222 A NATURALIST IN WESTERN CHINA 



hundreds of foreigners have ascended Mount Omei, but with the 

 exception of those of Faber and Pratt, there is no record of 

 any one having collected plants during their visits. For this 

 reason alone I hope this chapter will find justification. The 

 mountain and its temples have been well described by Baber 

 and others, and I have no desire to attempt to repeat 

 descriptions which have been made by abler pens than 

 mine. With this prelude I append the following record of 

 my visit : — 



It was on the morning of 13th October 1903 that I set 

 out from the city of Kiating intent on investigating the flora 

 of this famous mountain. Traversing the highly cultivated 

 plain, which is intersected here and there by low hills, charmingly 

 wooded, the little town of Omei Hsien (alt. 1270 feet) was 

 reached at the close of the day. The next morning, after 

 journeying 10 li across the plain along a road shaded with trees 

 of Alder and Nanmu, we reached the village of Liang-ho-kou, 

 situated at the foot of the sacred mountain. Here the road 

 bifurcates and both paths lead by different routes to the 

 summit. They are paved with blocks of stone throughout, an 

 undertaking that must have entailed a vast expenditure in 

 labour and money, but it would be impossible to traverse 

 certain of the steeper parts unless paving existed. I ascended 

 by one of the routes and returned by the other, so that I saw 

 as much as was possible of the mountain and its rich flora. 



Between Omei Hsien and Liang-ho-kou are a number of 

 truly magnificent Banyan trees {Ficus infectoria), known 

 locally as Huang-kou-shu. These trees shelter some old 

 temples and are of enormous size. I measured one, which 

 appeared to be the largest specimen ; it was about 80 feet 

 tall, and had a girth of 48 feet at 5 feet from the ground. We 

 also passed some fine trees of Oak {Quercus serrata) and Sweet 

 Gum [Liquidambar formosana) . The sides of the rice fields are 

 studded with thousands of pollarded trees of the Chinese 

 Ash {Fraxinus chinensis) on which an insect deposits a valuable 

 white wax. The ditches were gay with the spikes of cream- 

 coloured, fragrant flowers of a species of Hedychium, the 

 golden-flowered Senecio clivorum, flowers of many kinds of 

 Impatiens, and other moisture-loving herbs. 



