SSUMAO TO TALI 



shrub below sought foothold in the crannies, and the rock but- 

 tress that struck abruptly downwards amid the tree tops seemed 

 placed for a pedestal to the edifice. For conscience' sake I 

 visited the temple, to which access was gained by a slanting 

 ladder fully in keeping with its precarious surroundings. The 

 only living inmate of this eyrie was a guardian who maintained 

 the fire and joss-sticks before some very ordinary gilded gods. 



From our rest camp of the 24th (May) we had a good view 

 of the Meng-hua-ting valley. On the map its waters belong to 

 the basin of the Red River. Going on in advance, Roux and 

 I in one day almost reached the head of the valley, which was 

 about two miles wide and filled with corn, then in full tide of 

 harvesting. The peasantry were poor, and called themselves 

 Tchou-cho-hos, and not Chinese ; according to our men they were 

 Pe Lolos. We left Meng-hua-ting on our right, the town 

 seeming unimportant ; but the road was broad and paved, and 

 dotted with many caravans, chiefly of salt or cotton under striped 

 coverings that looked like Thibetan stuff. 



Ascending the chain that formed the end of the valley, we 

 attained the summit, after some hours' climb, on the 26th (May). 

 Before us lay the lake of Tali. The hills on its eastern shores 

 rested upon its brink, on the west they were separated from it by a 

 strip of land a mile and a half wide, laid out in squares of yellow and 

 green crops, and studded with villages. The lake lengthens out 

 towards the north, and at first sight appears smaller than that of 

 Yiinnan-Sen — no doubt because it is narrower. Under the rain 

 clouds in which we viewed it for the first time, it had a disappoint- 

 ing effect, though perhaps a different impression might be conveyed 

 with the mountain-tops clear and a ray of sun to light up the waves. 



Then one might more easily appreciate the legendary beauty of this 



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