140 A NATURALIST IN WESTERN CHINA 



of yellow, and other coloured flowers. The head of the pass 

 is marked by a ruined tower and fort, from the summit of which 

 Thibetan prayer-flags waved. That robbers still haunt these 

 regions was brought home to us by the sight of a partially 

 covered coffin near the head of the pass. A few weeks before, 

 a poor coolie, bound towards Lungan Fu to purchase rice, was 

 attacked here, robbed, and killed. The bandits got clear away. 

 The coolie's " pai-tzu " (a framework for carrying loads on) 

 and various appurtenances lay on top of the coffin and remain 

 to tell the story of the crime. All around are grassy areas, 

 covered at the season of our visit with blue and yeUow alpine 

 flowers. 



At the head of the pass small boulders of sandstone, marble, 

 granite, and other rocks lay scattered around. Just below are 

 beds, which resemble coal-ashes, probably of volcanic origin. 



From the pass we dropped down into a valley which quickly 

 led to fields of golden wheat and barley. The crops were 

 ripening, and here and there the reapers were busy. Passing 

 a ruined fort, several Sifan farmsteads, and a lamasery, the 

 road led to the summit of a grassy ridge. Descending a few 

 hundred feet we sighted the city of Sungpan nestling in a 

 narrow, smiling valley, surrounded on all sides by fields of 

 golden grain, with the infant Min, a clear, limpid stream, wind- 

 ing its way through in a series of graceful curves. In the 

 fields the harvesters were busy, men, women, and children, 

 mostly tribesfolk, in quaint costume, all pictures of rude 

 health, laughing and singing at their work. Under a clear 

 Thibetan-blue sky, the whole country bathed in warm sun- 

 light, this busy scene of agricultural prosperity gladdened the 

 hearts of all of us, fatigued and exhausted as we were from the 

 hardships of our j ourney through savage mountains with their 

 sublime scenery and wonderful flora. 



