FOREST AND CRAG 51 



the crop and ruined the country-side, causing a general exodus 

 of all the people. Nature is fast reclaiming the whole region, 

 but re-afforestation is a slow process. 



Nearing the head of the pass we entered large timber — 

 a fragment of the virgin forest, composed exclusively of 

 Silver Fir and Birch with a dense undergrowth of Rhodo- 

 dendron. The last named comprise four species — R. Fargcsii, 

 R. maculiferum, R. sutchuenense, and R. adenopodum, most 

 of them bushes 10 to 20 feet tall, their flowers making one 

 blaze of colour. The Silver Fir and Birch trees are of huge 

 dimensions, but none was fruiting. On emerging from this 

 patch of forest we entered a rolling moorland covered with 

 Bamboo scrub which merges gradually into areas clad with 

 the dwarf Juniper, coarse grasses, and herbs, amongst which 

 a species of Onion was abundant. This moorland extends 

 across the rounded saddle of the range and for several miles 

 down the other side. The crest of the saddle I made 9500 feet 

 altitude, and from this point we obtained a fine view of the 

 series of bare, savagely jagged peaks from which the range 

 (Sheng-neng-chia) takes its name. The highest peaks prob- 

 ably exceed 11,000 feet altitude, and the lower slopes are 

 forested, but the country is not attractive. Animal life is 

 remarkable for its absence, and hardly a bird was to be seen. 

 The solitude which reigned in this remote, inaccessible region 

 was broken only by the noise of rushing waters and the low 

 whining of the wind amongst the tree-tops. In shady places 

 blocks of ice still remained, and about the head of the pass 

 the grass was only just beginning to show green. Save for an 

 alpine Primula and a Dandelion no flowers of any sort were 

 to be seen. 



On crossing the pass we again entered Hsingshan Hsien, 

 and after wandermg across moorland for a few miles a short 

 steep ascent led us across a lateral spur into Patung Hsien. 

 From this point a precipitous descent of 2000 feet brought us 

 to a ruined and deserted hut at a place called Wapeng, the 

 only accommodation the country-side affords. In the descent 

 we passed hundreds of curious rock-stacks — bare blocks of 

 shale standing erect, with acute edges, like gaunt sentinels 

 guarding the neighbourhood. The mountain-side was formerly 



