The Last of the Mekong 239 
The view westwards from this rugged range was grand 
in the extreme. Immediately below us, over the densely 
forested ridges and gullies, the narrow plain of the Shweli, 
hemmed in by precipitous slopes, stretched from north to 
south and faded away in the evening mists which were 
already rising from the valley. A ribbon of silver wriggled 
across the plain—it was the eastern branch of the Shweli, 
and hundreds of irrigated rice-fields, catching the sun already 
low in the heavens, gleamed irregularly in the deepening 
gloom. 
Beyond the narrow plain rose range after range of 
rugged mountains, dark against the setting sun, like violet 
waves washing against an orange shore. Was I really 
back again in the Land of Deep Corrosions? Save for 
the misty plain below and the setting sun—a sight which, 
astonishing as it may seem, I had not seen for ten months— 
I could almost think so, for the country still maintained its 
formidable aspect, though the mountains were in miniature, 
the valleys broader; but I remembered with a thrill that 
behind those ridges which grew lower and lower to the south- 
west, the sun was setting over the golden land of Burma. 
An appalling descent down steps so high that one had 
literally to leap from stone to stone brought us to a miser- 
able temple, perhaps a thousand feet from the summit, and 
here we passed a bitterly cold night. 
Next morning we rose at the first hint of dawn, the 
soldiers started back for their camp, and without waiting 
for breakfast we began the descent to the plain, which lay 
right at our feet. We had ascended from the Salween by 
a ridge, necessitating endless climbing up and down; the 
descent however was down a richly-forested gulley, the road 
so frightfully steep and slippery and so clogged with loose 
boulders that I could not but feel extremely thankful we 
had no animals with us. Yet we had as a matter of fact 
been on a pack-road ever since we left La-chi-mi, and Li 
himself had I believe brought mules over this very pass. 
But bearing in mind the steepness and irregularity of these 
long flights of stone steps, the passage of the two main 
mountain ranges with pack animals must be a hazardous 
undertaking—it is bad enough on the main road across 
Yunnan. 
