On the Plateau of Yunnan 15 
flowers, and the muleteers bought them to twist round 
their buttons, or decorate their hair. 
At the village of Yang-pi we crossed a fair-sized river 
by the fifth and last chain bridge on this road, There must 
be quite a large number of these remarkable structures 
spanning the smaller rivers of Western Yunnan—lI crossed 
two over the Shweli alone, but of their history I know 
nothing, though they have doubtless been in use from very 
ancient times. 
Continuing down the Yang-pi river next day, we saw 
at last the snow-capped peaks of the high range over- 
hanging Tali-fu. After the capitulation of Tali at the 
close of the Mohammedan rebellion sixty years ago, many 
fugitives from the massacre tried to make their way from 
the rivers of blood which flowed in the doomed city across 
the white snows of these jagged spires, but the majority 
perished miserably of cold and hunger before a practicable 
route down to Yang-pi was discovered. 
In the afternoon, while scrambling about by the Yang-pi 
river, I came across a remarkable bridge of twisted lianas, 
like those built by the Kachins and other jungle tribes. 
It was really a suspension bridge, the two main liana cables 
being fastened to stout bamboo poles on either bank and 
supporting a shallow hammock made of similar lianas inter- 
laced in skeleton fashion, so flimsy that a single narrow 
path of six-inch planks had been laid along the middle line 
to mark the fairway. I cannot imagine a more unstable 
bridge worthy of the name. Not only did it sag at least six 
feet in the middle—it was barely thirty-five yards across— 
but the least breath of air set the entire structure swaying in 
the most sickening fashion, and what was worse, no sooner 
did one set foot on the planking than the hammock began 
to wriggle beneath one’s tread, partly this way, partly that, 
so flexible was it. The only way to negotiate this bridge 
in safety, and not tumble over the side or fall through the 
basket-work, was to step gingerly along the line of planks 
sliding one foot carefully in front of the other all the time, 
while striving to maintain a good balance, in spite of the 
river raging over the rocks thirty feet below, the roar of 
which filled the air. 
Presently three women, each bearing a heavy load, 
