0J6 
 ^72 
 
 THE 
 
 ,0-FOU MOUNTAINS 
 
 An Excursion 
 
 BY 
 
 F. S. A. BOURNE 
 
 H. B. M. VICE CONSUL 
 CANTON 
 
 Hongkong 
 Pbinted by KELLY & WAL.SH, LlMiTEO 
 
 A>fD AT 
 
 SHANGHAI, SINGAPORE & YOKOHAMA 
 18 9 3
 
 T H E 
 
 LO-FOIJ MOUNTAINS
 
 ^TWC/.i-ny llul^un 
 
 SKETCH MAP 
 
 OF THE 
 
 LO-FOU MOUNTAINS.
 
 J^,. C. \ .Xsu. 
 
 ^ Vq 
 
 V , 
 
 THE 
 
 LOFOU MOUNTAINS 
 
 An Excursion 
 
 BY 
 
 F. S. A. BOURNE 
 
 H. B. M. VICE CONSUL 
 CANTON 
 
 Hongkong 
 Trinted by KELLY & WALSH, Li.mitkd 
 
 AXD AT 
 
 SHAXOHAI, SIXGAPOHE & YOKOIIA.MA 
 18 9 5
 
 Heijistercil in iiccurdauce wiili I ho provisions of Orilin:iticc Nu. 10 
 
 of 188.S. ;it tlu' t)ttice of thr 
 
 lifijixt I'd r (I'ini riiL Suprcnir Cmtri Jli>uxi\ lloinjhi'Hij.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 I. Canton to thI': Top 1 
 
 II. Put-wan Tzk to Su-liu Kqn 18 
 
 III. SU-LIU KUN BY WAY <»F Ch'uNG-HIT 
 
 KuN TO Canton 31 
 
 IV. Second Tuir — by way of Tsang- 
 
 SlilNG 38 
 
 Appendix A. — Itiiierury and Map A2 
 
 „ R. — Altitudes 4o 
 
 „ C. — Latitudes and Longitudes 44 
 
 D.— Plants collected 45 
 
 
 —J 
 
 
 2000499
 
 THE LO-rOTJ MOTJITTAIIS. 
 
 I. — Caxtox to the Tor. 
 
 Ill 1892, late in August, wlieu lieat and 
 dulness have brought European life in Canton 
 to an irreducible ebb, and when the White 
 Man can only curse the fate that transplanted 
 him in a site so hot and crowded as tlie delta 
 of the Canton River, a restless Irishman was 
 wandering about an office in Shamien. jerking 
 out: "'too many sherries last night, my iriend ; 
 " feel as if I were a compound of ice-cream 
 " pate and alcohol ; we must get awa}' from 
 " this pkice ; ever heard of the Lo-fou Moun- 
 " tains ; 4,000 feet high, they say, monastery 
 '' on the top, tigers, monkeys ; let's go there 
 " and get out of the heat." 
 
 This happy inspiration led five Britons 
 to make the excursion of which this j)aper i& 
 an account. 
 
 The Lo-fou Mountains lie about 60 miles 
 East of Canton and 70 miles as the crow flies 
 North of Hongkong on the confines of three 
 Districts (^), the South-Eastern part of the 
 range belonging to Pok-lo* ( f § f8 )? ^li^ 
 Northern part to Tsang shing ( ^ ^ ) and 
 the South- Western to part Tung-kun (!^ ^). 
 
 ** Names of places are transliterated from the local 
 (Cantonese) pronunciation.
 
 2 
 
 At 10 a.m. on the 17tli September 1892, 
 or.r launch towing ;i small house-boat left the 
 Bund ; we steamed past Whampoa and turned 
 into the East River at 1.30 p.m. The afternoon 
 was very liot — indeed on our return we found 
 that we had passed on the roof of a small 
 launch, protected only by a thin awning, the 
 hottest day of 1<S92, the nuiximum temp, of 
 which is given in the Hongkong Returns as 
 94° Fahr. Ijefore we had been long in the 
 East River we could make out the Lo-fou 
 range to the North. At dusk we ran aground 
 about a mile below Shek-lung (^ nt)? '^'^*^^ 
 it was not till midnight that we were safely 
 anchored off that very dirty and bad-smelling 
 town. 
 
 Here we had to turn our backs on (he 
 River, and trust ourselves to Chinese roads 
 and our baggage to porters. We had hoped 
 to be off at daylight the next morning; but 
 nothing could be more dismal than our outlook 
 when at last the light broke. The mountains 
 were hidden in mist ; all that we could see 
 from our boat was the squalid straggling 
 suburl) ; there was no sign of the coolies who 
 were to carry our baggage a long day's 
 journey ; and at 6 a.m. it was raining and 
 appeared likel}- to rain all day. 
 
 As twenty miles of unknown road stret- 
 ched between us and our proposed sleeping 
 place, we did not spare our native staff either 
 remonstrances or threats ; and after we had
 
 landed some of them in the raiu, which seemed 
 to raise them to a just sense of the occasion, 
 the porters came stragghng up one by one. 
 Having got through as well as we could the 
 inevitable shouting, bullying, objections to the 
 weight and to the division of the loads, &c., 
 incidental to getting coolies to start on a land 
 journey in China, at about 7.30 a.m. we 
 marched off, skirting the right or North bank 
 of the river, up stream. In less than a mile 
 we turned our backs on the river and went 
 North straight for the mountains. 
 
 Before further describing the journey it 
 may be useful to future tourists in these parts 
 to give some account of our equipage. For 
 this stage from Shek-lung to the foot of the 
 mountains two of us took sedan-chairs, which 
 were used occasionally : the other three walked 
 the whole way. Our baggage, including camp- 
 beds, cooking vessels, &c., was carried by ten 
 coolies, being packed as far as possible into 
 the regular baskets, one of which makes one 
 side of a coolie's load. We paid the chair and 
 baggage coolies one dollar each for this day. 
 Afterwards we engaged coolies from stage 
 to stage paying them about 50 cents a day 
 each. 
 
 By the time we were well on our way, it 
 had settled down to a heavy rain. We were 
 crossing a rice plain often on narrow mud 
 paths and in a high wind, and our progress 
 was therefore slow. At about 10.30 a.m. we
 
 .„ 4 - 
 
 I'oacliod T i-cli'ong ( ^ ^- ) about sevoii miles 
 iVoni Shek-lniig, where we liad Iniicli, 
 
 At. 11.80 a.m. we left T'i-ciroim* Ljoiiuj: 
 Norlli in sneli heavy I'ain that we eonhl see 
 nothing. At 2 p.m. we were winding among 
 the low hills that form the outliers of the 
 range. At 3 p.m. we passed a temple named 
 Fa-shan Tze (^ ^ ^), Temple of the Flower 
 Hand, at the foot of the mountains, whicli we 
 shall mention again. The elimb now began, 
 and at 4 p.m. we reached a large I'uddhist 
 ^lonastery — Wa-shau Toi (^"^fft), Terrace 
 of Variegated Heads, 580 feet above the sea, 
 oiu" destination, after a walk fr(,m Shek-lung 
 of not less than 21 miles. 
 
 A broad winding road leads up to the Mon- 
 astery through over-hanging woods, the ground 
 covered with a rich under-growth of flowering- 
 shrubs, creepers and tall grasses. We pass a 
 stone on which the characters Lo-fou '^ ^jt; ff- ) 
 are deeply engraved — said to be the oldest 
 inscription in these mountains; and here and 
 ther(Uhe rocks are cut with the name of Amida 
 Buddha. Then we heard the low mellow tones 
 of the temple bell — its deep cadence, striking 
 the ear in the solitude of the woods and 
 streams, seemed to carry a sense of awe and 
 repose to the mind, and to turn one's thoughts 
 to something deeper than man's affairs. The 
 Monastery is delightfully situated on a broad 
 terrace to which a stream of clear water 
 descends by a waterfall. The terrace is backed
 
 o — - 
 
 on the North by the main mass of the moun- 
 tain breakino- away on the East and West into 
 crag'gy declivities covered with grand old 
 trees. Our path approaches from the South. 
 The buihlings are spacious and solid witli com- 
 I'ortable guest rooms, and quarters for one or 
 two hundred monks. There is a hivat(n'y — a 
 rare sight in China — and a very curious o]ie- 
 The mountain stream is diverted by a small 
 aqueduct to supply water to large iron-pans 
 where it is heated by burning long reeds and 
 grasses from the hills. Thence it is carried to 
 tubs in little cubicles made by wooden par- 
 titions backed by the solid rock. 
 
 The Top.'-'-' says : " the Monastery of Wa- 
 *' shau Toi was established in 739 A.D. — the 
 *' iirst Buddhist House in this neighbourhood. 
 *' Its name is derived from the traditi(Ui that 
 " once upon a time live hundred Jjo-han (tlie 
 " Arhat or Disciples of Shakyamuni) with 
 *' variegated heads, (that is, heads of dilierent 
 '' shapes and colours like flowers,) came and 
 " stopped here. At the end of the XVI. 
 " century this Monastery became a celebrated 
 '' centre of Buddhist teaching and priests 
 " flocked here in such numbers that the build- 
 " ing had to be erdarged. I>ehind the temple 
 
 * There is a Topography of the Lo-foa Mountains, 
 dating from early in the last century, of which a rejirint 
 can be bought in Canton. It is in ten volumes very 
 discursive and badly digested as such works usually are, 
 being more a collection of extracts than a reasoned discourse. 
 This woi'k is referred to below as Top.
 
 " there are t\v(^ rocks leaning* towanls one 
 " anorher and meeting at tlie top like hands 
 " joined in prayer." 
 
 After the ca^-ed life of Canton tliis twenty- 
 mile walk in heavy rain and wind (a typhoon 
 was rag'ing in Hongkong) tired us greatly, so 
 we decided to postpone one day the climb to 
 the top. In the morning we strolled round 
 the hill to the East about three miles as far 
 as the Taoist Monastery Wong-lung Kun 
 ( ® Si ^ ' meaning Temple of the Yellow 
 Dragon, situated in a break in the hills amongst 
 beautiful trees. Just before reaching the 
 Temple we noticed two priests gathering fruit 
 from a tree apparently of the orange family, 
 called by the natives '• Xlen-ya-Ch'ii" ( ^i5^to ' 
 The fruit, something between an orange and 
 a mangostine was strange to us : we sent 
 specimens to Mr. C. Ford, the Superintendent 
 of the Botanical Department, Hongkong, bnt he 
 was unable to identify the tree. The priests 
 said the tree only grew in these hills. This 
 is scarcely likely to be so ; however the fruit 
 appears not to be known in Canton. 
 
 This temple contains many rooms but 
 the space is too much cut up so that guests' 
 quarters would be rather confined. The Priest 
 who received us was a very worldly-minded 
 individual whose heart seemed to be mainly 
 set on making money : he tried to trade with 
 us in various lines from mountain tea of 
 extraordinary virtues and fragrance to pre-
 
 ■served sweets and orchids, offering to l^onrd 
 and lodo-e iis and our friends, call for orders 
 in Hongkong and so on. 
 
 The Top. refers to the Cave of the Yellow 
 Dragon ( ^ ^f Wi)-i ^*'it ^i<^ mention is made 
 of this temple, so that we may take it to be 
 a modern establishment. 
 
 Having returned to lunch at Wa-shan 
 'Toi, two of us started to walk to Fa-shau Tze, 
 which we now discovered to be the temple 
 passed yesterday at the foot of the mountain, 
 -on a curious mission. One of the last 
 foreigners who had visited these mountains 
 was Mr. C. Ford, of Hongkong, in 1883. He 
 had put up at Fa-shau T/e for the night and 
 had left four dollars in his host's debt, which 
 sum he had sent back from the next stage 
 by the hands of a servant. He had since 
 •discovered that the servant had embezzled the 
 money, which Mr. Ford had never had an 
 opportunity of making good until he heard 
 •of our party. Alas ! the good old Priest who 
 had entertained Mr. Ford in 1883 was dead ; 
 but we handed the money to his successor 
 und explained the reason why it had remained 
 so long unpaid — much to the astonishment of 
 the villagers who stood round and listened to 
 ■our palaver. This temple is without interest. 
 It is situated on flat ground and its inmates 
 seem given up to agriculture. No one should 
 halt here in summer, but those intending to 
 ■climb the mountain should call here for a
 
 — 8 — 
 
 guide, as tlie top temple is the property ot 
 this liouse so that there is eonstaiit com- 
 inmiieatioii between the two. 
 
 On the 20th September, at U.oO a.m., we 
 started from Wa-shau Toi to climb the 
 mountain. The walking was good and easy 
 sometimes on a firm earth road and some- 
 times on a roughly made stone path. There 
 was no human abode of any kind between 
 Wa-shau Toi and the top and scarcely a tree 
 between the precincts of the two temples that 
 made the stage. It was an easy climb in 
 point of gradient but the rain poured without 
 ceasing, and, being quite out of training we 
 began by noon to feel the approaches of 
 hunger, indeed one of us said he must eat or 
 he could not go another step. Luckily, at this 
 crisis, one of our porters came up, in whose 
 load we found a tin of cooking raisins of 
 which short work was made. At 2 p.m. we 
 found ourselves on a narrow col (3,950 feet) 
 with precipices on either side. This we took 
 to be the basis of all the fancifid invention 
 about a so-called Iron Bridge" (^ tS) con- 
 
 * The common legend is that this ranoc cousists of 
 two masses of mountain Lo on the S.W. and Fou on the 
 N.K. Lo is a common sound and name in Chinese, and 
 tliis mountain is said always to have stood where it is ; but 
 Fou, wliich means '* floatiiij^-," is said to have floated here 
 from P'eiifi-liii — Fairy-land — somewhere in the Eastern Sea 
 and to he now joined to Lo by the " Iron Bridge." The 
 books say that even now the flora of Fou is marine and 
 that the water in its tarns rises and falls with the tide I
 
 — 9 — 
 
 iiecting the Lo moiintain to the Foil of which 
 so much is said in C'hiiiese books. 
 
 From this point we skirted the top of the 
 mountain leaving it on our left ; descended 
 some hundred feet ; continued about two miles- 
 on fairl}' level paths ; went dow^n some hundred 
 feet and up again having crossed a deep gully 
 in the heart of the mountains ; rallied on a little 
 plateau ; and saw through the clouds fifty yards 
 ahead of us the little Buddhist Temple Put- 
 wan Tze (^^^j Cloud-dispersing Temple, 
 — our destination — ^into which we straggled 
 one after another about o p.m. very glad to get 
 under shelter from the remorseless rain. The 
 distance from Wa-shau Toi to Put-wan Tze 
 is thirteen to fourteen miles. Under favorable 
 conditions the ascent ought to be done in five 
 and the descent in four hours : so that men in 
 condition could get to the top and back easily 
 in one day. 
 
 When a tub, drj^ clothes, a good lunch and 
 a cigar had sufficiently stimulated thought and 
 observation, we became gradually aware that 
 we shared with certain wooden images a 
 tumble-down little building standing at a 
 height of 3,520 feet and at a distance of 
 fourteen miles from its nearest neighbour. It 
 was agreeable to find that we were seated 
 under a water-tight roof at double the height 
 of the Hongkong Peak in a temp, of 66° Fahr. 
 on 20th September : the more so that we had 
 brought up with us dry clothes, blankets,
 
 — 10 — 
 
 bread, liani, clarol, eofleo and whiskey ; and 
 ^\■\io CI mid want more at the moment? 
 
 This temple may perhaps be deseribed 
 with some detail as its strani^e situation is 
 likelv to make it iiiter(>stino- to other Kuropeans 
 visiting these mountains, although it has no 
 intrinsic merit. The main building ecmsists 
 of three rooms alongside, with broken-down 
 out-houses at right angles on either hand, so 
 <as to form three sides of a. square. Tht^ 
 Western room does duty as Principal Hall 
 and here is the usual gilt wooden Image of 
 Buddha — we washed to put up our camp beds 
 here but found that it leaked. The middle 
 room is very small and is moreover encum- 
 bered by a stone altar. Behind this room is 
 ii loft, where the Botanical Collectors sent 
 w4th us by Mr. C. Ford put up. The Eastern 
 room, which is much the best, measures 
 about 18 feet by 25 feet and has a tiled 
 floor. In the place of honour is an Image 
 of the Instructor in Medicine, Buddha, a 
 god with an incense-burner in front and 
 a lamp to light at night consisting of a 
 foreign glass tumbler half full of oil with 
 a piece of pith hanging over the side as wick. 
 Dui-ing our stay the worship of this Deity 
 had to be suspended as our beds took up the 
 whole space : but in lieu thereof he heard a 
 lot of discussion and argument. This temple 
 was built in 1868. The only curious thing 
 about it, is that the two P^astern rooms
 
 — 11 — 
 
 are roofed with foreign corrugatecl iron. A 
 traveller coming on the temple suddenly would 
 probably find but one man in occupation with 
 rice and yery little else. There is a garden 
 with a few herbs. There was one domestic 
 creature only — a cock — who was supported for 
 religious purposes. Finding he was not for 
 sale and that there was no chance of getting 
 him into our larder, we felt truly grieved for 
 his lonely condition: indeed one of our number, 
 who was undergoing a course of medicine, oc- 
 casionally threw him a pill which he swallowed 
 with confidence I During the clear weather of 
 October, Noyember and December this Temple 
 would be a paradise to a small party of 
 sportsmen or botanists, well provided with 
 the necessaries of western life. 
 
 On the next day, 21st September, we 
 started under the guidance of the Priest to 
 visit a place called Ku-yu Toi ("S'^fi): 
 Enchanting Terrace of the Ancients. We 
 walked through mist and rain down gorges, 
 across yalleys, fording streams, trying to 
 emulate the career of flies on a wall, with 
 no track — excepting wild-boar runs — and no- 
 thing but the guidance of the Priest to keep 
 us together in the mist — on and on for about 
 an hour in a direction a little North of East 
 from the temple. At last we found ourselves 
 on a small terrace covered with grass and 
 flo^yers but bare of trees ; and stretching below 
 us a most magnificent view worth all our
 
 — 12 — 
 
 pains since loavino- ('anti^n. '.riio main i-iil_2,o 
 ol'thu nionntains ran away to the North Kasr : 
 l)olo\v us was a slioer and apparently imprac- 
 ticable descent: tlie valley was clothed in 
 stately virgin forest — as inaccessible, our 
 g'uide said, from below as Irom where we 
 stood, above. My mind does not recall 
 accurately, nor if it did could I find words 
 to express, the eli'ect of what we saw 
 by gliinpses as the mist rose and fell : the 
 perfect rest and stillness, the noble forest, 
 the vast expanse beginning with the giant 
 trees beneath us, then the steep sides of the 
 mountain, then the outlying hills, then the 
 broad plain with the hazy shape of mountains 
 beyond on the horizon. And there was not a 
 vestige of man or of his work— stout Cortez 
 upon a peak in Darien could not have seen 
 less. 
 
 There is a tradition that this I'oniote forest 
 is peopled by monkeys : hear what Dr. B. C. 
 Henry says in his excellent work " IJng-nam" 
 page ol7 : " from this terrace (Ku-yu Toi) 
 " we look down into the mysterious depths 
 " of Monkey Gorge, an inaccessible ravine 
 " covered with a dense growth of trees and 
 " shrubs, and inhabited by a large tribe of 
 " monkeys. Guarded from below by a sheer 
 " precipice, which no one has yet been able 
 " to climb, and from above by an e(|ually 
 " precipitous descent, which no one has dared 
 •' to attempt, its depths are yet unexplored,
 
 — 13 — 
 
 *' Mild tiio monkeys left in undisturbed po.sscs- 
 '*' sion. A stone linrled from above into the 
 " tree tops brings them out in angry remons- 
 "■ trance against such insults. Living on the 
 " wild fruits and nuts of their mountain 
 •^ retreat, they seem to have sufftcient food, 
 ^' except in times of drought or extreme cold, 
 ^' when they issue forth in search of susten- 
 '"' ance. Numerous tales of their depredations 
 " are told. On one occasion they made a 
 *' descent upon the orchard of the Pak-hok 
 " monastry, and in a single night stripped 
 '• it of an abundant crop of various fruits, a 
 " trail of seeds and shells leading up the hill 
 " showing who the marauders were. An old 
 " priest at l\it-wan had msmy tales to tell 
 '• about them, and seemed to think them 
 •' almost human. He had watched them at 
 '' pUiy, and seen the parents toss the little 
 " ones back and Ibrth between them like 
 -' balls. Companies of three hundred have 
 " been seen at one time." 
 
 Dr. Henry, you will observe, does not say 
 that he saw these monkeys himself: gladly, 
 no doubt, accepting the picturesque effect that 
 •the image of monkeys tossing their babies 
 about among the trees of the forest primeval 
 adds to his pages, he refers the reader to a 
 native of the Gorgeous East as his authority. 
 'Jliis was wisely done ; but a l^jritish youth 
 of Canton went further, and informed one of 
 us that he had seen these monkeys with his
 
 — 14 — 
 
 own eyes. This was why we had burdened', 
 ourselves with '• fallibU; rifle and devious shol 
 g'un," and why we now sat down and waited 
 (til this ancient bowling-green, ready lor attack 
 or defence, and w^atching earelnlly for a 
 glimpse of onr interesting first cousins, whom 
 we imagined well advanced in the evolutionary 
 ascent. But we were disappointed ; not u 
 vestige of monkeys did we see ; and my owu 
 opinion is that these monkeys like the '' Iron 
 Bridge," the ancient musical instruments re- 
 ferred to below and so many other wonders of 
 these hills are only visible to the eye of faith^ 
 that is to say they have no objective existence. 
 
 On the 23rd September, Dr. Wales and 
 I determined to retrace our steps as far as 
 the col mentioned in describing oiu- ascent, 
 and thence to climb Fi-wang-ting (^ ^ T^)? 
 Flying-cloud Summit, the highest peak in 
 these mountains. 
 
 We reached the col without event and a 
 short climb of a couple of hundred feet or so 
 t(.)wards the W.N.W. brought us to the top. 
 We stayed there about half an hour in order 
 to take a careful reading of pressure and tem- 
 perature for altitude : corrected, they are as 
 ibllows ; 1892, 23rd September, 1 p.m. 63° Fahr. 
 25.85 inches. This worked out with the 
 Hongkong Observatory as the Lower Station 
 gives 4,150 feet as the height of the mountain. 
 On the occasion of my second visit to Lo-fou, 
 1 made at the same place the following obser-
 
 — 15 — 
 
 vatioiis: 1894. January lltli, 10 a.m. 52° Fahr. 
 :26.0o inches which worked out in the same 
 way gives the height as 4,120. 
 
 AVe may therefore witli sojne confidence 
 put the lieighr of the Lo-fou Mountains at 
 tibout 4,150 I'eet above the sea level. 
 
 Near the top stands a stone aUar to 
 the God of tlie ]jo-fou Mountains, the Deity 
 who is imagined to liave charge of the govern- 
 inent of this District, The inscription is — 
 
 m Wi ^- 
 
 mm ^ 
 
 Close by we were astonished to find an ordinary 
 grave with an inscription dated 1839 to the 
 effect that this was the tomb of the Honoured 
 Wife, whose maiden surname was Ho, of ClrOn 
 1 K ), of the village of Mu-yuan (^ |)^), who 
 represented the ITtli generation of his family. 
 Probably the bones were collected some years 
 after death and brought here. 
 
 The view from Fi-wang Ting must be 
 magnificent when the air is clear, but we were
 
 — 16 — 
 
 in clouds and could scarcely see the plain at 
 all. On the occasion of my second visit in 
 January, 1894, the weather was cold and the 
 air appeared clear, as it really was in the 
 upper j'eo-ious, hut helow, the features of the 
 landscape were shrouded in a fine mist rising; 
 from — 
 
 " those dim fields about the homes 
 
 "Of happy men 
 
 " And grassy barrows of the happier dead." 
 
 For an extended view one should he here on 
 a clear humid day in sprin^*-. The Top. says : 
 " Fi-wang Ting is the highest peak of the Lo 
 " Mountain and stands erect to Heaven. In 
 " hue weather there is a mist helow, Thv 
 " Philosopher ('Im {:^ -f) often climbed this 
 " peak in the eai'ly morning to see the tops of 
 " the neighbouring peaks emerge from the mist 
 " as if from a sea. As the clouds roll past. 
 " one feels as if the mountain were moving — a 
 ■' curious sensation." Lakes and pagodas are 
 then mentioned but of these we saw nothing : 
 however if the Philosopher C'liu got here in 
 the early morning there must have been a 
 building of some sort up here unless he was 
 even greater as a m(juntaineer than as a 
 Philosophical Critic. Tlieii the Top. drags in 
 "the Iron Bridge" and says : '• there are two 
 " solitary peaks standing detached and oppo- 
 " site each other. Tliis bridge connects them ; 
 " but being built of stones like those of which 
 " a rainbow is formed, it is seldom seen ! "
 
 — 17 — 
 
 We were walking back to our temple 
 wondering why Cli'en sent liis Wile's bones 
 to such an extraordinary resting pbace, and 
 had concluded that it must have been ambition 
 for his descendants based on feng-shui, when 
 we started a wild-boar from the gully below 
 us about [I hundred yards off. It scuttled off 
 up the glen along side our path, stopping 
 several times almost 1)roadside on towards us. 
 Unfortunately we carried nothing more deadly 
 than umbrellas and aneroid barometers ; so- 
 lie went his way in peace. 
 
 On the 24th September our party broke up, 
 Doctors AVales and Atkinson and Mr. Badeley 
 returning to (Janton by the way we had come ; 
 while Mr. Wyon and myself started further 
 into the mountains. We had been very un- 
 lucky in the weather at Put- wan Tze for we 
 were in rain and mist the whole time. We 
 would have stayed a day or two longer in the 
 hope of seeing the sun, but our servants were 
 doubled up by the cold and we had to descend 
 to a warmer level or have sick men on our 
 hands. 
 
 -^^}^EEP♦"*-♦-IEI^^«-
 
 TI.— P[ r-\vAN Tzi: to Sr-i,iu Krx. 
 
 Tliereforo a,t 11 a.m. we said t>-()0(l-bve 
 to our kind old Host and the rono-h l)ut well- 
 meant hospitality of Put-wan, and made our 
 way North by a pathway giving grand views 
 of a range oi" mountains on the X.W. After 
 ha.ir an hour's walk we came upon a meadow 
 about a hundred yards S(|uare that had 
 evidently been levelled by man and that bore 
 traces of former buildings. The spot is kno\vn 
 as Siao-teen mun ( /J> ^ P^ ) l^ittlo Heaven's 
 Gate. The view towards the North was now 
 very fine; in fact one is here on the Northern 
 odge of the main plateau of the mountain. 
 One can walk quite up to the edge of the 
 plateau where a stream falls shear over the 
 rocks splashing down one precipice after 
 another for about 2,000 feet. Far away below 
 us in the valley stands a circnlar hill, clothed 
 on one side with a splendid grove of iir trees, 
 the dark gr(,H'n of whose foliage contrasts 
 well with the lighter greens and reds on the 
 slopes around. Our guide informed us that 
 in front of this grove was situated the Taoist 
 Monastery Su-llu Kun, our present destination. 
 At luittle Heaven's Gate the serious descent 
 began and remarkably steep it was by a zig- 
 zagiiig clay pathway made very slippery by 
 fallen leaves. The changing panorama of
 
 ~ 19 — 
 
 li<2,"lit and shade over the crater-shaped valley 
 below us was encliantino-. The rocks that 
 border the torrent are covered with orchids. 
 After a descent of two to three thousand feet 
 we reached fairly level ground with a wood- 
 cutter's shelter and an occasional tree (1,200 
 feet \ Here we met two separate parties of 
 men, 5 or in each, out after wild boar. Their 
 method apparently was to burn out a patch 
 on the hill side and shoot what came out of 
 it. As we follow the stream further North 
 we g'et lovely glimpses of the waterfall which 
 can be traced for the whole oi its course of 
 2,000 feet. Softened by distance the broken 
 crags and gullies over which we have just 
 come look like a green expanse. 
 
 At 4 p.m. we reached Su-liu Kun"' (K^ 
 ^ — a place that did not belie our high ex- 
 pectations. The buildings are spacious and 
 in excellent order; and the site is well chosen. 
 The temple itself is strongly built and richly 
 adorned : the magnificent fir trees, the mere 
 withlarge boulders placed in semi-circles above 
 its banks, on which the priests sit to chat and 
 survey the landscape ; the perfect calm and 
 svlvan beauty of the surroundings; and above 
 all the discipline and order that reigned 
 amongst the innuites of this House struck 
 us with something like astonishment. 
 
 Note that Kuq is a Taoist and Tze a Buddhist Temple.
 
 — 2 ) — 
 
 The meaning of the name Su Liu is rather 
 vague; but it undoubtedly points to Wine 
 and Wine-bibbing. Su (§40 probably meant 
 a fermented drink made from milk ; and 
 Liu ( ^ ) means lees of wine. Prol)ably the 
 two characters are best rendered in Knglish 
 by nectar, mountain dew or some such p ^etic 
 name. Several paintings on the "walls of the 
 temple record exploits with the bottle; alto- 
 gether it seems hat Taoism contains in its 
 heterogeneous divine repertoire some counter- 
 part of Bacchus. 
 
 We were received by a most affabk) and 
 oonrteous individual, arrayed in Taoist garb, 
 who, without speaking a word that we could 
 understand, made us clearly aware of his liiizh 
 consideration and distinguished sentinients 
 towards us. He struck attitudes, threw his 
 gown around, and deported himself like a 
 pea-cock. His special duty, we afterwards 
 learned, is to receive and to provide lor the 
 comfort of guests. 
 
 The "Pea-cock" allotted us excellent 
 quarters with a large court-3^ard to ourselves, 
 at the back of which was a newly-built and 
 gorgeously painted hall, fifty feet by thirty. 
 
 We were given a particularly w:irm 
 welcome by an old Priest whose real name 
 is Li P'ing bu. who assumed the name of 
 Chih-p'ing (^^) — Peace attained — on enter- 
 ing religion. He spoke English fluently, telling 
 u§ that he had passed many years in San
 
 — 21 — 
 
 Francisco wliere he was cook in a French 
 Eestaurant, He had come here to pass the 
 remainder of his days. He was not a regular 
 j^riest but a la3'-brother. He had paid a himp 
 sum to the Temple on entering and was 
 provided with food and shelter till he died. 
 His only duties were to wash and brush the 
 Images of the Gods every morning at day- 
 break and to brew early tea for the Priests- — 
 then his work was over for the day. What 
 a contrast to the life of a cook in a San 
 Francisco Restaurant ! 
 
 Another who had forgotten most of his 
 English had been for many years a merchant 
 in the Ignited States. He had returned to 
 China in bad heahh. He knew his heart was 
 weak and he could not stand the wear and 
 tear of active trade. He had some money 
 and debated with himself whether he should 
 take a wife. ''If I married I said to myself 
 " I might have a son — that would be good: 
 " but then I might not have a son, and there 
 " are serious troubles and drawbacks." He 
 •decided that he would relive to this temple 
 and end his days in peace here. Men lived 
 here longer than elsewhere because of the 
 excellence of the air and water. 
 
 P2xact discipline is maintained at this 
 temple — thai is as such things go in China. 
 'The drum is beaten and the doors shut at sun- 
 down. A regular service of drum-beating 
 And chanting is gone through twice a day — at
 
 -)') 
 
 dawn and dusk. The shooting and snaring- 
 of birds and the cutting of wood is strictly 
 forbidden, and to this end the grove of fir 
 trees behind the temple is guarded day and 
 night by an oLl man living in a mat-shed, 
 in the middle of the wood, wlio, by the way, 
 addressed iis in English, telling us that he 
 had formerly been employed in Hongkong. 
 
 The result is that the u-ood resounds day 
 and night with the call of birds rarely heard 
 in ("hina. In the stillness of the night this 
 is very remarkable. Kites, owls, ttc. innumer- 
 able keep up a constant clatter by day and 
 put in a shriek every few minutes at night 
 
 In regard to Natural Historj-, I can do 
 little more than recommend to the notice of 
 Hongkong Botanists this district — especially 
 the country around 8iu-Liu Kun — as abounding 
 in flowering shrubs, creepers, grasses and ferns. 
 The district has never been investigated by a 
 £^l competant man on the spot: Mr. C. Ford, oi 
 / Hongkong, came her(\ it is true, but he made 
 luit a flying visit. The native collectors whom 
 Mr. Ford sent with us on this trip made a 
 collection, which is now under examination, 
 but they were far from learned in classification 
 — they divided the flora into two classes only, 
 namely "Hongkong side have got" and 
 " Hongkong side no got.'' Doubtless they left 
 those which they ought to have taken and 
 took those which they ought to have left ; for 
 there was very little botanical health in them.
 
 — 2'6 — 
 
 80 far there have been found among the plants 
 we gather(}d one new genus nanieh^ Ges- 
 neracea^, Didymocarpea}. Bournea Sinensis 
 (Oliv.) named after the AVriter (see Hooker's 
 Teones Plantarnm, Part III., May, 93); and 
 one now sp3cies, Compositaeea3, Carpesiuni 
 Atkinsonianiim (Helms.) named after Dr. At- 
 kinson. Of the other phmts collected a list 
 will be found in Appendix (D). We noticed 
 growing wild at Su-liu, Ijantana, Marigold, 
 Chr3"santhemum and Clorodendron squama- 
 tium : tea oil and fuufj oil trees are here nmch 
 culitvated. There seems to be a consider- 
 able trade in medicinal herbs, roots, &c., from 
 these hills, as well as in weird shaped walking- 
 sticks and other " natural curiosities," so 
 called apparently because in an inaninuite 
 object a resemblance is found to something 
 in the animate world : f )r instance the root 
 of a fern does duty for a deer — four fronds 
 are cut off so that their bases form legs, the 
 hairy covering looks like fur, and the stock, 
 from which both roots and fronds spring, is 
 the body, the tout ensemhle often bearing an odd 
 likeness. The following herb amongst others 
 was being collected : "^ ^ ? Accrus calamus. 
 I must not forget two very different forms 
 oi life — butterflies and oxen — battleshij^s and 
 canoes of the animal world — oossessing onlv 
 one thing in common — the power to support 
 themselves for a season above the level of the 
 dull inanimate. The number and beauty of
 
 u^ 
 
 - 24 — 
 
 the buttertiics in these hills is astonishing^ 
 We noticed many varieties round Su-lm; but 
 I can only describe one, whicii \v;is of steel 
 blue with light coloured facings. We saw as 
 many as twenty of this species together — a 
 gorgeous spectacle. Indeed these mountains 
 are renowned for buttcrllies : there is a Bntter- 
 lly Gorge ( !^ ^ '/l^ ) which appears from 
 the map iii tlie Top. to be above and to the 
 North of Ch'ung-hii Kun (see page 31) and in 
 reo^ard to which the Top. savs : "It has been 
 " handed down that the Immortal Ke Hung's 
 " clothes, discarded as he ascended to Heaven, 
 " were turned into butterflies." The oxen in 
 these ]3arts are of a small but remarkably 
 sleek and well-shaped breixl, and seem to bo 
 more used for field work here than buffaloes. 
 They are all muzzled in a very simple and 
 eftective way, the mu/zlc being made of 
 bamboo. 
 
 Su-luii Kun was built in the reign of 
 K'ang-hi (1662— 172:i) as an ofi-shoot of 
 Ch'ung-hii Kun. It was repaired in thc> 
 sixties and is now in excellent order. We 
 Avere told that all the land in the neighbour- 
 hood had formerly belonged to the temple 
 and that it had now a long rent-roll. 
 
 The Images of the Gods worshiped iit 
 this Temple are displayed in the usual way. 
 [n the main hall there arc three Images: Lei 
 Tsu ( iBi ffl)' ^li^' Patriarch Thunder; Lit 
 Tsu ( g ffl) the Patriarch Lii— ( g M ^}
 
 — 25 — 
 
 born A.D. 755, a Taoist Doctor supposed to- 
 have been a great proficient in tlie black art 
 and now nincli worsliip(>d by the sick ; and 
 Ke Tsu (:g jjfi)— Kc Hung al. Chih-ch'uan 
 (S (^ ^ S jll )? '^ local celebrity of wlioni 
 we shall have much more to say. He was 
 one of the mot^ renowned among the Doctors 
 of Taoism and adepts in the art and practice 
 of alchemy. He is said to have attained to 
 the state of immortality and his disappearance 
 from earth at the age of 81 is reported about 
 A.D. 330- 
 
 This hall is decorated with careful paintings 
 of events in Taoist legend. In a separate 
 chapel to the left of the main hall there stands 
 a shrine with an image of Kuan-yin, th(- 
 Ijuddhist Goddess of Mercy ! To find this 
 in a Taoist Temple might astonish a new- 
 comer from Europe, but the fact is quite 
 in accordance with Chinese practice. No 
 man hath seen God at. any time : so that 
 the idea of God cannot be exactly the same- 
 in any two human minds. If the adherents 
 of one creed hnd in nnother creed an idea 
 or mental image of a Deity embracing 
 qualities and attributes which they admire, 
 why shoidd they not worship that God?' 
 The idea is everything : the name nothing. 
 vSuperuatural religion is concerned solely with 
 
 See Mayers' " Chinese Reucler^s Manual," page 87.
 
 — 26 — 
 
 the subjeetiv-e/" So think the ('hinese: such 
 tlii liking is reasonable but it does not make 
 martyrs or patriots. 
 
 AVhile we were at Su-bii we noticed 
 almost every day new laces — pilgrims just 
 tirrived some of them young and iiitellit'ent 
 looking. There seems to be a continuous 
 stream of these traveling priests. It is hard 
 to see a sufficient object to attract them uj) 
 and down the hmd from temple to temple. 
 There are no schools to visit or lectures to 
 iittend — the great attraction to travel in the 
 Middle Ages in Europe. Such pilgrimages 
 are probably a tradition from early Buddhism, 
 copied by Taoism. The leading idea seems 
 to be that there is advantage and merit in 
 visiting celebrated shrines and in seeing the 
 marvels of nature that surround them — as if 
 what were rare, beautiful, awful or grotesque 
 ill nature lay closer to the Gods than do the 
 common objects of daily life. Is it for the same 
 reason that man all over the world has placed 
 upon liills the Temples of the Gods? or is it 
 more correct to view the (piestion Imm the 
 side of those Celestial Beings and to imagine 
 with the late E. C. r>aber, that the ' Gods 
 prefer to live on hills in order to escape far 
 
 * A Confucian Commoiitator puts this very clearly 
 (see An. 3. 12) : "If a man sacrifices in sincerity there is 
 *' a God (or spirit) ; if not in sincerity, there is do God 
 *' (or spirit)."
 
 — 27 — 
 
 from man, whose company they find very 
 fatiguing?"' 
 
 liiit to return to onr three Images — the- 
 God of Thunder, that is, the Imaginery Official 
 who is supposed to command Heaven's artillery 
 and two Medical Praditioners who dealt in 
 simples, magic and alchemy. The trio equally 
 enjoy the title of Ancestor or Patriarch, and 
 each has a wooden Image. Does not the 
 reader think them. rather an ill-assorted Trinity, 
 and wonder what Taoism really is? We must 
 try to answer him, as he has been indulgent 
 enough to come with us so far. 
 
 In early Chinese records we find many 
 references to the worship of Supernatural 
 Beings, the Emperor worships Heaven, the 
 People worship the Gods of each particular 
 spot of land ; Mountains and Streams are 
 worshiped, and the Spirits of Departed Men. 
 In fact the Chinese seem always to have been 
 free — as they now are — to picture in their 
 minds and worship just what Supernatural 
 Beings they chose. There was then in the- 
 Chinese mind, as there is now, a vague image of 
 a Supernatural World consisting of countless 
 
 * E. C. Baber told the "Writer that, beiug asked to 
 contribute something' to the Album of the Great Temple 
 on Mount Omi in Ssu-ch'iian on the borders of Thibet,. 
 he wrote : — 
 
 The Gods of Greek, of Hebrew and of Jew 
 Lived on Olympus Horeb and Meru ; 
 The Gods of Omi have the self-same plan 
 And live as far as possible from man. 
 
 Cl
 
 — 28 — 
 
 1>eings who were belilud and controlled pbeno* 
 mena. The Chief of these Beings was called 
 Shang-ti, the Supreme God, who seems to have 
 been pictured as ruling the Supernatural 
 World much as the Feudal Ijord or P^mperor 
 ruled the Kingdoms of which China then 
 consisted. To this state of things came Con- 
 fucius who summed up the practical philosophy 
 and ethics of the day and occupied with his 
 teaching the sphere of human relations — 
 man's duty to his neighbour — but left the 
 r(»st much as he found it. Then followed 
 Buddhism from India and occupied the sphere 
 v)f man's relations to a future life, with fixed 
 tenets and teaching, in f^ict a Religion — and 
 the first China had heard of. That she had 
 no religion of her own is proved by the fact 
 that she has no word with that meaning, Iciao 
 the word in use. meaning no more than 
 "doctrine." Taoism icis the attempt of the 
 nath'e scholars to mal-e out of the It eteroge neons 
 materials of Nature- Worship a religion after the 
 model of, and to serre as a rival to, Buddhism. 
 That is why our three Gods are such an ill- 
 assorted team. 
 
 But to the above a correction must be 
 applied, tending however to make the subject 
 matter of Taoism more mixed still. There is 
 (1) Lao TziVs teaching about 7ao, the n:ay ; 
 and there is (2) the Black Art, the search for 
 ihe elixir of life and the philosopher's stone — 
 these two have both been important elements
 
 — 29 — 
 
 7ii Taoism and cannot be disregarded. The 
 second re(|iiires no exj^lanatiou. Chinese 
 alchemy seems to have followed much the 
 same course as in the West. In regard to 
 Tao we Avill venture a word of explanation for 
 it is far the most important term in Chinese 
 philosophy and seems to embrace a valuable 
 idea. What does it mean? The umy or right 
 iijoursc. But whither? Suppose the universe 
 »}£ mind and matter to be subject to immutable 
 .forces and laws from the effects of which man 
 has absolutely no hope of escape ; and suppose 
 'I man contemplates doing something whether 
 with his hands or with his brain, there is one 
 v*3est way to effect his object and that best icatj 
 ijs Tao. It is true that the word is often ver}^ 
 vaguely used but in its abstract sense it usually 
 jjieans either (1) the immutable laws of the 
 universe themselves when it corresponds to 
 Hotura of the Stoics* or (2) the right way to 
 act with regard to those laws as explained 
 ubove. 
 
 Clearly this idea of Tao is for the learned, 
 
 -and alchem}^ being long ago dead, there 
 
 remains only Nature-worship — and that is 
 
 what Taoism is for the mass of the people. 
 
 Indeed I believe we may go much further 
 
 -and say that the worship of Nature and An- 
 
 -^cestors is the fundamental religious idea in 
 
 See Wattevs' learned disquisition on tliis word " Essays 
 in the Chinese Language," page 229.
 
 — 30 — 
 
 the Chinese mind now as it was two thousand 
 years ago, and that foreign religions have 
 been very ill assimilated by the national 
 thought — they are hooked on from the outside 
 and show no organic growth. The Catechism 
 taught us to distinguish duty to God and duty 
 to one's neighbour : in China Nature • and 
 Ancestor worship regulate the first, and Con- 
 fucianism the second. 
 
 On the 28th September, we walked to 
 Ch'a-shan Kun, (^ \UW.)i ^^^^ Temple of 
 the Tea Hill, subsidiary to Su-liu, situated at 
 the top of a break in the hills amongst line 
 trees, 1,300 feet above the sea. The air was 
 loaded with the fragrance of flowers and fruit : 
 in the court-yard there was a fine olea fragrans 
 in flower, and in front of the temple carambola 
 and pulemo trees covered with yellow fruit — 
 a garden of the Hesperides. 
 
 ■»I } * ZI1T ^I-^"»^]^E
 
 III. — Su-LIIJ KUN BY WAY OF Ch'uNG-HU 
 
 KiiN TO Canton. 
 
 On the 20tli September, we left Su-liu 
 rafter a pleasant stay of five days. Our porters, 
 ongaged for us by one of the priests, gave no 
 trouble, and at 9 a.m. Ave were unde*- weioli 
 bound for Cii'ung-hii Kun. (/tf^ffiM)^ ^^^^ 
 Temple of Aerial Ascent. AVe followed tlii' 
 Ch'a-shan Kun road till we reached a rest- 
 house on the top of the pass, just above that 
 temple, whence we began the descent — towards 
 the S.S.E. After a couple of miles of steepisli 
 g'radient, we left the mountains behind us (220 
 feet) and passed the day amongst hills some- 
 times well- wooded, but commonplace after the 
 magnificent scenery we had left. At 2 p.m. 
 we reached Ch'ung-hii, our destination — 
 •celebrated as the oldest establishment at Lo- 
 fou and as the abode of Ke Hung, the Taoist 
 Immortal of Avhom I have already spoken, and 
 the place from which he ascended to Heaven. 
 The temple buildings are of most solid con- 
 struction. In front — on the South — is. as 
 usual, a l)-shaped mere or fish jJond ; between 
 this and the main entrance a In'oad terrace 
 paved with blocks of stone ; a massive stone 
 perron leads to the doors opposite which 
 in the entrance-hall stands an image of 
 Ke Hung; and then comes a minor hall
 
 — 32 — 
 
 or chapel forming the soiitliern side of :» 
 spacious concreted terrace about 120 by 60 
 feet with dwelling rooms on either side and 
 the main hall at the top — the North. All the 
 Ituildings are raised four feet above the ground 
 on large well-cut blocks of stone. The temple 
 was last rebuilt or repaired on a large scale 
 ( S IP' ) ^'^ 1666. The more perishable parts — 
 wood-work, rooting, tiles, paint, &c., are in very 
 bad order, but the stone and concrete is almost 
 untouched by time. The main hall is u 
 melancholy sight ; it is in such a dangerous^ 
 condition that it has had to be closed till money 
 can 1)0 raised for its repair. Through tlu* 
 l)roken windows we could see the three Taoist 
 Gods, each with his face wrapped in yellow 
 ])aper that he might be saved the spectacle of 
 <lesolation around him. 
 
 We were much disappointed in this 
 temple. From Chinese l)ooks we had been. 
 led to expect some genuine relics of antiquity 
 here. We had read of jH-imitivc nnisical in- 
 struments made of stone that were prt^servocl 
 here. The oldest priest we cinild find said 
 lie had heard of such things l)ut had never 
 seen them — ^there were none now. 
 
 Having engaged a priest as guide we sei 
 out next morning to see the " wonders " for 
 which this temple is famous. About 20 yards 
 from the back wall he pointed to the side of 
 the hill and said, " That is where the Immortal 
 '• Ke took the earth out of which he made the-
 
 — 33 — 
 
 '• Elixir of Life." Where? we asked, for tlie 
 hill-side hooked lik(> any other, ovei'grown 
 with spear-grass and scrub. He replied. 
 ''Only Immortals can distinguish the spot." 
 This startled us : we were getting deep into- 
 theology. 
 
 The next wonder, so-called, was a grave- 
 stone on which were clearly cut the following- 
 characters (^ S ^) nieaning Tonib of the 
 Clothes and Hat. A stone is said to have 
 been erected here in the Sung Period (A. I). 
 D60 — 1278) and replaced by this one in the 
 reign of K'ien-lung (A.D. 1735 — 179(5;. After 
 Ke Hung had taken the Elixir of Life and 
 felt that he was on his way aloft, just as he 
 passed this place, he divested himself of his 
 hat and clothes : only when he felt his feet 
 well above the ground, did he discard his 
 boots, to which there is a separate grave 
 higher up the hill. 
 
 There are many more wonders but no 
 doubt the reader has had enough. Not far ofi' 
 is the Pak-hok Kun ( Q ® IS ) ^ hirge Taoist 
 Temple that we had no time to visit. 
 
 To the South of Ch'ung-hu is a village 
 named Mei-hua Ts'un (^ ^ ^) Plum- 
 blossom Village. The Top. says : about the 
 end of the sixth century A.D. a statesman 
 named Chao Shih-hsiung (^^jfi t^) who had ^ 
 
 been banished to these parts, " in the cool of Ca^ /^<^ ^^ 
 " the evening being at a wine-shop in a ^ .i|, 
 " pine wood somewhat drunk saw a woman .^ ^-7-.'
 
 34 — 
 
 . n . ^l; '• approaching dressed in every-day clothes. 
 
 
 '' He went out to meet her it being then (hisk 
 " with a glimmer of liglit from the moon. 
 
 7 ? 
 
 ^ " He talked to her and was captivated. While 
 vi' '' thev were drinkino- together a youth dressed 
 •/M -^ ill green laughed, danced and sang before 
 '^ *' them. Chao. being drunk, slept. Gradually 
 
 ^ /-/-'" he beu-an to feel a penotratino- cold air: 
 " twas already light in the r^ast ; he rose and 
 " found himself underneath a plum tree on 
 " which was perched a bird with bright blue 
 " ^kingfisher-like) plumage, singing loudly. 
 •' The moon had set; the morning star had 
 '• risen; and Chao felt dull and dejected." 
 
 The sites are shown of two ancient 
 buildings connected with this enterprising 
 statesman for whose banishment there was 
 probably good cause. 
 
 There is so much about these mountains 
 in Chinese literature, the existing temples are 
 so extensive and ruins attest so clearly a great 
 part of their glory to have departed, that one 
 wonders whether the richer classes in China 
 were once more active physically than they 
 are now? Was there ever a genuine spirit 
 of exploration and enquiry among the richer 
 classes or have they always given their brains, 
 in youth to the mental gymnastics of essay 
 and verse making, and in maturer age to the 
 delicate operation of extorting all the money 
 possible from the pockets of the people with- 
 out causing rebellion — as they do now? Did
 
 — 35 — 
 
 the vanguard of the Chuiese camp always 
 consist of washermen and cabbag-e growers, 
 driven forth from their native villages by the 
 inexorable law of Malthiis, anil never of youths 
 led to go abroad by the longing for fresh 
 helds and pastures new? 
 
 In the present day a few vouiig men 
 come to these hills to study and a few old 
 men for change of air when sickness has over- 
 taken them, and there are some decent looking 
 itinerant priests mentioned above ; but the 
 majority of the inmates of those temples ari-^ 
 idle, mangy, loafing priests and criminals 
 escaped from justice. Three students from 
 8u-liu succeeded at the metropolitan exami- 
 nation in 1891, one taking the third place 
 (^ij^), a very high honour. On the other 
 hand it was in hiding at the desolate ruined 
 buihlings of Ch'ung-liu Kun, whither he had 
 gone for his health, that Lo Hok-pang, late 
 Compradore of the Hongkong and Shanghai 
 Hank, died. 
 
 The Top : gives some descriptions of the 
 mountains written in the T'ang (618 — 905 
 and Sung (960 — 1278; Dynasties that smack 
 of a personal visit, and there is one by P'an 
 I^ei i ^ ^ ■ dated about the end of the XVII 
 century that is racy and vigorous and suggests 
 physical activity ; but then there are others 
 of the same date that are typically Chinese, 
 in which the author reveals himself clearly 
 sitting at home concocting in polished phrases 
 
 lm%
 
 — 36 — 
 
 faiiey pictures in which every thin-j- is con- 
 ventional. Coming down to the beginning 
 of the kist C3ntary the Chinese appear to have 
 been much as they are now in this respect. 
 The Top : rejoices in seven prefaces, the lirst 
 by the Canton Viceroy of 1717 beginning as 
 follows : *' The universe contained Titanic 
 *' e-ases which condensed into rivers and 
 •' soHdified into mountains — some so large 
 '' as to be the cynosure of a country side. I 
 ^' know by report the fame of the l^o-fou 
 '' Mountains, but liave never been al)le to 
 '' visit them*' and so on. Then follow six 
 other prefaces written each by a Cannon 
 official of that year, of the utmost dulness 
 distinguished from one another only by the 
 type in which they are printed. lUit one 
 significant statement they one and all make 
 *' that the Writer had not himself visited the 
 •' Mountainsy Considering the ecstatic admi- 
 ration they profess to feel, and that they were 
 living only 50 miles off, they were probably of 
 much the same kidney as their successors of 
 to-day. What these gentry are like we all 
 know. Here is an example : a year or two ago 
 the Commissioner sent down from Peking to 
 examine for Official Degrees happened to pass 
 these mountains on his circuit and to be 
 carried through Mei-hua Ts'un, Plum-blossom 
 Village. Now it happens that this village is 
 often mentioned in Chinese literature as rich in 
 plum trees. The Examiner put his head out
 
 - 37 — 
 
 of his chair and asked where he was? "This 
 is Pluin-blossoin ViUage your Excellency." 
 " Where then are the Plum-tree groves," asked 
 he. There were none : a thousand years having 
 passed, they were naturally dead. The 
 polished Literatus did not get out of his chair 
 but his spirit was deeply moved. On his 
 return to Canton he raised a subscription to 
 have the Plum-tree groves replanted. He 
 objected to have his settled beliefs disturbed 
 or to readjust his thoughts if it could be 
 helped. 
 
 On the 1st October, we walked from 
 Ch'ung-hii to Kao-tsai T'ong (^^f?iS) o^i ^ 
 tributary of the East River, a distance of 
 about 13 miles, passing a temple named Pou- 
 tsick Tze (^^ ^ ^) some mile or more on 
 our right. The only place to put up in is a 
 benevolent establishment (fa t- ^) 1^<^^ dirty 
 iind fly-blown, and it was with much satis- 
 faction that soon after day-light next morning 
 we went on board shallow boats that carried us 
 <lown to Shek-lung in between two and three 
 hours : there our launch was waiting for us 
 and at 4 p.m. on the 2nd October, we were 
 xigain off Shamien. 
 
 *•-*-•♦-
 
 ; 
 
 IV. — Second Tkii' — by way of Tsang-shing. 
 
 Reference has been made in the above^ 
 narrative to a second trip to the Lo-f'ou 
 Mountains, of which, as the range was tlien 
 attacked from another direction, a short note 
 may bo made. On the 4th January, 1894, the 
 writer started from Canton in company Avith 
 Mr, H. Bent. On the morning of the 5th 
 January, we entered the Tsang-sliing I^iver— 
 a tributary of the East River which ibr the 
 first few miles traverses a phiin where we 
 found snipe and doves Init nothing better. 
 Higlier up, the hills on the river's left bank 
 look very likely cover but we found notliing 
 in them. The scenery now becomes very 
 beautiful. The river is perfectly clear its 
 ])luc water running over a l)ed of wliite sand, 
 bordered b}* old knarled Chinese olive-trees 
 (Canarium) whose dark green leaves and white 
 bark strike the eye. Tsang-shing J^ Jfi is 
 a quiet country town with a well-to-do 
 peasantr}'. that treated us with much civility. 
 A few miles above the town we met a fine 
 old man sitting under a tree, a servant 
 holding his pony by his side. He told us 
 that he had several times been on pilgrinuiges 
 to the top of Lo-fou. His pony — a remarkably 
 well-bred looking animal, smaller boned and 
 more graceful than the Mongolian — was, he
 
 — 89 — 
 
 told us, bred in the liiing-mCii l)isti'I(;t (3ii the 
 N.E. Wo pnssod sever.'il men carn^iiig' skins 
 of Yeli-li JB*JM)'^ ^vild cat — going- down 
 j'roni riling kuo to (,'anton to 1)e in;i.de into 
 <Jhinese writing pencils. 
 
 We had a strong N.E. gale against iis 
 which greatly retarded our big flat-bottomed 
 native boat (Ho-tao) and we only reached 
 (Jhing-kuo, about 40 miles from tht> moutli 
 of the river, at 3.30 p.m. on the 7th inst. — 
 a little town traversed by the river along a 
 broad bed of bright sand, and shut in on the 
 North and West by mountains. 
 
 It took US about seven hours to walk 
 from Ching-kuo to Su-liu Kun, through hill}- 
 country the whole way. The liills round the 
 monastery were now (January) covered with 
 shrubs of every variety of brown, yellow and 
 green, apparently splendid cover, but unfor- 
 tunately, at the time of our visit, bare of game. 
 We and our dogs beat the cover for hours, 
 but saw no game whatever ; probably there 
 never is much, indeed the birds of prey 
 protected in the trees behind the temple 
 would be alone enough to keep down the 
 head of game ; but perhaps we may pnrtly 
 attribute our bad luck to the unusual dryness oi' 
 the season — a phenomenon that is believed by 
 natives to have been the cause of the out-break 
 in Canton of bubonic plague the same month. 
 
 On the 10th January we walked up front 
 Su-liu to Put-wan in 3| hours. On the plateau
 
 — 40 — 
 
 at the top we saw a couple of partridge and 
 very abiiiidaiit marks ol" wilil l)oar in all 
 directions ; but our leave being- up we could not 
 stav to look lor tlieni. Our miii. tlierniometer 
 marked 38" Falir. during- the night, and there 
 was plenty ol" ice in exposed places. This 
 was on the lOth January with a South wind, 
 the minimum in Hongkong l)eing 52°. The 
 next day we walked down from Put- wan to 
 Fa-shau Tze in 4.V hours. On the way down 
 we passed lying below us on our right an 
 extensive block of buildings which our guide 
 told us was Nam Miu (^ [^ — an ancient 
 foundation neither Buddhist nor Taoist. I 
 know nothing more about this temple nor 
 can I find anyone in Canton who has heard 
 of it : whether I misunderstood the guide or 
 whether there really is a large establishment 
 on the S.W. ol" the range known by the above 
 or some other name, I must leave the next 
 explorer of Lo-fou to discover. The buildings- 
 in question, we took to bo on about the same 
 level as, and about three miles to the N.W, 
 of, Wa-shau Toi. 
 
 From Fa-shau Tzc wo walked to Kao- 
 tsai Tong where we stayed in the same dirty 
 quarters bothered by the same gaping crowd 
 of ill-kept children. 
 
 The next day we went down to Shek-lung 
 in a rapid boat, on from Shek-lung down the 
 East River in a somewhat larger craft and 
 at 10 p.m. we picked up our launch at Sin
 
 — 41 — 
 
 Tong (^ ^) oil the East River, the higliesl 
 point it ciiuld then reach. On the 14th 
 January, at day-light, we wei'e baek in Cant(->n. 
 
 r'<"-«-H
 
 APPEIDIX. 
 
 ...60 
 
 miles 
 
 ...21 
 
 n 
 
 ...13 
 
 i> 
 
 ...10 
 
 
 ...ir, 
 
 1 1 
 
 A.— ITINEHARY AND MAP. 
 
 FiijsT Trip. 
 
 Clinton to Siiek-lnng 
 
 Shek-lung- to Wu-sli:ni Toi 
 Wa-slum Toi to Put- wan Tze 
 Piit-wan Tze to Sn-liu Kiin 
 Sii-liu Kini to ( 'ii'nng-liii Kim 
 Cli ung-liii Klin to Kao-tsai Tong K-i 
 Kao-tsai Tong to 8hek-lung ...12 
 
 Srx'ONi) Trip. 
 
 Canton to Sin Tong 40 
 
 Sin Tong to mouth of Tsang 
 Sliing liiver 10 
 
 ^louth of Tsang-sliing River to 
 Cliing-kuo 
 
 ChiniT-kuo to Sn-liu Kun 
 
 . ...40 ,. 
 
 . ...18 ., 
 
 Su-liu Kun to Put-wan Tze ...10 ,, 
 
 Pnt-wan Tze to Fa-shau Tze ...l(i ,, 
 
 Fa-shau Tze to Kao-tsai Tonir... S ,, 
 
 ...12 ,, 
 
 The Map is intended to give a rough 
 
 general idea of the lay of the mountains and 
 the relative position of the temples. 
 
 Kao-tsai Tong to Shek-lung
 
 B.— ALTITUDES. 
 
 These observations were taken with a 
 maximum and a minimum tliermometers and 
 two 2J" pocket aneroids supplied by L. Caselhu 
 Jjondon, the aneroids being' checked by two 1 
 loot Boiling-point Thermometers bv the same 
 nuiker — all with Kew corrections. The Hong- 
 kong Observatory has been taken as the 
 lower station, and the observations worked 
 out by the tables given on pages 286-287 
 Hints to Travellers, 6th edition. Dr. Doberck, 
 of the Hongkong Observatory, was kind 
 enough to supply the data for the lower station. 
 
 K... 
 
 1 
 
 ,U,K. 
 
 I'LACK. 
 
 =6llll 
 
 .^'ri- 
 
 REMAHKS 
 
 
 1 
 
 1892 Sept. 18-20 
 
 Pa-shaii Toi . . . 
 
 , 29.05 
 
 77° 
 
 580 
 
 -Mean of 4 <.l)serv 
 
 itidus- 
 
 2 
 
 „ 20&23 
 
 Col 
 
 2C.05 
 
 71 
 
 3950 
 
 2 
 
 
 3 
 
 ,. 2f>24 
 
 Piit-wan Tzi- . . . 
 
 20.46 
 
 63 
 
 3520 
 
 ., „ ^ 
 
 
 4 
 
 M „ 23 
 
 Fi-\vaiig-iiii,f.' .. . 
 
 ; 25.85 
 
 63 
 
 41.50 
 
 - 
 
 
 5 
 
 ,. 24 
 
 Little Heavi-ii'- uMte 
 
 2fi.67 
 
 63 
 
 3350 
 
 - 
 
 
 H 
 
 „ ., 24 
 
 C'mssiiig 
 
 I 28.70 
 
 73 
 
 1200 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 ,. ., 24-29 
 
 .Su-liu Kiiii 
 
 1 29.09 
 
 73 
 
 810 
 
 „ ,. Ill 
 
 
 « 
 
 ,, .. 2R 
 
 C'ha-shaii Kuii .. . 
 
 ! 28.02 
 
 80 
 
 1290 
 
 - 
 
 
 » 
 
 2!> 
 
 Gate 
 
 28.02 71 
 
 1250 
 
 - 
 
 
 10 
 
 ,. 2y 
 
 Croj-.sliig 
 
 j 29.04 : 71 
 
 220 
 
 - 
 
 
 n 
 
 „ 29t<>Oct.l 
 
 Chung-liii Kiui .. .. 
 
 i 29.86 71 
 
 70 
 
 ,. ,. 4 
 
 
 12 
 
 1S94 Jan. 8-10 
 
 Sii-liii Knii 
 
 29.42 
 
 43 
 
 810 
 
 .. „ 3 
 
 
 1.3 
 
 .. UMI 
 
 Put -wan T/.e . . . . 
 
 26.00 
 
 42 
 
 3470 
 
 „ ,. 2 
 
 
 14 
 
 ,. ,. 11 
 
 Ki-waii{r-tlng . . . . 
 
 26.03 
 
 52 
 
 4120 
 
 — 

 
 44 
 
 C.— LATITUDES AND LONGITUDES. 
 
 These observations were made with a 
 ()" sextant and a liali' Chronometer Watch by 
 1 Jlockley (Kew A Certificate 76-3 marks). They 
 iiiiist be taken as approximate only. 
 
 Name of Place. 
 
 8n-liu Kun... 
 Put-wau Tze 
 Fa-shau Tze 
 
 Lat. North. Long. East. 
 
 ... 23° 20' 30" 114° — 
 114° 02' 
 ... 2i). 13. — 113. OO 
 
 COMPAUE: 
 
 Honokonii- 
 
 Canton British Consulate..
 
 — -lo — 
 
 D.— PLANTS COLLECTED. 
 
 Of tlie plants collected, twenty were sent 
 by Mr. C. Ford, Head of the Botanical Dept., 
 Hongkong, to Kew, for identification in 1892. 
 Although we are now in 1895 only two have 
 yet been heard of, namely, Bournea Sinensis 
 iind Carpesiam Atkinsonianum, mentioned 
 tibove : all the botani(-al talent at the command 
 of H, M. Goverment is supposed to be grappling 
 with the other eighteen. 
 
 The remaining plants collected were 
 identified by Mr. Ford as follows : — 
 
 Podophyllum versipelli, Hance. 
 
 Pittosporam glabratum, H. and A. 
 
 Hypericum attenuatiini. ( /lioicy. 
 
 Hibicus syriacus. 
 
 Triumfetta pilosa Roth. 
 
 Hhamnus crenata S. et Z. 
 
 Pueraria Thunbergiana, P)enth. 
 
 Pueraria pliaseoloides. Benth. 
 
 Lespedeza? viatorum, Champ. 
 
 Atvlosia scarabaeoides. Benth. 
 
 Flemingia congesta, Roxb. 
 
 Sonerila tenera, R. Br. 
 
 Osbeckia crinita, Benth. 
 
 Melastoma repens. Lam. 
 
 Sonerila Fordii, Oliv. 
 
 iSrichosanthes multiloba. Mig. 
 
 Hydrocotyle javanica, Thbj. 
 
 Peucedanum decursivum, Max. 
 
 •CEnanthe stolonifera, D. C.
 
 — 46 — 
 
 Opliioihlza pnniila, Champ. 
 
 Iledvotis bcL'rliaavioides, Haiice. 
 
 Hedyotis aciitangula Bth. 
 
 Hedvotis liispida, Retz. 
 
 Pu'deria Tomentosa, VA. 
 
 ? Patrinia Scabiosajfblia, L. K. 
 
 nahlia, cultivated. 
 
 Vernouia sallgiia, D. C. 
 
 Enpatorium japoiiicuni. Tliiiiib. 
 
 Inula cappa, D. C. 
 
 Auisopappus cliinensis, H. and A. 
 
 Artemisia lacrifera, Wall. 
 
 Seneeio japonieus, Tliunb. 
 
 Seuecio Kcvmpl'eri, JJentli. 
 
 Cirsium cliinense, Gardn. 
 
 Saussurea triangulata. Trantr and ^leve 
 
 Ainslia^a iVagrans, Champ. 
 
 Clethra canescens, Keinio. 
 
 CTelsmium elegans, lienth. 
 
 Jacquimontia violacea, Chois. 
 
 Solanum Dulcamara, Linn, 
 
 J)uchnera stricta, ]>th. 
 
 Torenia Fordii, Hook, f. 
 
 Torenia peduncularis, Bentli. 
 
 Torenia parviflora, Hance. 
 
 Vandellia scabra, Benth. 
 
 jionnaya reptans, Sprengc. 
 
 (Egiiietia nidica, Roxb. 
 
 Barleria cristata, Linn. 
 
 (^hirita obtusa, C. B. C. 
 
 dusticea procumbens, Liun. 
 
 Clerodendron canescens, A\'ail.
 
 — 47 — 
 
 Plectrantliiis " off strictat graciliflora 
 Benth." 
 
 Perilla ociinoides, L. 
 
 Lophanthiis rugosns, F. Mez. 
 
 Commeliiia bengalensis ? 
 
 Wickstrooiuia nutans, Champ. 
 
 Boelimei'ia platyphylla, Don. 
 
 Carex seaposa Hook f. 
 
 H^nnonoplyllum javanicum, Spreng. 
 
 Polypodium linearc, Tliunb. 
 
 Vittaris elongata, Sw. 
 
 L3'copodinm Hamiltonii, Spreng. 
 
 The following were collected by ^Iv, 
 innirne close to Sii-liu and will give an idea 
 of the flora of that spot 800 ft. above the sea. 
 Mr. Ford was kind enough to identify the 
 specimens. 
 
 Drymoglossnm carnosnm Hook. 
 
 Pterostigma grandiflornm Benth. 
 
 Geophila reniformis D. Don. 
 
 Antidesma japonicum Sieb. et Ziicc. 
 
 Millettia nitida Benth. 
 
 Lasianthus Fordii Oliv. 
 
 Rhushypolenca Champ. 
 
 Rhodomyrtiis tormentosa. 
 
 Triumphetta rhomboidea. 
 
 Clerodendron lividum. 
 
 Palinrns Aubletli. 
 
 Psychotria serpens. 
 
 Nenstanthns Chinensis Benth. 
 
 Nenstanthns phaseoloidcs Benth. 
 
 Desniodiiim Gardneri Benth.
 
 — 48 — 
 
 and a new and beantit'ul species of Clematis,, 
 
 found iiTowing- on the temple wail. Mr. Ford 
 
 says tliat this is the same as a specimen 
 
 collected liy him at Lo-fon in I8IS0 and 
 
 referred to Kew, whence nothing has been 
 heard reu-ardiim- it. 
 
 
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