62 EXPEDITION TO JAPAN. 



among the hills, down which a stream was brawling and foaming; the hills, though they soon 

 became exceedingly steep, were cultivated, and (what was a new feature in Lew Chew cultivation) 

 were crossed by stockade fences , intended, as we understood, to prevent the intrusion of animals — 

 probably wild boars. We followed the stream upward, and its rocky bed at last became our 

 only road ; but, though rough to our feet, it led up a ravine where the eye was charmed by 

 wild vegetation of the most luxuriant kind. The ferns were especially beautiful and in great 

 variety ; for this plant, which loves moisture and heat, found in this sheltered spot, and amid 

 the drippings of the hill-sides, every advantage for its growth. The tree-ferns, often 25 or 30 

 feet high, and from 6 to 8 inches in diameter, were especially remarkable, forming, with their 

 feathery tops, a canopy to each tree of 15 or 18 feet in width, of exquisite gracefulness and 

 beauty. The resemblance between the marks of their fronds on the stalks or trunks, and those 

 on the large fossil trunks in the strata over or below coal-beds in America, is very striking, 

 though the latter show a colossal growth unknown in these modern times. I procured speci- 

 mens of all these ferns, having, in our hurry, to pluck them almost at a run ; and I tied them 

 up carefully at the next kung-qua, enough to be a load for a man; but, on arriving at the ship, 

 they were found to be so withered that we had to throw them away. 



We reached, by-and-by, the dividing ridge, and descended into a fruitful valley, extending 

 down to a town on the eastern side of the island. Leaving this town, we came soon after to a 

 large indentation or bay, with a village on its shore ; and here we were taken into ferry-boats, 

 consisting of two canoes lashed side by side, and so were transported to the opposite shore. The 

 hills here were wild and rugged, but were enlivened by great abundance of azaleas, their heavy 

 clusters of large red flowers sprinkled thickly among the tropical foliage. Soon after crossing 

 this inlet, we came again to a gently undulating and cultivated region, which grew richer and 

 more pleasing to the eye, till, as darkness was setting in, we reached the welcomed kung-qua 

 of Ching, which was to me an old acquaintance, having accommodated us the third night out 

 in our journey in the summer. 



Mr. Taylor has, doubtless, described this village, and also the road which we followed in the 

 morning (Saturday) from Ching to the head of Barrow's bay; and, therefore, I will only say 

 tbat, having started very early, we arrived about ten at the very pretty town on the hill just 

 south of the head of that bay. Here we struck again on a road new to us, but old to the Lew 

 Chewans; for it is the main thoroughfare between Shui and Barrow's bay; and is a road that, in 

 our country, would be called handsome, and, for travel like that of Lew Chew, a good one. It 

 is about twenty feet wide, passing in its whole length of about eighteen miles along an avenue 

 of pines, and is kept carefully clean and in good repair. Where the pines are growing old, 

 new ones are planted, to succeed them when these decay. The road also traverses a charming 

 country, and, being generally on elevated though level ground, commands views, in all direc- 

 tions, of scenery where the picturesque is combined with the productive in the highest degree. 

 A very curious spectacle, as of a ruined city extending for miles across the country, and in sight 

 for a long time in our journey, is given in my geological report. Some time during the day (I 

 forget exactly when), we came to a spot where the road widened out, with a grove of venerable 

 trees on each side; and here were stone steps across, with a lofty triple gateway, as at the 

 entrance of Shui, except that this was of wood. 



We stopped to lunch at the kung-qua of Vicoo; changed our bearers, who had come the whole 

 way from Ching,- for a new set — a merry, but rather lazy one; struck off, about four o'clock, 

 from the main road into by-paths leading to Tumai, and, at dusk, reached the boat-landing 



