310 Mr. J. D. de La Touche on 



Baksa, which lay a little to the N.E., snugly ensconced 

 within its belts of bamboos and trees^ and in front of us, Avere 

 ranges of higher mountains, running nearly parallel to one 

 another, and gaining in altitude as they receded towards the 

 E. till they rose to a height of at least 7000 feet. We counted 

 six ranges, including that on which we stood. The night 

 before Bain^s aneroid had registered 29'30 at the inn; the 

 height of the range we were on was therefore 1800-2000 feet 

 at the highest point. It is called " O Soa"'' (Black Moun- 

 tain) by the natives of that locality. 



While preparations were being made for a start I strolled 

 on, following the path, which wound down the hill through 

 thick woods and jungle. I heard many birds of various 

 kinds, chiefly of the Garrulax tribe, but the cover was too 

 thick, and I was unable to see or obtain anything of interest. 

 It took us about an hour and a half to reach the foot of the 

 hills; an hour's further walking brought us to the Baksa 

 mission-house. Baksa is a picturesque little village, inhabited 

 by Chinese and Pepohwans. The latter are the original in- 

 habitants of the plain and have adopted Chinese civilization. 

 They are agricultural, but are gradually being ousted from 

 their lands and pushed back towards the hills by the Chinese. 

 The men seen here and subsequently wore the queue, and 

 in dress did not seem to differ much from the Chinese, but 

 the women have their own way of dressing the hair, winding 

 it round the head. Fine large eyes are characteristic of this 

 race, and the cast of features is bold and rather handsome. 



The village of Baksa is situated on flat ground at the foot 

 of the second range, but several well-wooded hillocks, more 

 or less connected with the higher hills, rise close by ; most 

 of them (as I found afterwards) are impenetrable, or very 

 difficult of access, on account of the thick cover and prickly 

 bamboos. 



We now made enquiries as to the best way of getting to 

 Lakuli, but had finally to give up the idea of going there, as 

 it was nearly a day's journey further on, and our time was 

 limited. So we decided to go on in the afternoon to Kamana, 

 another station of the English missionaries, said to be not 



