UP THE SAIKING SHAN, OR "DRY PRAYER-BOOKS MOUNTAIN"

Attempt to Cross over among the Unconquered Lolos — Broken Roads and Bridges — Romantic Ravine— Wading — One Survivor out of Tv^enty-Five — Stupendous Vertical Walls — Deciding which way to Climb Saiking — Priest, Proprietor and Mountain Guide — Rock Amphitheatre Three Thousand Feet High — Herd of Cattle — Lily Precipice — Fairy Bridges — Up a Knife Edge — Then Ladders — Parklike Top — Rough Temple — Temple History — Rhododendron Thicket — Grinding Maize to Keep Warm — Cessation of Heat — Women Anchorites.

第八章

登上賽經山（Saiking Shan，"乾經山"）

嘗試穿越至未被征服的洛洛人（Lolos）地區——崩塌的道路與橋樑——浪漫的峽谷——涉水而行——二十五人僅一人存活——雄偉垂直的岩壁——決定哪條路攀登賽經山（Saiking Shan）——祭司、山主與向導——三千英尺高的岩石圓形劇場——牛群——百合懸崖（Lily Precipice）——仙橋（Fairy Bridges）——沿著刀刃而上——接著是梯子——如公園般的山頂——簡陋的寺廟——寺廟歷史——杜鵑叢林——磨玉米取暖——酷熱的消退——女性隱士

August 17. — Still pouring and impossible to make a start up the mountain with our laden coolies, apart from reports of broken-down bridges and impassable torrents. From the summit of the cliff yesterday evening we had noticed a raft ferrying passengers across the Tung to the Lolo country, so we set out with the camera hoping to utilise the enforced delay and gain some interesting photographs. The path led along the bank of the Golden Stream and over rocks lying in the water which had fallen from the cliff above. But, after scrambling and partially wading some distance, at the risk of falling into the roaring torrent, we had to give up the attempt, not caring to wade over our knees in the swift water. We turned back and crossed the river to the other bank by a suspension bridge which, unstayed by any guy lines, swayed in an alarming manner. Here we found a large temple with spacious courtyard, embedded in trees, in which were set out rows of tables at which had sat the spectators of the play on the

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previous day. All was now deserted, however, and we made the best of our way back to our hotel, where we found the river still rising, and all progress said to be impossible that day. We tried hard to arrive at particulars but could only learn of bridges swept away and roads washed out by the rains. At last we set out to see for ourselves, leaving orders to have everything packed and ready for a start at noon. We walked half a mile up stream to where was another suspension bridge : here the road had indeed been cut into by the water and the half of a row of houses with their protecting embankment had fallen in, a furious eddy undermining it still more as we crawled along in the rear of the ruined houses. Crossing to the right bank, we ascended by a very steep slippery path, bordered by fine trees, to a small hamlet where after long cross-questioning (and having no followers with us) we obtained the admission that it was possible to proceed, but that we should have in different places to wade the stream, up which our course lay, owing to the plank bridges having been carried off by the recent spate. This stream, called the Shunshui Ho, falls into the Golden River on its right bank at a spot just above the town and below the suspension bridge by which we had crossed. It flows through such a narrow chasm that, walking in the rain along the opposite bank, we had scarcely noticed it, not imagining it possible that our onward path lay up this apparently inaccessible ravine. The stream issued from a chasm only a few yards wide whose vertical walls were lost in the clouds. We returned to the inn, ate our tiffin, and, after mixture of threats and arguments, got our train off by noon, just as the weather was beginning to clear. And what a climb we had ! No wonder our laden coolies thought us tyrannical barbarians : the path was the slippery Szechuan red clay with hard rocks here and there over which small waterfalls were pouring. Up this we struggled a thousand feet or more, slipping at every step until the path turned off into the ravine, along the left bank of which it had been cut out at a height of several

122 MOUNT OMI AND BEYOND

hundred feet above the torrent. The point where we thus entered the glen was one of the most beautiful and romantic spots it is possible to conceive. The stream had cut out for itself a deep gorge and its affluents had cut out similar gorges at right angles. The view of many of these side chasms was bounded by magnificent waterfalls; at times, two waterfalls tumbling face to face and meeting in a mutual embrace. Here and there stood a patch of maize on a tiny slope, with a precipice above and another below, to which it would seem impossible for anything mortal, excepting birds, to have access. Lovely yellow lilies, pink-tipped begonias, relieved the bright green of the long grass, and dark pine forests crowned the mountain tops. This country, from Kinkou Ho westwards, was only opened to Chinese immigration in the reign of Tao Kuang, early in this century, following on the conquest of the country by the Emperor Kien Lung in 1775, when the Tibetan tribes or savages (Man-tse) as the Chinese call them, were driven back and another advance to the west was made by the ever-expanding Chinaman. Once past the neck of the gorge, our path was a fairly good one, although we were continually going up and down, as is the way in China, where no engineering labour has ventured to interfere with the ruggedness of nature. At times the road descended into the water and we had to wade past a projecting cliflf, holding hands as an additional precaution for ourselves and our coolies as we made our way slowly against the rushing stream. As the valley opened out, isolated farmsteads appeared, surrounded by patches of maize, millet and buckwheat. The hard walking in the damp atmosphere warmed me so that I was tempted to undress and wade up a side stream to where it was fed by a waterfall, and I enjoyed a delicious bath in the pure water, but carried away a vivid recollection of this idyllic spot, in legs covered with an eruption from stinging nettles and in the loss of my finger rings, which had disappeared when I got back to the spot where I had laid down my clothes. The country was •evidently not as wild and uninhabited as I had taken it to be ;

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nor was I (more's the pity) in the country of the Man-tse who never steal, though they rob on provocation.

8月17日

大雨仍在持續，我們無法攜帶負重的挑夫們出發攀登山脈，此外還有關於橋樑損壞和溪流無法通行的報告。昨晚，我們站在懸崖頂端，注意到有一艘筏子正在渡運乘客前往洛洛（Lolo）地區，因此我們帶著相機出發，希望能利用這次被迫的延誤拍攝一些有趣的照片。小路沿著金溪（Golden Stream）的河岸延伸，穿過從上方懸崖落下的岩石。有段距離我們不得不冒著掉入咆哮溪流的風險攀爬並涉水前行，但最後我們放棄了嘗試，不願意冒著膝蓋以上的深水跋涉。

我們折返，穿過一座懸索橋到達另一岸。這座橋沒有任何牽引鋼索支撐，因此晃動得令人膽戰心驚。這裡有一座大廟，庭院寬敞，被樹木圍繞，前一天的戲劇觀眾曾在這裡的長桌旁就座。然而，現在一切都已人去樓空，我們只得返回我們的旅館，發現河水仍在上漲，並且據說今天一整天都無法前行。我們試圖進一步打聽具體情況，但只能聽說橋樑被沖毀，道路因大雨而損壞。

最後，我們決定親自前往探查，並留下命令要求一切收拾妥當，準備在正午出發。我們沿著上游步行半英里，來到另一座懸索橋。這裡的道路確實已被河水侵蝕，一排房屋的一半連同保護它們的堤岸一同倒塌，而瘋狂的漩渦進一步侵蝕著剩餘部分。我們小心翼翼地爬過那些殘破的房屋後方，然後穿過右岸，沿著非常陡峭而濕滑的小路上升，兩邊是高大的樹木，最終到達一個小村落。經過長時間的交談（此時我們沒有追隨者在旁），我們終於得知可以繼續前行，但在不同地方需要涉水，因為木橋已被最近的洪水沖毀。

這條溪流名為順水河（Shunshui Ho），從鎮上上游的懸索橋流出，匯入金溪（Golden River）。它穿過一條只有幾碼寬的峽谷，垂直的岩壁直插雲霄。在雨中沿著對岸步行時，我們幾乎沒有注意到它，無法想像我們的前進之路竟然要穿過這條看似無法通行的狹窄峽谷。溪流從一個狹窄的裂縫中湧出，垂直的岩壁在雲霧中消失。

我們返回旅館，吃了午飯，經過威脅和說服的混合策略，終於在正午，趁著天氣開始放晴時，出發了。一段艱難的攀爬開始了！難怪我們的挑夫覺得我們是專橫的野蠻人：小路是濕滑的四川紅粘土，其間還有堅硬的岩石，小瀑布正從岩石上傾瀉而下。我們沿著這條路艱難地攀爬了一千多英尺，每一步都打滑，直到小徑轉入峽谷，沿著溪流的左岸被切出一條高出湍流幾百英尺的小路。

我們進入峽谷時，眼前是一處無法想像的美麗而浪漫的地點。溪流雕刻出了一條深深的峽谷，而它的支流又以直角切出類似的峽谷。許多側峽谷的景色都被壯麗的瀑布所圍繞，有時兩條瀑布正面相對，水流在空中交織擁抱。某些地方可以看到斜坡上種植的小片玉米地，上下皆是懸崖，似乎除了鳥類之外，無人能夠到達。

金色的百合花、粉紅邊緣的秋海棠，點綴著長草的翠綠色，松林覆蓋著山頂，景色令人沉醉。這片地區自金口河（Kinkou Ho）向西，在道光（Tao Kuang）年間才被開放給漢人移民，此前是清乾隆（Kien Lung）在1775年征服此地時將藏族部落（Man-tse）趕回後實現的。在越過峽谷的頸部後，我們的小路變得相對較好，儘管仍然不斷上上下下，這是中國的典型道路，從未有工程干預自然地貌的崎嶇。