38 Up the Mekong Valley 
walnut, orange, persimmon, and pear trees, are scattered 
down the slopes or give shade in the villages. 
I stopped a day at Hsiao-wei-hsi in order to climb the 
mountain and examine the flora of one of the deep shady 
gullies which, in comparison with the dry exposed slopes 
where there is little else besides scrub oak, pines, rhodo- 
dendrons and a few other Ericaceae, present a rich assort- 
ment of trees, ferns, and rock plants. In the gully I found 
Primula sinensis, Saxifraga sarmentosa, an Epimedium, 
several Crassudas and numerous orchids, not however in 
flower, with such woody plants as Hydrangea, Philadelphus 
(‘syringa’), Decazsnea, numerous Caprifoliaceae, Cela- 
straceae, and so on—a totally different and far more varied 
flora. 
A little below Hsiao-wei-hsi we saw for the first time 
the rope bridges about which we had already heard so 
much; but as this structure does not attain to its most 
ingenious form till we reach Tsu-kou, consisting here only 
of a single two-way rope, instead of two one-way ropes, 
I will postpone a description of it for the present. 
Soon after we reached K’ang-p’u on the second evening, 
the Tussu, hearing that I was interested in flowers, sent 
me round some magnificent pink paeonies, sweetly scented, 
and a big spray of some orchid—a Dendrodzum I think, 
and later I took a cup of tea with him, and was given 
some of the juiciest oranges I have ever tasted, besides 
excellent pomegranates. In the garden behind the little 
yamen were bushes of pink and yellow roses, paeonies, and 
orchids in large earthenware pots formally arranged down 
the path, and beyond, a wilderness of weeds and cabbages. 
Above the gently-sloping rice-fields, brooding over all, 
were the dark forested mountains crested right along with 
winter snow. 
The weather had now set in fine, and nothing could 
have been more delightful than these marches up the 
Mekong valley, for we took matters fairly easily, making 
four stages from Hsiao-wei-hsi to Tsu-kou. Sometimes 
the narrow path was enveloped in the shade of flowering 
shrubs and walnut trees, the branches breasting us as we 
rode, the air sweetened by the scent of roses which swept 
in cascades of yellow flowers over the summits of trees 
