province. These bricks are sold at the Kiln at 1600 Cash per thousand, or, according to their cube, somewhat dearer than Bricks in the South. The tiles are two cash each—also dearer then the better burnt Kwang tung tiles.
Nor' west from Tching koe, distant Five lé, is the village of Chong ching with 600 families. On the road to it some of the cultivation is found to be taken up with young firs. These fir sprigs are at first planted in rows four or five inches apart, as many as four thousand being seen in an area of twenty yards by ten. Arrived at the age of three years they are taken up and planted on the hills, sometimes in little crevices over rock where nothing else would thrive. In such a way, the hills may be soon covered for miles, and where they are not so, the ground is under preparation for them. The cultivators and proprietors of these Fir plantations have various ways of disposing of their Crops. The first gain is from the loppings of a certain quantity of the branches,—then, when mature, the whole of the branches are sold; afterwards they make sale of the poles, with or without the bark, and lastly the roots. Men grubbing for roots and preparing the soil for a crop of Maize may be seen on hills of most desperate angle. The maize stumps are not removed, but are left to enrich the soil before firs are again planted, or they are burnt and worms destroyed.
To reach Haoulung the traveller has to retrace the path from Chong ching to Tching koe. At the latter place is a free ferry, a boat and hauling line being provided by the country people for whoever may want them. The stream here though the water is shallow, is of considerable width, and the traveller cannot help noticing how very much ground is lost to the public by the inability to
