208 RESEARCH IN CHINA. 
9.5 kilometers, it extends into five principal ravines, and each of these 
into several long gullies. The mountain slopes are very steep and the 
summits castellated, but the valley is not bounded by cliffs as is the case 
in the canyon stretch below Li-yiian-p’u. At an altitude of 4,400 feet, 
1,330 meters, above sea—that is, about 1,800 feet, 550 meters, above the 
river—there is a well-defined terrace cut in the gneissic rocks, which, being 
generally cultivated, is evidently covered with soil. It is brought out by 
the contours on Sheet E I in the slopes above Lung-ts’iian-kuan. 
Chi-li-Shan-si divide.*—At the head of the Sha-ho is the divide between 
that stream, which flows directly southeastward, and rivers which have a 
southwesterly course. The divide is marked historically as the site of the 
south branch of the Great Wall, a work which was here carried out only 
in the neighborhood of the most important passes. Its construction shows, 
however, that the route which makes use of the valley of the Sha-ho 
was traveled at least two hundred and twenty years B. C. The general 
elevation of the divide is 5,800 to 7,000 feet, 1,750 to 2,100 meters, and the 
lowest pass above Lung-ts’tian-kuan is at an altitude of 4,800 feet, 1,450 
meters, above sea. Several long spurs extend southeastward, with crests 
at 6,000 to 7,000 feet, 1,800 to 2,100 meters. They are quite strikingly 
serrate and some of the pinnacles along their crests are almost inaccessible. 
On the northwest the valley of the T’s’ing-shui-ho lies close to and parallel 
with the divide, at an altitude of 4,400 feet, 1,340 meters, that is, nearly 
2,000 feet, 600 meters, above the valley of the Sha-ho on the eastern side. 
The summit of the range is broad and rounded, covered with residual 
soil and grass grown. Several deer came bounding in even leaps over 
the rolling surface; in an instant they dropped out of sight in the head ofa 
deeply cut ravine, as deer on the prairie disappear over the brink of a canyon. 
This upland is overtopped by peaks, which attain 7,000 feet, 2,100 meters, 
above sea, and are usually angular and precipitous rocky heights. 
The Wu-t’ar-shan.—To the west of the Chi-li-Shan-si divide one looks 
across to the so-called plateaus of northern Shan-si. It is difficult to 
justify the application of the term plateau to the intricate system of 
mountain ridges and summits which meets the eye. At one’s feet is the 
canyon of the Ts’ing-shui-ho, which sinks fapidly toward the southwest. 
Beyond are the long spurs of the ridge between the Ts’ing-shui-ho and the 
T’ai-shan-ho, and in the far distance the summit of the Wu-t’ai-shan, 8,000 
to 10,000 feet, 2,400 to 3,000 meters, .Uuve sea, the highest range in the 
province. A leaden sky cast a uniform light over the bare, brown moun- 
tains the day we climbed the watch-tower north of the pass and the 
camera was useless. Hence the sketch, Plate XXX. A similar view is 
* Atlas sheet DI. 
