Some people estimated that there were 1,000,000 soldiers in the province. This I consider too high; Somewhere between three and four hundred thousand would be nearer the mark, But even that figure is obviously out of all proportion to a province of 11,000,000 Inhabitants, the three rivers, the Yellow, the Wes and. Lo running through' it and Joining up, From the temple the path runs south along a narrow ledge With a perpendicular cliff on one side and a.precipice on the other and then suddenly comes to a fend. The only way on is straight up the face of the cliff by steps cut In the rock for about twenty feet, 0 to the path which starts again' im~ mediately above. This Is the famous As one has two chains to hang on to, it is quite a simple matier and not half so dreadful as it looks from below. At a temple I was surprised notice that the altar cloth, a piece colton print, was printed with Russian writing. It would be me teresting to know what it says. The priest in charge did not know how it had come there, indeed he was quite unaware that it was anything but a form of decoration.
The next thrill is the "Azure Dragon Ridge" (Tsanglungling), a steep, ascent up steps cut in a razor-back ridge, reputed to be the most danger~ ous part of the whole route, And Indeed, if you are at all lable to get dizzy, it is as well to keep your eyes rigidly glued to the path and not look to right or left. The steps fare narrow here and the rock falls away sheer for hundreds of feet ea doth sides and Is quite bare, thus affording a very vivid idea of what will happen to you, if you do miss your footing.
The Central Peak presents nothing of interest and can scarcely be called 8 peak at all: nor would it probably have been s0 called but for the demands of symmetry. From here ore descends and then ascends by a nat= row and dizzy ridge to the East Peak from where one obtains a striking view south of the sharp and] precipitous summits of the range._
There are about 250,000 of the North-astern Army; Yang Hu-cheng has another 50 to 70,000 braves of his own; while there are said to be two Central Government divisions along the Kansu and Szechuen borders The Young Marshal and his army have been moved about from pillar to post ever since they lost Man churia: first to Ichang, then to Han-Kow and now to Shensi, This me vasion of the Northeastern Army is almost like a foreign immigration, for it moves not merely as an army, but as an independent population. When travelling on the Lung-Hai Railway T saw whole trains piled high with its household goods and chattels, not to mention motor cars in which sat the ladies of the army. These soldiers have settled ike a horde of locusts on the country and enjoy a very bad name among the peasantry on account of their ox-actions.
'The Northeastern Army presents quite a' problem for the Nanking Government, which probably nccounts for the way it has been pushed about from one province to another, The best, one supposes, would be, if it could be disbanded, bout this naturally does not appeal to that army itself, which, composed as itis of the old Manchurian armies, is very donnish and holds Armly''together, and still remembers the good old days when they lorded Manchuria, And as they are well armed and attached to their old leader, an attempt to disband them forcibly would be a very danerous job.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.