Among the Celestials : vol.1 / Page 28 (Color Image)

0028	Among the Celestials : vol.1

8 AMONG THE CELESTIALS.

[CHAP. I.

Our first objective point was a mountain

well known in Chinese legends--the Chang-

pai-shan, or " Ever-White Mountain." This

fabulous mountain had, it is true, been visited

in 1709 by one of those enterprising Jesuit sur-

veyors, who seem to have penetrated every-

where and compiled a map of the Chinese

Empire remarkable for its accuracy. But no

European had subsequently visited the moun-

tain to corroborate their accounts, and much

romantic mystery was still attached to it.

The Ever-White Mountain was reported to

be situated in the heart of an immense forest,

to be of enormous height (the name itself

suggesting a snow-clad peak), and to have

an unfathomable lake at its summit. We were

accordingly fired with enthusiasm to penetrate

its mystery and ascend its summit, and on

May 19 we left the treaty port of Newchwang

with this object in view.

We now had our first taste of Chinese travel,

and it proved on the whole by no means un-

pleasant. In the first place, the climate was

perfect mild and soft, like an English summer.

The country was everywhere richly cultivated,

and was dotted over with well-built, pent-roofed

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