182 
nan-gan-foo. 
in no respect from many others which we had visited. Its envi- 
rons were picturesque from the mountain ranges, which formed 
a magnificent amphitheatre around them. These were too distant 
to be approached in any of our limited excursions. Our curiosity was 
therefore obliged to rest satisfied till we crossed the Mei-ling moun- 
tain, which formed the centre of a ridge that swept from east to west, 
bounding and separating the provinces of Kiang-si and Canton. 
The rocks in the neighbourhood of the city were nearly horizon- 
tally stratified, and consisted of shistus of a very close texture, and 
dark gray colour. Similar rocks had formed the immediate banks of 
the river for several days before our arrival. The hills were rich in 
rare and beautiful plants, of which I can only name the Eurya Ja- 
ponica * of Thunberg, which covered them in the greatest profusion. 
Much of the cultivation about Nan-gan-foo was in the ground- 
nut Arachis hypogcea. This plant, so remarkable for its wide geogra- 
phical distribution f, is cultivated by the Chinese for the oil extracted 
from its seeds, and for the nourishment they afford to the common 
people as a fruit and a vegetable. We had been supplied with them 
in all parts of our route, but first met with the plant cultivated in 
fields on the banks of the Yang-tse-kiang, and continued to observe 
it through the whole province of Kiang-si and of Canton. Before 
the seeds, which ripen under ground, are collected, the stems of the 
plant are cut by a hoe close to the earth. The seeds are then taken 
lip and put into a large sieve, suspended between three poles set up 
in a triangle : one man feeds the sieve, whilst another shakes it, and 
separates the dirt. It what manner the oil is procured from the 
seeds we had no opportunity of learning. They are roasted before 
* See Appendix. 
f Of this plant, which was found cultivated along the banks of the Congo as far as 
they were examined by Capt. Tuckey, Mr. Brown has observed, “ There is nothing very 
improbable in the supposition of Arachis hypogcea being indigenous to Asia, Africa, and 
even Armenia; but if it be considered as belonging to one of those continents only, it is 
more likely to have been brought from China through India to Africa, than to have been 
carried in the opposite direction.” — Botanical Appendix of Capt. Tuckey’s Journal of the 
Expedition to explore the Congo. 
