CHUNGKING,* under present conditions of foreign residence there, is at no time a desirable place to pass the summer in. In 1892, to the perennial drawback of confinement in a low-roofed Chinese house, situated in what is stated to be the most closely packed hive of Chinese humanity in the Empire, was added that of a severe epidemic of cholera. Every morning the streets were blocked with funerals, and coffins seemed to form the staple article of trade, all other business stagnating for the time. Attempts to make an afternoon's constitutional promenade outside the walls were frustrated by the pervading odour of freshly made graves, which were being daily squeezed in between the crowd of old graves, covering every foot of the surrounding hills for a radius of some miles, the dead far outnumbering the living. As the ground is sandstone rock, bare in many places, in others lightly clothed with thin soil supporting a poor weedy grass on which browse numerous half-starved cattle, the new graves are little more than coffins hidden by a scanty covering of graveyard mould filched from the surrounding tombs. Of the old graves many are empty, while in others gaping skeletons are exposed to the light of day. In the steamy windless atmosphere peculiar to Szechuan such conditions do not favour the dissemination of ozone, and amply suffice to account for the lassitude and general ill-health of the foreign residents at this season. We ourselves found country walks yield us little more than a change of unpleasant odours, and came to the conclusion, none too soon, that if we were not to succumb to the "weediness" which was steadily lowering our vitality, we must make an effort and place ourselves outside the encircling ring of grave mounds and, if possible, attain an altitude where the air is not in that state of stagnation which is its constant condition at Chungking.

重慶（Chungking），在當前外國人居住的條件下，無論何時都不是度過夏季的理想之地。1892年，除了長期困於低矮的中國式房屋，該房屋位於被稱為全帝國人口密度最高的區域外，又遭遇了一場嚴重的霍亂疫情。每天早晨，街道被葬禮隊伍阻塞，棺材幾乎成了當地的主要商品，其它生意則因疫情而陷入停滯。試圖在下午進行城牆外的散步，也因四處瀰漫的新墳墓氣味而無法進行。這些新墳墓日復一日地被安置在舊墳墓間，密密麻麻地佈滿了方圓數英里的丘陵，每一寸土地幾乎都被墳墓覆蓋，死者遠遠多於生者。

由於此地的地質為砂岩岩石，許多地方裸露無土，有些地方僅覆蓋著薄薄的土層，支持著稀疏的雜草，僅供幾隻瘦弱的牲畜啃食。新墳墓大多只是在薄薄的一層墓土下掩藏的棺材，而墓土是從周圍的舊墳中取來的。許多舊墳墓已空無一物，另一些則露出了骷髏，白骨暴露在日光下。這些情況在四川特有的潮濕悶熱的無風環境中，並不利於臭氧的生成，足以解釋當地外國居民在這個季節的倦怠和普遍的健康不佳。我們自己也發現鄉間的散步僅僅讓我們體驗了不同的難聞氣味，並使我們迅速得出結論——若我們不想被這片陰鬱的氛圍吞噬，逐漸耗盡體力，就必須下決心將自己移出這座環繞的墳墓群，並設法登上一處海拔較高的地方，因為在重慶（Chungking）那股一成不變的滯悶空氣中，沒有絲毫流通的跡象。

*Chungking, the chief trading town in the province of Szechuan, on the Yangtze river, 1,500 miles from the sea, is the furthest point as yet reached by steamers.

重慶（Chungking），位於四川省，是長江沿岸的主要貿易城鎮，距離海洋約1,500英里。這是蒸汽船目前能抵達的最遠點。

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It is true that on the opposite bank of the Yangtze we have plenty of high land rising at once to a height of 1000 feet above the river level—itself some 600 feet above the ocean; and that cool nights and a day temperature 8° to 10° lower than that of the city are to be had on the summit. But to reside there, one has only the choice between a poor farmhouse with mud floor, shared with the pigs and poultry, or a damp close room in a temple, generally crowded with visitors in the summer season. Even these amenities are only grudgingly accorded to the foreigner, and those of our residents who have tried them do not care inclined to repeat their experience. Of course, a bungalow in a clearing amidst the pines, dwarf oaks and azalea bushes, with which the higher ridges are covered, would form a charming retreat from the filth and discomfort of the city; but the amiable Chinese officials conscientiously oppose any such amenities as are not provided for in the treaty, and so were not then to be thought of. Hence, to obtain fresh air the only plan is to take up one's staff, and—in the words of the passport furnished by a compassionate Government to "Yang ren"—"roam and pass on," availing oneself of such shelter as the numerous wayside inns scattered along the great highways afford. In the by-ways one is often dependent on a chance farm-house or village temple, which, though generally poor and rough and ill-furnished with food at the best of times, yet affords an agreeable respite from the all-pervading dirt of the inns and the insatiable curiosity of their inmates—both two-legged and many-legged.

長江對岸確實有許多高地，立刻便可升至約1,000英尺的高度，這本身就比海平面高出約600英尺。在山頂處，夜晚涼爽，日間溫度也比城內低8至10度。然而，要居住於此，選擇卻極為有限：要麼是地面鋪滿泥土的貧寒農舍，須與豬和家禽共享；要麼是在潮濕閉塞的寺廟房間，且通常在夏季擠滿遊客。即便這些有限的設施也僅勉強允許外國人使用，而那些曾試圖在此地居住的外籍居民，往往不願再度重蹈覆轍。

當然，若能在松樹、矮橡樹和杜鵑叢生的高地間清理出一片空地，建造一座小平房，便可遠離城內的污穢與不適，成為一個理想的避難所。但可親的中國官員秉持職責，嚴格禁止任何不在條約規定範圍內的設施，故此類設想在當時難以實現。

因此，為了呼吸到新鮮空氣，唯一的辦法便是依靠手杖，按照仁慈政府為「洋人」提供的護照上所言，「漫遊並繼續前行」，借用沿大路上隨處可見的路邊客棧作為落腳處。至於小道上的農舍或村廟，儘管通常條件簡陋，食物供應也貧乏，但相比客棧中無處不在的污垢，以及客棧內外「兩條腿的」與「多條腿的」住客的無窮好奇心，這些農舍和廟宇也頗為讓人感到舒心。

The nearest highlands, meaning by that term anything over 5000 feet, easily accessible from the sacred mountain of Omi, situated in the Kiating prefecture, about one hundred and fifty miles west of Chungking as the crow flies. These form the outermost western buttresses of the Thibetan plateau, at the foot of which extends the great red basin of Szechuan, whose red sandstone waves are bounded by and break, as it were, against the towering cliffs of Omi. One thus passes suddenly from the steaming plain (if one may so call its rugged sandstone hills by comparison) of Szechuan to the breezy heights of the mountains, which extend unbroken to the Himalayas, and far beyond—mounting this great natural wall by an artificial staircase of some 20,000 slippery limestone steps. Once there one is in a paradise of Nature, seasoned by the romance of history, the traditions of Buddhism at the time when it was a living, growing faith, and the aesthetic results of this vitality, which have survived in the innumerable ruins of a glorious past, which still decorate the mountain. But to get there entails a land journey of fourteen days, or a boat journey, rowing against the July current of the swollen Yangtze, of at least a month. Neither route is attractive in the dog-days, even apart from the risk of sun-stroke; but failing a railroad to take us there in three or four hours, or a carriage-road by which one might drive there in three or four days, we fall back on the time-honoured sedan-chair, and prepare ourselves for a fortnight's discomfort in anticipation of a month or more of healthful enjoyment afterwards. How our anticipations were fulfilled is shown in the following daily record of our progress.

距離最近的高地，若指海拔超過5,000英尺的地區，便是位於夔亭府的峨眉山（Omi），這座聖山距離重慶（Chungking）以西約一百五十英里。這些高地構成了西藏高原最西端的屏障，山腳下則延伸著四川廣闊的紅色盆地，其紅砂岩的波浪仿若撞擊在峨眉山巍峨的絕壁上。由此便能從四川那蒸騰的平原（以比較而言，或可將其崎嶇的砂岩丘陵稱為平原）躍入群山的涼爽高地，這片高地綿延不斷，直通喜馬拉雅山脈乃至更遙遠的地方——這段攀登的過程是一條人工開鑿的石階小路，全長約20,000級滑溜的石灰岩階梯。

一旦抵達，便身處大自然的天堂，這裡蘊藏著歷史的浪漫，昔日佛教鼎盛時的傳統，以及那段生機勃勃的信仰所遺留的美學成就。無數壯麗的廢墟見證了這段輝煌的過去，至今仍點綴著峨眉山。但前往此地需經歷十四天的陸路行程，或是在盛夏的長江湍流中逆水划行至少一個月。無論選擇哪條路徑，都不適宜於酷暑天，即便不考慮中暑的風險也是如此；但若沒有一條能在三四小時內將我們帶到那裡的鐵路，或一條可讓人駕車三四天抵達的道路，我們只得選擇古老的轎子，並準備忍受兩周的不適，期待之後的數月清新健康的享受。我們的期待是否成真，將在以下的每日行程紀錄中呈現。