Arnold Arboretum Horticultural Library: Botanical Exploration Papers

June 15th. A star-light night and a cloudless morning followed the rain of yesterday. It was my intention of remaining at Mu-shui-shan. [?] the rest of the day but as the distance was only 13 li and the morning was so fine I determined on pushing on but I little dreamt we should reach Che-tsze-Ku in a day. But so it happened. My men found a road which made the distance only two li more than going by the old road to Hung-shih-Kao for the night. This has [really?] saved us a day - a fine [?] in such a sparsely populated country.

The bit of main road was full of interest and in particular noted fine trees of [?]. Fraxinus phytypya Betula utilis and the trembling Poplar. A fine Elm and a [good?] [line?] of the new Poplar (akin to lasiocarpa [?] smaller) was observed. The Ceridyphyllum [?] at Che-tsze Kao are still forming strings but the wind was too strong for a photograph today. During the day the camera was busy and I took a full dozen photos. The Crataegus was in full flower and in the early morning [canna?] Wilsoniana were a fine sight. For real beauty however the [wild?] [rose?] [take?] the palm. Rosa multiflora (white and pink) and Rosa m[?] were very fine. Lonicera proprecia abounds and its sweet fragrance is pleasant to the nostril. Deutzia discolor major was common here and then in full flower.

The afternoon was more or less cloudy and at least one sharp squall overtook us. At its height I was photo the two fine trees of Maackia the largest I know of. Before [tiffin?] note and photo a magnificent specimen of Hovenia dulcis a hundred feet high and twenty feet in girth.

The house at Che-tsze-Kou is so the more dilapidated than three years ago and during the interim no foreigner has visited Dr. Henry and [ourselves?] (3 and I) the only ones. Altitude 5,800 feet, 45li.

June 16th. One of the men raised a storm in a teacup last night by calling our lodgings "a small and poor house." The owner was highly indignant and it was some considerable time before he was mollified. This man was old and greedy and dissatisfied with the cash paid by men for the more than paltry accomodation. A heavy dew in the morning (and the barometer fell to 48 degrees F!) made everything very wet and we got wet above the legs in no time. The camera was busy the whole day and in all I took sixteen photos. A strong wind in the afternoon hampered things. After photographing the Cercidyphyllum trees, I journeyed back on the old route and photographed the new Poplar and Elm trees. We reached Hung-shih-kou about 10:30 a.m. just as the first man left behind at Mu-shui-shan Ping arrived. At Che-tsze-Kou one of the carriers ran away with a days pay and a few trifles. This complicated matters and at Hungshih-Kou we had to re-arrange loads. The people at the Hostel there exhibited the usual greed of these poverty stricken people and for 300 [?] agreed to carry a load some 15 li. I gave the [burdens?] to some Collectors and carried on without their help much to their chagrin.

We reached Hsao-Lung-Tang above 3 o'clock. One of the two huts is now disused and the other is in a sorry state of dilapidation. There is no bedding for the men and their accomodation is of the very roughest. Although there is abundant firewood within easy reach there is very little at the house - A ruined hut containing some wooden [presses?] was handy but the men were afraid to use the timber laying around! Bees are kept in quantity in these regions and the men bought Honey at 120 cooli per catty and mixed with the cornmeal. This region is capable of [serving] large herds of cattle but since the Potato disease is deserted.

[Purple?] [?]. Rocks sandstone and clayey mudstone.

June 17th. Remained at Hsao-lung Tang the day. A strong wind rose in the night and blew in fitful gail the whole day. Dank mist covered the higher peaks and swept down the valley but though very cloudy no rain fell!

Soon after 9 o'clock in company with my collectors I set out and climbed the range (Sha-Mo-Chen) - practically all the large timber line of the [Silver?] [?] have been felled. The [hut?] & timber belong to a man named P'an who [lives?] [?] [?] li [?] in Fang Hsien The timber is used for coffin-making. A fragment of forest on the opposite mountain was being attacked and the axes were busy. Soon no tree will be left. Most of the hills are now covered only with grass & shrub & they will soon all be the same.

In the forests Daphne pontica (white and pink), Rosa sinensis, Lonicera [?], and Clematis montana were in full flower and made a fine show. The bed of the water streams were choked with a coarse [?]. The groundsel have huge uniform leaves - I measured one of the largest 45" x 43"! The new Poplar is fairly common and is I think the handsomest of the genus Ribes [longiracemosa?] or Wilsoni and Spirea [?] [?] are common & below the hostel Deutzia Wilsoni was a fine sight. [?] speciosum is common here & attain [20ft?] in height. A smallleaved Actinidia is showy with its blanched leaves though the flowers are insignificant. Willows in variety abound, Viburnum [Sargentii?] & V. Veitchii & [Spirea?] [Veitchii?] are common. The man in charge of the inn makes but little attempt at collection. A few [plots?] of [?] [?] are just comming through the ground. Hsin-Lung Ting Alt 7500, 30 li form Che-tsze Kou.

The themometer ranged between 50 degrees and 58.7 degrees all day. It was cold, wet, and miserable [Spent?] the day smoking, thinking and studying the barometer praying for a [?] or cessation of rain.

June 18th Maybe we were in need of a days complete rest but in any case it was decreed we should take one. A mild thunderstorm accompanied by a torrential downpour commenced about 8 p.m. last night and continued the night through. The roof of our hut is like a sieve and there was difficulty in finding a square foot dry. The torrent was in full flood in the morning with a deafening roar, unfordable & carrying down an astonishing quantity of water. It rained steadily the whole day through and there was nothing but rain, mud & [?] everywhere. Everybody was miserable and the day was long in passing. At 7 p.m. it still steadily rains and the clouds are only 500 feet above us. The thermometer shows a tendency to rise and the torrent is [unbending?]. Providing it rains but little in the morning I propose to "move on." Another similiar day of solitude, misery and nothing to do will be hard to bear.

I photographed our Hostel on arrival but the interior is much worse than the exterior and no camera [?] [?] it since even at midday a light is necessary to see in the further corners. Dirt and filth in its every forms abound and though plenty of timber is to be had for filling the house is allowed through the idleness of the keeper to fall into a ruinous state. Of one [low?] story [?] into five compartments entirely of wood with no outlet for smoke and no [?] for light save the doorway and the hole in the roof. Pigs are quartered in one section into which [no?] [amount?] has [driven?] the [?]. Cows and goats are quartered in a [?] six feet from the door and more than a foot deep in wet excrement. I occupy the center chamber in company with the little shrine of 'Kwan You' and the guardians. The floor is of mud and uneven and damp and the [smoke?] from fire wood is painful to the eye. The roof of the detached House occupied by most of the men is worse than ours & with no bedding their lot is uneviably worse than ours.

June 19th. The rain had ceased when we awoke at 5 a.m. and though dank mist obscured everything from a hundred yards above and around us I prophesized a fair day. It remained fine for above two hours and then commenced to rain steadily. It increased as the day advanced and we had a fair soak. All were soon drenched to the skin and everything became sodden. We hurried on as fast as possible and reached the head of the path at 10 a.m. Yesterday the road must have been impassible and today we had difficulty in fording the torrent. Much of the Bamboo has been [burned?] and cut-away from the path which is considerably improved since our last visit in consequence of the above. The Bamboo is the handsomest I know with its light golden yellow culms some 10-15 feet high slender and with arching plumes. It must be very hardy for the climate here is very rigorous. Patches] [?] forest remain and there and especially near watercourses [Silver?] [fir?] & [?] Birch with Willows and Rhododendron are practically the sole constituents. On [bare?] [rocks?] near [head?] of [?] a dwarf Juniper abound similar in appearance to the new [?] alpine [wood?] around Tachein lu. The head of the pass (9650 feet) is covered with a species of Allium & [gorse?] Even through midsummer the grass and weeds are only a few inches high. Our view was limited to a few hundred feet and we saw nothing of the fine bold peaks of the Sheng-Ting-Chia. On crossing the pass to re-enter Hing-shan Hsin. We [?] down for a couple of miles and I had intended [tiffining?] at the ruins of an old house where Henry stayed but it rained so heavily that I decided to hurry on to Wa-ping. A steep ascent of a few hundred feet and we cross a spur of the range and enter Patung Hsein. The descent now beginning in earnest & the road fairly tumbles down by zigzags. [Steeper?] [potholing?] could seriously be improved. We reach Wa-ping at 11:40 a.m. The hut is

After [?] the river steadily [?] and on one [?] is to [?] a [?] for [?] and to [?] the night. We enter the [?] immediately after [?] and the road became if anything worse. There was no time to supplement my investigation of 1907 and the [?] [?] [?] made it impossible to see more than a few yards around. Tsuga is fairly plentiful and some fair-sized trees occur. Tilia [?] is very abundant though all the trees are small. Cercidiphyllum is fairly common but I only saw one tree of [?]. [?] [?] is common below 6000 feet but only one or two [?] were flowering. The largest tree I saw was about 60 feet 24 feet. The flowers on this tree are of [?] transformed into [?] shaped galls and occasionally a tree is covered with them. A fine Pterocarya is common but I saw not signs of flowers. A [?] Maple is [?] [?] (hairy) and Rhododendron abound and the orange Birch is common above 6000 feet. The [?] cultivation are nothing but [?] and the Tang shin abound Lilium [?] is common in grassy places. Acinitum [?] is abundant. Diervilla, Hydrangea [?] [?] [?] [?] and Viburnum are among the commonest shrubs [?] Vitis [?] are common climbers. Above 8000 feet Climatis montana with [?] of white flowers abound and I much [?] that [?] [?] and

Sungpan 9500 feet Altitude. 50 li

August 23rd A perfect moon light night and having occasion to go outside about mid-night I beheld the [?] of Chentu and [?] with its [?]

August 24th and 25th Sungpan

What with

The crop this year is a full one and everybody is very

harvesting the golden grain. It is practically all wheat fine and hard. Beans are the only other field crops. The 24th was given over to [?] work and resting finally. The 25th largely to photography - it was a lovely day for the job and I should have some fine pictures of Sungpan. In the evening a Sungpan Sifan with a Lappa from two days west came in and wanted to have their photo taken. The Sifan remembered me from a previous visit and was most amusing with a cheery childish way. He danced [?] for our amusement after I had given him some whiskey. The Lappa was somber and [?] he [?] incessantly.

The people of Sungpan are very dirty and most of them drink heavily. A good many of the [?] [?] are evidently of mixed origin.

September 3rd. We covered the 60 li to Soh-Chino by 4:15pm though the 30 li from Wen Chuan was certainly long. The weather was similar to preceding days only colder. Owing to continued stomach trouble I sat in the chair all day and had hard work to keep warm. The road in places is more than abominable and badly needs renewing . An old man was engaged in the place “messing about “ although this is only another form of begging, I gladly gave a few [?] encourage him in his efforts.

Not many Was-san people in Wen Chuan and some of the younger women were quite good looking. The jawlines are sharper than those of the Chinese and the nose longer and more narrow. The [?] [?] generally is more [Negro?] than [Mongolian?].

Lilium myriophyllum is very abundant on the cliffs and in [?] over hangings. It evidently likes [?] something, loam and granite dust and the [?] [?] [?] though of this it is flowering in nichepockets where there is hardly any soil.

At Soh-Chino I leave behind the one collecting boy and with him one of the carrying coolies. These have to [?] the conifers of the Wa-ssa Country and then return via our old route and further [?] etc etc. Also they have to secure 5000 bulbs of L. myriophyllum.

Paragraph 5 There is much less traffic on the road below [Morchon?] nevertheless we are continually meeting men carrying Tea in [?] [?] and [?] bark.

From the mountains west of Soh-Chino comes much timber for Kuan Hsien etc It is the Tu-ssu’s principle source Of wealth I should imagine. There is said to be plenty of timber in the higher part of the mountains. The [?] certainly there is little enough [?] from the main road.

I stay ine same [ruin?] as 2 ½ years ago with McNeill, I little thought then I should ever return here! I am certainly getting very tired of the wandering life and long for the end to come. I seem never to have done anything else than wander wander through China! Sho-Chino alt 3,800 ft., 60 li