136 A NATURALIST IN WESTERN CHINA 



many-coloured waters is presented. Some are clear azure blue, 

 others creamy white, pink, green, purple, and so on. The temple 

 is called " Wang Lung-ssu " (Temple of the Dragon Prince), 

 and it is fitting that the Sifan, children of nature as they are, 

 consider the place holy. Near the temple the waters have built 

 up a wonderful series of waterfalls, and every fallen tree and 

 bush obstructing the waters is speedily encrusted with lime. 

 Above the temple the stream is fully 80 yards wide, and the 

 bed is creamy white with soft encrustations of lime, the ripple 

 marks being beautifully defined. These lime-deposits extend for 

 a mile or two and present a most striking scene. 



From the bed of this stream, a short distance above the 

 temple, a fine view of the snow-clad Hsueh-po-ting is obtain- 

 able. The face visible carries but little snow, and immediately 

 below the glaciers are wonderful cliffs of red-coloured rock. In 

 contrast the colour-effects are most remarkable. There was 

 said to be another temple some few li higher up towards the 

 snows, but I was too fatigued to visit it. 



All around Wang Lung-ssu are fine forests of Spruce, Silver 

 Fir, Birch, with miscellaneous trees and shrubs. In the 

 vicinity of the lime -deposits the trees look very unhealthy, 

 many are bleached and dead, others yellow and dying. From 

 the vegetation it is evident that these lime-deposits are recent 

 and spreading rapidly. A few Rhododendrons occur on the 

 margins of the stream and in the woods, but are not happy. 

 Right by the water's edge I gathered Arctous aipinus, var. ruber, 

 a tiny alpine shrub with red fruit closely allied to the Blueberries, 

 and found also near the glaciers in British Columbia ! This 

 pretty little plant, only some 4 to 6 inches high, is quite common 

 hereabouts, but had not before been recorded from China. 

 Near the tarns Cypripedium luteum, a yellow-flowered counter- 

 part of the North American Moccasin flower (C. spedaUle), 

 is very abundant. (Later I succeeded in introducing live roots 

 of this species to the Arnold Arboretum, where plants are now 

 growing.) 



The forests of this immediate neighbourhood are rich in fine 

 Spruce trees, 80 to 150 feet tall and 6 to 10 feet in girth, with 

 short branches producing a spire-like effect, are characteris- 

 tic of the region. The Silver Fir are less noteworthy, but, like 



