NOTES AND QUERIES
155
as it stands though I have changed the position of a few sentences dealing with the gate in order to put all description of it in one paragraph. The words in italics are editorial additions. As mentioned elsewhere in this number, Mr. Schofield died in December, 1968, I did not have the benefit of discussing the note with him. Ed.
This wall commands the path from Kowloon Tsai to Kowloon City, at the top of the pass which rises about 150 feet above the plain by Kowloon City: i.e. it faces due East. It runs on the North, up the hill, and curves slightly to North West for the last 15 yards of its length. At its highest, it is quite 80 feet above the path. On the South it descends the hill for only 30 feet or so, and is very ruinous.
Nearly all of it is built of 'chunam',* laid on in layers 5 inches or so thick, and with a coping of the same material which is ridged - not rounded. The wall rises in 'steps', following the hill slopes, and keeping an average height of 10 feet. The middle of the wall is sometimes hollow; this hollow, where seen, being 2 or 3 inches across, and having thin slabs of granite in it.
Twenty yards East of and behind the gate on the path, at the top of the pass is a screen wall (to keep out devils), of rough polygonal blocks mortared with 'chunam' and plastered over. It is 30 inches thick.
The gate itself is of granite slabs mortared together, a massive buttress each side and a platform on top. This is narrow; the floor is two thicknesses of granite slabs. The wall of 'chunam' runs across the top of the gate, and is 6 feet high. The main wall is quite 30 inches thick. The gate has holes for 7 wood bars, square at the bottom (for 'earth') and round at the top (for 'heaven'). The gate measures 6 feet through the masonry, and the granite blocks are large and well squared, the whole thing very massive. Steep steps lead up on the right of the gate to the platform. The earth for 3 or 4 feet outside the gate is held up by a granite retaining wall for 4 feet outwards from gate.
On each side of the gateway this wall is pierced by a low, square loophole lined with blue bricks, suited only for a musket
* E. C. Bridgman's Chinese Chrestomathy in the Canton Dialect (Macao, S. Wells Williams, 1841) p. 204 has this description of Chunam, "Chunam is an Indian word for lime, but in China it is applied to a mixture of lime and oil, used for caulking boats and junks; the mixture of lime, sand and oil, which is so commonly used in this country for floors and walks instead of a pavement is called Fúi Shá, or sanded lime." Ed.
NOTES AND QUERIES
155
as it stands though I have changed the position of a few sentences dealing with the gate in order to put all description of it in one paragraph. The words in italics are editorial additions. As mentioned elsewhere in this number, Mr. Schofield died in December, 1968, I did not have the benefit of discussing the note with him. Ed.
This wall commands the path from Kowloon Tsai to Kowloon City, at the top of the pass which rises about 150 feet above the plain by Kowloon City: Le. it faces due East. It runs on the North, up the hill, and curves slightly to North West for the last 15 yards of its length. At its highest, it is quite 80 feet above the path. On the South it descends the hill for only 30 feet or so, and is very ruinous.
Nearly all of it is built of 'chunam”,* laid on in layers 5 inches or so thick, and with a coping of the same material which is ridged - not rounded. The wall rises in 'steps', following the hill slopes, and keeping an average height of 10 feet. The middle of the wall is sometimes hollow; this hollow, where seen, being 2 or 3 inches across, and having thin slabs of granite in it.
Twenty yards East of and behind the gate on the path, at the top of the pass is a screen wall (to keep out devils), of rough polygonal blocks mortared with 'chunam' and plastered over. It is 30 inches thick.
The gate itself is of granite slabs mortared together, a massive buttress each side and a platform on top. This is narrow; the floor is two thickness of granite slabs. The wall of ‘chunam' runs across the top of the gate, and is 6 feet high. The main wall is quite 30 inches thick. The gate has holes for 7 wood bars, square at the bottom (for ‘earth') and round at the top (for 'heaven). The gate measures 6 feet through the masonry, and the granite blocks are large and well squared, the whole thing very massive. Steep steps lead up on the right of the gate to the platform. The earth for 3 or 4 feet outside the gate is held up by a granite retaining wall for 4 feet outwards from gate.
On each side of the gateway this wall is pierced by a low, square loophole lined with blue bricks, suited only for a musket
* E. C. Bridgman's Chinese Chrestomathy in the Canton Dialect (Macao, S. Wells Williams, 1841) p. 204 has this description of Chunam, "Chunam is an Indian word for lime, but in China it is applied to a mixture of lime and oil, used for caulking boats and junks; the mixture of lime, sand and oil, which is so commonly used in this country for floors and walks instead of a pavement is called Fúi Shá, or sanded lime. Ed.
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