Birds of Foochow and Sivatow. 403 



planted with bamboos. The scenery, though exceedingly 

 jiicturesque, is not so grand or so wild as that met with 

 along the Min. 



The mountainous country which closes the Foochow valley 

 on the south-west presents at a distance a succession of jagged 

 and steep peaks ; the altitude seems much the same as that 

 of Peling. On leaving the anchorage the river makes a sharp 

 bend and turns N.E. It now winds through steep hills, 

 varying in height from 600 to 2000 feet, which are terraced 

 and cultivated, or else scantily wooded here and there with 

 scrubby pines, and, after passing through the Mingan and 

 Kimpai passes, flows out into the sea. The country from the 

 coast to Foochow is granitic ; further inland limestone is 

 not uncommon. 



I do not know of any lakes or proper marshes in the 

 Foochow district, except on the coast near the mouth of the 

 river. There are, however, numerous marshy islands in the 

 river, where water-birds occur in numbers during migration 

 time. I have heard of some marshes on the mainland near 

 the Haitan Straits, where wildfowl of every description are 

 said to abound. 



The tide is felt on the Eiver Min till about 35 miles from 

 its mouth ; but above Foochow, though the water rises, the 

 current is not aflFected by the tide. 



The Lieu-chiang (or Lieu river), until within a few miles 

 of the coast, winds wholly among mountainous country, which 

 resembles that of the Min valley, and then flows through 

 cultivated plains which extend down to the coast. 



The vegetation of the Foochow district is subtropical. Of 

 the tropical fruit cultivated in gardens, mangoes ripen, but 

 are of small size ; banana-palms are common, but the fruit 

 does not ripen properly. 



Land-shells are scarce, owing to the granitic formation of 

 the hills. Freshwater-shells, however, are abundant ; but 

 only one new species — a Melania — was noted by P^re Heude, 

 S.J., among those I collected for him. 



Insects of all kinds abound ; they belong mostly to tropical 

 types. 



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