y brought us to the summit after a wearying pull up
interminable rock staircases as steep as the steepest attic stairs, and
hundreds of feet high. Most of the time we were in thick woods, only
occasionally coming out into a little clearing, but even when the trees
fell away, and there ought to have been a view, nothing was to be seen,
for the thick mists shut out all above and below. We passed by
innumerable monasteries, most of them looking prosperous and well
patronized; they must reap a rich harvest in cash from the countless
pilgrims. Everywhere building was going on, indicating hopeful fortunes,
or, more likely, recent disaster, for it is the prevailing dampness
alone that saves the whole mountain-side from being swept by fires, and
they are all too frequent as it is.

It is one of the many topsy-turvy things in topsy-turvy China that this
prosaic people is so addicted to picturesque and significant terms. I
found the names of some of the monasteries quite as interesting as
anything else about them. From the "Pinnacle of Contemplation" you
ascend to the "Monastery of the White Clouds," stopping to rest in the
"Hall of the Tranquil Heart," and passing the "Gate to Heaven" you enter
the "Monastery of Everlasting Joy."

Toward the summit the forest dwindled until there was little save scrub
pine and oak, a kind of dwarf bamboo, and masses of rhododendron. At
last we came out into a large clearing just as the sun burst from the
clouds, lighting up the gilded ball that surmounts the monastery where I
hoped to find shelter, the Chin Tien, or "Golden Hall of the True
Summit," a group of low timbered buildings, quite without architectural
pretensions. Entering the open doorway I faced a large shrine before
which worshippers were bending undisturbed by our noisy entrance. Stairs
on either hand of the shrine led to a large grassy court surrounded on
all four sides by one-story buildings, connected by a broad corridor or
verandah, and back of this, steep steps led to a temple perched on the
very edge of the great cliff.

A young priest came to meet me and very courteously showed me the
guest-rooms, allowing me to choose two in the most retired corner, one
for myself and another for the interpreter and cook, while the coolies
found comfortable quarters near by. View there was none, for my room,
though adorned with real glazed windows, looked out on a steep bank, but
at least it had an outside door through which I might come