CHUNGKING TO THE BRINE WELLS RIVER

Departure from Chungking — Rock Fortress of Fu Tou Kuan — High Road to the Capital— Cross Ranges — Market Town of Pai She Yi — Palace of Heaven —Paddy-fields — The Weald of Kent — Dragon Supported Bridge — Robbers' Heads Exposed — City of Eternal Streams — Pi Pa Wo'ehr, Guitar Nest — A Muddy Bath — Banyans — Peaceful Hamlet — Grave-grounds — City of Lung Chang — Fellow Travellers — Lion Bridge — Coal-mine — Fossil Bridge — Millet — Samshu — Grasscloth — Triumphal Arches — Monolith Transported on Men's Shoulders, Gun-barrel Tree — Assisi Scenery — On Lake Ferry — The Brine Wells River — Filthy Quarters.

從重慶出發 (Departure from Chungking) — 浮頭關岩堡 (Rock Fortress of Fu Tou Kuan) — 通往首都的大道 (High Road to the Capital) — 橫嶺 (Cross Ranges) — 白蛇驛市集 (Market Town of Pai She Yi) — 天上宮 (Palace of Heaven) — 稻田 (Paddy-fields) — 肯特丘陵地 (The Weald of Kent) — 龍身橋 (Dragon Supported Bridge) — 盜賊首級示眾 (Robbers' Heads Exposed) — 永川城 (City of Eternal Streams) — 琵琶窩兒 (Pi Pa Wo'ehr, Guitar Nest) — 泥濘浴 (A Muddy Bath) — 榕樹 (Banyans) — 寧靜村莊 (Peaceful Hamlet) — 墓地 (Grave-grounds) — 龍昌城 (City of Lung Chang) — 同行者 (Fellow Travellers) — 獅子橋 (Lion Bridge) — 煤礦 (Coal-mine) — 化石橋 (Fossil Bridge) — 小米 (Millet) — 三燒 (Samshu) — 草布 (Grasscloth) — 牌坊 (Triumphal Arches) — 人力搬運的巨石，槍管樹 (Monolith Transported on Men's Shoulders, Gun-barrel Tree) — 阿西西風光 (Assisi Scenery) — 湖上渡輪 (On Lake Ferry) — 鹽井河 (The Brine Wells River) — 骯髒住處 (Filthy Quarters)

On July 7, 1897, after a last good home-breakfast, we set off in the usual smoky mist of Chungking at 7.15 a.m., each in a sedan-chair with four bearers, the blue cotton canopy over each extending for a distance of six yards from back to front ; our Kwanse or major-domo in a chair with three bearers ; seven coolies carrying each eighty catties (107 lbs.) of our clothing, bedding, money, and " stores " for three months' consumption ; one coolie headman, sent by the hong contracting for the labour and engaging to land us in the city of Omi Hien in thirteen days ; and our house coolie, "Old Four" — these two latter carrying nothing. It is well to remember that the only coin current in the Chinese Empire is the copper " cash," of which a thousand strung by their centre hole on a straw rope makes a "string" or tiao. Such a string weighs 8 lbs. Ten strings equal in value just a sovereign, and form a load of 80 lbs. Thus the happy possessor of one pound sterling, if he takes it with him in coin of the realm, requires a speciaporter to carry it. Silver coin, of course, can be exchanged for " cash " in the large towns, but the traveller's payments are all in copper cash.

1897年7月7日，在享用過最後一頓豐盛的家常早餐後，我們在重慶 (Chungking) 慣常的煙霧中於早上7點15分出發。每人乘坐一頂轎子 (sedan-chair)，配備四名轎夫，轎子上的藍色棉布頂篷從前到後延伸六碼；我們的管事 (Kwanse) 乘坐一頂配備三名轎夫的轎子；七名挑夫每人挑著八十斤（107磅）的衣物、寢具、錢財和三個月用的「補給品」；一名由商行 (hong) 派出的工頭，負責僱工並承諾在十三天內將我們送達峨眉縣 (Omi Hien)；還有我們的家僕「老四」(Old Four) —— 這最後兩人不用挑擔。值得一提的是，在大清帝國境內，唯一通用的貨幣是銅錢 (cash)，一千個銅錢用稻草繩穿過中間的孔串成一串，稱為「吊」(tiao)。一串銅錢重八磅，十串銅錢的價值相當於一英鎊，重達八十磅。因此，一個擁有一英鎊的幸運之人，如果要攜帶等值的當地流通貨幣，就需要專門僱一個挑夫來搬運。當然，在大城市裡可以用銀幣兌換銅錢，但旅行中的支付都要用銅錢。

CHUNGKING TO BRINE WELLS RIVER 5

A thunderstorm the previous evening had happily lowered the temperature from 92° to 80°, and our cavalcade trotted off gaily in the fresh morning air, through the everlasting wet rock-floored streets, half an hour's journey from our house to the West Gate which leads to the only land road out of the river-circled city — a gateway filthy with the droppings of the endless trains of coolies carrying water and soft coal in, and the town refuse out, past the long straggHng suburb, on to the picturesque terrace with its carved stone balustrade overhanging the cliff that here bounds the Great River eddying and swirling below ; at this season a cataract of liquid purplecoloured mud. Out in the country and once past the graves clean pavement and fresh air tempt us to leave our chairs and allow our willing bearers to climb the long staircase that leads up and through Fu Tou Kuan without our load. We persevere, and are rewarded by arriving at the top of the hill drenched with perspiration, such as is invariably the result of motion in the hot-house air of this province. Fu Tou Kuan, the walled town or fortress built on the " neck " of the Chungking peninsula — the point where an elbow of the Yangtze nearly reaches to a corresponding elbov/ of its affluent the Kia-ling, separated by this precipitous hill rising 500 feet above the water — forms the sole approach to Chungking from the land side. There are a few straggling houses on its main street, but it is architecturally remarkable for its paifang (stone-archways) and huge monumental tablets of carved sandstone.

前一晚的雷雨適時地將氣溫從華氏92度降至80度，我們的隊伍在清新的早晨空氣中愉快地前行，穿過那永遠潮濕的石板路，從我們的住所到西門（West Gate）花了半小時，這是通往這個被河流環繞的城市唯一的陸路出口 — 城門因無數挑夫來回運送水和軟煤以及城市垃圾而顯得骯髒。經過綿延的郊區，來到一處風景如畫的露台，其雕刻精美的石欄杆懸於懸崖之上，下方是奔騰翻滾的長江（Yangtze），在這個季節宛如一道紫色泥漿瀑布。到了郊外，走過墓地後，乾淨的路面和清新的空氣誘使我們離開轎子，讓願意的轎夫不必背負我們爬上那通往浮頭關（Fu Tou Kuan）的長階梯。我們堅持前行，到達山頂時汗流浹背，這在本省溫室般的空氣中活動時總是無可避免的結果。浮頭關是建在重慶（Chungking）半島「頸部」的城寨 — 在此處長江的一個彎道幾乎觸及其支流嘉陵江（Kia-ling）的相應彎道，中間由這座高出水面500英尺的陡峭山丘分隔 — 是重慶陸路唯一的入口。其主街上零星散佈著幾間房屋，但在建築上以其牌坊（paifang，石拱門）和巨大的砂岩紀念碑而聞名。

We traversed a richly cultivated but comparatively uninteresting country of terraced paddy-fields, interspersed with thick groves of bamboo, winged walnut, and cypress surrounding the many villages and walled-in country streets. We left Fu Tou Kuan at 9.30 (15 li), and after another 15 //across this lower country where we found the air, even in our awningprotected chairs, very oppressive, arrived at the village of

6 MOUNT OMI AND BEYOND

Tsan Pu at 1 1 a.m. Here, in a very decent Chinese inn, we tiffined, finding the inn all the better because of the delightful surprise of a courier from Chungking catching us up with letters and papers. Any one who has travelled in distant regions will know the intense delight this last greeting to be received from our friends for many a long day naturally gave us, and how thoroughly we read those newspapers. At one we started again and traversed the nearest to Chungking of the remarkable " cross ranges " that intersect the sandstone plateau of Szechuan in a N.E. and S.W, direction. Steep flights of steps led us up to the pass — just lOOO feet from the foot by my aneroid, through a group of steep fir-clad hills rising 300 to 400 feet higher. Here the paddy-fields ascend in serried terraces nearly as high as the pass, and above their bright emerald green the shining white-striped leaves of millet and miniature fields of spring wheat, bare rugged mountain limestone crowning the summits. The difference in temperature was most marked, the air on the top being delightfully fresh and cool. Reaching the other side we looked over another low but most picturesquely broken sandstone basin, dotted with farms and villages, among which was pointed out to us the market-town of Paisheyi — our destination for the night — the horizon bounded by another similar " cross range " looking deep blue in the distance, and over which our to-morrow's path lay, our W.S.W. course being at right angles to its axis. It is characteristic that the Chinese do not lower their passes by cuttings and tunnels as the Japanese do.

我們穿越了一片富饒但相對單調的地區，這裡遍布梯田，間雜著茂密的竹林、翼胡桃樹（winged walnut）和柏樹叢，環繞著眾多村莊和圍牆內的鄉間街道。我們在上午9點30分離開浮頭關（Fu Tou Kuan）（15里），又走了15里穿過這片低地。即使在有遮陽篷的轎子裡，我們也覺得空氣悶熱難耐，最後到達了贊浦村（Tsan Pu）。

在這裡一家相當不錯的中式客棧，我們用了早午餐。令人愉快的是，一位從重慶（Chungking）趕來的信使帶來了信件和報紙，這讓客棧顯得更加舒適。任何在遙遠地區旅行過的人都能理解，收到這最後一份來自朋友們的問候帶來多麼強烈的喜悅，我們認真地閱讀了每一份報紙。

下午一點，我們重新出發，穿越了最靠近重慶的一條特別的「橫嶺」（cross ranges），這些山脈以東北至西南方向橫貫四川（Szechuan）的砂岩高原。陡峭的台階帶領我們登上山口——根據我的氣壓計顯示，從山腳到山頂剛好1000英尺，穿過一片陡峭的松樹林覆蓋的山丘群，這些山丘比山口再高300至400英尺。這裡的稻田以密集的梯田形式一直延伸到接近山口的高度，在其明亮的翠綠色之上是閃耀著白色條紋的粟米葉和微型的春小麥田，光禿嶙峋的石灰岩山峰則為群山加冕。溫度差異十分明顯，山頂的空氣格外清新涼爽。

到達另一側時，我們俯瞰另一個低矮但風景如畫的砂岩盆地，點綴著農場和村莊，其中就有人為我們指出的白蛇驛（Paisheyi）集鎮——我們當晚的目的地。地平線上是另一道相似的「橫嶺」，在遠處呈深藍色，我們明天的路徑將越過這座山脈，我們的西南偏西路線與山脈軸線成直角。值得注意的是，與日本人不同，中國人不會通過開挖和建造隧道來降低山口高度。

Descending rapidly by another long winding staircase we re-entered the hot-house, and shortly before sunset reached our not uncomfortable inn, before which we found our gaudy hongflag hoisted by our avant courrier, covered with the decorated Chinese characters informing all the world and his wife that a great British merchant is about to take up his abode there. A heavy and delightfully cooling thunderstorm wound up a day which we found far less disagreeable than we had any right to anticipate at this season.

我們沿著另一條蜿蜒的長階梯快速下山，重新進入這個溫室般的環境。臨近日落時分，我們抵達了一家還算舒適的客棧。在客棧前，我們看到先遣隊（avant courrier）已經升起了我們那面華麗的紅旗（hongflag），上面寫滿了裝飾性的漢字，向天下人宣告一位偉大的英國商人即將在此暫住。一場大雨隨之而來，帶來了令人愉悅的涼意，為這一天畫上句點。這一天並沒有我們原本擔心的那麼難熬，要知道在這個季節，這已經是很難得的了。

CHUNGKING TO BRINE WELLS RIVER 7