Page:A wandering student in the Far East vol.1 - Zetland.djvu/158

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CH'UNG-K'IN TO TZU-LIU-CHING.

I Ch'ung-k'ing on November 27, dismounting from the confinement of my chair as soon as the city gates were passed. The roads of Ssŭch'uan are of their kind the best in all probability in China, but they are not ideal from any point of view. They are narrow ways paved with stone, which in mountainous districts become stone staircases. This at once puts the possibility of wheeled transport out of court and accounts for the prevalence of chairs throughout the province. The hardness of the stone is apt to produce foot-soreness in the pedestrian, while riding on such material is but a poor amusement.

After leaving the city we plunged into