TSEKOU TO KHAMTI 



we hailed with joy once more the sight of hill cultivation and 

 the straggling houses of the hamlet of Duma, in one of which 

 we were not slow to seek shelter, and to disembarrass ourselves 

 of the wet garments and the leeches that adhered to our limbs. 



The Kioutses at Uuma 

 seemed a finer set of men 

 than those hitherto met. In 

 proportion as we advanced 

 west we found them more 

 civihsed. On the borders 

 of the Telo, instead of loin 

 cloths they wore drawers ; 

 and here one saw cotton 

 stuffs and large straw hats 

 with a small cone of the Bur- 

 mese shape. The women 

 also were no longer tattooed. 

 The same indifference to 

 cleanliness and tillage 

 marked their dwellings and 

 their fields. Nor did they 

 evince any apprehension of 

 discord arising from inter- 

 course with men of other 

 villages. Their e.xtreme 

 isolation probably makes for peace. They allowed themselves 

 to be freely interrogated, and gave us copious if indefinite infor- 

 mation as to our route. They said that about Apon,' — of which 



1 We discovered that .\pon simply signified in Lissou, Pais (Thais). When, there- 

 fore, they spoke of Apon they meant "the region inhabited by the Thais." 



A Kioutse of Duma. 



