THROUGH THE LAOLIN (WILDERNESS) 231 



rather steep ascent of 500 feet from Liang-ch'a Ho we crossed 

 a narrow ridge and descended to the market village of N'gan 

 ch'ang. This is a poor place, partly in ruins, situated on 

 the right bank of the stream which unites with the Ya Ho, 

 2 li above Che-ho-kai. On leaving N'gan ch'ang we ascended 

 the right bank of the stream to Pao-tien-pa, alt. 2600 feet. 

 This scattered hamlet possesses no inn, but we found quarters 

 in a schoolhouse devoted to the " New Learning " {i.e. 

 Western Knowledge). A scholar from this place had recently 

 gone to Japan to increase his store of knowledge, and the 

 dominie was very proud of this success. This hamlet boasts 

 a ruined pavilion, a temple, and a stone gateway, evident 

 signs of former prosperity. 



During the short journey of 25 li the road led through 

 fields of rice, bounded by wooded knolls and sandstone 

 bluffs. The flora was of little interest ; Idesia polycarpa and 

 Kalopanax ricinifolium are fairly common in places, but the 

 trees are of small size. Alongside the ditches and roadway 

 the handsome Lycoris aurea abounds, and the golden-yellow 

 flowers with recurved, wrinkled, perianth-segments made 

 a gay display. Its red-flowered counterpart, L. radiata, also 

 occurs, but is much less frequent. The local name for this 

 plant is " Lao-wa-suan," which signifies " Crow's foot Onion," 

 a very apt term in so far as the shape of the flower is con- 

 cerned. 



The following day was fine but hot, and more or less 

 cloudy. With only 35 li to cover, we journeyed slowly after 

 making an early morning start. A moderately steep ascent 

 of 15 li brought us to the summit of the Tsao shan, alt. 

 4100 feet. This ridge is covered with an uninteresting jungle 

 of coarse grass and scrub, with odd trees of Chinese Fir, but 

 in the ascent I gathered specimens of a fine new species of 

 Castanopsis. 



From the summit of Tsao shan we obtained our first view 

 of theWa-wu shan, an extraordinary-looking massive mountain, 

 singularly like Wa shan in contour, resembling a huge ark 

 floating above clouds of mist. Following an easy path which 

 led through fine woods of Evergreen Oak, Nanmu, and 

 Castanopsis we descended to Ma-chiao-kou, where there is an 



