THE PRINCE OF CHONI 107 



T'e-pu, a wild aboriginal tribe who inhabit the 

 country to the south of the Minshan Mountains. 

 The only casualties were a large number of sheep 

 and pigs. One man had a hole blown in his leg by 

 an enthusiastic friend who was explaining the 

 mechanism of a foreign rifle ; and the Prince lay on 

 his back, and looked at the sky, and wished he had 

 never gone. 



We called on his return and received a warm 

 welcome. Asked his opinion of the state of affairs 

 in China, he assumed a wise look, saying, " The 

 foundation of the throne is in the heart of the 

 people. The people's heart is not true now. The 

 JNIanchus must go," which I thought was original, 

 but found out afterwards was cribbed from Con- 

 fucius. A temple was in course of construction 

 near Choni to which he was asked to contribute, 

 but refused. The holy man who had begged for 

 the subscription instantly had a fit and declared 

 that great disasters would follow unless a handsome 

 donation was forthcoming. The Prince, who is 

 very superstitious, promised a sheep, but when the 

 time for delivery came substituted a goat as being 

 cheaper. The holy man on hearing this was again 

 possessed and subsequently got the promised sheep 

 from the reluctant ruler. 



The T'e-pu are a wild lot, as I have said. They 

 are divided into fourteen clans and are much 

 dreaded by the Chinese, who only venture through 

 their country once a year. They then organise 

 a big caravan of merchants with guards and hurry 

 through the dangerous hill country as quickly as 

 possible. The T'e-pu are very hostile to strangers, 

 and it would probably be as nmch as one's posses- 



