Page:Ling-Nam; or, Interior views of southern China, including explorations in the hitherto untraversed island of Hainan (IA cu31924023225307).pdf/144

 140 Lug-Nam.

is sometimes called the Cave of the Genii, is held in reverence as the place where Luk-tzo, the sixth Buddhist patriarch, stayed on his way south, and where he slept on astone couch. This cave, which is said to have a room thirty feet wide by fifty feet long and three hundred feet high, with natural yocks in the form of various articles of furniture, is placed by some among the seventy-two “happy spots” of the Taoists.

A few miles above Lok-cheung we enter the great pass which stretches through nearly the whole course of the stream to the town of Ping-shek, thirty miles distant, in the province of Hunan, This stream is called the Mo-shui, “ Military Stream,” and in olden times was much feared because of its deep gorges and heavy forests. It was said that a bird would not dare to fly across the chasm, and that a beast would not drink its water, which, as it poured down through the dark depths, they thought must be poisonous. The tall, dense forests, the narrow passage, and foaming rapids, have all found place in the writings and poetry of native travellers, Three days are yequired to make the ascent of thirty miles, which shows one succession of rapids and cataraets. About one-third of the way up a smaller stream comes in from the north through a great cajion, the sheer walls of which show no path on either side. On the shore in a bark hut dwells a fortune-teller, whose reputation brings people from distant places to consult him. The hills which line the gorge rise three or four thousand feet, and are covered with heavy timber, and among them are hundreds of men cutting and preparing the logs for market. A delightful combination of all the varied charms of lofty