2S 



NATURE 



lAfaj' 13, 1880 



small flo-.veis full of pollen. The poor people make a 

 drink from these instead of tea. This flower could not 

 be identified, although high botanical authorities were 

 consulted. 



The Chinese could not understand why any one should 

 travel in discomfort when he could stop at home in ease. 

 They cherish the most profound respect for any literary 

 person, so to explain his incomprehensible habit of 

 looking at everything, Capt. Gill went about with a note- 

 book in his hand, telling them he was going to write a 

 book. He came on many villages whose original in- 

 habitants had been expelled by the Chinese, who still 

 continue their advance, stopping only where the soil and 

 the climate refuse fruits to those industrious agriculturists. 

 Ch'eng-tu, where Capt. Gill made some considerable halt, 

 has changed much since Marco Polo wrote his description 

 of it. The same river still runs by the city, but not 

 through it, as it did then. The large plain that incloses 

 the town has gradually been drained. At one time it 

 must have been the bottom of a lake. Many insect-trees 

 were met with on the way to Tibet. " It is on this tree 

 that the insect is bred that produces the white wax of 

 Ssii-Ch'uan. The trees are something like willows. 

 Here the insect emerges from his egg, and the branch of 

 the tree on which he is placed is soon covered with a 

 kind of white wax secreted. It is this white wax that is 

 so celebrated, and is one of the most valuable products of 

 Ssii-Ch'uan. These eggs cannot be exposed to the heat 

 of the sun, and whilst being carried from the breeding to 

 the producing district the coolies travel only in the night, 

 when the road is said to present a very remarkable 

 appearance, as they all carry lanterns. Ordinarily in 

 China no travelling is done at night, and as the gates of 

 all towns and cities are closed at dusk, and are never 

 opened for anybody, no matter who he may be, travelling 

 at night is rendered impossible. But during the time for 

 bringing the eggs to Kia-Ting-Fu all the city gates are 

 open night and day— probably the only exception in China 

 to the rule of shutting the gates at dusk. The one day it 

 seemed to Capt. Gill as if " the happy valley of Rasselas 

 had been in Tibet," the next day he was driving through 

 piercing cold. On his way to Batang he had a glorious 

 view of Mount Neu-Da. " No words can describe the 

 majestic grandeur of that mighty peak, whose giant mass 

 of eternal snow and ice raises its glorious [head seven 

 thousand feet above the wondering traveller, who yet 

 stands within five miles of its summit. He can but gaze 

 with admiration and appreciate the feelings of the 

 Tibetans that have led them to call it Neu-Da, or the 

 Sacred Mountain." 



The Lamas seem to be the great curse of Tibet. The 

 scapegrace of a family goes into a Lamassery, not, how- 

 ever entirely for devotion, coming home at short intervals 

 for amusement. "The Lamas assist in no way in the 

 maintenance of the State ; their lands are free from taxa- 

 tion, and they do not pay one iota towards the Govern- 

 ment expenses." The customs of the people of Tibet seem 

 to resemble those of the Israelites. They praj- on the 

 house-tops, pay their cattle-keepers as Jacob did, and set 

 before strangers " butter in a lordly dish." The popula- 

 tion is diminishing in Tibet by the oppression of the 

 Lamas and emigration to Yun-Nan. The land that the 

 emigrants leave behind them goes to the Lamasseries. ,As 



it cannot be taxed the burden of taxation becomes heavier 

 on the remaining people, who still have to make up the 

 same amount. 



At Shin-Ku Capt. Gill bade adieu to the River of 

 Golden Sand and continued his route to Bhamo, in the 

 footsteps of Marco Polo and Augustus IMargary. He 

 came on the scene of Margary's death. The most fitting 

 tribute that could be paid to this brave officer was "to 

 establish in those border-lands the right of Englishmen 

 to travel unmolested." 



Instead of a gigantic river like the Chin-Kiang, the 

 Irawady above Bhamo, though wide, is very shallow. The 

 continual rain that falls over its basin is very great. At 

 Bhamo Capt. Gill was welcomed by Mr. Cooper, who in 

 all his dangerous wanderings had escaped with his life; 

 when safety seemed to come he fell by the hand of an 

 assassin under the British flag. Capt. Gill's homeward- 

 journey was through New Mandalay. 



Capt. Gill's book will prove a valuable authority on the 

 particular part of China through which he travelled. It 

 does not represent the scientific results, which were pub- 

 lished in the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society. 

 His journey in Western China is one of the most success- 

 ful that has been made, although it was achieved under 

 a great drawback ; he did not know the Chinese language. 

 He was, however, very fortunate in his two interpreters, 

 but his success was due to his great tact and perseverance. 

 He tells his story with a brightness and impressiveness 

 not common in modern books of travel, and his originality 

 and independence of view are evident in every page. He 

 has no very great opinion of the Chinese, and his remarks 

 on their peculiar characteristics are well worth considera- 

 tion. One sees the born traveller in every entry in his 

 journal ; nothing is thrown in for effect. A great deal of 

 his journey was made in the dark, through fog and rain, 

 yet he adhered strictly to his rule of writing the accounts 

 of the day's doings every night. This had often to be 

 done with the comforting thought that most probably the 

 record would be lost. 



The work is well supplied with maps and illustrations, 

 the former especially being among the most valuable of 

 recent contributions to the hydrography of Asia. 



OUR BOOK SHELF 



The Geological Record for 1877. An Account of Works 



on Geoloe^y, Mineralogy, and Palceoiitologv published 



during the Year, with Supplements for 1 874-1 876. 



Edited by William Whitaker, B.A., F.G.S., of the 



Geological Survey of England. (London : Taylor and 



Francis, 1880.) 



We hail with pleasure the appearance of the fourth 



volume of this most valuable work. The indefatigable 



editor deserves all praise for the energy with which he 



has worked in getting together a staff of volunteers 



to compile the useful abstracts of contents of the 



numerous works and memoirs noticed in this volume of 



432 pages. It is unfortunate that the work has now 



fallen two years into arrcar, but, now that the staff of 



contributors seems to have fairly settled down to its work, 



we hope the editor will soon be able to recover_ lost 



time, and that each succeeding volume will appear withm 



the year following that for which it is issued. The editor 



has been very happy in discovering a method by which 



the officers on the staff of the Geological Survey may 



