April 13. (Weihaiwei).—The first sunny day after the rains ud I can literally see the bare brown hills turning into een life beneath the thirsty earth ricked in the and is di sur ace, but there moist feel I run it thi Down in the plains the gardens are sí sare. for this northern sist Sh apples, pear nz forth buds and it is the has produced its lovely all through the the hills the story is quite differ re "the flowers that bloom in the Spring. Tra-la" are already running riot: hose are violets of the deepest violet hue all mixed up with a brilliant variety of Sunspurge which we never see in Shanghai its tiny flowers are encased in three bract-like leaves of yellow green, while down below green leaves with a "parting down the middle reminding me of the hirsute fashions of early youth: this is Peking Spur:
(Euphorbia pekinensis)—and I can only say it is one of the most beautiful wild flowers I have ever seen, One thousand feet up in a deep rocky gorge I survey the little kingdom around me: three great Kites throw fascinating shadows among the rocks: so far have I stepped from the ordinary haunts of man that even the birds seem to have lost their fear of human beings: a little grey Titmouse is so bold that he flies around my head with his wings sounding like rattles in my ears: he perches on each surrounding pine in turn and chides me in his own quaint language... finally, to my astonishment, sitting on the rock in front of me scolding me boldly for my intrusion. And so, in the midst of war's alarms, I heave 2 my to mysli... has
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.