.

_Revolting sights compensated for by scenery_. _Most eventful day in the
trip_. _Buying a pony, and the reason for its purchase_. _Author's pony
kicks him and breaks his arm_. _Chastising the animal, and narrow escape
from death_. _Rider and pony a sorry sight_. _An uneasy night_.
_Reappearance of malaria_. _Author nearly forced to give in_. _Heavy
rain on a difficult road_. _At Ta-shui-tsing_. _Chasing frightened pony
in the dead of night_. _Bad accommodation_. _Lepers and leprosy_.
_Mining_. _At Kiang-ti_. _Two mandarins, and an amusing episode_.
_Laying foundation of a long illness_. _The Kiang-ti Suspension Bridge_.
_Hard climbing_. _Tiffin in the mountains_. _Sudden ascents and
descents_. _Description of the country_. _Tame birds and what they do_.
_A non-enterprising community_. _Pleasant travelling without perils_.
_Majesty of the mountains of Yuen-nan_.

Whilst in this district, as will have been seen, one has to steel
himself to face some of the most revolting sights it is possible to
imagine, he is rewarded by the grandeur of the scenic pictures which
mark the downward journey to Tong-ch'uan-fu.

The stages to Tong-ch'uan-fu were as follows:--

Length of Height above
stage sea level

1st day T'ao-ueen 70 li. ---- ft.
2nd day Ta-shui-tsing 30 " 9,300 ft.
3rd day Kiang-ti 40 " 4,400 "
4th day Yi-che-shin 70 " 6,300 "
5th day Hong-shih-ai 90 " 6,800 "
6th day Tong-ch'uan-fu 60 " 7,250 "

The Chao-t'ong plateau, magnificently level, runs out past the
picturesquely-situated tower of Wang-hai-leo, from which one overlooks a
stretch of water. A memorial arch, erected by the Li family of
Chao-t'ong-fu, graces the main road farther on, and is probably one of
the best of its kind in Yuen-nan, comparing favorably with the best to be
found in Szech'wan, where monumental architecture abounds. Perhaps the
only building of interest in Chao-t'ong is the ancestral hall of the
wealthy family mentioned above, the carving of which is magnificent.

At the end of the first day we camped at the Mohammedan village of
T'ao-ueen, literally "Peach Garden," but the peach trees might once have
been, though now certainly they are not.

It was cold when we left, 38 deg. F., hard frost. All the world seemed
buttoned up and great-coated; the trees seemed wiry and c