96 A NATURALIST IN WESTERN CHINA 



through two market villages and stayed for the night in a 

 farmhouse i li before reaching Fu-ling ch'ang, alt. 2800 feet. 

 We purposely stopped at this place in order to escape market 

 day at the village, but did not avoid a constant crowd until 

 after dark, when the doors were closed. We found all these 

 crowds quiet and orderly enough, but a continuous mass of 

 faces, with wooden expression, blocking the doorway, obstruct- 

 ing light and air, is very trying. Immensely useful as these 

 markets are to the country-side, they have decided drawbacks 

 from a traveller's point of view. A good police force is really 

 more necessary in these villages than in the cities. The more 

 lawless element fears a Hsien (Magistrate), but has little respect 

 for a Ti-pao (Village Head-man) . Local produce is mostly in 

 evidence in these markets ; a few needles, aniline dyes, 

 trumpery odds and ends, chiefly of Japanese origin, are about 

 the only foreign goods met with. 



We saw more cotton during the day than we had else- 

 where observed on this journey, and the crop looked flourish- 

 ing. Kao-liang [Sorghum vulgare) was a common crop, but 

 rice and sweet potato again preponderated. The sorghum 

 and rice were bursting into ear. Wood Oil trees occur, but 

 are not plentiful, and commercially this crop is unimportant 

 hereabouts. Mixed with the cotton were odd plants of the 

 oil-seed yielding Sesamum indicum {" Hsiang-yu "). 



In the late afternoon we traversed country which somewhat 

 resembled that around Tunghsiang Hsien — on all sides, as 

 far as the eye could see, nothing but ridge upon ridge of low 

 sandstone mountains. These ranges average about 3000 feet 

 in altitude, those to the east and north being higher than 

 those to the west and south. The map is all wrong for the 

 region, so I could not definitely place our route. The river 

 Sheng-to, so boldly indicated, escaped us, though we should have 

 crossed it had the map been correct. The market villages 

 passed were smaller than heretofore, very filthy and stinking, 

 yet most charmingly situated on the neck of low ridges, and 

 well shaded with trees. Camphor trees are very common, 

 and "Pride of India" trees [Melia Azedarach) particularly 

 abundant. The stage said to be 70 li proved very easy, the 

 weather being dull and cool. 



