HANOI TO MONGTSE 



common, one need scarcely seek shelter from the sun ; the 

 climate of Mongtse is splendid ; except in the two rainy months 

 (June-July, or July-August), it is almost always fine. The plain 

 is healthy for Europeans. The natives have to fear the plague, 



A Street in Mongtse. 



which is endemic, and seems to haunt certain localities of Yunnan 

 without any cause. The sickness generally comes in the summer, 

 and sometimes claims four thousand or five thousand victims. 

 First to be attacked are the rats, which may then be seen 



^ JO 



