I02 WOOD OX THE WAV. JEHOL. 



alpine in character. The valleys are not wide (about 

 half a mile) occasionally narrowing into ravines, 

 hemmed in by lofty rocks of gneiss and granolite. 

 The road is crossed by several small streams, none 

 amounting to rivers, with the exception of the 

 Shandu-gol ^ or Luan-ho, which takes its rise on the 

 .northern slope of the mountains nearest to the pla- 

 teau ; and after flowing past the town of Dolon-nor 

 forces its way through the entire range and debou- 

 ches in the plains of China Proper. The steep hill- 

 sides were thickly covered with grass, and as we 

 penetrated farther into the range, by brush-wood 

 and trees ; the latter chiefly consisting of oak, 

 black, or more rarely white birch, ash, pine, and an 

 occasional spruce.^ Elms and poplars grow in the 

 valleys. The commonest bushes were the ever- 

 green oak, rhododendron, wild peach, sweet briar, 

 and hazel. 



Woods are only met with on the northern bank 

 of the Luan-ho as far east as the town of Jehol,^ 



' Marked Shangtu-gol or\ D'Anville's map. — M. 



* Dwarf limes are even more scarce. 



* The name 'Jehol,' also pronounced 'Jehor' or 'Jeh-ho,' means 

 * hot-water,' after the springs in the neighbourhood. Ritter calls this 

 place the Chinese ' Sans Souci,' probably on account of its delightful 

 situation, salubrious climate, and for its being the favourite residence 

 of the great Emperor Kien-Long. It was here that Lord Macartney's 

 embassy was received in 1793. The town itself is large and imposing 

 when you enter it, and contains about a quarter of a million inhabi- 

 tants. It stands in a fruitful valley surrounded by mountains, on 

 which arc palaces, temples, and gardens. About a day's ride to the 

 west are the Imperial hunting-grounds, set aside for the use of his 

 dynasty by Kia-king, the grandfather of the late Emperor. The in- 

 scriptions on the gates of the walls and buildings are in four languages 

 — Chinese, Manchu, Tibetan, and Mongol. ('Krdkunde von Asien,' 



