am unable 

 to say ; but certainly those deposits which I saw when crossing 

 the provinces of Chihli and Kiangsu would, from their position alone, 

 forbid such a supposition. As Mr. Pumpelly tells us, they appear 

 undoubtedly to represent a delta-plain. The river which formed 

 this plain is the Hwang Ho, which has been partly assisted by the 

 Yangtse. Looking at any ordinary atlas, it will be seen that the 

 Hwang Ho now discharges itself into the Grulf of Pechihli, on the 

 northern side of Shantung ; whilst its old course is marked by dotted 

 lines, showing that formerly it discharged itself into the Yellow Sea, 

 nearly 500 miles farther to the south. This change took place 

 between 1859 and 1860, when a breach was made in its banks 30 

 or 40 miles south of Kai-fung-fu. This may have arisen from the 

 banks having been neglected, or it may have been done purposely to 

 prevent the advance of troops, it then being the time of the Taiping 

 rebellion. How easily this river could devastate a country, I readily 

 perceived on reaching its banks, which was on the 11th of February, 

 the same day that I saw the mountains. At this point, which was 

 near the city of Chi-ho-hsien, the breadth of the stream must have at 

 least been from 300 to 400 yards. It was apparently very low, and 

 at least 25 feet below water marks in banks on either side by which 

 it was bounded as if between two walls. These banks extend as 

 ridges across the surrounding flat country, and it was not until we 

 climbed to the top of them that we could see anything of the water, 

 which was rapidly flowing along as a muddy stream at the rate of about 

 200 feet per minute. This rate was calculated by walking down the 



