1850.
Topography of Shensi.
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II. The department of Tungchau comprises the eastern part of the province at the junction of the rivers Wei and Loh with the Yellow river, and was set off from the preceding in consequence of its extent; the position of the chief town renders it an important place. In the district of Tungkwán, is the celebrated pass of that name, where the R. Wei forces its way through a gorge in the mountains as it joins the Yellow river, the heights on the south being a spur from the Tsin- ling, and on the north from the hills at the sharp bend of the Yellow river. Both this and Síngán fú rank among the most populous and fertile districts in China.
III. The department of Fungtsiáng lies on the confines of Kán- suh, northwest of Sí-ngán; the chief town is situated on the Yung-
shwui★, a branch of the R. Wei, and the whole department is fertile and populous in a high degree. Falcons are trained for the chase by the inhabitants, and the hills afford a large variety of game. IV. The department of Hánchung lies in the southwestern corner of the province, along the headwaters of the Hin, and is one of the most mountainous regions of Shensí. The chief town is situated at the junction of the Páu-shwui with the Hún kiáng, and most of the towns are found along one or other of these rivers. One of the most remarkable features of the region is the great national road from Peking to Chingtú fú in Sz'chuen, which runs from Si-ngán across the Tsin-ling into the valley of the R. Hán. It has been carried over high mountains, whose sides have been scarped down to afford a pathway, and across gorges of terrific height by bridges of sufficient strength to afford passage to large carriages or trains. It has been opened many centuries, and by those who have traveled it is pro- nounced not inferior to the road over the Simplon, though the eleva- tion is not so great. These mountains furnish musk, wax, honey, cinnabar, and peltry; game is abundant, and the bears' paws obtained by the hunters are considered by Chinese epicures a great luxury.
V. The department of Hing-ngán lies east of the preceding, and south of Síngán, occupying the southeast of the province; like Hán- chung, it is very rugged, but the bottom lands are fertile, and afford sustenance to a large and hardy population. The mountains through- out the whole extent of the valley of the R. Hán are famous in the civil wars of China for the resort they afforded to chieftains and rob- bers, and this department in particular, was the scene of many fights in the declining days of the Chau dynasty, the capital being the chief town of the Tsin state; it was also the residence of an emperor of the Han dynasty.
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