FROM MONGTSE TO SSUMAO 



watched a group of Poula women laden with wood, the weight 

 of which was sustained by a linen band across the forehead. On 

 catching sight of me they hesitated whether to advance, but at 

 last plucked up heart to pass in a body. 



On the I St March, in the morning, we re-entered Manhao, after 

 a few ordinary experiences by the way. We met two men carrjing 



ii,r^-t- 



On the Red River. 



a corpse by head and heels, slung to a bough, on which a sacrificial 

 cock was fastened. The cortege, preceded by a man gently 

 tapping a small gong, disappeared up a narrow defile, and we heard 

 the receding sob of the gong long after it was lost to view. 

 Unbelievers these Chinese may be, but they will traverse mountains 

 for the sake of burvinsj their dead in hallowed ground. At another 

 place we encountered a minor chief with the usual accompaniment 



39 



