The Challis messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1912-current, 1923-12-19

ply stupendous.
No description can convey an ade
quate idea Of the immensely or gran
deur Of the Great Wall Of China, al
1t writhes along the mountain peak.
giving an impression of infinite power
and at the same time Of infinite calm
and peace. 1t surpasses ones riches,
expectations. The more one gazes
upon 1t the more he wonders and adj
mires, and even a thousand miles OF
travel in its mighty shadow seems In
sufficient to enable him to grasp the
proportions of this enormous barrier,
which continues its uninterrupted way
for hundreds of leagues toward the
wilderness.
Long Unnhabited Stretches.
For great stretches along the wall
there are no villages nor any signs
Of human habitations, and silence
reigns save for the occasional cry of
a high lowering eagle. No conqueror's
foot would lightly climb the slopes Of
these desolate regions, and 1t seems
indeed a useless waste to have built
a barrier where inaccessibility alone
would have insured safety.
In many places there Is a sheer drop
Of several hundred feet from the base
OF the Rampant and the terre-plein it.
self is very steep-sometimes so steep
that 1t Is necessary to be hauled up
for short distances by ropes.
The approaches to the towers are
often INSTRUCTED by huge boulders,
making it difficult to judge from dis
lance where the wall begins afid the
mountains end. They seem, indeed, to
have grown into one another.
But the traveller Is well repaid for
the hard climbing required to reach
such lonely spots. His Is the reward
of a discoverer, for few white men have
set foot before him.
1t seems unlikely that even perma-
nent Chinese garrisons were stationed
In such places. A solitary sentry
would suffice to guard long distances
in these inaccessible regions, especial
ly since we know that an elaborate
system of beacon fires was perfected
to bring reinforcements against any
point.
Now and then, in the lower levels,
a village is found leaning against the
wall, where an occasional traveller
takes shelter for the night In the guest
room Of the local Buddhist temple.
Happy is the hamlet that lies near q
river or shallow lagoon, and happy |
he passerby who halts there
The greatest drawback to the stages
n the higher attitudes Is usually tho
ack Of water for a much-deslred bath.
Wells in the heights are few and deep,
10 the peasants object to drawing more
water than Is required for the most
washing and tea making.
In some places water must be car
led from long distance in wooden
buckets on donkey back.
Along the first few hundred miles
f the wall the country folk are mis-
rably poor they wrest a living from
he stony soil with great difficulty.
But wherever there are patches of flat
and every inch is cultivated, and
|
ocky mountain slopes.
Inland the Great Wall passes near
he Ming Tombs, one of the grandest
oval sepulchers in the world Here
ung Lob Q402 to 1924 A. d., the
plendid sovereign who laid out the
Ity of Picking as Chinese capital,
as tomb which even in its decay.
,mains a marvel.
Scarcely less well known than the
ling Mausolea Is the tourist-ridden
ankow pass. This narrow deflle
sed to be and still remains to some
xtent the caravan route to Mongolia.
was first opened up. according to
gend, by the deities known as the
I've Tiger Ghosts, patrons Of artillery,
no blew passage through the rocks
It'll their cannon.
A railway which is fine feat of en-
neerlng now runs through this gorge.
i'd from the train window the lazy
the hurried traveller catches a
impse of camel caravans toiling up
road, or shaggy Mongol ponies be- I
& driven down from the plains, or,
his eyes be very sharp indeed, Of the
nous archway at Chuyungkwan
ating from 1345 A. d., with inscrip- I
ms carved in six different languages
lich so long puzzled Psychologists.
A little beyond Sopjng the two >
Dps Of the Great Wall unite near the
GLOW river, which encircles the wild !.
dos country.