IN QUEST OF FLOWERS 39 



The hamlet of Hsin-tientsze, alt. 5600 feet, consists of one 

 rather large house. It is built on a slope a few hundred feet 

 below the summit of the ridge, and from the front of the house 

 a wonderful view of the surrounding country is afforded. 

 Nothing but mountains as far as the eye can range, and 

 not 20 square yards of level ground in sight ! Our quarters, 

 though cramped, were, all things considered, fairly comfortable, 

 and were as good as could be expected in these wilds. 



The next morning we made an early start in order to cover 

 the 60 li between Hsin-tientsze and Mao-fu-lien. Immediately 

 on leaving we traversed an old wood especially rich in species 

 of Maple. Davidia and Beech are also common, whilst the 

 interesting Cornus sinensis occurs sparingly as a thin tree 

 60 feet tall. Pinus Armandi is present, but Conifers generally 

 are very scarce in this particular locality. 



We meandered around the mountain-sides, by a tortuous 

 ascending path, until we reached a gap in the ridge and crossing 

 over made a breakneck descent of a couple of thousand feet. 

 A new kind of Poplar, having the young foliage bronzy-red, was 

 common on all sides, and in the descent I gathered Primula 

 violodora, Rhododendron Augustinii, Acer griseum, and a pink- 

 flowered Staphylea, the last two both small trees. The most 

 interesting find, however, was a new Hydrangea {H. Sargentiana) , 

 a shrub 5 to 6 feet tall, with stems densely felted with short 

 bristly hairs and large, dark green leaves with a velvety lustre — 

 in foliage alone this species is strikingly handsome. 



At the foot of the descent we came upon small woods of 

 Pinus Henryi, a tree averaging 60 feet in height, more or less 

 pyramidal in shape, with bark usually rough and black, but 

 sometimes red in the upper parts. The cones vary considerably 

 in size and are retained on the tree for several years. In the 

 valley near the Pine woods there is considerable cultivation. 

 Walnut trees are common and Cunninghamia abounds. 



Leaving this valley, a long but fairly easy ascent led to the 

 top of another ridge, and a precipitous descent brought us to 

 another narrow valley. These ascents and descents were most 

 fatiguing and occurred with exasperating frequency every day, 

 and several times a day at that. Another climb of over 2000 

 feet and we reached our destination for the day, finding 



