SOJOURN. AT TSEKOU 



for want of imagination. Here is a contribution from Tsekou. 

 A certain trapper having readied a ledge of rock found himself 

 in presence of a she - bear and her cubs. At sight of the 

 intruder, Bruin snatched her young ones to her breast. The 

 hunter picked up a big stone and brandished it ; whereupon his 

 antagonist put down her children and did likewise. The man then 

 uttered his Thibetan war-cry, "hi! hi!" which so terrified the 

 bear that she dropped her stone upon the cubs and killed them. 



Wild beasts are plentiful in the surrounding country. Among 

 them mention was made of a large boar, called a patsa, whose 

 tusks are a foot long, and whose flesh is scented with musk. 

 Herds of budorcas (a kind of wild ox) have their habitat near 

 the snowline, and when they come down to drink follow their 

 leader in such exact file that the spoor appears to be that of a 

 single animal. Then we were told of a black fo.x ; and of a 

 civet called the tululu ; while the nemo j'r her dus, or "rock ass," is 

 not infrequent. The flying squirrel too, with its beautiful coat, 

 is the object of a lively trade ; and the Ailurus fulgens, known 

 here as the three-coloured fox, is met with. In addition there are 

 porcupines, and the rhyzomi or bamboo-rat, which latter, however, 

 is only found on the left bank of the Mekong. 



The flora also exhibits many varieties. The natives have a 

 dressing for wounds made of a composition of henbane, tobacco, 

 and elder leaves boiled and put in oil. The fumes of henbane 

 seeds laid on red-hot embers are inhaled as a remedy for tooth- 

 ache. But if they avail themselves of plants that cure, they are 

 no less apt in the uses of those that kill. Poisoner is an 

 attractive name on which to levy blackmail, and everyone so 

 charged must forthwith purge his accusation with a bribe. They 



pretend, moreover, that a deadly charm resides in a certain snake, 



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