FROM MONGTSE TO SSUMAO 



big guns and mitrailleuses, — nothing was lacking ; the hailstones 

 were as large as pigeons' eggs. Most curious was the aspect of the 

 caravan, as, cloaked in my ample waterproof with my shoulders 

 stooped to the deluge and my sight half obscured beneath my hat 

 brim, I endeavoured to take in my surroundings. With ears laid 

 back and tails between their legs the animals scattered, driven by 

 the blast and lashed by the hail, the men running hither and thither 

 in vain effort to collect them. Others of the mafous cowered 

 beneath their blankets, without which, in sober earnest, the hail 

 would have been dangerous. I felt the stones rattle round my ears, 

 and saw naked limbs receiving a far more lively impress of their 

 sting. Soon the faces of the men began to show long lines of red 

 like bleeding scars, the dye was running from inside their caps ia 

 streaks upon their visages. As for our two Annamites, bewilder- 

 ment possessed them, the phenomenon was altogether unfamiliar ; 

 they tried one or two of the hailstones with their tongues, and then, 

 as the projectiles grew bigger and the wind increased, surrendered 

 themselves to rigid immobility, like capuchins beneath their cowls. 



The tempest ceased as suddenly as it began. The scared sun 

 looked forth, and turned the hailstones into iridescent gems, or 

 walnuts sparkling with crystals. " What a pity," soliloquised Nam, 

 " that one cannot preserve them !" 



Within a quarter of an hour the little stream that before had 

 trickled was a roaring torrent, and we recognised that this route must 

 be impracticable in the rains. The surface became soft and treacher- 

 ous, and we had to wade through pools widening over oozy ground 

 in which the animals sank to their girths. Each instant saw a load 

 upset into the mud ; the men scarce knew when to give the mules 

 their heads, and, to crown all, the path became so narrow that they 

 had to prick them from behind to make them move forward with 



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