SINO-MONGOLIAN FRONTIER 
Wild boars, leopards and roe-deer were seen, 
but we were too busy trapping for small mammals 
to pay much attention to large game. 
Pheasants, partridges and hares were abundant, 
and kept our pot well filled. The weather was 
too severe for good work, and beyond a few squirrels, 
field-mice, small hamster rats and three or four 
species of birds we secured very little. 
The country was typical of Shansi, consisting 
of rugged shale and limestone mountains, over- 
grown with scrub oak, hazel, birch, wild 
peach, conifers and thorny shrubs of various 
kinds. 
From Shi-shi-ling, we travelled westward to- 
wards the Yellow River, putting up at Ning- 
hsiang Hsien, and Liu-lin-chén on February 24 
and 25 respectively. The former of these two 
places is a town of no importance and less interest. 
At Liu-lin-chén some fine springs, open all the 
year round, form a winter resort for countless 
wildfowl, including teal, mallards, sheld-ducks, 
golden eyes and mergansers. 
On February 26 we crossed the Yellow River 
and put up at a small village on its right bank. 
The crossing was effected by means of large ferry 
boats, into which mules and baggage were igno- 
miniously bundled, when, with long, roughly made 
oars, the ferrymen kept the boats at angles such 
that the swift current forced them along in the 
desired direction. In consequence, the landing 
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