Page:Ling-Nam; or, Interior views of southern China, including explorations in the hitherto untraversed island of Hainan (IA cu31924023225307).pdf/221

 At the Headwaters. 21

was that of getting hither. It is simply impossible to retrace our steps by the way we came. No amount of caution can secure firm foothold for descent in many of the places we have come up. Some other way must be found. The northern wall is tried, but after descending a few feet the glassy surface of the granite rocks affords not the slightest foothold. At last, after much search- ing, a precarious footpath, used by some fishermen, is found along the southern wall. Ascending some jutting rocks, we reach a narrow ledge in the steep wall, where, closely hugging the rock above, we manage to ereep along. At one point the path leads underneath a little fall, where, fortunately for us, the stream of water iz small, so that we pass with only a mild shower- bath. At another point there is no path at all, only two small pine logs, tied to the roots of a little tree growing out of a crevice in the rock, with a sheer granite wall below for two hundred feet. It is a severe trial tothe nerves. After surmounting some lesser difficulties, we reach our first point of observation without mishap, and with mingled feelings of pleasure and regret begin to descend. Often in my dreams have I revisited the place, however, and found myself travelling along that perilous path. No more vivid or delightful picture lives in my memory to-day than that ever-fatling, never- ceasing, endless volume of erystal pearl-drops leaping in mad delight down that giddy height into the granite~ walled gorge below.

Not the least wonderful thing about this gorge is the strange commingling of various kinds of rocks. White and red granite lie in great masses side by side,