SACRED OMEI SHAN 221 



left to the tender mercies of the elements is a huge bell which 

 stands 54 inches high and is 120 inches round the middle. 

 On the edge of the cliff are two bronze pagodas, each about 

 12 feet high, and the remains of a third, which formed 

 part of the ancient temple. It is a saddening sight to gaze 

 around on these most interesting relics so ignominiously 

 neglected. 



From the summit of Mount Omei, when the sky is clear and 

 clouds of mist float in the abyss below, a natural phenomenon 

 similar to that of the Spectre of the Brocken is observable. I 

 have never seen it myself, since rain fell almost continuously 

 during the week I spent on the summit, but it has been described 

 as a " golden ball surrounded by a rainbow floating on the 

 surface of the mists." This phenomenon is known as the 

 " Fo-kuang " ( = " Glory of Buddha ") . Devotees assert that it 

 is an emanation from the aureole of Buddha and an outward 

 and visible sign of the holiness of Mount Omei. The edge of the 

 precipice is guarded by chains and wooden posts, but pilgrims 

 in a state of religious fervour have been known to throw 

 themselves over on beholding the Fo-kuang. From this cause 

 the point is called the " Suicide's Chff." It is the highest and 

 most vertical part of the precipice, which extends in a nearly 

 southerly direction for a couple of miles. 



The first foreigner to ascend this famous mountain was 

 the late E. Colborne Baber, who visited it in July 1877, ^^^ 

 whose incomparable and accurate account of this region has 

 never been equalled.^ Unfortunately Baber paid little or 

 no attention to the flora, nor did the equally distinguished 

 traveller and writer Hosie,* who ascended Omei shan in 1884. 

 It was not until 1887 that any plants were collected on this 

 mountain. In that year it was visited by a Rhenish missionary, 

 who was also an industrious botanical collector — the late Dr. 

 Ernst Faber. During a fortnight's stay this enthusiast made 

 a most interesting collection; which was found on critical 

 examination to contain no fewer than seventy novelties. In 

 1890 an English naturalist, Mr. A. E. Pratt, visited the moun- 

 tain and collected a few plants. Since Baber's visit many 



^ Royal Geographical Society, Supplementary Papers, vol. i. 



* Sir Alexander Hosie, K.C.M.G., H.B.M.'s Consular Service in China. 



