246 M. Kovanko’s General View of the Environs of Pekin. 
stored my strength. A kind Providence seems to have thrown 
some seeds of that tree into a fissure of the altar expressly to 
alleviate the fatigues of the traveller. With the exception of 
this mulberry tree, there was not a single plant to be seen in 
that enclosure. 
While I was resting myself, the guide astonished me by his 
fool-hardiness. The abyss over which the mountain projects 
is so deep that it is hardly possible to look down into it with- 
out feeling giddy ; but this man, careless of danger, springing 
upon the top of the ballustrade, went twice round the pla- 
teau, jumping from pillar to pillar, distant about one and a-half 
archine from each other. It made me shudder to see him 
expose himself to so much danger, but he preserved the great- 
est coolness, and I did not observe the slightest trace of emo- 
tion on his countenance. 
The view from the summit of Jn-Shan is magnificent. It 
is the most commanding point in the country. ‘Before me, 
the crests of the mountains, illuminated by the setting sun, 
stretch out like the waves of the sea; over head, is a clear 
blue sky, and in the horizon other chains appear, varying as 
much in their forms as inthe beauty of their tints. From 
this spot the view embraces an immense space—a pure and 
light air is inhaled with delight. While I am observing, a 
majestic eagle hovers so near as almost to graze my head; 
around me is the silence of the desert ; alone in the distance, 
on the flank of the mountain, a shepherd is driving his flock 
towards the plain ; and here and there rich pastures display 
their verdure. 
Water is very generally wanting in the northern moun- 
tains, and only small rivulets, formed by the moisture derived 
from the atmosphere are met with in the valleys; one of 
them takes its rise at the base of Mount In-Shan, disap- 
pears for half its course under detrital blocks and alluvia, 
to appear again as a spring near the temple of Loun-Tzouan- 
Sy. Its water is very pure, and is reckoned the best in the 
environs of Pekin. It has been dammed up for the purpose 
of turning a flour-mill with a horizontal wheel. This place is 
extremely agreeable during the summer heats. However high 
