FROM TALI TO TSP:K0U 



this continued for more than a month. The scenery in the valley 

 was remarkable. In one bend, where there was opposite a small 

 military outpost, the red-tinged river made a regular series of 

 serpentines, above which the path clung to the cornice of the cliff, 

 whence we looked across to a barren mountain-side streaked with 

 many-coloured strata, like a painter's palette. This blending of 

 desolation and rich tones was the despair of the photographer. It 

 reminded me, as well as the others, of certain aspects of Africa. 



In the evening Joseph explained to me the meaning of some 

 little withered firs we had noticed stuck before the houses. The 

 tree is planted on the ist of January as a sign of gladness, and 

 is supposed to bring luck and money. They call it lao-tieti-chon 

 (the tree that shakes the sapecks). This Chinese custom recalls 

 the European Christmas-tree. 



On the 15th (July) we halted in a village called Tono. The 

 inhabitants designated themselves Tonos. This was a tribe we 

 had not j-et encountered. Their dress was Chinese ; but their 

 eyes were wrinkled and their faces wider than the Chinese. 

 Questioned by us, they professed to be the only ones of their 

 clan, and that their ancestors had come here a lone time back ■ 

 their dialect was akin to the Lissou. Their reception was 

 friendlv, but their information untrustworthy : accordino- to 

 them it would be impossible to proceed with mules on this side 

 of the Mekong. As only that very morning our caravan had 

 by making a detour successfully circumvented an apparently 

 insurmountable obstacle of projecting rock, we were not likely to 

 be deterred by their reports. Before quitting the Tonos I took 

 a few photographs of the crowd that surrounded us. I have 

 rarely seen a collection of types so hideous : the group might 

 have stood for models in a picture of criminals in Hades. 



