Page:Through China with a camera.pdf/225

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well, never mind what! But he did not rest quite so comfort- ably after that incident. I am not prepared myself to say what the old witch could have been, or how she vanished. She certainly looked haggard, hideous and unearthly, and her flight, too, was sudden and noiseless. Four hours' rest and we were up again by daylight and ready for the road. After the night's doctoring, my nitrate-of-silver bath gave every satisfaction; only the water which I used to dilute it, was so extremely alka- line that I had to employ a goodly supply of Chinese vinegar to turn it — slightly, to the acid side.

As I must quit Formosa with this chapter, it will be necessary to summarise my experiences from this point and to condense my narrative within narrower limits. On the summit of the first range, on our homeward route, above Lakoli, in place of setting up my instrument to photograph, I felt I would much rather have lain down and slept, — but there was no time for that, as we had by the route we followed, between twenty and thirty miles to walk before night, and a day's work of photo- graphing to overtake besides. My friend was not feeling well; he had, however, promised to be at Baksa next day to conduct the service in the chapel there, so we pushed on. At the foot of another range, on the brink of a clear, cool stream, I secured two more photographs, and waited for a short time to admire a sedgy pool and to bathe our feet in its cool water. The remainder of the day's journey was almost an uninterrupted toil over hill and dale.

At noon we halted at a small village, in front of a hut where an old woman was selling fruit. Here a large party of Pepo- hoans — in clothing that might have been decent had it cover- ed their nakedness — assembled to see us eat. We came upon a large sheet of water at the place where we next halted,