FROM TONKIN TO INDIA 



In the course of these chats we were puzzled by accounts 

 given by the Kioutses. According to them, we were to find 

 within a few days a larc^e river, the Neydu (Lissou, "big 

 water"), to follow it up seven marches, cross a high mountain, 

 and then arrive at a wide plain which was called Apon, where 

 the villages were frequent, the houses circular, and the people 



Midday Halt. 



dressed in trousers and vests like ourselves, only with black 

 teeth and wearing turbans. To us poor weary rock-climbers the 

 word plain spelt paradise, and Apon became the constant theme 

 of speculation and debate. 



As far as our investigations upon the fauna of the Kiou- 



kiang went, the results were largely negative. We heard that 



282 



