FROM TONKIN TO INDIA 



Yetche is Mosso, and ruled by a petty king of some celebrity 

 in the district, and it will not be amiss to give here a few 

 particulars of his people and their organisation. 



The Mossos, belong to that Thibeto- Burmese family which 

 has thrown out several offshoots in Upper Indo-China. In the 

 view of Terrien de la Couperie {^Beginnings of Writing in 

 Central and Eastern Asia) they would be of the same group 

 as the Jungs or Njungs who appeared on the frontiers of China 

 six centuries before Christ, coming from the north-east of 

 Thibet. Chinese historians mention the Mossos seven hundred 

 and ninety-six years after Christ,, the epoch of their subjection 

 by the king of Nantchao. Regaining their independence for a 

 time, and then reattached to the kingdom of Tali, they 

 recognised the Imperial suzerainty in the fourteenth century, and 

 were definitely subdued by China in the eighteenth century. They 

 and the Lolos have probably the same origin. The names of 

 the two peoples are of Chinese application ; and whilst the Lolos 

 call themselves Nossous (or Nesous), the Mossos are known as 

 Nachris. The dialects of both have many points in common. 

 Upon their reduction by China they were settled round Li-kiang, 

 within a few days' radius of the town. Towards the north 

 they extend on the left bank of the Mekong to Yerkalo, and 

 on the right bank up to within two days' march of Tsekou. 

 Formerly their sway reached far into Thibet, beyond Kiang-ka. 

 There is a popular Thibetan poem, the Kdscr, which celebrates 

 the exploits of a warrior who strove to drive back the 

 Mossos. 



The men are dressed in the Chinese manner, but the 

 women have a distinctive head-dress. Their hair is gathered 

 into a knot and brdjjght up in front of the head like a horn, 



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