MY FOURTH EXPEDITION TO CHINA 165 



and light grey bark this tree is strikingly handsome; the cones 

 are pendulous borne at the ends of the branches. The wood is 

 very resinous and is used locally for torches, burning with a clear 

 bright flame, giving a good light." 



On the evening of June 25th, 1910, we reached the summit of the 

 last barrier range separating the wilds of Hupeh from the less 

 elevated and more prosperous region of Eastern Szechuan. For 

 twenty-two consecutive days my followers and self had strug- 

 gled through mountain fastnesses over the vilest of roads, often 

 more or less destroyed by torrents in spate, and endured con- 

 siderable hardship from bad accommodation and lack of food sup- 

 plies. One and all were hungry for an easier road and the flesh-pots 

 Chinese villages and towns afford. Our quarters for the night 

 were two miserable, half-ruinous houses which constitute the 

 hamlet of Hsao-pingsze (little flat) ; altitude 5800 feet. On three 

 sides stupendous cliffs rear themselves; the fourth is a gap, the 

 edge of a precipice, down which the road passes. From the gap 

 we obtained one of the most wonderful views my eyes ever beheld. 

 Below us, some 4000 feet the morrow proved, yet seemingly at 

 our feet, lay a small village with a considerable river flowing past 

 it. Beyond the river ridge upon ridge, sharp-edged, 5000-6000 

 feet high, bare and absolutely treeless, with higher peaks out- 

 standing and mightier ranges in the far distance. The rocks, 

 chiefly limestone, showed white, grey, and reddish and added a 

 bizarre appearance to the cliff ridges. I do not ever remember 

 looking upon a more savage and less inviting region. A thunder- 

 storm was brewing and the light rapidly failing rendered pho- 

 tography impossible. But no photograph could convey any 

 adequate idea of the savage grandeur of the whole scene; it was 

 indeed sufficient to awe and terrorize one. Such scenes sink deep 

 into the soul and a stillness creeps over one leaving an indelible 

 impression which time cannot efface. Angry rain clouds soon 

 blotted out the scene and the storm burst. The roof of our hovel 

 was like a sieve and the mud floor quickly became reduced to a 

 quagmire. To keep dry was impossible and we all huddled 

 together to keep warm, and so passed the long night. 



We escaped from these miserable quarters soon after daybreak 

 next morning; rain was still falling and from the gap nothing 



