52 A NATURALIST IN WESTERN CHINA 



under cultivation, but is now abandoned and covered with 

 grass and coarse herbs. Around the hut a httle Medicinal 

 Rhubarb and much Tang-shen was growing, telling of former 

 plantations of these and other medicines. The country on all 

 sides is very steep and much cut up, but stark decaying tree 

 trunks, the sole remnants of former forests, mar the beauty 

 of the landscape on all sides. 



We reached Wapeng (alt. 8400 feet) fairly early in the 

 afternoon, and the men were busy till nightfall collecting fuel 

 and rigging up a bamboo shelter beneath which to pass the 

 night. The day had been gloriously fine and the night proved 

 equally so, with a distinctly frosty nip after sundown. A 

 roaring fire made things look cheerful, and everybody was in 

 the best of health and spirits. The sides of the hut were airy 

 and the wind played about one all night. The roof was 

 partially wanting and afforded a good view of the starry 

 heavens above. It was a lonely place, yet one felt peculiarly 

 happy and glad to be privileged to visit a region so remote from 

 the world in general. 



There was no difficulty in getting the men up next morning, 

 and we were off just as the sun's rays broke over the landscape. 

 Dark mists obscured the view for an hour or so, but as the sun 

 rose these disappeared and we enjoyed another gloriously fine 

 day. A steep and precipitous, nay breakneck, descent of a 

 1000 feet brought us to a narrow well-wooded valley, walled 

 in by forest-clad mountains. The Silver Fir does not descend 

 more than 500 feet from Wapeng, below which its place is 

 taken by Hemlock Spruce. This Spruce is not plentiful, but 

 giants 100 feet tall by 12 feet in girth occur. The forests as 

 we descended quickly become of mixed character, and finally 

 conifers completely disappear. The variety of trees and 

 shrubs was astonishing, and nearly all the more interesting trees 

 of western Hupeh were to be found and in quantity. Maples 

 are particularly abundant, and I gathered specimens of a 

 dozen species in flower. Four species of Rhododendron occur 

 scattered, but not in quantity. On rocks in places an 

 interesting orchid {Pleione Henryi) abounds and was one mass 

 of flowers. The Davidia is fairly common, and the curious 

 Euptelea Franchetii and Tetracentron sinense are the commonest 



