16 On the Plateau of Yunnan 
came down the river bank and crossed one at a time 
whereupon I was filled with ambition to walk on the 
crazy bridge myself, and promptly essayed the journey, 
though before I was half-way across, I repented of my 
rashness. I did not dare turn round, however, so I had 
to go through with it, though I felt more like going down 
on all fours and crawling than standing upright. I wished 
there was a handrail to hold on to, and that the bridge 
would only stay still a minute! The worst of it was that 
I had to return! 
On March 31, we reached Tali-fu, and there being no 
mules immediately available, we stayed there a week. It 
was a little tedious, but it afforded an opportunity of seeing 
the beautifully situated city under varying moods of sun- 
shine and storm—black billows of cloud surging over the 
snow-tipped peaks to the west, the great blue lake lying 
like a sheet of glass in the sunshine, or sullen purple as 
the sky darkened and the wind sent foam-crested waves 
rocking up the beach; the mountains across the water, 
golden-yellow and red in the morning, crimsoning as the 
sun went down. 
A few miles from the city is a fine temple built over a 
boulder probably rolled down from the mountains above, 
though local legend accounts for its origin on the narrow 
plain in a much less prosaic manner. I do not know the 
complete story, but Kwan-nin, the Goddess of Mercy, was 
apparently responsible for bringing it along and dumping 
it down here, wherefore it is not surprising that, in the old 
religious days, a temple should have been built on the spot 
to commemorate such a miraculous deed. A picturesque 
shrine, on which is inscribed the whole story, forms a 
canopy over the boulder within the temple court, and 
several cypress trees add a touch of sadness to the old 
neglected building. 
One day I walked on the city wall, where I met a 
smartly dressed Chinaman carrying a pet bird in a cage 
which he had brought out to take the air, as the Chinese 
are wont to do; and to my great surprise this Celestial 
addressed me in French, pronounced with a perfect Parisian 
accent. Recovering from my momentary amazement I was 
about to reply when I suddenly discovered that I did not 
