264 Through the Yang-tse Gorges 



with in a day's walk up any of the glens are : camellia, rose, 

 larkspur, Chinese daisy {Boltonia Indicd), begonia, sunflower, 

 virgin lily, bignonia, wistaria, lavender, gardenia, honeysuckle, 

 yellow jasmine, orange lily, besides many others equally 

 beautiful, which have no common English names. The 

 cottage gardens abound with pomegranates, loquats, peaches, 

 plums, orange and other fruit-trees. On the higher slopes, 

 above the precipices, we find glorious woods of walnut and 

 chestnut-trees, while the useful tallow-tree, with its beautiful 

 tinted foliage and exuberant scented blossom, grows every- 

 where. This tree is the Excalcaria Sebifera of Mueller, and 

 is known in Szechuan as the " Chuan tse" shu (tree), and in 

 Hu-peh as the " Mu tse " shu. 



Fine forest-trees universal in Szechuan, and which are to 

 be foimd surrounding almost every village, are ; — 



"Nan mu" (Wood of the South) or literally, "South 

 wood," a red hard-wood, used for the pillars of houses, 

 Persea namu oliv., now referred to the genus machilus. 



" T'an mu," yielding a close-grained hard-wood employed 

 for rammers, in the ubiquitous oil-presses, probably a species 

 of Dalbergia. (For this and the following botanical names 

 I am indebted to Dr. Henry, of the Imperial Maritime 

 Customs, an indefatigable observer.) 



" Chou mu," an oak with white wood. 



"Li mu," a kind of oak, very tough and elastic, the 

 planking of which is much sought after for boats navigating 

 these rock-infested streams. 



" Sung mu " {Finns massoniana). 



" Peh mu " {Cupressus funebris). 



" Sha mu " {Cunninghames sinensis), a tree of great beauty 

 and excellent for planking. 



Then we have three kinds of " T'ung " tree— all widely 

 spread. 



