M 28
In damp places near the river Delphinium anthriscifolium was abundant and in similar places several fine specimens, 60 feet high, of Pterocarya stenoptera were seen. Gentiana Loureiri was common on the slopes of the hills and Salvia japonica in bamboo groves.
The hills around the village of Lien Kong Hou are planted with Quercus fissa and these were in flower at the time and made a very pretty sight. We were informed that they were coppiced every six years for fuel.
At Lien Kong Hou we noticed the villagers collecting the unexpanded young fronds of Blechnum orientale which was very common at this place, and on making enquiries they told us that they boiled the fronds and used them as a vegetable.
We stayed on the boat for the night and resumed our journey downstream the following morning. We had some little difficulty with our boatman, however, as he refused to go any farther unless he had a military escort, informing us that the river was infested with pirates between Lien Kong Hou and Kou Wang Shek, our next station. We tried to persuade him that it would be all right as we were travelling in daylight but he said he certainly would not go on unless he had at least a military flag.
At all the villages above the river a small number of troops are kept with an officer in charge at each village, so to appease the boatmen I told him that I would go to the officer and see what could be done. On making my request known to him he said there would be no difficulty about letting the man have a flag but it was not necessary as there were no pirates on the river, he had been a pirate himself but was now an officer in the army and he knew! It appears that pirates are chary of attacking a boat flying a military flag as there may be soldiers on board. We arrived at Kow Wang Shek, about 15 miles from Lien Kong Hou, without any untoward result but I do not know whether the flag had anything to do with it.
Between Lien Kong Hou and Kow Wang Shek all the level ground alongside the river is planted with bamboos, and judging by the large areas devoted to their cultivation an enormous business must be done. The bamboos are cut, tied up into rafts and floated down the river to Canton.
Specimens of Aleurites Fordii and Aleurites montana were seen in a few places but as last year's seeds were lying on the ground it was evident that no interest was at present taken in their cultivation.
On this length of the river there are a few lime kilns. The men employed at them informed us that the limestone was brought down from a place north of Ying Tak and on enquiring why it was not burnt where it was quarried we were told that it was owing to the scarcity of fuel at the place, and that it was cheaper to bring the stone down the river than to take the fuel up.