Page:Ling-Nam; or, Interior views of southern China, including explorations in the hitherto untraversed island of Hainan (IA cu31924023225307).pdf/176

 172 Ling- Nam.

apertures, while vines and shrubs hang from the seams and crevices. The hill on the opposite side, high and majestic though it be in its first appearance, reserves its grandest side until we are about to emerge from the pass, when by a slight turn in the course of the stream a wonderful picture bursts upon us. The rugged brow of the cliff is encircled by a fringe of evergreen, huge masses of rock, like stalactites from a cave, overhang the sides, while a beautiful waterfall throws a sheet of silver over the shelving projections. We turn again to the other side, and see the cliff, receding a little from the shore, as it reaches the height of its grandeur in a noble peak, whose bare, white walls, rising above the accumulation of earth and stones at its foot, ic seen for a long way up the river, The best view of this pass is obtained by looking back from the top of the boat as it moves slowly up the river. Its charms increase the longer we look at it, and the more fully we note the surroundings in which it is set.

As we proceed up the stream the eye is never weary of the ever-varying scenes. The rapids are no longer tedious, as they give more time for observation. Several small villages appear among the groves of trees on either bank, the largest of which, Kai-t’an, is just above a steep-walled cliff on the north side, against which the stream strikes, flowing partly under the projecting wall, and then turns aside. Above this we enter the Tung- han Pass, where solid walls of grey rock hold the stream in its narrow channel. The sides of the cliffs facing the river are almost bare, the crown of vegetation on the top extending over their summits in places. In the walls on the south side are several small caves, difficult of