SUMMIT OF OMEI-SHAN 217 
was a remarkably fine man, standing about 6 ft. 4 in., 
and was half Tibetan. 
On August 9 I left Wan-nien-ssu and continued the 
ascent of the mountain, the road leading through beau- 
tiful scenery, there being many fine forest trees, and in 
the more open places a luxuriant undergrowth. Some 
deep gorges are seen, and numerous streams course down 
the mountain side. Lodging was found in a small 
temple called Ta-chung-tze. Nearly the whole of the 
road up the mountain is made of flights of stone steps, 
and in places they are very steep. 
On August 10 the summit was reached at 10 a.m, 
and here I found Mr. and Mrs. Lewis, of the American 
Mission, staying at a temple called Chang-fu-ting, or the 
Thousand Buddha summit. Mrs. Lewis was the first 
European lady who had ascended the mountain, and 
she was carried up on the back of a coolie. She told 
me that this mode of travelling was not at all disagree- 
able as long as the coolie was moving. When, however, 
he stopped to rest, and placed the stick under the frame 
to take the weight off his back, there was a most un- 
comfortable feeling as if she was on the point of being 
thrown backwards down the road that had just been 
ascended. Many Chinese ladies ascend the mountain, 
and they are all carried up in this way. I remained at 
the summit for ten days, during most of which time the 
