84 Through the Yang-tse Gorges 



posts to which the chain was affixed are still shown. But 

 more remarkable is the famous " M^ng-liang ti," or Ladder 

 of Meng-liang, which adjoins this spot. There can be no 

 doubt about the genuineness of this relic, for no sane man 

 would undertake such a work unless he had Meng-liang's 

 object to gain by it. At the time this ladder, so-called, 

 was constructed, the " Shu " army was encamped upon the 

 mountains above the precipice, and felt secure in their un- 

 assailable position, the river being barred, while the cliff 

 appeared to be insurmountable. But the Hu-peh general, 

 Meng-liang, got his army up the vertical cliff, surprised the 

 enemy's camp, and reaped a victory which ended the domi- 

 nation of Shu. His plan was effected by making a ladder 

 up the cliff, here 700 feet vertical. He had square holes cut 

 in the hard limestone rock, six inches square by about four- 

 teen deep, into which were inserted wooden beams, up which 

 his men climbed. The wooden beams have long since 

 perished, but the holes remain as clean-cut now as on the 

 day when they were made. These run in zig-zags up the 

 face of the vertical cliff, until they reach the point where 

 the slopes above are just practicable for an expert climber. 

 The day has long past since the now effeminate Chinese 

 were capable of such heroic exertion, but " M&ig-liang's 

 ladder " will remain in evidence for many centuries yet as 

 a testimony of the valour and determination which inspired 

 their warlike ancestors. 



A grand overhanging peak, with a sheer face of white 

 limestone, with strata nearly vertical, marks the portal of the 

 gorge ; issuing from which we enter the more open valley, 

 in which stands the famous prefectual city of Kwei-chow-fu, 

 in a position analogous to that of Wu-shan city at the exit 

 of the Wu-shan Gorge. 



On the sandbanks below Kwei-chow, which now occupy 



