194 A NATURALIST IN WESTERN CHINA 



from Chango, until he stumbled and gave me a ducking. After 

 this I waded. There was no traffic on the road so called, and 

 I marvelled how my coolies managed to get their loads along. 

 Our chairs were carried piecemeal and even then with difficulty 

 over the worst places. The river was a roaring torrent through- 

 out the whole day's journey, in places really awesome to be- 

 hold, dashing itself headlong over enormous boulders, or boiling 

 as if forced up by some malignant spirit. In many places our 

 path actually overhung this torrent, and one false step meant 

 death. 



About 10 li above Tung-ku the river makes a right-angled 

 turn and is joined at this point by another stream of almost 

 equal volume from the westward. From this place the road 

 skirts the river through a narrow, savage, magnificently 

 wooded ravine. Maple, Ash, Hornbeam, Birch, Poplar, 

 Hemlock Spruce, and Prickly Oak are the chief constituents 

 of these woods, followed by Evodia, Rhus, Cypress, Willow, 

 Elm, Sallowthorn, Bamboo, and miscellaneous shrubs. The 

 Maples {Acer Davidii and A. pictum, var. parviflorum) are 

 larger trees than I have seen elsewhere. The Ash and Horn- 

 beam are all fine trees, and the Hemlock Spruce in many cases 

 over 100 feet tall, with a girth of 12 to 15 feet. 



On leaving this magnificent fragment of virgin forest the 

 country became less interesting. Where the cliffs are not sheer 

 and bare the mountain-slopes have been cleared to a very 

 large extent. The ravine widens into a narrow valley which is 

 covered with scrub. The cliffs and mountain-slopes high up 

 are sparsely clad with Cypress, White and Hard Pine, Spruce, 

 Silver Fir, and Hemlock. The scenery is subhme. 



We passed very few houses and these of the meanest 

 description. Very little land is under cultivation ; Maize 

 is the chief crop, with patches of wheat and oats here and 

 there. The country is not suited to cultivation, and one mar- 

 vels how the few people living there manage to find even the 

 most miserable subsistence. Yesterday we noticed herds of a 

 small breed of cattle. The people are shorter in stature than the 

 average, and perfectly proportioned dwarfs are fairly common. 

 Since leaving Monkong Ting, goitre has been manifest among 

 the inhabitants, and in this river-valley it is very prevalent. 



