GENERAL NOTES. 
145 
Lo-fou woods, whilst the How-lik squirrel is very numerous but seems confined entirely to the 
Lo-fou district, this being also the case with the Barbet. The common bamboo at Lo-fou is a 
pretty and graceful spindle species with long and narrow leaves ; the much-branched, thorny or 
scrub bamboo so common on the coast seems to be absent or rare in the Lo-fou district. Lantana, 
evidently planted, has reached Lo-fou, but we saw no prickly-pear and but little Pandanus, the few 
small patches which occurred being a woodland species and different from the common coast plant. 
On the summit of the mountain large thistles with purple flowers—very like the common English 
thistle—grew in profusion, and as usual were very attractive to insects. In one or two valleys by 
the side of streams a few tree-ferns were growing. 
From Shek-lung to the base of the Lo-fou hills is a practically level plain of brown 
alluvial soil, cultivated chiefly with rice, and irrigated by the beautifully clear streams from the hills. 
To the north, east and west several fairly high hills are seen in the distance, not in distinct ranges 
but placed confusedly like the coast hills. From its entrance a few miles below Whampoa the 
East River has a tortuous course to Shek-lung between low banks, sometimes widening where an 
island occurs, but on the average not 300 yds. wide ; sandbanks are numerous and navigation 
difficult, but there seem to be no outcrops of rock. 
The Chinese monasteries are now no longer seats of learning, and the reverence with 
which these establishments were formerly regarded seems to be dying out, and with the decay of 
the temples the trees, alas, are becoming the prey not only of the neighbouring villages but also 
provide fuel for the monks themselves. The various temples are most of them extensive buildings, 
but some portion or other of the fabric is generally in a delapidated condition ; the monks did not 
seem to be numerous and religious duties were apparently carried on in a somewhat perfunctory 
manner, in contrast to the monastery at How-lik—in fact the Lo-fou monasteries seem to be in a 
moribund condition. However, in a few places we noticed new erections in the shape of the usual 
small rest-houses with highly-ornamented, very perishable roofs supported by massive granite 
pillars and balustrades calculated to resist the wear of ages, but put together with mud mortar in 
true Chinese style. 
Large hill-fires were constantly burning on different spurs and foot-hills whilst we were 
at Lo-fou. These fires not only burnt off the grass and bushes but destroyed large numbers of 
fine trees on the outskirts of the woods. The district immediately surrounding the Lo-fou hills is 
not so densely populated as the Delta or many parts of the coast, and the villages—for the most 
part small and fairly well built of rough granite—backed by nice patches of wood and a few fair¬ 
sized trees, with usually a clear and rocky stream in the foreground—are very picturesque. The 
hillsides are not disfigured by the unsightly brick and plaster graves common to many parts of 
S. China. Although the Lo-fou mass rises abruptly from a plain but a few feet above sea-level, 
its great bulk and extent and the fact that there is no commanding peak detract somewhat from 
its apparent height ; the true height can be better realised by comparing it, when approaching from 
Shek-lung, with the conspicuously peaked hill slightly nearer than and a little to the west of the 
main portion of Lo-fou ; this hill is certainly not under 2,000 ft. in height. The Lo-fou hills can 
be distinctly seen on a sufficiently clear day as soon as the entrance to the East River is reached, 
about N.E. by E. and perhaps fifty miles distant. 
