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THE TSING-LING AND OTHER RANGES. 187
THE TSING-LING AND OTHER RANGES.
The central highlands about the head-streams of the Hoang-ho are still lofty
enough to supply alluvial deposits which may some day convert the Archipelago of
Japan into an Asiatic peninsula. Extensive ranges rooted westwards in the
Tibetan plateaux form the water-parting between the Hoang-ho and Yang-tze
basins, and these are succeeded farther north by other less elevated chains forming
the outer scarp of the Mongolian terrace lands.
The main range, which may be regarded as an eastern continuation of the
Kuen-lun, is separated from the Kuku-nor highlands by the deep gorge of the
Upper Hoang-ho. South of Lanchew-fu this range takes the name of Siking-
shan, and is here broken by the valley of the Tao-ho, an upper affluent of the
Yellow River. But east of this point its snowy peaks stretch away to the south of
the deep valley of the Wei-ho, where it is known as the Tsing-ling, or " Blue
Mountains." In the upper valley of the Han, north of Hanchung-fu, this section
is crossed by passes practicable throughout the year for mules. The pass chosen
by the naturalist Armand David, in the winter of 1873, is 6,300 feet high, and
runs along the west side of the famous Tapei-shan, whose snowy crest has an
extreme elevation of from 12,000 to 13,000 feet, while Richthofen assigns a mean
altitude of 6,500 feet to the main range. In its central section the Tsing-lin g
consisting of granites and old schists, is so difficult to cross, that travellers
generally prefer to turn its eastern extremity through one of the depressions which
here separate the great bend of the Hoang-ho from the valley of the Han, a
tributary of the Yang-tze. Northwards the Tsing-ling terminates in the granite
mass of the Hoa-shan, which overlooks the triple confluence of the Hoang-ho, the
Wei-ho, and Lo-ho, over against the imposing Fungtiao-shan, traditionally said to
have been separated from it by an earthquake.
Like the Pyrenees, which they resemble in their general aspect and elevations,
the Blue Mountains form a parting line between two vegetable and animal domains.
The chamcerops palm grows only on the slopes, but on the north side the paulovnia,
catalpa, and magnolia are found intermingled with the spruce and oak. Here also
flourishes the red birch, while a species of rhododendron attains the proportions of a
tree. Some of the woodlands still harbour a few carnivora, and the northern and
southern fauna are represented by several species, among which are the chamois, ante-
lope, monkey, and a wild ox protected by religious scruples from the native hunters.
The parallel treeless ridges of the Funiu, which form an eastern continuation
of the Tsing-ling, attain here and there an elevation of over 6,500 feet, but their
mean height scarcely exceeds 2,600. Like the Tsing-ling, they form a parting
lino between the Hoang-ho and Yang-tze basins. In a single day the traveller
passes from one region to another, presenting the greatest contrasts in soil,
climate, vegetation, and even in the appearance, habits, and speech of the inhabit-
ants. In the south the crops are endangered by a superabundance of moisture, in
the north by prolonged droughts.
food, on the other maize, wheat, and millet.
On one side rice is the staple of agriculture and