Page:Ling-Nam; or, Interior views of southern China, including explorations in the hitherto untraversed island of Hainan (IA cu31924023225307).pdf/179

 The Gorges of the Lien-Chow River. 175

which the water pours in places, are formed by the calcareous accretions deposited by the water as it falls. The passage is so narrow that the stream is shaded com- pletely by the shadow of the walls at certain times in the day. Graceful cascades fall over the rocky sides, ferms in the greatest profusion grow under the projecting crags, and little birds, unseen before, with blue wings and brown breasts, flit about the rocks, and find a home in the numerous cavities,

A great mass of rock almost fills the stream in the middle of the pass. It is full of curious holes on every side, and is called the “Rock of the Genii.” From its top, looking up and down, the pass is seen to greatest advantage. But nomatter where we look the picturesque beauty of the scene is most fascinating, As we come to the end, the wall on the right is the first to recede, while, on the left, as if to add yet one more charm to the scene, an exquisite waterfall pours its shining stream from the highest wall, which, as it falls on the successive shelves of the lower projections, has the appearance of three or four distinct. cascades, each striving to outdo the other in the descent to the river. From this point onward the river winds among picturesque hills; down whose abrupt sides is seen the gleam of descending water, rushing down the narrow ravines, or pitching over high preeipices.

A few miles’ further travel, and we come to the tenth and last of the mountain passes, the Ma-miu, or “ Horse Temple” Pass, so named from a niche in the northern wall, in which is a well-defined image of a horse, seen, perhaps, most favourably when descending theriver. This