Page:Ling-Nam; or, Interior views of southern China, including explorations in the hitherto untraversed island of Hainan (IA cu31924023225307).pdf/159

 The Gorges of the Lien-Chow River.» 135

of a small walled city. The hills that rise behind the town are very fine, some of them being covered with trees to their summits, presenting a richness of vegetation that attraets one irresistibly toward them. Half a mile up the river from Mé-p6, passing over unusually stiff rapids, we come to the town of Tai-vin, situated, as the name indicates, on the great bend which the river makes at this point. To the east of the town is a beautiful hill, thickly wooded, with temples among the trees; at the foot of this hill a small stream of wonderfully sweet and clear water comes in from the north. So cold is the , water, that in August it was scarcely comfortable to bathe in, showing its source to be in the deep, perennial fountains that well up from the base of the grand old hills piled in huge masses to the north. he scenery about Tai-wan is simply charming. All the varieties of wood- land and plain, of hill and mountain, of river and brook, the quiet charm of cultivated fields, with occasional glimpses of the world beyond, which the passes at either end of the great bend shut out, combine to make it unusually attractive. The people are, for the most part, civil, althongh capable of great insolence and even violence, as has been proved on more than one oceasion. The population of the town is about 10,000, The Romanists have a mission here, with a foreign priest residing jin the town.

A short run from Tai-win brings us to the Sam-hap Pass, the dividing line between the Ying-tak and Yeung- shan districts. A roaring rapid impedes our progress below the pass. This being conquered, we soon enter the narrow defile, and in half’ an hour are opposite a narrow