THE STORY OF THE DAVIDIA 289 



outlaws had tried to burn down his house but, luckily, 

 had failed. 



Leaving the priest to his work, his gloomy fore- 

 bodings on the future, and the tragic memories of his 

 lamented companion, I took a cross-country road and 

 on the afternoon of the 25th reached the hamlet of 

 Ma-huang-po and the house where Dr. Henry 

 had stayed when he found the Davidia tree on May 

 17, 1888. Did the people remember Dr. Henry? 

 Did they know the K'ung-tung (local name of Da- 

 vidia)? To these and similar questions they pleas- 

 antly answered in the affirmative. Would some one 

 guide me to the tree? Certainly! We sallied forth, 

 I in the highest of spirits. After walking about two 

 miles we came to a house rather new in appearance. 

 Near by was the stump of Henry's Davidia. The 

 tree had been cut down a year before and the trunk 

 and branches formed the beams and posts of the 

 house! I did not sleep during the night of April 

 25, 1900. 



On the first of May I was back at Ichang with my 

 mind made up to collect all the plants I could in west- 

 ern Hupeh during the year, and in the late winter 

 journey westward a thousand miles, and there hunt 

 for the Davidia in the region where it was first dis- 

 covered by Pere David in 1869. With this resolution 



