SONOROUS ROCKS. 119 



inner or sheltered side towards the valley, were 

 covered by the Hill pines, or Shan, tchong* of 

 the Chinese, the Pinus sinensis of botanists, of 

 which I collected a few specimens in a state of 

 fructification. Rivulets meandering through the 

 valley, irrigate and fertilize the soil ; and their 

 banks are cov,ered with a profusion of wild plants, 

 a number of ferns, Myrtus tomentosa, Sida, Ur- 

 tica, Melastoma quinque-nervia, (or Kai, chee, 

 neem, of the Chinese,) and a multitude of others. 

 From the cultivated, we came upon a wilder, 

 more stony, and less beautiful part of the valley, 

 among scattered masses of granite rocks, about 

 which a wild and profuse vegetation was la- 

 vished. 



At one part, my attention was directed to a 

 mass of granite rocks, appearing as if they had 

 been huddled together by some convulsion of 

 nature, and many of them were found to be 

 moveable, when trodden upon. Some of these 

 were described as being sonorous ; and as they 

 were regarded as one of the Macao lio7is, they 

 were of course well worth seeing, if it was only 

 for the pleasure of relating to every one that yoii 

 had seen them. The first, and by far the most 

 sonorous, was partially excavated underneath ; 

 and by striking it upon the upper part, a deep 

 * Shan signifies hill ; and tchong the pine tree. 



