roots and stones numerous tribes of centipedes, each about as long as one's finger and of a rich chocolate colour, with bright yellow feet. These centipedes inflict a severe sting, but we were too much exhausted to get out of their way, and fortun- ately they got out of ours. A steep descent on the other side of this ridge brought us to our next halting-place, where a brook was reported to exist; a channel indeed was there, but the waters had dried up long ago. Here while at breakfast our crowning trouble overtook us. One of the bearers incautiously broke off the green stem of a plant, which in return for the outrage sent forth a perfectly putrid odour. It was some time before we discovered the cause of the nuisance, for the Pepo- hoan nose seemed to account it a luxury rather then otherwise. This plant is known to them as the foul" shrub, and is one which the Chinese ought to prize dearly, for its very breath might be sufficient to fertilise a whole region.
We were now on one of the spurs that lie at the foot of the central range, and could enjoy a splendid view of a valley that stretched out in front of us, half cultivated and half in its pris- tine grandeur; while the mountain sierras rose up pile behind pile, Mount Morrisson lifting its deep blue peak on high above them all. A river flowed far down beneath our feet, and we could hear the distant boom of its waters, as they rushed onward through dark ravines and over a rocky mountain bed. This river was now at its smallest, but was still a broad stream, and was spanned by a number of bamboo bridges, if such these rude structures might be called. Far away, at the northern end of the valley, the village of Pau-ah-liau could be descried peep- ing out amid a mass of foliage; and high above this settle- ment rose mountains wrapped in the gloom of primeval forests, the haunts of wild beasts and savage men. These mountain
