FROM TALI TO TSEKOU 



be brought from Thibet, and looked to me as if cut out of 

 large shells. The greater number of them wore collars of plaited 

 straw, mother-of-pearl, agate, or red and blue beads, apparently 

 of English manufacture. Both sexes always smoked pipes. The 

 Lissous are very fond of tobacco and spirits. I noticed several of 

 the men and even one woman with an earthen flask slung round 

 their necks, from which they constantly took a pull ; the result 

 was to make them very loquacious. I thought of the probable 

 effect on these ignorant people of the introduction of civilisation 

 with its vices ; and what a fine field for extermination with bad 

 whisky the English would have among them, as with the 

 Redskins of North America in the past. 



We camped near the village of Tatsasu, having been hindered 

 by an incident on the way. A pallid, evil-looking individual 

 had persisted in dogging us, and made an attempt to turn one 

 of our mules aside into another path, with the probable intention 

 of stealing it, when the makotou and Joseph detected him and 

 promptly haled him off to the headman of the village. But that 

 functionary would have nothing to do with the matter, so they 

 brought the culprit back to camp, and we ordered him to be 

 bound. Fa surpassed himself in the job, and trussed him up 

 like a bale, with his hands behind his back and a guy-rope to 

 his pigtail. While this human bundle lay upon the ground, an old 

 man appeared from the village and claimed him as his child. After 

 some discussion we yielded up our captive to him, with the pro- 

 mise that it he crossed our path again we would heave him over 

 the edge without fail. The aged parent placed his inert offspring 

 on his shoulders, and thus loaded hobbled oft' to the village. 



Tatsasu is a dependence of Li-kiang, and is governed by 

 two chiefs — a Minchia and a Lissou toussou. They sent us 



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