Page:A wandering student in the Far East vol.1 - Zetland.djvu/186

130 On December 5th we left Tzu-liu-ching and accomplished a march over hilly ground all day, variously estimated at figures from 90 to 112 li. My own estimate was twenty-five miles, which I covered on foot between 7.30 A.M. and 3.30 P.M. For an hour we travelled through the populous and built-over environments of the salt metropolis, and then emerged into a country marked by a series of curious circular flat-topped hills, rising above the general undulating surface of the country like the tops of tea-canisters. On the low ground great water-buffaloes plodded ponderously along, up to their bellies in water, preparing the rice-fields for sowing, while beans and sugar-cane monopolised the hillsides. At frequent intervals along the road small shrines and temples were to be seen beneath the green bows of the far-spreading banyan.

After travelling north to the small town of Chien Pai, we turned east viâ Lung Hui Chen to Yang-chia-chang, where we halted for the night. A march of fifteen miles on the following day brought us to Tzŭ Chou, on the main road once more, and on the two following days we