A Visit to the Thousand Peaks Next morning we made an early start for the Changsha Valley, in which is an interesting group of monasteries, both Taoist and Buddhist. The former do not admit women visitors, but the latter do. The carts containing our luggage and bedding had started about 3 A.M., as we were to do the first few miles by rail across a monotonous plain. There was only a goods train at that early hour, 7.25, but one car is attached to it for passengers, and in this we travelled for nearly an hour. It contains but one small seat at each end, occupied by Japanese and guards, so the rest of the company mainly squatted on the floor. Some had nice skin rugs or parcels on which to sit, and looked eminently comfortable, but we had to make the best of narrow window ledges, and were glad enough to reach the roadside station where we got out. There was a little waiting-room in which we sat, as the cart had not yet arrived, but thanks to the care of a charming hospital assistant, who came to look after us from Liao Yang, we were promptly invited into the booking-office, where several smart Japanese officials were seated round a stove, and European chairs were given to us. A bullfinch was piping cheerfully in a corner, and they brought us tea to beguile the time. In about half-an-hour the carts turned up, but our hearts sank at the thought that they had required four hours to do considerably less than half the journey. We were soon packed into the carts, each with our bedding and various odds and ends. We promptly became aware that the more padding we had the better, as the jolts of the carts grew worse as time went on. For three hours we crossed the plain and then halted for lunch. This was our first experience of a Manchurian inn, which certainly falls far short of Chinese inns. The kitchen and guest-room are always combined, the khang running along each side of the room, and the fires are at one end of it, at right angles to the khangs. We were installed comfortably on one side of the room, and enjoyed a discreet investigation by the other guests and villagers from the other side of the room. Dr. Westwater’s excellent servant acted as vigilant guardian, and made us quite break the tenth commandment before the end of our excursion. It took nearly another two hours before we came to the mouth of the valley, where the monasteries lay, and the dull monotony of the plain gave way to a ravishing scene of craggy and abrupt hills clothed with vegetation. [Illustration: BUDDHIST MONASTERY]