IV INTRODUCTION. 



The heat at the time was truly oppressive until we came with- 

 in thirty or forty rods of the mountain, when the tempera- 

 ture very sensibly changed, and a delightfully cool current of 

 air was felt setting from the mountain. As we advanced, we 

 saw quite a large stream of water issuing from a cavity in the 

 perpendicular rocks which rose above us to a great height. 

 This stream was clear as crystal and cold as ice water. The 

 temperature of the air here forcibly reminded me of a cool 

 October day at home. On examination, I found the cold air 

 proceeded from a variety of air holes on the side of the moun- 

 tain. It was a luxury to see so clear a stream of water after 

 having for a long time seen only the muddy waters of the river. 

 It was a luxury to taste water which so exactly resembled the 

 cold wells at home. It was also a luxury to find a little spot 

 in the hottest season and the hottest part of the day, which 

 defied the scorching rays of a vertical sun, and made one fan- 

 cy that he had been transported to his own climate and was 

 breathing his own pure air." 



This writer's emotions would have chastened had he known 

 that that stream, " clear as crystal and cold as ice water," had 

 been the theatre of more agonizing scenes than the muddiest 

 and hottest stream in the Provinces ; scenes that had won for it 

 the name of " Teeyang" — the Brook of Weeping. 



With some difficulty a man may enter the cave and follow 

 up the stream a few yards, but the only path is the bed of the 

 brook, and the glittering stalactites hang so low from the roof 

 that a passage is not easy. A more interesting scene awaits 

 the lover ofnature without. Immediately above the mouth of 

 this cave and stream the rocks rise as abruptly as in any other 

 locality, but the limestone has been worn by the waters of ages 

 unequally, and many masses of rock have been detached from 

 its face and fallen to the base, leaving numerous jutting pro- 

 minences, some of which are loosely held by the arms of the 

 parasitical Ficus, whose roots find a passage into every crevice, 

 and often bind together the broken iragments. With a steady 

 head, and with fingers and toes accustomed to climbing, a per- 

 son, by pursuing a zigzag course, may reach the summit at this 

 point. The fallen rocks piled up from the base, afford a very 

 practicable flight of steps above the highest tops of the gor- 

 geous red-flowered Coral trees, that throw their shadowi 



