Page:Mongolia, the Tangut country, and the solitudes of northern Tibet vol 1 (1876).djvu/235

 by the neighbouring Chinese, in spite of the forest guard; the larger trees have all been felled and only stumps remain to show that good-sized timber once grew here.

Above the tree-belt the highest parts of the mountains are occupied by the zone of alpine meadows. It is a refreshing sight, after the monotonous vegetation of the lower belts, consisting chiefly of a few crooked bushes, and after the damp undergrowth of deciduous trees, to feast one's eyes on the bright green variegated flowers which cover the rich meadow-land of the mountains; the slopes and hollows are clad with short thick grass, leaving bare only the crags and solitary rocks, the yellowish-grey tints of which contrast with the enchanting verdure and delightful variety of flowers. Shrubs of spiræa and cinquefoil (Potentilla fruticosa), the globe-flower (Trollius sp.), the great-burnet (Sanguisorba alpina), the corn-flower (Polemonium cæruleum), ranunculi, and many others mentioned in our description of the flora of the woods, flood these meadows with their yellow, white, red, and blue hues, now intermingled in pleasing variety, now grouped in masses of colour.

But the sight is still more brilliant in the early morning when the first rays of the sun sparkle on the dew drops hanging on every petal, the surrounding stillness only broken by the notes of the stonechat or the pipit, and a splendid view disclosed of the Hoang-ho and the plains of Ordos stretching away far beyond it.