Page:Ling-Nam; or, Interior views of southern China, including explorations in the hitherto untraversed island of Hainan (IA cu31924023225307).pdf/207

 Aft the Headwaters. 203

Forty or fitty of these boats tie up together for the night, and as the crews are all related, a constant stream of small chit-chat and family gossip flows from group to group, as they sit on the bows of their boats, waiting for the evening rice to boil, or take their evening smoke after it is eaten. Their conversation seldom rises above the sordid items of their daily traffic. Toward the west from this point is seen a group of pointed peaks, rising near together, and presenting an uneven outline against the horizon. They are known as the “ Pencil Rock” Hills, a name more aptly applied than most Chinese designations.

In many places the hills are covered with trees and shrubs, the oil-bearing camellia being most largely re- presented. This shrub is extensively cultivated all along the river, groves hundreds of acres in extent rising to the tops of the hills in many places. These camellia groves are one of the most attractive features of this mountain country, The shrubs are of a graceful shape, and their dark-green foliage gives a peculiar charm to the landscape. When the plants are in bloom their myriads of white flowers cover the hills with robes of beauty but seldom surpassed. The nuts are collected in October antl November, and vary from the size of a filbert to that of an orange. Many of the larger ones are encased in a rich brownish-pink shell, like the skin of the pomegranate. They are carried in quantities to the drying places in front of the villages, where I have seen tons of them spread over acres of ground drying in the sun. The action of the sun soon causes the outer shell to burst, and as the nuts drop ont, they are carefully swept together and submitted to several days’ more exposure