THROUGH THE WILDERNESS AND BY THE TUNG RIVER
第七章 穿越荒野與沿着沱江前行
Early start — Down 3000 feet — Through the Wilderness — Romantic Goddess of Mercy River — At the Thieves' Rest — Green Snake — Wild Boars — Strings of Salt Porters — Exhausted by Heat — Thanks to a Taoist Mine — Ta Wei — Plucky Pony ! — Extraordinary Steepness — Wild Mountain Inn — Once more the Tung River — Home of the Independent Lolo — Golden Gate Village — Coming from the Play — Almost Impossible Inn — Rapid Rise and Fall of Rivers.
清晨出發 — 下降3000英尺 — 穿越荒野 — 浪漫的觀音河 (Goddess of Mercy River) — 在盜賊休息站 — 青蛇 — 野豬 — 鹽運工人隊伍 — 被熱浪耗盡 — 感謝道士礦坑 — 大圍 (Ta Wei) — 勇敢的小馬！ — 非常陡峭 — 野山客棧 — 再見沱江 (Tung River) — 獨立羅羅人的家園 (Independent Lolo) — 金門村 (Golden Gate Village) — 從戲劇回來 — 幾乎無法住宿的客棧 — 河水的急速漲落
August 13. — We were favoured with a fine morning for our start which we managed to effect by half-past six, the loads having been weighed and apportioned, seventy-five pounds to each man, of whom we had eight, carrying our bedding, food, cash, and spare clothing, as well as rice for themselves. Our Hankow " boy " and coolie, the latter acting as cook, followed empty-handed, while the two tingchai brought up the rear with the camera and its stand. One of our coohes, an old soldier who had fought in the Lolo country, had armed himself with a sword, and I yielded to their earnest solicitations and inspired confidence by strapping my revolver round my waist. We thus set out, fourteen of us in single file, down the woodcutters' path which we had already traversed as far as the " White Dragon's " pool a few days before. From here on we entered Laolin, the first virgin forest we had traversed in China. Stumbling over fallen trees, down rocky beds of mountain streams, the invisible trail led on. Everything was dripping with moisture ; it became warmer as we rapidly descended ; there was not a breath of air, and the thermometer
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stood at 80°. We got wet through from within and without — besides from above and below as the priests had told us. In many places the spongy moss was a foot thick, and a thin mossy growth covered the sloping rocks and made them as slippery as ice; our porters had many falls, and cursed the Ming Yueh Ngan priest who had led us to choose this road. After three hours of really hard work we came to the belt of wild bamboo through which a narrow trail had indeed been cut, but not wide enough to obviate our having to push the stems aside at every step, the overarching branches deluging us with showers of water. The path here, though going up and down, turned southwards on a gentle incline, to contrast with our previous almost vertical descent. We longed for the open as ardently as Stanley in Darkest Africa, and kept on asking our guide : How many li more ? At last the growth became thinner, we got a sight of the sky and the wide valley into which we were descending. This was covered with jungle, uncultivated and uninhabited. At length we reached an isolated cottage called Ming Seng Chang, or the " Bright Enclosure," so called from its being the site of some ancient ironworks from which came the iron tiles with which some of the temples on Omi are still roofed ; but mining has long ago been prohibited on the slopes of the sacred mountain, and such metal tiles as the temples can still afford are made of zinc from Cheng Tu. Here the tiffin was quickly spread, our coolies by this time being adepts in taking possession of a cottage, sweeping it out, rubbing down the one table, and upon it spreading our white table-cloth, while the owners stand round helpless in open-mouthed astonishment. Meanwhile the cook has got his charcoal /ew^/w (furnace) under way, we boiled our thermometer, which the peasants are always much disappointed that we do not afterwards eat, and sat down to a most enjoyable repast ; but we dared not linger as we had yet 50 li to make good before nightfall. We found we had descended just 3000 feet. It was a most briUiant day, and we were all in high spirits at having
io8 MOUNT OMI AND BEYOND
successfully traversed the first stage of the terrible Laolin, Omi's summit towered above us with a white cloud cap on its head, but all around the sky was radiant blue, such as we had not seen it for two months past. An exquisitely fresh air swept up the valley, uncontaminated with paddy-fields or human habitations, tempering the warm but pleasant sunshine. Here, we said, we have at last found the ideal spot for a summer outing. We trudged on down the valley by a narrow path, following the course of a small burn which became a fair-sized river on the morrow, sometimes wading across it, at others climbing high up its side to avoid a precipitious gorge where the water was too swift and deep for wading. We passed a few isolated cottages, where the jungle was being burnt for the manufacture of soda or potash (chieri), but otherwise met no one. After a few miles the valley narrowed to a gorge about 5 feet in width, through which the stream now swollen into a torrent, forced its way between two magnificent lime-stone walls. Just above the gorge, at a spot called Hei Tao Pa ("Walnut Tree Bank"), we had to cross a wide ford, which delayed us some time, the laden coolies helping each other with their loads. Taking off our foot gear to keep it dry we waded across, stumbling amongst the rough boulders in the rapid water. Hence we ascended an almost perpendicular path some 500 feet up, and then came rapidly down through an everwidening valley, with steep limestone cliffs on either side, to a point where an affluent from the west (our course was south) came in, the united stream from this spot being known as the Kuan Yin Ho, or " Goddess of Mercy River." This affluent came down through a most beautiful and romantic valley which we longed to explore : lofty cloud-capped mountains, wild and grand-looking, bordered-the valley which led, we were told, to the home of the wild cattle {ngai niu, lit. precipice ox), for which these mountains are famous : they also are inhabited by tigers, white bears, wolves, foxes, monkeys, and musk-deer. An iron suspension bridge here crosses the torrent, guarded by a small temple dedicated to Kuan Yin ; this, to our regret, for we were
THROUGH THE WILDERNESS 109
tired out and had hoped for a cup of tea, was untenanted, and it was already past four. We now ascended again and, after a few miles, came to another gorge along the east side of which 3. narrow slippery path, cut out of the sohd rock some 500 feet above the torrent, led us once more into cultivated country and civilisation. The path now became a good one ofthe Chinese kind, and skirting several delightfully situated hamlets embosomed in hoangko, walnut, acacia, and bamboo, we reached the village of Lei Shih Kou (" Thunder Rock Mouth " — i.e., entrance), just as it was getting too dark to see our way. Our destination was properly the small town of Lung Ch'ih (" Dragon Pool "), three miles further, but even if we could have found our way over the intervening pass in the dark, we were only too glad to rest outside a town rather than in one. Our " boy," of course, declared against the possibility of risking our lives in such a thieves' den (as reads the Chinese nick-name), and actually went on with one porter expecting us to follow. But we were tired out, and the landlord of the village inn addressed his prayers that we should put up with him to only too willing ears. Our coolies were only too glad to set down their burdens anywhere, but our Hankow cook, who had stayed with us, implored us to go on and not allow ourselves to be lured into the thieves' rest, as he called the inn. We had our own way, however, and heartily we enjoyed a rub down and change of clothing, and the subsequent supper spread on a table in the court-yard under the stars and by the flicker of a Chinese candle. It was a most balmy night and we slept the sleep of the blessed.
第七章 穿越荒野與沿着沱江前行
8月13日
清晨六點半，我們在晴朗的天氣中啟程。行李已經稱重並分配妥當，每人負擔七十五磅的物品，包括我們的床鋪、食物、現金和備用衣物，還有挑夫們自己的米糧。我們共八名挑夫，漢口來的「小弟」和一名挑夫（後者兼任廚師）則空手跟隨在後。兩名廷差負責攜帶相機及其支架，壓陣跟隨。挑夫中有一位曾在彝族地區作戰的老兵，配備了一把劍，而在他們的再三請求下，我也將手槍綁在腰間以增加信心。
我們一行十四人排成單列，沿着已經熟悉的伐木小路下山，經過幾日前曾到過的「白龍池」。從此處開始，我們進入了老林，也就是我們在中國第一次穿越的原始森林。沿着幾乎看不見的蹤跡，我們跨越倒下的樹木，沿着岩石嶙峋的山溪而行。四周一片潮濕，溫度隨着快速下降逐漸升高，空氣中沒有一絲風，溫度計顯示為80°F。我們從內到外全身濕透，不僅因為身體的汗水，還因為上方滴落的水珠和腳下濕滑的苔蘚。苔蘚厚達一英尺，覆蓋在斜坡上的岩石上，使之如同冰面般滑溜。挑夫們多次摔倒，咒罵那位明月庵的僧人，認為是他導致我們選擇了這條路線。
經過三小時的艱苦跋涉，我們抵達一片野竹林。一條狹窄的小徑確實被開闢出來，但不夠寬敞，必須每一步都用手撥開竹枝，覆蓋的竹葉不時將水灑滿全身。這條小徑雖仍有起伏，但南行的傾斜角度較為平緩，與之前幾乎垂直的下降相比，讓人感到些許舒緩。我們如同斯坦利穿越非洲暗黑地帶一樣渴望能到達開闊地，不停詢問向導還有幾里路。
最終，林木開始變得稀疏，我們得以看見天空和廣闊的山谷，山谷布滿灌木叢，未經開墾，無人居住。最終，我們抵達一間孤立的小屋，名為「明勝場」，此地因其曾經是煉鐵場而得名，供應的鐵瓦至今仍覆蓋於峨眉山上一些寺廟之上。然而，這片聖山上的採礦早已被禁止，如今寺廟所需的金屬瓦片則由成都提供的鋅製成。
在此處，我們迅速準備午餐。挑夫們早已習慣占據小屋，清掃乾淨，擦拭桌子，鋪上我們的白桌布，而屋主則無助地站在一旁，張大嘴巴目瞪口呆。廚師忙碌地將他的木炭爐點燃，我們燒開了水，並用來測量溫度，令村民失望的是，我們並未如他們所期待的那樣「吃掉」溫度計。隨後，我們坐下享用一頓極其愉快的飯菜，但卻不敢久留，因為當天仍有五十里路要趕。
我們發現自己已下降約三千英尺。那天陽光明媚，藍天燦爛，是兩個月來未曾見過的景象。我們行進在山谷間的一條狹窄小徑上，沿着一條溪流前行。溪流在翌日變成了一條寬大的河流。我們時而涉水而行，時而爬上河邊的高地以避開那些水流過於湍急而無法涉水的深谷。我們經過幾間孤立的農舍，那裏的叢林正在燃燒，用於製造蘇打或草木灰，但未見其他人跡。
山谷漸漸縮窄成一條僅五英尺寬的峽谷，溪流在兩側壯麗的石灰岩壁之間湍急流淌。在名為「黑桃壩」的地方，我們穿越了一個寬闊的河流渡口，花費了些許時間。挑夫們相互幫助，協力運送負重。我們脫掉鞋子以保持乾燥，踏着粗糙的鵝卵石涉水而過。