﻿Vol. 
  XLI, 
  No. 
  5 
  

  

  WASHINGTON 
  

  

  May, 
  1922 
  

  

  • 
  

  

  THE 
  

  

  . 
  NATIONAL 
  

   GEOGRAPMDC 
  

   MAGAZINE 
  

  

  # 
  

  

  COPYRIGHT. 
  1 
  922, 
  BY 
  NATIONAL 
  GEOGRAPHIC 
  SOCIETY. 
  WASHINGTON. 
  D, 
  C. 
  

  

  C 
  t 
  

  

  WHERE 
  THE 
  MOUNTAINS 
  WALKED" 
  

  

  An 
  Account 
  of 
  the 
  Recent 
  Earthquake 
  in 
  Kansu 
  Province, 
  

   China, 
  Which 
  Destroyed 
  100,000 
  Lives 
  

  

  By 
  Upton 
  Close 
  and 
  Elsie 
  McCormick 
  

  

  With 
  Illustrations 
  from 
  Photographs 
  by 
  the 
  Hayes-Hall 
  Kansu 
  

   Earthquake 
  Relief 
  Expedition 
  

  

  MOUNTAINS 
  that 
  moved 
  in 
  the 
  

   night; 
  landslides 
  that 
  eddied 
  

   like 
  waterfalls, 
  crevasses 
  that 
  

   swallowed 
  houses 
  and 
  camel 
  trains, 
  and 
  

   villages 
  that 
  were 
  swept 
  away 
  under 
  a 
  

   rising 
  sea 
  of 
  loose 
  earth, 
  were 
  a 
  few 
  of 
  

   the 
  subsidiary 
  occurrences 
  that 
  made 
  the 
  

   earthquake 
  in 
  Kansu 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  ap- 
  

   palling 
  catastrophes 
  in 
  history. 
  

  

  Though 
  the 
  tremendous 
  shaking-up 
  oc- 
  

   curred 
  in 
  December, 
  1920, 
  the 
  story 
  is 
  

   only 
  now 
  beginning 
  to 
  spread 
  beyond 
  the 
  

   narrow 
  denies 
  which 
  guard 
  the 
  entrance 
  

   to 
  Kansu 
  Province. 
  It 
  is, 
  perhaps, 
  the 
  

   most 
  poorly 
  advertised 
  calamity 
  that 
  has 
  

   occurred 
  in 
  modern 
  times. 
  

  

  Though 
  Kansu 
  is 
  within 
  telegraphic 
  

   reach 
  of 
  the 
  rest 
  of 
  the 
  world, 
  the 
  details 
  

   of 
  the 
  disaster 
  have 
  never 
  come 
  over 
  the 
  

   wires. 
  The 
  native 
  population 
  was 
  too 
  

   stunned 
  and 
  the 
  few 
  foreign 
  residents 
  

   were 
  too 
  busy 
  in 
  relief 
  work 
  to 
  give 
  any 
  

   description 
  of 
  the 
  dancing 
  mountains 
  and 
  

   vanishing 
  valleys. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Josef 
  W. 
  Hall 
  (Upton 
  Close) 
  , 
  who 
  

   visited 
  the 
  earthquake 
  area 
  under 
  the 
  aus- 
  

   pices 
  of 
  the 
  International 
  Famine 
  Relief 
  

   Committee, 
  has 
  brought 
  back 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  

   first 
  accounts 
  of 
  the 
  devastated 
  country 
  

   and 
  the 
  strange 
  things 
  that 
  happen 
  when 
  

   the 
  earth 
  turns 
  itself 
  into 
  a 
  contortionist. 
  

  

  The 
  area 
  of 
  destruction, 
  100 
  by 
  300 
  

   miles 
  in 
  extent, 
  contains 
  ten 
  large 
  cities, 
  

   besides 
  numerous 
  villages. 
  In 
  it 
  is 
  the 
  

   heart 
  of 
  the 
  so-called 
  loess 
  country, 
  where 
  

   the 
  soil 
  is 
  a 
  mixture 
  of 
  clay 
  and 
  powdered 
  

   quartz. 
  A 
  narrower 
  region 
  was 
  com- 
  

   prised 
  in 
  the 
  landslide 
  district, 
  where 
  the 
  

   loose 
  earth 
  cascaded 
  down 
  the 
  valleys 
  and 
  

   buried 
  every 
  object 
  in 
  its 
  path. 
  

  

  a 
  mosi4m 
  fanatic 
  and 
  his 
  followers 
  

   sealed 
  in 
  a 
  cave 
  

  

  Tales 
  as 
  strange 
  as 
  any 
  that 
  Roman 
  

   historians 
  have 
  told 
  of 
  Pompeii 
  are 
  re- 
  

   counted 
  by 
  visitors 
  to 
  the 
  devastated 
  

   country. 
  As 
  three-fifths 
  of 
  the 
  dead 
  are 
  

   Mohammedan, 
  the 
  non-Moslem. 
  Chinese 
  

   claim 
  that 
  the 
  earthquake 
  was 
  a 
  visitation 
  

   from 
  Heaven 
  against 
  the 
  disciples 
  of 
  the 
  

   Prophet. 
  Somehow, 
  the 
  Mohammedans 
  

   have 
  failed 
  to 
  deny 
  this 
  accusation 
  with 
  

   their 
  usual 
  vigor 
  and 
  have 
  suddenly 
  be- 
  

   come 
  surprisingly 
  humble. 
  

  

  One 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  dramatic 
  episodes 
  of 
  

   the 
  disaster 
  was 
  the 
  burial 
  of 
  Ma 
  the 
  

   Benevolent, 
  a 
  famous 
  Moslem 
  fanatic, 
  

   and 
  300 
  of 
  his 
  followers, 
  just 
  as 
  they 
  had 
  

   met 
  in 
  conclave 
  to 
  proclaim 
  a 
  holy 
  war. 
  

   The 
  cave 
  in 
  which 
  they 
  had 
  gathered 
  was 
  

   sealed 
  by 
  a 
  terrific 
  avalanche, 
  while 
  the 
  

   group 
  knelt 
  on 
  their 
  prayer-mats. 
  

  

  