SUPEBSTITION OF NATIVES 195 



where splendid collections could be made. I allowed 

 them to go, giving them the necessary money and appara- 

 tus. Some little time afterwards I heard that they had 

 tramped all the way back to Ni-tou, where they were 

 spending their time and my money in opium-smoking, 

 there being also a further attraction in the shape of a 

 Chinese damsel. Of course I recalled them immediately , 

 but it was most annoying to have the valuable time so 

 wasted. 



On June 14 I noticed that the medicine collectors 

 were all absent, instead of being scattered over the hills 

 as usual. This, together with what my men had told 

 me, looked suspicious, so I decided to go to Ta-tsien-lu 

 and see the magistrate, as perhaps he might be able to 

 make things go more smoothly. Leaving camp at noon, 

 I crossed the pass, and on the north side, at an elevation 

 of 10,000 feet, and where the ground had lately been 

 covered with snow, I found a plant in bloom much 

 resembling a gloxinia, the flower being crimson. 



I reached the city in the evening and went to the 

 inn, where I found quarters. 



On June 17 the mandarin received a despatch at 

 9 P.M., which he sent on to Mgr. Biet, from whom I 

 heard the contents. It was a petition from Mo-si-mien, 

 signed by a large number of the inhabitants, and also 

 by the medicine collectors, who had left the hills foi 



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