terraces below, where it revealed its
sterility at a glance, we commonly
found within the cave a prepared
section of the floor debris anywhere
from one to twenty feet in thickness,
awaiting our inspection. This meant
a vast amount of time and labor
saved for the Expedition, which in
consequence was able to proceed with
greater speed and yet with full as-
surance that no likely chance had
been overlooked. In short, the Expe-
dition is beholden in a variety of
ways to the kindly and industrious
cave dwellers of Szechuan.
DISCOVERIES
The extent of our exploration may
be summed up briefly as follows: we
navigated the Yangtze for a distance
of a little more than 230 statute miles
and made excursions on foot up various
of the tributary valleys and into the
back country totaling at least an equal
distance. This, it will be understood,
was in addition to the ordinary daily
task of cHmbing about from cave to
c;i\(' rnciiiL!, diicctly on tlic liver. Of
major l;iiu lings, that is, such stops as
involved actual examination of shore
features, there were recorded, in all, 122;
and the greater number of these were
confined to the fifty-mile stretch com-
piising tlie Gorges proper. By way of
accomplishment, we examined 367
caves and shelters, of which 139, or
38%, were, or had lately been, in-
habited. Notice was taken also of the
presence and position of 316 additional
caves and shelters, many of which like-
wise gave proof of modern occupation.
The results, so far as evidence of Palaeo-
lithic man was concerned, proved,
contrary to lingering expectation, ab-
solutely negative; and of Neolithic
man we obtained in the caves only
doubtful traces.
The investigation was not, however,
confined entirely to the caves. At the
very start of our cruise we discovered
on the left bank, at the village of
Kulowpei, what had been either a
workshop or a settlement of Neolithic
date. Most probably it was a \'iUage
and quite likely the direct ancestor of
Kulowpei itself. Coming upon the
place at the low water season, we found,
at the base of a thirty-foot bluff, a
gently sloping foreshore, nearly 100
yards wide and 600 yards long, hteraUy
strewn with worked stone implements
such as hammers, grinders, axes,
chisels, hoes, and scrapers, and broken
pottery. The prehistoric relics, un-
fortunately, were largely mixed with
brickbats and debris of all kinds from
the present settlement on the bluff
above; so that while we were able easily
to gather about 150 genuine old axes,
we could not distinguish in all cases the
ancient and the modern pottery.
This discover}^ became a clue as to
what sort of archaeological remains
might reasonably be expected all the
578
NATURAL HISTORY
Ancient Yangtze River village. — The Kulowpei roadstead, in the flatlands twenty miles
below the Gorges. It was here on the l^ank directly beyond the boats that we found abun-
dant traces of a Stone Age settlement
way up the river; and while it was
pursued under protest and as a last
resort, we at no time neglected it. The
result was that we observed and col-
lected remains of this culture at
numerous points from the beginning to
the end of our river cruise. Most of
our finds, as already stated, were made
Collection of L>roken and unfinished axes,
scrapers and hammerstones gathered within
the space of a few square yards at the
village of Kulowpei
on the surface, either along the river
banks or above in the adjacent fields;
but we did discover two undisturbed
deposits of culture-bearing debris which
gave us a partially correct idea of what
traits belonged to the true Neolithic
inventory. One of these accumulations
filled a small rock cavity (too small for
habitation), which we excavated and
which proved stone tools and wheel-
made pottery to have been, in part,
contemporary. The other site was an
open-air deposit exposed by a gully and
revealing a thickness of nearly eighteen
feet. Composed mainly of clay wash
from the hills above, this section
was nevertheless noticeably stratified,
showing throughout streaks and lenses
heavily charged with ashes and char-
coal, fish and animal bones, traces of
human bone, as well as considerable
amounts of worked stone and broken
pottery. Though the great mass of
refuse seemingly implied a consider-
PREHISTORIC MAN OF CENTRAL CHINA
579
able time duration, unfortunately,
there were no appreciable changes from
bottom to top in the character of the
artifact materials such as might have
been expected. This view is, however,
subject to modification because, with a
farm house standing on top of the site,
we had to be satisfied with a merely
superficial investigation.
CONCLUSIONS
These archseological finds, it must be
emphasized, were all made on or very
near the Yangtze River. Search in
the back country to the south produced
nothing decisive. It is true that we
have the two artifacts brought out by
Mr. Granger; likewise that in three
places I picked up on the surface single
fragments of foreign rock material
bearing evidence apparently of human
workmanship. But over against these
doubtful and alleged discoveries may
be cited the fruitless examination, first,
of miles upon miles of cultivated fields
and minor stream banks; second, of a
respectable number of caves and rock-
shelters; and, third, of the debris
hoisted out of more than one hundred of
the Pleistocene fossil pits. The indica-
tions all favor the view that Neolithic
man, who certainly inhabited the
Yangtze valley proper, was such a late
comer that he did not have tmie to
penetrate, at any rate, certain parts of
the hinterland before he was overtaken
by his metal-using successor, presum-
ably the Chinese of early historic
times. In other words, it would appear
that the forest-clearing process begun
with stone axes in late prehistoric
times, perhaps three to four thousand
years ago, is the process still being
carried forward by the present agricul-
tural population.
It would take too long here to explain
adequately the scarcity of prehistoric
remains in the Yangtze Gorge country.
There are, however, plausible reasons
enough, such as the comparative rugged-
ness and impenetrability of the country,
the scarcity of game, and above all the
nearly complete absence of flint and
other rock substances especially suit-
able for the production of tools and
weapons. Caverns, as such, were no
special attraction to primitive hunters
at any time or place except during
extremes of cold, — and Szechuan is
semi-tropical. Even Neolithic man in
these parts preferred shelters of his
own construction, and it is only in
recent centuries, perhaps owing to
the increasing scarcity of timber, that
the Chinese farmers and fisherfolk
have taken to the caves.
The results of this Central Asiatic
Expedition survey of the Yangtze
River Gorges, while in one sense dis-
appointing, are nevertheless both inter-
esting and illuminating. Being first
reports on the locahty, they are
naturally of prime importance for
archaeological science. They show
that prehistoric man played a very in-
conspicuous role in this territory, that
he was not a cave dweller, not a hunter,
but a woodsman and agriculturist, and
that he arrived upon the scene, prob-
ably by boat, at a time not long prior
to the introduction of the potter's wheel.
They suggest, moreover, than Palaeo-
lithic man, the true hunter, either
never reached the heart of China, or
else that the forbidding character of
the environment kept hina out of this
particular region. Of thes etwo alterna-
tives the second is of course the only
safe one to embrace for the present;
for not until the reconnaissance has
been carried farther west, well up into
the Tibetan highlands, can we safely
exclude Palaeolithic man from this
corner of Central Asia.
A Houseboat on the Yangtze
By ETHELYN G. NELSON
WHERE but a few years ago
ten thousand junks sailed the
Yangtze, carrying freight and
passengers over more than 1500 miles
of waterway, today many steamers,
large and small, are performing these
offices, and the more picturesque native
boats are rapidly disappearing from the
river. So it was with some difficulty,
and only after a search of two weeks,
that we were able to secure one for a
trip such as had been planned for the
archaeologist of the Central Asiatic
Expedition during the winter of 1925-
26. At last, just as we were beginning
to despair, we came suddenly upon the
very boat for our purpose and, after the
inevitable amount of bargaining, found
ourselves in possession of a floating
home. It was not really a houseboat,
merely a freight boat wdiich had re-
cently discharged a cargo from up
river and whose captain was looking
around for another to take back.
Our vessel was not large and the
personnel, including the captain and
crew and the five members of our
personal staff, mmibered twenty-two.
Nevertheless, when we were all settled
down in our respective billets we were
scarcely more crowded than in a small
New York apartment, and we had a lot
more fun. True, we had to learn not
to bump our heads on the ceiling beams
of our special compartment, but a few
hard knocks taught us to be cautious.
Mr. Nelson and I occupied the center
of the boat, with our servants and the
captain at the stern and the crew out in
front; and although there was no
outside passage we were not troubled
by any use of our quarters. When it
was necessary to pass from one end of
the junk to the other the boys simply
.580
ran over our roof. Their own sec-
tions had no permanent roof, being
covered with large mats which were
only drawn over at night or when the
weather was bad.
On the Yangtze the men who tow
such boats as ours are called "trackers."
The path they follow is sometimes
down near the water's edge, at other
times so high up on the face of a cliff
as to appear from below like a mere
pencil mark. Often among the
bowlders it is so indistinct as to be
almost invisible and again it is a real
highway paved with stone. Our
trackers were mostly mere boys or
very young men. They were dressed
in the scantiest of cotton clothing in
spite of the winter season, and in some
cases this was so covered with patches
that the original garment had well-
nigh been lost sight of. Some wore
straw sandals, others were barefoot.
Such insignificant details, however, had
Httle power to quell the abundant good
spirits of these boys. When the boat
tied up they usually began skjdarking
on the beach, regardless of the fact
that they had been running for miles,
often plunging into the icy water
stark naked to free the rope from
troublesome rocks. They were equally
prompt to retrieve a duck which had
been shot on the water or to dive for a
lost article. We grew very fond of
them, as well as of our genial captain,
whose soft persuasive voice would have
coaxed renewed efforts out of the most
stubborn of boatmen — or extra dollars
from the pocket of the reluctant
foreigner. Only once did we see him
lose his temper, when he applied terrific
epithets, which fortunately we did not
understand, to the first mate, during a
.4 IinrSEBOAT OX THE YANGTZE
581
The "Fairy Bridge," scene of our first anchorage
serious struggle to pull the boat over a
difficult rapid. The mate himself
jumped up and down in his wrath and
displayed all the sjanptoms of an
apoplectic fit. However, neither seemed
to cherish any grudge after the incident
was over.
But my special pet on this expedi-
tion was Hsi-tze, the cabin bo}^ — a
chubby, rosy-faced youngster of about
nine years, who was certainly the most
important member of the crew next to
the captain. From morning until
night his name was being called from
one end of the boat to the other and
was always responded to with a cheery
"Hi!" as he scrambled over the roof,
mop in hand, or rushed to get the cap-
tain's pipe and fill it, taking a few puffs
to see that it was well lighted before
handing it over. At times he even went
on shore and took a turn at pulHng on
the rope, while at hoisting the sail or
handhng an oar, he was as lusty as any,
joining in the \'igorous chantey and
stamping his feet with the best of them.
Our cruise started where the flat
country which borders the Yangtze
582
NATURAL HISTORY
River all the way from Shanghai rises
into hills a few miles below the city of
Ichang and the really picturesque
region begins. The first night's anchor-
age was most appropriately at the
Fairy Bridge — a natural arch spanning,
as it were, the gap between the
monotony of the plains and the
splendor of the Gorges. Of course we
did not proceed at night, even the
steamers do not do that in this part
of the river, and the charm of our mode
of travel resided largely in the fact
that we stopped wherever fancy or
business demanded. A wave of the
hand to the captain and in less than
five minutes we were running over the
gang-plank and beginning a scramble
up the hillside toward a cave or a
temple, while the crew scattered along
the river bank and sought for any of
those curious rocks of which they soon
learned that the archaeologist was
particularly fond.
They learned this, I may say, almost
at the outset of our trip. We had
stopped to buy some supplies at a
village. Mr. Nelson never missed an
opportunity to look the ground over, so
even though the prospect did not look
very favorable, we strolled along the
shore to examine the bowlders with
which it was strewn. Soon we were
excitedly picking up the fragments of
stone axes scattered every where, later
to discard these and replace them with
the better specimens which a longer
search revealed. Children of the village
joined in the hunt, bringing to us at
first any sort of rock, but shortly
learning to discriminate, and in the
end so surrounding us that we had no
chance to do anything and were obhged
to take refuge in the boat. We never
found another place so rich in speci-
mens as that, but it served as an
excellent object lesson for our boys.
who seemed to enjoy hunting there-
after and were greatly delighted when
a piece of their finding was pronounced
ding hao (very good) by the master.
Christmas Day found us at Ichang,
a thousand miles from the mouth of
the river and only a few miles below the
entrance to the famous Yangtze Gorges.
We were so fortunate as to receive an
invitation from Mr. and Mrs. Squire
of the China Inland Mission to join
them at an excellent Christmas dinner,
just another of their many kindnesses
which did much to make our river trip
comfortable and happy. And I should
like to remark right here that if it were
not for the missionaries in China the
way of the foreigner would be very
much rougher than it is at present.
They extended many courtesies to us
at various points on our journey.
Ichang, viewed from a distant hill or
from the river, presents a very attrac-
tive appearance. Its white houses with
gray tiled roofs follow the curving fine
of the beach and face a series of pyram-
idal peaks on the opposite shore. But
to walk its narrow, dirty streets, be-
sieged by awful-looking beggars, pos-
sibly passing the body of some poor
person who has given up the struggle
and is callously left lying where he fell
— these things make one want to run far
away to some cleaner country where
people have sensibilities and hearts.
The river was very low at that time, and
the foreshore was covered with the tem-
porary mat houses which the natives
occupy until the rising of the water in
the springtime compels them to retreat
cityward again. Many sampans lay
along the water's edge to carry pas-
sengers out to the steamers at anchor
in deeper channels, and the harsh cries
of their owners soliciting trade made
the night hideous. So we were glad
when we were able to move on up river.
A HOUSEBOAT ON THE YANGTZE
583
Snow lay on the hills for a day or two
and we had to light our brazier in the
evening to keep our feet warm. Usually
we found our little cabin very comfor-
table with only the heat of the lantern
by which we read. Our boys kept the
sheet-iron kitchen stove stuffed full of
wood from morning until night and as
this was very near it served to warm us
also. These boys we had brought from
Peking — they were in fact a part of the
regular Expedition staff of servants for
Mongolia so they knew our require-
ments and looked after our needs
punctiliously. Sha cooked our meals
well and Wang served them with as
great care as if we were in our own
home, deploring the ragged tablecloth,
a relic of Mongolia, but insisting on
giving us finger bowls. We took along
a sufficient stock of canned goods and
in addition it was possible to buy
chickens, eggs, and vegetables at almost
every village. Little meat except pork
could be obtained, this being the princi-
pal form of flesh eaten by the China-
man when he is able to vary his chiefly
vegetable diet. Oranges and pumalos
were also plentiful along the river.
There had been much talk of bandits
before we started, and of soldiers who
would not hesitate to take a shot at us
if they felt in the mood. On several
occasions we were warned by the
captain to have our guns ready, some
of the villagers having reported bad
men in the vicinity. Mr. Nelson
thereupon laid his pistol within reach
when we went to bed, but I do not
think that either of us was sufficiently
impressed by the danger to occasion
loss of sleep, except that caused by the
excited conversation of the boatmen,
who. apparently sat up most of the
night looking for trouble. We were
never at any tune molested, though we
were necessarily obliged to carry with
This beautiful colored temple lies opposite
the town of Yun-yang-hsien
B9!
H
m^
2^ J,
l^^jjf^'i
pF
Hf
•fl^^*'*'
^.;
â– ^/
Every farm has its shrine befoi'e which
incense is burned to insure success for the
crops
1^
Caves, with their mysterious nooks and
crannies suitable for installing images of the
gods, are favorite places for Buddhist temples
US a considerable sum of mone}^ to
keep our outfit running. It is only fair
to say that we were under the protec-
tion of what we called our "river god,"
an inscribed tablet which stood on a
shelf in front of the captain's small
584
NATURAL HISTORY
We spent more than a week in the twenty-
four mile Wushan Gorge, the longest and
finest of the Yangtze Gorges
cabin behind our kitchen and before
which incense was burned on occasion
— presumably when we were in danger
of a bandit raid or about to cross a
difficult rapid.
Travelers in junks do not look with
great favor upon the steamers which
are continually passing, and we were
no exception to the rule. They raise
enormous waves as they plough along
and toss the small boats around un-
mercifully. Sometimes as many as six
passed us in half a day. If our little
vessel was lying by the bank, the boat-
men had to exert every effort to keep it
from being smashed against the rocks.
So when we saw a steamer struggling to
make a difficult rapid we did not feel
toward her the brotherly sympathy
which the situation seemed to demand.
On the contrary we chuckled as she
snorted fire from her smokestack and
made awful noises with her engines.
Once we had the satisfaction of being
able to lend some of our own trackers
to assist a steamer over a bad place.
We did not, however, let our vindic-
tiveness carry us to the point of being
glad when one of these larger vessels
was actually wrecked, as occurred
several times during our short sojourn
on the river, once just the day before
we reached the scene.
Sunset on the V;u]gUe tiansforms the
river from a yellow turgid stream into a
gUstening bronze mirror
Proceeding through the Gorges
slowly as we did, we lost none of their
grandeur or beauty. Long vistas
opened up before us which we could
enjoy to the full before we had com-
passed their length. Anchored at the
base of some towering cliff, our small
boat shrank into insignificance, and we
could only restore self-confidence by
climbing high up the steep walls to
increase our perspective. The season
was too late for the semi-tropical
foliage to be at its best, but there was
still the delicate loveliness of the bam-
boo groves, while clusters of graceful
palms shaded the small wayside shrines
or marked an ancient tomb. Occasional
bushes of brilliant red enlivened the
dull gray or brown of the rocks, and
wherever the farmer could get a foot-
hold on the slopes, or find a bit of soil
in which to drop seed, patches of vivid
green testified to his industry. Some-
times a cave high upon the hillside
had a stream of water flowing from it
which cascaded over moss}'^ stones to
join the river. Black and white lime-
stone ridges rose in fantastic peaks and
spires and afar off on some pinnacle the
gleaming walls of a temple standing
against the sky seemed to tempt the
first high wind to blow it from its
perch.
A HOUSEBOAT ON THE YANGTZE
585
Everyday was washday along the river, but
at Wan Hsien the women were particularly
active
These temples, which occur at
frequent intervals along the river,
serve other purposes than merely to
ornament the landscape. Their chief
end is to keep the river dragons from
wrecking the boats, and if you pay
tribute in passing, your safety is
assured. One day we chmbed a verj'-
long and steep stairway of man}^,
many stone steps to reach a small cave
in the %dcinity of a temple. Contrary
to the usual experience, no one seemed
to be around collecting coppers to
placate the gods, and we got back to
the boat with our funds intact. Some
time in the middle of the night we
were roused by shouts from the bank,
followed b}^ a few sharp words in the
voice of our interpreter. In the morn-
ing we learned that the "priests" had
heard of our ^dsit and had come down
to exact a fee for enhsting the aid of the
gods on our behalf, but as our boys re-
fused to disturb us they withdrew,
muttering ominously, "Well, we have
warned 3'ou." That we suffered no
inconvenience from this can onh' be
attributed to the fact that our own gods
were more powerful than theirs.
Other guardians of the temples were
more vigilant. One man had a unique
device for collecting money, consisting
of something like a butterflj^ net
This steamer came lu gnei in trjnng to
avoid running do^^^l a junk the day before
we reached the spot
attached to the end of a long bamboo
pole. He stood on the rocks b}^ the
side of the river and as soon as a boat
came within reach he thrust this
receptacle over the side for a contribu-
tion. Later we climbed up to his
temple, quite an imposing one situated
in a large cave and furnished with
many Buddhas, and he regaled us with
tea and sweetmeats. Adjoining the
main bod}^ of this temple, a large
image of the Buddha carved from the
living rock has a lamp continually
burning before it and is quite black
from the oil which has been poured
over its head by man}' generations of
worshippers.
On our long walks over the hills and
through the side valleys we encountered
a good man}' of the country people,
who looked upon us as curiosities
though they were always good-natured
and ready to exchange ideas on the
sUghtest encouragement. Our means
of communication was chiefly the sign
language, but it is astonishing how
much one can put over in this waj' when
he has to. If they sometimes got the
idea that Mr. Nelson's stone imple-
ments which he tried so hard to explain
to them were merely his special brand
of "medicine," no harm was done and
we parted friends. The women were
586
NATURAL HISTORY
especially interested in the things I
wore, almost undressing me in their
eagerness to see how my costume was
built up, and taking off my hat to look
at my hair. It is possible, that on
account of my feet thej^ may have
doubted my being a woman, since they
themselves were hobbling about on
little stumps, even those who were
carrying heavy burdens or working in
the fields. At times we were invited
into their homes. On one occasion we
were treated to hot popcorn and our
pockets filled with sweet potatoes. At
another time it was the home of a
fisherman and his wife, who lived in a
cave. This man said that his family
had occupied that same cave for more
than a hundred years. The furnishings
were of the simplest type imaginable.
On a raised portion of the rock floor
at the back, mats were spread for a bed.
The front part of the cave contained a