During the fourth Chinese moon, according to the Tibetans, the earth bursts forth into life and' the worm begins to move. Nature throws off the winter deadness and adorns herself in garments of flowers, The fourth moon along the frontier is the rhododendron month as this tree Mowers in all its wonder and beauty this time, Above 12,000 feet the thododendrohs at present arg a won derful display of flowers ahd frequently" the" wood-gatherers will bring us down a spray. We once heard Mr. Forrest, the famous botanist, lecture in the gardens in Edinburgh many years ago and in the course of his address I think he said there were several Inundred varieties of rhodedendrong along the borders of Tibet, This tree grows quite large on the hills round this city. Mr. Hanson-Lowe and Baron Van der Bruggen climbed the mountains above Jodo. some days ago and got Into an enormous forest of rhododendrons and it was only with diMeulty that they could make any progress, For hundreds of years the main source of Tachientu's firewood supply blind been taken from these " large rhododendron trees, Five or six young Chinese woodcutters get to-gother with a-capital of say $800 oF 41,000. In the late spring they climb the mountaing round Tachienta but In close proximity to some of the main streams. Down these _moun-fums they build a chute sending the cut toys Into the stream, The party divided up" some cut the trees, others push them down the mountains and one or two men direct the heavy logs down the river towards the city, 'Near Tachienlu, outside the north and south gates, the—woodcutters throw a barricade across the river and thus hold the wood up. Tu March the wood is cut up and sold at $25 per 1,000 logs, The wood is lean and makes an' excellent fre, being used by the large business firms in the city, But the wholesale destruction year' by year of these enormous rhododendron forests must touch the botanist's heart. However they go on growing and the supply fof firewood never seems to fall.
Hong San, the Buddhist priest from Hangchow, who went into eastern 'Tibet to' distribute relict to the Tibetans who had suffered from the Communists during 1996 returned to
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.