SPORT AND SCIENCE ON THE 



we made excellent collections of voles, mice and 

 hamsters. Two new voles {Microtias Johannes and 

 M. inez) were secured in this district. Some 

 vipers (Ancistrodon intermedius) were also caught. 



The forest and woods, which were rapidly being 

 cut down, consisted mainly of spruce, larch and 

 pine. The open hillsides at the time of our visit 

 were ablaze with the rich yellow blossoms of the 

 wild rose and the delicate mauve of the lilac. 

 Some varieties of haAvthorn and blackthorn were 

 also noticed, while a species of wild pear (Pyrus 

 sp.) was found growing on the liilltops. In places 

 the ground was thickly covered with Solomon's 

 seal, lilies and other flowering herbs. 



The mountains themselves were composed of 

 limestone, of the usual grey colour, covered in 

 most places with thick deposits of loess and a 

 very fertile soil. In spite of the abundant vegeta- 

 tion the district was veiy dry and drinking-water 

 scarce. Daily our mules and those of our host 

 had to make a six mile journey to secure water 

 at a spring which was rapidly drying up, owing to 

 drought, and the number of farms it supplied. 



After a stay of ten days we moved on to K'o-lan 

 Chou, a dilapidated town some three days' jour- 

 ney north-west of T'ai-yiian Fu. From here we 

 travelled northward to Ning-wu Fu, passing Wu- 

 tsai Hsien and Ch'en-ch'eh Hsien on our way, both 

 of which towns are situated on a wide plain stretch- 

 ing away to the Yellow River and Ordos Desert. 



34 



