August 3, ign] 



NATURE 



M5 



tOLO AND BORDER TRIBES OF WESTERN 

 CHINA. 1 



Tills book deals mainly with the little-known Lolo 

 and neighbouring tribes in western China, who 

 are believed to represent some of the pre-Chinese abori- 



-I.olo Chief hcsi.i 



' Adventure. Sport, i 



gines of that empire. The journey into the steppes 

 of Tibet, which gives the title to the book occupies 

 less than a sixth part of the volume, and is based 

 upon notes by the late Lieutenant J. W. Brooke, upon 

 his journey along the well-known route from K 

 Nor to Xagchuka. Foiled in 

 his attempt to inter Central 

 Tibet in 1007, Lieut. Brooke, 

 on the advice of Mr. Fergus- 

 son, turned his attention to the 

 Lolo country in western China 

 to the north of the Yangtse, 

 and the present volume is 

 Issued a^ a memoir of that ad- 

 venturous young traveller, who 

 mil a tragic death at the hands 

 of the wild Lolos. In Mr. Fer- 

 pusson, the resident missionary 

 of Chengtu, the capital of Sze- 

 thuan, Lieut. Brooke has found 

 n sympathetic and competent 

 editor, whose own notes indeed 

 form the most important part 

 ,,t the book, based 'as they are 

 upon .1 long personal acquaint- 

 ance with those regions. 



The warlike Mantze tribes, 

 now settled in China, preserve 

 the tradition of having come 

 from Tibet, and this is gener- 

 allv supported by their physical 

 features, their language, cus- 

 toms, and religion, as they are 

 ;edly lamaists. The part 

 of Tibet, however, to which 

 thr-v are assigned by Mr. Fergusson is not 

 cleanly evident. They are stated to be "emigrants 



1 " Adventure, Sport, and Travel, on the Tibetan Steppes." By W. N. 

 Fergusson. Pp. xvi+343. (London: Constable and Co., Ltd., 1911.) 



from Gari, a place north of Siklim [sic], near Camba 

 Dsung ... on the upper slopes of the Brahmaputra." 

 Possibly the deserted town of Ge, near Khamba Jong, 

 to the north of Sikkim, may be intended. The Tibetan 

 legend of its desertion has been recorded by Lieut. - 

 Colonel YVaddell in his "Among the Himalayas" 

 (p. 196), and is in keeping with 

 .1 possible emigration to China. 

 The Lolo tribe and its affini- 

 ties are less well known. This 

 tribe, or rather the series of 

 tribes bearing this general 

 title, occupies the more in- 

 accessible mountains in western 

 China, on both sides of the 

 Yangtse. in the provinces of 

 Szechuan and Yunnan. It is 

 the former section of the tribe 

 which is dealt with here. The 

 aggressive turbulence of this 

 wild tribe has prevented travel- 

 lers from penetrating the coun- 

 trv to any great distance, 

 though it and its people are not 

 so wholly unknown as is repre- 

 sented in this book. M. P. 

 Vial, in his " Les Lolos " 

 (Shanghai, 1898), Colborne 

 Baber, T. de Lacouperie, Col- 

 quhoun, and latterly Dr. Logan 

 Jackson, in his "Back Blocks 

 of China," have contributed to 

 advance our knowledge of the 

 he Tibetan Steppes. subject; but Mr. Fergusson 



now adds much that is both 

 new and interesting. These wild Lolos have 

 hitherto preserved their independence, though in 

 order to repress to some extent their habitual bloody 

 raids into settled Chinese territory, hostages are taken 

 from the frontier villages for their good behaviour. 



NO. 2179, VOL. 8/] 



"These hostages are representative chiefs who take 

 turns. of imprisonment to go pledge for the good 

 conduct of the tribes. These chiefs are paid a nqgninal 

 sum by the Chinese Government for thus serving a 

 period in durance, and after serving a term of three 



