Through the Lutzu Country to Men-kong 87 
idea of the rope bridge having been copied by the Tibetans, 
and carried right away eastwards. 
In the afternoon there was a very perfect sun halo, a 
phenomenon which I had seen several times in the Mekong 
valley, usually followed by rain. It is perhaps caused 
by water vapour drifting across the hot valley from one 
mountain range to the next, under the influence of the 
south-westerly wind. I never saw this halo in the arid 
regions further north. There was an abundance of insect 
life in the valley, butterflies and beetles being particularly 
numerous, though I noticed no uncommon genera. _ Brilli- 
antly coloured Hfemzptera were another feature, besides 
long green stick-like insects (Mantises) and many lizards. 
Birds however were few, and I saw no other animals. 
Later in the afternoon, at a point where the Salween 
emerged from another deep and narrow gorge, we turned 
up a valley to the east and ascended to the village of 
K ‘un-a-t‘ong. 
Here there was a small chapel, and I called on Peére 
Bernadier, who had spent forty years of his life on the 
Tibetan frontier in the service of the Catholic Church, 
during which time he had only once returned to France. 
I found him a most interesting man, and spent a very 
pleasant evening in his company. He told me that, with 
the exception of an American journalist named Nicolls, all 
the travellers in this region had been Frenchmen, beginning 
in 1895 with Prince Henri, and ending only the year before 
with M. Bacot, and I learnt something of what the Catholic 
priests and other travellers had done. It is curious to reflect 
now, that at this very time two other Englishmen, Captain 
Bailey and Mr Edgar, were at Men-kong, whither I had 
decided to push on. 
The French mission on the Tibetan frontier has been 
subject to many vicissitudes, and its centres have again 
and again been moved, so I doubt whether any lasting 
impression has anywhere been made in the Salween valley. 
Certainly I must confess I saw no obvious results of it 
amongst either the Lutzu or Tibetans, for | cannot honestly 
ascribe their friendly attitude to the good offices of the 
Catholic Church. The latter at least are hospitable or 
hostile according to the whim of the moment, hospitality 
