142 The Wonderful Mekong 
balanced or we could never have stirred it, but the com- 
bined efforts of five men fortunately sufficed to send it 
hurtling down the slope and we were able to pass. 
We had left the worst of the rain behind now and it 
grew clearer as night drew in. At the village of Wa-ka-tih 
we changed ponies for the second time, and in view of the 
fact that it was getting dark and we had still a long way to 
go, I told Gan-ton to see to it that we did not waste time 
changing ponies again. 
Across the valley was a village built on a steep slope, 
every house supported on piles. Moreover the houses 
were built close together, so that in the dusk the place 
looked for all the world like a Malay village. This method 
of raising the houses on piles is common amongst the 
poorer people of S.E. Tibet as well as amongst the Lutzu 
tribe, though I do not think the people who affect it are 
genuine Tibetans. With their dug-outs, fishing-nets, and 
pile dwellings the Lutzu remind one forcibly of the Malays, 
and indeed there may well have been some connection 
between the tribes of these regions and a seafaring folk; 
otherwise whence do the Lissu women get their cowries ? 
At the next village, called Ndu-er, all the women 
and children flocked out to have a look at the stranger, 
dogs barked, and everyone talked and shouted at the same 
time; then two of the men, in spite of the soldier’s orders, 
insisted on unloading one of the ponies, whereupon he 
jumped down in a great rage, and picking up two rocks 
each the size of a quartern loaf, flung them with all his 
force at the offender standing but a few feet from him. 
The first missed its mark, nearly brained a child standing 
just behind, and ricochetted off the ground on to the hind 
quarters of a dog, who went off yelping; but the second 
one caught the victim fair and square amidships, luckily 
just where the sleeves of his gown were tied round the 
waist, making a thick pad. He doubled up like a shot 
rabbit, but apparently no serious damage was done; still, 
I should not like to have been the recipient of the missile. 
I now interfered and through Gan-ton put a stop to 
reprisals. Every man carries a sword here and we should 
have seen them bared next minute. 
The incident cost me some money on the principle of 
