Among the Celestials : vol.1 / Page 48 (Color Image)

0048	Among the Celestials : vol.1

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24 AMONG, THE CELESTIALS. [CHAP. I.

and add to the beauty of the whole. And,

looking closer, we found ferns of the most

delicate tracery, deep blue gentians, golden

buttercups, azaleas, orchids, and njimbers of

other flowers of every type of beauty, all in

their freshest summer bloom.

The following day we visited some springs

which form one of the sources of the Sungari,

and on the next we ascended the mountain

itself. The trees became fewer and fewer, and

we emerged on to open slopes covered with

long grass and dwarf azaleas, heather, yellow

poppies, and gentians. Except the steepness

there was no difficulty in the ascent, and we

made for a saddle between two rugged peaks

which crowned the mountain. We pressed

'eagerly on to reach this point, as from it we

hoped to look out beyond, far away over Corea

on the opposite side. At last we reached the

saddle, and then, instead of the long succession

of alternate hills and valleys we had made up

our minds we should see unfolded before us,

we looked down in astonishment on a beautiful

lake in a setting of weird, fantastic cliffs lying

directly at our feet.

We were, in fact, on an extinct volcano.

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