It consists of ^:^6 ,.u -:QleL ,^ ... . . oide 



j. - -oonz six inches in aiameter and one d to another so 



.-each the fnll length c/ . .o raft. ..'t tiiriib . 



On quite a fe?/ of the rapids there are great rocks and boulders over which the 

 water roars in a threatening mnner. One could get scared if lie \mnted to. 



At Yachow the nagistrate first said he would send four imm with rifles to es- 

 cort us, hut finally sent three unarmed men. On this ri^er the Yachow township ends, 

 and the Hong Ya tovmship begins in a deep gorge m^ere there are on all sides steep 

 cliffs covered with trees and shrubbery. Shere are thickets near the shore of the 

 river. Here four roen appeared, two with rifles and one with a bugle, and ordered us 

 to stop. We were on a rapid and the boatmen said they v/ould stop below the rapid. 

 The men ran after us, calling for us to stop. Ihe escort told them they were escort- 

 ing a foreigner. I said ''Waat do you want us to stop for?»^ In a little while the 

 raft would turn a bend and be out of sight. The boatiiien asked me, **Shall we stop?** 

 I hesitated and did not answer. Later I said "Go on.** We did and were soon out of 

 sight. They wanted to rob us. A little later I heard four shots behind us, but I 

 do not know who fired them or why. 



This morning there was a steady, light rain and this afternoon it rained hard. 



We are spending the night at Tai Bu Gai. 



I have already walked over 2800 li this summer, a distance of over 800 miles. 

 I'll add to this at Kiating. We have still 740 li or about 210 miles to travel 

 by boat to Suifu, counting today's trip from Yachow. 



The men who tried to stop us were apparently a part of a large robber band^ the 

 main part of which was in a village on the main road on top of the hill or mountain. 

 They would have robbed us if we had stopped, and fired their guns so they could re-- 

 port that they tried hard to stop us, even firing at us, but failed. They were ap- 

 parently waiting to rob a large shipment of postal goods being carried overland to 

 Yachow on men's backs. We got through by good luck. L'll insist on a good escort 

 with rifles tomorrow. 



Aug. 29 • Today we reached Kiating and are new in a mission bimgalow. We es- 

 caped being robbed yesterday by sheer good luck. Today we passed three places where 

 brigands rob and have robbed recently. We had an armed escort from Hong lato Kiating, 

 so arrived safely. Robbers do not appear when you have a good escort. 



I saw a flock of over twenty large wild ducks on the Ya River today. This is the 

 earliest that 1 have noticed large wild ducks in central Szeohuan. 



Aug. 30. Today ims spent in the old tombs of which there are probably thousands 

 around Kiating. We secured artifacts that will enrich the Smithsonian collection. 

 Among other things, there is a good specimen of a duck. We also secured thirty or 

 forty bats, a very large kind, and small ones. We secured at least a dozen of the 

 large bats. I became sick in the afternoon. 



Aug. 31. Sent the helpers back to search new caves while I went across the 

 river to see a cave-tomb with carvings of a chariot, a tiger, horses, a fish, the roof 

 of a house, and men. I took pictures and drawings. In the afternoon I loaded the 



baggage on the boat and slept on the boat that night. I was still sick and conse- 



:;8d tOi:ether. 



the^' ".Till 



:,i 1 0 DU..-.,;."-'jb n * 



