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situated exactly north of here. When I look out of the shutter I have it exactly in front of me. Its slope to the plain is gradual, which is also the case with the whole of the mountain range. It is strange that all these mountains are so bare of trees. All the mountain ranges which you can see from here are, in the lower parts, only wooded in some places, while the rest of the range is covered with grass. The poor cover causes a shortage of fuel. Because of this, fuel is very expensive.
Concerning the cultivable land which is closed in by the sea and the mountains, this strip is only about half an hour's walk wide and just a bit more than one hour's walk long. The soil is a mixture of clay and sand, with the clay dominant. The soil is cultivated diligently but brings only mediocre returns. That is the reason why the owners of the land only have to pay a modest rate of tax. In some places the soil is sandy far inland from the sea-coast and therefore cannot be cultivated.
This little strip of land is covered with villages. One can count 12 to 13 though admittedly some consist of only a few houses. Most of them are situated near the foot of the mountain range. They are separated from each other by only short distances. Such a village is built without any plan, and totally irregularly. There is no main street that runs through the village, with houses on both sides of the street, but as roads they use tiny lanes, full of corners here and there. This fact alone must contribute a lot, apart from all other circumstances, to the filth. Similarly, in the larger villages and towns, the streets are very narrow and dirty, and the stench that is found there lets the traveller who walks through them anticipate what it might be like inside the houses. A superficial glance at a Chinese village makes you understand that what is most important to the inhabitants is for them to find a shelter against wind and rain, and that regularity, tidiness and cleanliness are very minor features of the living-quarters. Possibly they do not even feel the need for these things.
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This statement is justified by the following description
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