( 99 ) 



was told by the people that it grew on the hills to the east, though 

 I never noticed it in my wanderings. Our guide begged of us to 

 hurry back, as it was getting dark, and there were a good many 

 tigers about — only the night previous an old woman had been killed 

 within the stockade, he said, and this we found to be correct. The 

 alarm was too promptly raised, and the brute was unable to carry off 

 his victim, for the people were too soon to the rescue ; he dropped 

 the body in the act of clearing the stockade, which stood nine feet 

 high. 



179. In proof that the Shans are not entirely devoid of affec- 

 em , _ „ tion, and forgetful of those who have 



Instance ot bnans affection. in t t a at- j? -n 



gone betore, 1 relate the following cir- 

 cumstance. Walking round the village, I observed an old Shan smok- 

 ing an exceedingly pretty pipe, the bowl was of silver nicely 

 carved, and the stem a well-selected bamboo root, highly polished 

 from long smoking. I offered to purchase the article at the man's 

 own price, but he declined to part with the bowl at any figure, 

 saying it was the only memento he had of his old wife, who had died 

 some two years back ; the stem, however, he was willing to part 

 with for Ee. 1, remarking he had cut that for himself, and could 

 get plenty more like it. 



180. The next morning we could not get away before 8 a.m., 

 Further observations during the so dense was the fog. The therraonie- 



excursion. ter at 6 a.m. stood at 52° outside the 



house. The river here is about 200 yards broad, and the banks, 

 which are twelve feet above the present level of the water, are, we 

 learn, during the freshes often submerged to a depth of two 

 feet. At 11 a.m. we passed a small hamlet of eleven houses, snugly 

 embowered in a grove of plaintain and lime trees ; the people were 

 Shan-Burmese. This little community had been planted under 

 the auspices of the Kakhyens to the east, with a guarantee of pro- 

 tection, on the understanding that, immediately the people had 

 fairly established themselves, each house was to pay a yearly fixed 

 tax in the shape of grain, vegetables, or any other article stipulated 

 for. The people seemed quite contented with this arrangement, 

 and had taken no precaution of protecting themselves from the raids 

 of the surrounding mountaineers ; indeed, it was the absence of the 

 stockade that first attracted our attention, and led to the enquiry, 

 which elicited the foregoing information. From here, the configu- 

 ration of the left bank gradually begins to change ; the mountains 

 to the far east send out spins which, in a series of undulations of 

 varying altitude, eventually reach the water's edge ; these again 

 give off spurs at right-angles, until the whole country gradually 



