658 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Clematis montana, Coriaria nepalensis, Berberis Wallichiana, B. nepal- 

 ensis, Benthamia fragifera, Dichroa febrifuga, and Spircea sorbifolia. 

 European plants are not so common, and are nearly all • relegated to the 

 higher altitudes. Amongst others we find the following : — Viburnum 

 Opulus, Potentilla Anserina, P. fruticosa, Agrimonia Eupatoria, Populus 

 tremula, Pyrus Aucuparia, Polemonium cceruleum, Prunus Padus, and 

 Osmttnda regalis. 



To reach the glorious West we have to negotiate a river journey of 

 eight hundred miles. Ichang is the head of steam navigation, and the 

 journey has to be done in native boats. The river is full of rapids and 

 the journey is fraught with danger. A passage is seldom made without 

 accident, and I have witnessed many catastrophes. I have been singularly 

 fortunate, but have experienced many minor accidents, and on several 

 occasions have been within an ace of total destruction. 



The first hundred miles of the journey lie through the famous 

 Yangtsze gorges. These stupendous chasms afford some of the most 

 marvellous, grandest, and awe-inspiring scenery in the world. The cliffs 

 are principally of limestone, and are often 1,000 feet to 2,500 feet sheer. 



At Ichang the river is 1,100 yards broad ; in the Ichang gorge, five 

 miles above the town, it is narrowed to about 400 yards. The water is in 

 consequence very deep. In their soundings the two British gunboats, on 

 their first ascent to Chungking, found over sixty fathoms of water at the 

 entrance to this gorge. This in the low- water season ! In summer the 

 water in the gorge is often eighty to a hundred feet above its winter-level. 

 At such times all traffic through the gorge is suspended. 



November to April is the most favourable reason for travelling up river, 

 and during the season the journey to Kiating occupies about two months. 

 Chungking, the great trade entrepot of Western China, is reached in a 

 month. At Sui-Fu, another fortnight's journey, we branch off from the 

 Yangtsze proper and enter the Min River. Another week, and Kiating is 

 reached. Accidents and a rising river may lengthen the journey inde- 

 finitely ; indeed, one never knows how long it may take to reach one's 

 destination. A sail is requisitioned whenever the wind is favourable, but so 

 strong is the current and so many are the rapids that the boat has to be 

 hauled nearly the whole of the way by means of coolies attached to a 

 bamboo hawser. The flora of the river valley between Ichang and Kiating 

 is essentially sub-tropical, the following plants being very characteristic : 

 Melia Azedarach, Phyllostachys mitis, Trachycarpus excelsus, Hibiscus 

 mutabilis, Lagerstroemia indica, Pinus Massoniana, Cupressus funebris, 

 Ficus infectoria, Cedrela sinensis, Pistacia chinensis, Platycarya 

 strobilacea, Gardenia florida, Melastoma candidum, and Gleichenia 

 dichotoma. 



Eastern Szechuen is composed chiefly of red clayey sandstone and sandy 

 clays of enormous stratigraphical development. As these rocks pre- 

 dominate largely and impart their characteristic brick-red colour to the 

 surface where it is exposed, the term "Red Basin " has been very appro- 

 priately applied to the whole area. This area is very highly cultivated, 

 and produces most magnificent crops when properly tilled and irrigated. 

 Opium, in the river valleys of Szechuen, is the principal winter crop 

 For about 300 miles of the journey between Ichang and Kiating the 



