PROCEEDINGS, 487 
towns and villages lie along its shores. Communication by boat 
is carried on at night,—the strong winds that prevail by day 
rendering navigation difficult and unpleasant. The wind usually 
abates about three in the afternoon, and navigation commences at 
_ dusk, People subject to sea-sickness thus suffer less from the move- 
ment of the boats. The largest lake in Yunnan is called i ie 
Erh Hai, a name which suggests a sea.. It is, however, but a lake, 
about thirty miles long by twenty miles broad in its broadest part. 
This lake is navigated by many boats at all hours of the day and 
night, and might also be navigated by steamers. It is fed by 
many a stream of water from the melting snow on the mountains to 
the north and west, and it is drained by two streams into the Hei 
Kiang, or Black River, flowing south into Annam. The city of 
Ta-li Fu is on its western shore. Yunnan province consists chiefly 
of an elevated plateaux some 5,000 to 6,000 feet above sea-level. 
Tt is intersected by several] mountain ranges, some of which have 
peaks of great altitude, especially those near the confines of Thibet, 
which are perpetually covered with snow. The Tsang-shan, over- 
looking the important prefectual city of AC ## /ff Ta-li Fu and Lake 
_ Erh, Lat. 25° 44 N., Long. 100° 22 E., is more or less covered 
_ with snow nine months in the year. The climate of Yunnan is 
pleasantly cool in summer, and fairly healthy, especially on the 
_ table land forming the principal portion of the province. The valleys 
: down which flow the San-tsang, the Su, and the Sung-chuan rivers, 
are, however, very warm, sultry and dreadfully unhealthy, so much 
: so that few people live in those valleys, although people, living on- 
the neighbouring heights, descend to cultivate various crops on 
the fertile slopes. The natural resources of Yunnan are great 
indeed. It produces everything necessary for the sustenance of a 
dense population, despite its present poverty-stricken appearance. 
Opium, hemp, flax, rhubarb and other drugs abound. Maize, rice, 
wheat, and other cereals are grown almost everywhere; pears, 
oranges, lemons, and other fruit, potatoes and other vegetables are 
also cultivated to more or less perfection in many different places. 
Fine oxen, excellent sheep, goats, pigs, dogs, ponies, asses, mules, 
fish, ducks, geese, peacocks and fowls, are also reared and eaten as 
