266 Through the Yang-tse Gorges 



to shrines. It is known to botanists as Ficus infectoria. It 

 is of the fig genus, but a casual observer might easily mistake 

 it for a banyan. As an adornment to shrines its place is 

 taken up in Hu-peh by the " Tung-ch'ing " {Xylosma 

 japonica S. and Z.), a laurel-like tree, with rich scented 

 blossom. Nor must I omit the holly, and the " La shu " 

 {Ligustnim lucidum) among my list of common evergreens. 



With so rich a flora, and such abundance of flowers and 

 fruit, a corresponding richness in the insect world and in 

 the fauna generally might be expected. I must refer those 

 more specially interested to Amand David, and go on simply 

 enumerating what struck me most as a passing traveller. 

 Gorgeous butterflies; fireflies, the most brilliant I have 

 ever seen; small birds innumerable, notwithstanding the 

 numerous kites and eagles (in Chinese, "Ai ying," cliff 

 hawk), the commonest of which are the golden oriole 

 (Urocina sinensis), and the blue jays and the ubiquitous 

 swallows. Two kinds of little rock-tits with red tails — one 

 of them with a white top-knot, hop about the rocks by the 

 water's edge. Back in the mountains are the golden (who 

 seldom come below 5000 feet), the silver, and Reeves' 

 pheasants, the former of which I only saw exhibited in cages 

 for sale, while the latter's tail feathers are used everywhere 

 to decorate hats on the stage. These Reeves' pheasants 

 especially affect the conglomerate mountains opposite 

 Ichang, where several have been bagged by European 

 sportsmen. Thrushes and minas are also common, and 

 the cormorant, which, as well as the tame otter, is every- 

 where employed in fishing. Of mammalia one sees little 

 beyond the domesticated ox, pig, goat, and dog — the latter 

 as great a nuisance to the stranger in Szechuan as he is 

 elsewhere. One hears much of the leopards which come 

 down from the mountains in the night, and rob the pigstyes ; 



