alpine in character. The valleys are not wide (about half a mile) occasionally narrowing into ravines, hemmed in by lofty rocks of gneiss and granolite. The road is crossed by several small streams, none amounting to rivers, with the exception of the Shandu-gol[1] or Luan-ho, which takes its rise on the northern slope of the mountains nearest to the plateau; and after flowing past the town of Dolon-nor forces its way through the entire range and debouches in the plains of China Proper. The steep hillsides were thickly covered with grass, and as we penetrated farther into the range, by brush-wood and trees; the latter chiefly consisting of oak, black, or more rarely white birch, ash, pine, and an occasional spruce.[2] Elms and poplars grow in the valleys. The commonest bushes were the evergreen oak, rhododendron, wild peach, sweet briar, and hazel.
Woods are only met with on the northern bank of the Luan-ho as far east as the town of Jehol,[3]
- ↑ Marked Shangtu-gol or D'Anville's map. — M.
- ↑ Dwarf limes are even more scarce.
- ↑ The name 'Jehol,' also pronounced 'Jehor' or 'Jeh-ho,' means 'hot-water,' after the springs in the neighbourhood. Ritter calls this place the Chinese 'Sans Souci,' probably on account of its delightful situation, salubrious climate, and for its being the favourite residence of the great Emperor Kien-Long. It was here that Lord Macartney's embassy was received in 1793. The town itself is large and imposing when you enter it, and contains about a quarter of a million inhabitants. It stands in a fruitful valley surrounded by mountains, on which are palaces, temples, and gardens. About a day's ride to the west are the Imperial hunting-grounds, set aside for the use of his dynasty by Kia-king, the grandfather of the late Emperor. The inscriptions on the gates of the walls and buildings are in four languages — Chinese, Manchu, Tibetan, and Mongol. ('Erdkunde von Asien,'
