Chinese Hospitality 45 



hitherto confined to the bed of the stream, ascended, by 

 flights of rough steps cut in the Hmestone, to a terrace upon 

 which stood a first-class Chinese house. I sat down 

 upon the parapet of the terrace, while waiting to make 

 further inquiries as to the distance and direction of our 

 goal. 



Two young men came out with a shy manner, but with 

 a politeness common enough in the poor, though unusual in 

 the rich, where a foreigner is concerned, invited me " Ching 

 tso chi cha ! " — " Please sit down and drink tea ! " Chinese 

 good manners would have bid me refuse, but I took them 

 at their word, being tired and wanting their information. 

 They advised me not to attempt to ascend the peak that 

 night, the path being a wild one, with no house on the way, 

 and that I had better stay where I was and go in the morn- 

 ing. I decided to accept this unexpected hospitality, and 

 I spent the rest of the daylight walking about the grounds 

 and admiring the site. Perched, according to my aneroid, 

 900 feet above the river, and about 250 above the brawling 

 stream that had cut out the valley, down to which a steep 

 wooded slope extended, the tops of the nearest trees were 

 barely above the parapet level. Looking down-stream a 

 couple of miles, to where the vista was closed by the steep 

 mountain, up the foot of which we had just ascended, the 

 small plateau was enthroned between jagged rocks rising 

 1000 feet on either side — one supposed to represent a lion, 

 the other an elephant, co-guardians of the site. Behind 

 was steeply terraced ground, by which the path up the 

 valley passes to the higher range beyond, whose fantastic 

 tops the last rays of the setting sun were momentarily gild- 

 ing. I was delighted with my resting-place, and my con- 

 gratulations to the owner, on the beauty and auspiciousness 

 of the site, were thoroughly sincere. 



