198 A NATURALIST IN WESTERN CHINA 



cowslip {Primula sikkimensis) , P. involucrata, Anemone, Caltha, 

 Trollius, and various Compositce luxuriate on all sides, and the 

 glades and marshy places were nothing but masses of colour. 

 The men who were in front of me saw several troupes of 

 monkeys and some Eared-pheasants, but I saw no animals and 

 very few birds. 



We camped near the tree-limit, at about 12,000 feet altitude, 

 and erected a small hut of spruce boughs under a large Silver 

 Fir tree. My Boy preferred to pass the night in his chair, 

 and the men arranged themselves around a log fire. The 

 neighbourhood has an evil reputation for highway robbers, 

 but we felt sure there was smaU possibility of any attack on 

 us being made. It rained a little during the day, and a sharp 

 shower fell in the early evening, but the night proved fine. 

 The altitude, however, affected our sleep ; it was also very 

 cold, and we were all glad when morning broke. My dog 

 suffered as much as any of us ; he refused to eat his supper, 

 and I never saw him so utterly miserable. The coolies looked 

 a most woebegone crowd, shivering with cold and generally 

 wretched. They seemed to have no idea of making themselves 

 comfortable ; it would have been a simple matter for them to 

 have rigged up a shelter of spruce boughs, but they were too 

 indifferent to do this or even to collect firewood. We brought 

 with us from Kuei-yung, as guide, a Thibetan, and it was he 

 who got together all the wood required for a fire. 



There was a slight frost and a heavy dew, but the sun, 

 which rose like a ball of fire, soon warmed us and dispersed the 

 dew. The road is of the easiest, winding through timber and 

 brush alongside a small stream, up to within 1000 yards of the 

 head of the Ta-p'ao shan Pass, where the ascent becomes 

 steeper. It is, however, only the last 500 feet that make 

 any pretence of being difficult. Above the place where we 

 camped the Conifer trees rapidly decrease in size. Larch 

 becomes more and more abundant, and ultimately forms pure 

 woods. It overtops every other kind of tree, and extends up 

 to 13,500 feet altitude. Just below the limits of the Larch a 

 dwarf Juniper appears and ascends to near the head of the 

 pass. The scaly-barked Silver Fir [Alies squamata) ascends 

 to 12,500 feet and two species of Spruce to 13,000 feet. This 



