90 Through the Lutzu Country to Men-kong 
pretty little Enchanter’s nightshade (Czvcaea) were con- 
spicuous, besides the Oxalis already referred to. Higher 
up we came to towering limestone walls with bunches of 
flowers hanging from every crack and cranny—the small 
mottled Cypripedium guttatum, Primula sinensts, saxifrages, 
Epimedium, begonias and other pretty things. 
Camp was pitched under one of these big cliffs, where 
the stream dashed through a deep gorge, and while the 
men settled themselves beneath a protecting ledge of rock 
and built up a big fire, my tent was erected amidst the 
soaked undergrowth. I was wet through, and for once 
thoroughly tired out by the long climb through the forest. 
For a long time we sat round the fire chatting, Gan-ton 
and Kin happily being in the best of spirits. The latter 
had borrowed a Tibetan cloak, and walked into my tent in 
this guise to ask me what I thought of him, somewhat to 
my amusement, for I failed to recognise him. 
As the men, one by one, dropped off to sleep, I left the 
warm little nest under the cliff and crept into my cheerless 
tent beneath the dripping trees, leaving them all curled up 
round the fire like cats. It grew colder and colder in the 
night, pouring with rain throughout, and I awoke to hear 
Ah-poh barking furiously ; next morning Gan-ton told me 
that it was because he had seen wild animals in the forest, 
deer perhaps, or bears. 
June 16th was our longest and hardest day, and still 
the rain continued. I got up feeling very unwell, and the 
long slippery climb up an awful path made me feel worse 
than ever; but the men stuck splendidly to their work. 
An ascent of about 4000 feet through rich forest brought 
us to the pass over the spur, but when we wanted to stop 
for lunch below the summit, the men were unable to light 
a fire, so we had to go on. Every Tibetan or tribesman 
when crossing the mountains carries under his cloak a few 
chips of resinous spruce wood, so that with his flint and 
steel and a little dry grass for tinder, he has all the neces- 
saries for starting a fire. To secure this resinous wood, a 
big tree is selected and burnt on one side, a process which 
seems to attract abundance of resin to the wound. The 
charred bark is subsequently sliced away, and pieces of 
wood cut from the trunk. Along the forest paths these 
