192 Through the Yang-tse Gorges 



upon which these works are laid down forms a striking con- 

 trast to the miserable burrows of the mines in the Hu-peh 

 province which I had visited on my voyage up the Yang-tse, 

 and, like everything else inSzechuan, gives one a favourable 

 impression of the exceptional well-being of this province. 

 The great and, apparently for Chinese, unnecessary height 

 of eight feet, is given to the tunnels solely for the sake of 

 ventilation. 



According to Richthofen, the coal-measures underlying the 

 sandstone which forms the surface of the Szechuan plateau 

 are among the most extensive in the world. They are 

 worked wherever the strata ,have been tilted up by the 

 elevation of the numerous ranges that cross the plateau in a 

 north-easterly and south-westerly direction, and so made 

 accessible. In these, simple horizontal adits enable the coal 

 to be attacked with comparative ease. The frequent rivers 

 have cut through these ranges, forming gorges and exposing 

 perfect sections of the different strata, amidst which the 

 coal is embedded. 



We now continued our route to Shih chia-liang, . where 

 we had arranged to take the boat for Chung-king. The 

 road was a ten-inch-wide flagged path built for the accom- 

 modation of the coal-porters, strings of whom we met return- 

 ing to the mine with empty baskets, and who, warned by 

 the jingling bells on our ponies' collars, stood promptly 

 aside to let us pass. Suddenly my companion ordered me 

 to turn up a steep path on the left, which led to the farm- 

 stead of Lin chia kou, the Lin family gap, a level terrace 

 formed in a ravine, up to which we ascended by a hand- 

 some flight of steps. This turned out to be the farm at 

 which Tung's attacking party had assembled a few years 

 before, and it was to protect our present host from the 

 consequences of his unlucky manslaughter at the fight aboye 



