BOOK REVIEWS. 



737 



agriculture attains its maximum' development. In length from north 

 to south about 80 miles and in breadth about 65 miles, the Chengtu Plain 

 has a population of probably more than 6,000,000. Its extraordinary 

 fertility is in a large measure due to the wonderful system of irrigation 

 inaugurated by Li-ping more than 2000 years ago. 



Although a region of much interest, it is far too intensely culti- 

 vated to be a happy hunting-ground for the botanical collector, and 

 Mr. Wilson is much more enthusiastic when describing his cross- 

 mountain journey to Sungpan-Ting, in the extreme north-west of 

 Szechuan. On this journey, we read, the " Summer Lilac " (Buddleia 

 Davidii) "delighted the eye on all sides" and numerous specimens 

 of trees and shrubs were collected ere Sungpan was sighted, " nestling 

 in a narrow smiling valley, surrounded on all sides by fields of golden 

 grain, with the infant Min, a clear limpid stream, winding its way 

 through in a series of graceful curves. In the fields the harvesters 

 were busy ; men, women, and children, mostly tribes-folk, all pictures 

 of rude health, laughing and singing at their work. Under a clear 

 Tibetan-blue sky, the whole country bathed in warm sunshine, this 

 busy scene . . . gladdened our hearts, fatigued and exhausted as we 

 were with the hardships of our journey." 



The wild and savage region vaguely termed the Chino-Tibetan 

 borderland was next explored, and the exertions of the traveller were 

 rewarded by many rich finds. In the Min valley " the charming 

 Lilium regale luxuriates in rocky crevices." In the Tung Valley 

 ' ' Lilium Sargentiae is very abundant in rocky places amongst grass 

 and scrub. ' ' ' ' The bulbs of Lilium iigrinum and L . Thayer ae are cooked 

 and eaten," and several other species, " including the lovely Lilium 

 Bakerianum," also occur. At Sungpan-Ting Mr. Wilson determined 

 on a journey to Tachienlu, " The Gate of Tibet," by way of a route 

 first described by Sir Alexander Hosie, who traversed it in 1904. From 

 Kuan Hsien as a starting-point the journey occupied twenty-three 

 days, through a wonderful country possessing a rich alpine flora. 

 He says: " Up to 10,000 feet altitude Cypripedium luteum is not un- 

 common . . . above 11,500 feet the gorgeous Meconopsis integrifolia 

 covers miles of mountain-side . . . various kinds of Senecio, Trollius, 

 Caltha, Pedicularis, and Corydalis added an overwhelming display of 

 yellow ... all the moorland areas were covered so thickly with the 

 Tibetan Lady's Slipper {Cyp. tibeticum) that it was impossible to 

 step without treading on the huge dark-red flowers . . . the most 

 fascinating herb of all was, perhaps, the extraordinary Primula vincae- 

 flora with large solitary violet flowers resembling those of the Peri- 

 winkle . . . the whole country-side was a feast of colour." The 

 sacred mountains Omei Shan and Wa Wa-Shan were also explored 

 by Mr. Wilson, the latter for the first time on record. Both are gigantic 

 upthrusts of limestone situated in the Laolin country. The flora of 

 Omei Shan is particularly interesting on account of its well-marked 

 " floral zones," but from a botanical standpoint Mr. Wilson describes 

 Wa Wa-Shan as disappointing. Another sacred mountain, Wa Shan, 

 vol. xxxix. 3 c 



