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G. S. P. HEYWOOD
The North West Ridge of the Hunchbacks.-Like the route just described-very steep and bushy; a wearisome ascent, but admirable as a quick way off the mountain. The ridge plunges straight down from the summit of the Hunchbacks almost to sea level. A narrow track follows the edge of the ridge, like a long rabbit-hole through the bushes. When it reaches a big shoulder about 1,000 feet above sea level, the track diverges to the right and descends towards White Head. If your sampan is waiting for you at Tai Shui Hang, you will be tempted to take a short cut to the left, across the lower slopes of the mountain, where a path is shewn in Mr. Gibb's sketch map.
But the path has disappeared, the hillside is thickly forested and almost impassable, and the shortest way will take the longest time. It is better to come down to the sea near White Head, and to follow the shore to Tai Shui Hang.
Other ascents, more or less legendary, have been made on the north and north-west sides of Ma On Shan, but it would be a pity to describe them and so deprive the reader of the joys of exploration on this fascinating
mountain.
Kowloon Peak to Ma On Shan.-There is a charm in a long walk on a high ridge; the uphill grind is finished early, and all day long you are walking in the cool air of the hilltops, with wide views on either side. And when at last you reach the final point of the ridge and look back on the long rank of peaks and passes which you have crossed, you feel that the day has indeed been well spent. Perhaps the finest walk in the Colony is from Kowloon Peak to Ma On Shan, along the watershed which divides. Port Shelter on the East from Tide Cove and Hong Kong Harbour on the west. The ridge is never less than 1,000 feet above sea level; from end to end it is five miles as the crow flies, and the whole walk, returning by Sai Kung and over Customs Pass, is about 16 miles in length. A peak- bagger, who delights in climbing as many summits as possible in the day, will of course walk over every point on the ridge; this would involve over 5,000 feet of ascent-rather too enormous an expedition for an ordinary walker. We started at 9.30 a.m., and took an easier way, missing Kowloon Peak itself, and reaching the ridge by the Jat Incline. This excellent path starts from the Customs Pass road a short distance above the Kowloon Dairy, and climbs for 1,800 feet at an easy gradient across the flank of Kowloon Peak to the top of the ridge a few yards S.E. of Tate's Cairn. Time, 134 hours from the bus stop at Kai Tak.
A few steps down the far side of the ridge put us out of sight of the town, and we might have been a hundred miles from civilization. This is certainly the place for a halt, to gaze on the lovely view over Port Shelter; but not a long one, for Ma On Shan, standing up nobly at the end of the ridge, is still far away. The next obstacle was the little hill obscurely
There
named One Rise More. Perhaps this hill has no Chinese name, but in cases where native names exist it is surely better to stick to them. are too many absurdities such as Pottinger Peak and Mount Butler in the Colony, however worthy their namesakes may have been. It is fortunate that the English name for the highest mountain in the world sounds so well, but the native name Chomolungma, "The Goddess Mother of the Snows," is perhaps more beautiful and certainly more appropriate.
The Hong Kong Naturalist