﻿464 
  

  

  THE 
  NATIONAL 
  GEOGRAPHIC 
  MAGAZINE 
  

  

  loose 
  clod 
  from 
  clod 
  and 
  grain 
  from 
  

   grain, 
  and 
  then 
  cascaded 
  like 
  water, 
  form- 
  

   ing 
  vortices, 
  swirls, 
  and 
  all 
  the 
  convolu- 
  

   tions 
  into 
  which 
  a 
  torrent 
  might 
  shape 
  

   itself. 
  

  

  One 
  of 
  these 
  slides 
  pouring 
  down 
  upon 
  

   a 
  village 
  had 
  buried 
  every 
  building 
  except 
  

   one 
  inhabited 
  by 
  the 
  old 
  progenitors 
  of 
  

   the 
  clan. 
  This 
  lone 
  patriarchal 
  home 
  

   stood 
  on 
  the 
  outskirts 
  and 
  was 
  half 
  

   covered. 
  

  

  Hay 
  and 
  grain 
  were 
  mingled 
  and 
  mixed 
  

   with 
  the 
  earth 
  over 
  a 
  distance 
  of 
  half 
  a 
  

   mile, 
  showing 
  how 
  the 
  dirt 
  had 
  "worked" 
  

   in 
  its 
  descent. 
  On 
  the 
  opposite 
  side 
  of 
  

   this 
  slide 
  a 
  threshing-floor 
  carrying 
  

   several 
  stacks, 
  and 
  an 
  apricot 
  orchard, 
  

   had 
  come 
  down 
  intact. 
  

  

  The 
  cattle 
  had 
  been 
  so 
  caught 
  in 
  the 
  

   slide 
  that 
  their 
  limbs 
  or 
  heads 
  protruded, 
  

   and 
  these 
  had 
  been 
  cleaned 
  by 
  the 
  packs 
  

   of 
  dogs 
  which 
  roamed 
  the 
  country. 
  Ridge- 
  

   poles 
  of 
  dwellings 
  turned 
  to 
  sep'ulchers 
  

   showed 
  above 
  the 
  ground. 
  

  

  Two 
  slides 
  causing 
  the 
  lowest 
  of 
  these 
  

   blockades, 
  coming 
  from 
  the 
  sides 
  of 
  the 
  

   valley, 
  buried 
  a 
  village 
  of 
  several 
  hun- 
  

   dred 
  persons, 
  converted 
  a 
  shapely, 
  high 
  

   loess 
  butte 
  into 
  a 
  ragged 
  mound, 
  and 
  

   created 
  several 
  miles 
  of 
  lake 
  out 
  of 
  rich 
  

   valley 
  farms. 
  

  

  The 
  local 
  authorities, 
  realizing 
  the 
  dan- 
  

   ger 
  of 
  destructive 
  washouts 
  if 
  these 
  block- 
  

   ades 
  were 
  not 
  opened 
  before 
  the 
  late 
  

   summer 
  torrents, 
  had, 
  before 
  the 
  arrival 
  

   of 
  outside 
  relief, 
  made 
  such 
  pitiably 
  in- 
  

   sufficient 
  efforts 
  as 
  were 
  at 
  their 
  com- 
  

   mand 
  toward 
  the 
  release 
  of 
  the 
  dammed- 
  

   up 
  waters. 
  Their 
  efforts, 
  upon 
  recom- 
  

   mendation 
  of 
  the 
  expedition, 
  were 
  

   incorporated 
  in 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  the 
  relief 
  

   societies. 
  

  

  WHY 
  THE 
  CHINES^ 
  CONSIDER 
  THE 
  

   CALAMITY 
  A 
  BLESSING 
  

  

  Conditions 
  in 
  a 
  score 
  of 
  small 
  valleys 
  

   in 
  the 
  Tsingning 
  and 
  Hweining 
  neighbor- 
  

   hoods 
  arc 
  similar 
  to 
  those 
  in 
  the 
  three 
  

   here 
  described. 
  There 
  is 
  probably 
  no 
  

   other 
  area, 
  however, 
  where 
  within 
  a 
  half- 
  

   circle 
  of 
  twenty 
  miles' 
  diameter 
  one 
  may 
  

   count 
  seventeen 
  immense 
  landslides. 
  

  

  A 
  hundred 
  miles 
  farther 
  west, 
  near 
  

   Hweining, 
  a 
  bad 
  slide 
  district 
  exists, 
  and 
  

   some 
  sixty 
  miles 
  north 
  of 
  Tsingning 
  

   three 
  bad 
  slides 
  occurred, 
  one 
  of 
  which 
  

  

  is 
  responsible 
  for 
  the 
  dramatic 
  incident 
  

   of 
  the 
  burial 
  of 
  Ma 
  the 
  Benevolent, 
  radi- 
  

   cal 
  Mohammedan 
  leader, 
  while 
  in 
  a 
  cave- 
  

   mosque 
  with 
  his 
  retainers 
  for 
  the 
  pur- 
  

   pose 
  of 
  consecrating 
  his 
  proposed 
  Jihad 
  

   against 
  the 
  non- 
  Mohammedan 
  Chinese 
  

   (see 
  text, 
  page 
  445). 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  this 
  incident 
  which 
  gives 
  the 
  

   Chinese 
  cause 
  to 
  rate 
  tke 
  earthquake 
  as 
  a 
  

   blessing, 
  for 
  their 
  experience 
  of 
  fifty 
  

   years 
  ago 
  taught 
  them 
  that 
  while 
  ''Heaven 
  

   slays 
  its 
  hundreds, 
  the 
  Moslems 
  massacre 
  

   their 
  ten 
  thousands." 
  The 
  damage 
  done 
  

   to 
  the 
  Mohammedan 
  settlements 
  is 
  in 
  

   general 
  more 
  severe 
  than 
  that 
  suffered 
  

   by 
  the 
  Chinese 
  farther 
  south. 
  

  

  ALL 
  CAVE 
  DWELLINGS 
  COLLAPSED 
  

  

  Leaving 
  the 
  Tsingning 
  area, 
  we 
  trav- 
  

   eled 
  many 
  miles 
  north 
  to 
  Kuyuan, 
  the 
  

   largest 
  of 
  the 
  ruined 
  cities 
  and 
  one-time 
  

   seat 
  of 
  the 
  imperial 
  resident, 
  beyond 
  which 
  

   we 
  trekked 
  through 
  the 
  hardest 
  shaken 
  

   section 
  of 
  all. 
  Here 
  the 
  friable 
  loess 
  

   gives 
  way 
  to 
  the 
  brittle 
  clay-gravel-alkali 
  

   bunch-grass 
  country, 
  which 
  was 
  too 
  solid 
  

   to 
  slide, 
  but 
  which 
  cracked 
  like 
  a 
  porce- 
  

   lain 
  dish 
  hit 
  with 
  an 
  immense 
  weight. 
  

  

  Cave-dwellings 
  without 
  exception 
  gave 
  

   way, 
  not 
  one 
  mud 
  brick 
  remained 
  upon 
  

   another. 
  Even 
  city 
  walls 
  collapsed, 
  as 
  in 
  

   Heh 
  Cheng-tze 
  (Black 
  City) 
  and 
  Hai- 
  

   cheng. 
  

  

  Nine-tenths 
  of 
  the 
  people 
  of 
  this 
  dis- 
  

   trict 
  were 
  in 
  mourning 
  when 
  we 
  arrived, 
  

   and 
  there 
  were 
  many 
  new 
  Moslem 
  grave- 
  

   yards. 
  In 
  one 
  cave-village 
  of 
  eighty 
  

   inhabitants, 
  sixty 
  were 
  entombed, 
  but 
  

   half 
  were 
  dug 
  out 
  alive 
  by 
  the 
  remaining 
  

   twenty. 
  

  

  In 
  another 
  town, 
  Yang 
  Loh-chwang, 
  

   80 
  per 
  cent 
  of 
  the 
  residents 
  perished. 
  

   The 
  remaining 
  townsmen 
  lacked 
  even 
  the 
  

   heart 
  to 
  bury 
  the 
  dead 
  animals 
  pulled 
  out 
  

   of 
  the 
  debris, 
  and 
  at 
  the 
  time 
  of 
  our 
  

   visit 
  three 
  months 
  later, 
  carcasses 
  of 
  

   human 
  and 
  animal 
  victims 
  still 
  lay 
  rotting 
  

   together 
  in 
  the 
  streets. 
  

  

  Such 
  were 
  the 
  scenes 
  of 
  desolation 
  which 
  

   met 
  our 
  eyes 
  until 
  we 
  emerged 
  suddenly 
  

   upon 
  the 
  bank 
  of 
  the 
  Yellow 
  River, 
  irri- 
  

   gated 
  and 
  made 
  attractively 
  fecund 
  by 
  the 
  

   enterprising 
  Mohammedans. 
  Here 
  evi- 
  

   dences 
  of 
  the 
  disaster 
  vanished 
  as 
  ab- 
  

   ruptly 
  as 
  they 
  had 
  appeared 
  at 
  the 
  Kansu 
  

   border. 
  

  

  