Ar-Jmts and Saints 183 



nowadays more strongly emphasized in the former. The 

 noble examples of the Catholic priesthood are as far beyond 

 the attainment of the Bonze as is the mental capacity of the 

 West above that of the East ; but if the symbols of each 

 religion be a true picture of the reward of its observance, I 

 had rather be a " Lo-han '' than a saint ! 



Early dawn of the following day saw us once more in the 

 saddle, prepared again to confront the ups and downs of 

 this most " broken " country. Our course lay parallel to the 

 Small river, across a country more broken and by paths 

 steeper still than yesterday's. The repeated ascents and 

 descents were due to the necessity of crossing the numerous 

 gullies worn in the soft rock by the streams that fall into 

 the main river. These were usually crossed by smooth, un- 

 protected bridges in a good state of preservation ; but the 

 stone paths nmning along a raised dyke between two paddy- 

 fields, or climbing the side of a rocky cliff, were often barely 

 twelve inches wide, and the small flagstones of which they 

 were composed were several degrees out of the horizontal. 

 In places the flags were missing entirely, leaving small 

 chasms, over which our little ponies leapt with cat-like 

 alacrity, making me tremble at times for the landing on 

 the other side. The sun was pouring down with all the 

 force of early summer in these latitudes, and scarcely a 

 breath of air was stirring. During the whole of my stay in 

 Szechuan, from the middle of March to the beginning of 

 May, not a drop of rain fell in the daytime, but regular 

 night showers freshened the air and gladdened the vegeta- 

 tion. We nooned at a small wayside temple, which possessed 

 a spring of deliciously cool water, with which we washed 

 down the small, wheaten, dumpling-like cakes of the coxmtry. 

 The temple, approached by a steep flight of steps, was built 

 against the face of the rock, and commanded a most 



