yews  and  cypresses,  the  camphor  and  the  tallow-
tree,  and  also  of  the  fragrant  tropical  brushwood,
including  the  downy  myrtle,  with  its  rose-colored
blossoms,  the  camellia  japonicas,  of  the  single  red
variety,  twenty  or  thirty  feet  high,  and  the  lovely
glycine,  climbing  to  the  loftiest  tree-tops,  and  hang-
ing its  flowering  festoons  gracefully  from  branch  to
branch.  Yun-san,  on  the  other  hand,  reminded  his
companion  that  they  were  in  the  midst  of  that  region
which  supplied  the  best  materials  for  coffins  in  the
country,  and  quoted  the  common  saying  that,  **  To
render  life  perfectly  happy,  it  is  necessary  to  be  born
at  Su-chau,  in  order  to  be  handsome ;  to  live  at  Canton,
to  be  luxurious  ;  and  to  die  in  the  province  of  Kwang-
si,  whose  forests  yield  beautiful  wood  for  coffins."

After  four  days  had  been  spent  in  wandering  about
in  the  mountains,  the  two  friends  fell  in  with  a
Chinese  schoolmaster,  by  the  name  of  Kiang,  who
was  teaching  in  one  of  the  villages  of  the  Miautsz'.
This  pedagogue,  glad  to  meet  with  persons  of  his
own  profession  from  the  lowlands,  not  only  enter-
tained them  cheerfully,  and  gave  them  some  supplies
and  directions  for  the  remainder  of  their  journey,  but
also  allowed  himself  to  be  converted  to  their  faith.
