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[[underlined]] Chapter XIV. [[/underlined]] 308. 

particularly uneasy over his continued absence.
     Next morning, October 20th, the village headman told us that the delegation of protest were still in Ta T'ung, and would remain there until they had seen the magistrate, who was said to be away on a visit to the Yun Kang grottoes. The latter statement, incidentally, also explained Mr. T'ung's failure to return at the time that we had agreed upon. 
     About 9:30 a.m. Kuang-lien and I ascended the plateau on horseback and rode to its northern end, where it was crossed by the Great Wall (pl. 42, fig. 2). The latter we found much eroded and worn down. Here also, as already stated, it was a [[underlined]] terre pisée [[/underlined]], reinforced in places with unhewn boulders but without any regular stonework or masonry. It seemed to follow pretty closely the brink of the plateau. The country beyond, to the north---toward Mongolia---was a tangle of deep ravines and rocky treeless hills; while that visible in the distance on the west seemed rather more open, though the gorge through which passed the railway (see pp. [[strikethrough]] 300 [[/strikethrough]] ^[[269]] [[underlined]] sq. [[/underlined]]) must always have been impracticable for bodies of mounted men. 
     We then rode southward over the plateau, to the grave-mound of the Grand Empress Dowager, Wên Ming, which we still hoped to excavate. On ascending this, we found its summit, especially about the cairn already mentioned, covered with rough flat stones; while others like them, undoubtedly dislodged and washed down by the rains, projected here and there from the sides of the tumulus. The peasants who dogged our steps (whether simply from curiosity or to see that we did no digging) told us that long ago the entire structure had been covered with such stones; but that most of them had disappeared through various agencies. 
     We now returned to the village for lunch. As we rode down I saw