day the sun shone in a cloudless blue sky
and in the morning the ground was frozen hard and covered with snowlike
frost, but the air was marvelously stimulating. We felt that we could be
happy at the "White Water" forever, but it did not prove to be as good a
hunting ground as that on the other side of the mountain. The Lolos killed
a fine serow on the first day and Hotenfa brought in a young goral a short
time later, but big game was by no means abundant. At the "White Water" we
obtained our first Lady Amherst's pheasant (_Thaumalea amherstiae_) one of
the most remarkable species of a family containing the most beautiful birds
of the world. The rainbow colored body and long tail of the male are made
more conspicuous by a broad white and green ruff about the neck. The first
birds brought alive to England were two males which had been presented to
the Countess Amherst after whom the species was named. We found this
pheasant inhabiting thick forests where it is by no means easy to discover
or shoot. It is fairly abundant in Yuen-nan, Eastern Tibet and S'suchuan but
its habits are not well known. Although the camp yielded several small
mammals new to our collection, we decided to go into Li-chiang to engage a
new caravan for our trip across the Yangtze River while Heller remained in
camp.

The direct road to Li-chiang was considerably shorter than by way of the
Snow Mountain village and at three o'clock in the afternoon our beloved
"Temple of the Flowers" was visible on the hilltop overlooking the city. As
we rode up the steep ascent we saw a picturesque gathering on the porch and
heard the sound of many voices laughing and talking. The beautiful
garden-like courtyard was filled with women and children of every age and
description, and all the doors from one side of the temple had been
removed, leaving a large open space where huge caldrons were boiling and
steaming.

We sat down irresolutely on the inner porch but the young priest was
delighted to see us and insisted that we wait until Wu arrived. We were
glad that we did not seek other quarters for we were to witness an
interesting ceremony, which is most characteristic of Chinese life. It
seemed that about five years before a gentleman of Li-chiang had "shuffled
off this mortal coil." His soul may have found rest, but "his mortal coil"
certainly did not. Unfortunately his family inherited a few hundred dollars
several years later and the village "astrologer" informed th