114 On the Road to Batang— 
South of the pass the range was capped by granite and 
metamorphic rocks, in strange contrast to the limestone 
met with all along the summit of the range northwards. 
The weather showed no signs of improvement on the 
following day, and I went up the nearest valley to the 
north in order to examine the scree flora of the south- 
facing slopes. 
These screes support a few highly specialised plants, 
which exhibit morphological peculiarities deserving of 
mention. Their root-systems, which are of immense length, 
are often strengthened with T-shaped bracing pieces, while 
their stems have scarcely-developed internodes. Their 
leaves too are either succulent, or hairy, or red; and occa- 
sionally peculiarities are noticeable in the arrangement of 
the inflorescence. I also found several plants assuming 
the cushion form, a habit commonly met with in deserts 
such as those of Algeria, including a species of Poten- 
tilla, a Lychuis, Diapensia Bulleyana, and other species of 
Caryophyllaceae. But these dreary screes were practically 
devoid of plants suitable for horticulture. 
Above the valley head dismal wastes of rock rose steeply 
to the limestone towers crowning the ridge, but the valley 
floor was also strewn with big blocks of a quartz breccia, 
cliffs of which were visible lower down. Late in the after- 
noon I returned to camp, and a glorious evening set in; so 
cold was it in the night, however, that even inside my tent 
the iron supporting-pole was wet with dew. 
I had injured my foot on a rock some days previously, 
and as it refused to heal but got rather worse, and was now 
very painful, I decided to break camp and give it a day’s 
rest at A-tun-tsl. 
Starting early next morning and leaving the men to 
pack up and follow, I rode into A-tun-tsi at one o'clock, 
to find the village bathed in brilliant sunshine; yet in the 
afternoon the sky grew black over Pei-ma-shan again, and 
we heard the thunder rolling and rumbling over that storm- 
riven mountain. At sunset the peaks, clearly outlined 
against the blue-black sky, presented an extraordinary 
appearance, as though recently swept by a terrific snow- 
storm, for they glowed with a pale reddish-gold tint, which 
in contrast to the darkling sky and surrounding mountains, 
