174 Mr. J. D. D. La Touclie on the 



their innate rapacity, proved always accurate in the informa- 

 tion they gave me on the natural history of the country, 

 never once attempting to deceive me with false statements. 

 One or two of them were first-class field-naturalists. 



Since Pere David's visit, the conditions of the country 

 about Kuatun have been altered ; the hamlet is no longer 

 surrounded by thick forest, and for some years the slopes 

 above and near the village have been planted with tea and 

 bamboo. Thus the rarer forest-loving birds, that formerly 

 were often seen close to the village, have retired to the 

 undisturbed woods, and the hunters are now obliged to walk 

 over miles of difficult country to find what, 25 years ago, 

 could be obtained a stone's throw from Kuatun. The 

 common necessaries of life are still just as difficult to 

 procure as ever. The mountains produce only tea, bamboo, 

 a little Indian corn, and the few coarse vegetables grown 

 about the village are barely sufficient for the needs of the 

 inhabitants. A few pigs, chickens, and dogs are the only 

 domestic animals — cattle, goats, cats, ducks, geese, and 

 pigeons being unknown. Rice and all other provisions 

 have to be brought from places a day's journey or more 

 lower down. 



We remained 51 days at Kuatun, and the weather during 

 most of our stay was miserably wet. Only about 14 days 

 altogether were free from rain, nearly all the fine weather 

 occurring about the middle of April. The temperature 

 during the twenty days' rain in that month was generally 

 very low, the thermometer indoors seldom showing more 

 than 50° Fahr. In May there was a marked rise of the 

 temperature, but we had almost daily rains and thick mists. 

 It appears that this was an unusually wet season; but, so far 

 as we could make out, it rains at Kuatun during at least six 

 or seven months of the year. The autumn months are fine, 

 but in the winter there is plenty of snow and ice. 



Bi'oadly speaking, the country may be roughly divided 

 into four classes of land : — 1st, the cleared ground; 2nd, the 

 forest ; 3rd, the grasslands ; and lastly, the stunted damp 



