Chap. XXL 



MOUNTAIN SCENERY. 



413 



but none had previously been met with to the 

 northward, although the azalea is one of the most 

 common plants on the mountains of Chekiang, I 

 therefore looked upon the present discovery as a 

 great acquisition, and as the plants were covered 

 with ripe seeds, I was able to obtain a good supply 

 to send home. All the Chinese in that part of the 

 country agreed in stating that the flowers of this 

 species are large and beautiful, but as all rhodo- 

 dendrons have this character, it is impossible to 

 predict what this one may turn out to be until we 

 have an opportunity of seeing its flow^ers. Mr. 

 Glendinning, of the Chiswick nursery, to whom I 

 sent the seeds, has been fortunate enough to raise 

 a good stock of young plants, which are now 

 growing vigorously, and which will soon deter- 

 mine the value of the species. 



Our journey was long and toilsome ; sometimes 

 we were on the top of the highest ridges, and at 

 other times we seemed to go down and down until 

 we were nearly on a level with the sea. But the 

 views of scenery, which were ever shifting as we 

 went along, were grand in the extreme, and richly 

 rewarded us for all our toil. While on the tops of 

 the highest ridges we looked round upon barren 

 mountains, which lay about us like the waves of a 

 stormy sea, and here and there we got glimpses of 

 the distant and fertile plain of Ningpo stretching far 

 away to the eastward. At other times our way led 

 us through pleasant and secluded valleys, each of 

 which looked like a little world of its own, shut in 



