For miles and miles in the early morning we were climbing up the mountains, till we reached a plateau where the wind blew piercingly keen, and my fingers ached with the cold, and the rarefaction in the atmosphere made breathing uneasy.

The road was lonely and unfrequented.

We were accompanied by a muleteer who knew the way, by his sturdy son of twelve, and his two pack horses.

By midday we had left the bare plateau, had passed the three pagoda peaks, and were standing on the brow of a steep hill overlooking the valleys of Chaochow and Tali.

The plains were studded with thriving villages, in rich fields, and intersected with roadways lined with hedges.