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SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 78 



the edge across the top of that cHff, with only a foot or more of dirt 

 and some small bushes between me and the precipice. Later the road 

 leads a long way on the edge of a narrow ridge, on each side a sheer 

 precipice of thousands of feet. In one spot the path is about 3 

 feet wide, and I think a little less. It took all the grit I had to cross 

 that place, and I'd hate to attempt it in rainy weather when the rocks 

 are slippery. There is one place where there is no place to get a foot- 

 hold, and the precipice is bridged by poles placed side by side, under 

 the bridge is a chasm that one does not like to look at. To cap the 

 climax, near the top are long ladders. It is practically perpendicu- 



FiG. 35. — Part of a retreating army (the whole army numbered tens of 

 thousands of soldiers), being ferried across the river at Chien Way, near 

 Kiating, by a steamer to which small Chinese boats are tied. (Photograph 

 by D. C. Graham.) 



lar at these points, and without the ladders no one could reach the 

 top." He writes further : " We are in the only building on Washan. 

 a tumbled-down temple that will leak badly if it rains. There is no 

 one living in this temple or anywhere on the mountain." 



After spending some time at the summit of the mountain in pur- 

 suit of specimens. Mr. Graham retraced his steps to the lower levels, 

 and finding conditions further improved, turned his attention to 

 Mt. Omei, which is a few hundred feet less in height than Washan, 

 and is within sight of it on clear days. Mt. Omei is one of the four 

 great sacred mountains of China, there being many smaller sacred 

 ones, but Omei is one of the important Buddhist centers, with many 

 temples between the top and Kiating. After beginning work on 



