202 Through the Land of the Cross-bow 
ideals before they came into the country. This in fact 
proved to be the case, for several men, on being asked 
how it was they spoke and understood Yunnanese, replied 
that they came originally from southern Yunnan. 
The Lama men have adopted Chinese dress, and 
gradually, no doubt, assumed Chinese manners and customs 
to a sufficient extent to destroy their own distinctiveness 
as a tribe. More remarkable still, they usually talk Chinese 
amongst themselves while vehemently pleading not guilty 
to the charge of being Sons of Han. Only on very few 
occasions did I hear men speaking Lama in ordinary inter- 
course. No doubt if the men dressed otherwise attention 
might be focused on differences of feature between them 
and the Chinese, and I suppose a trained anthropologist, 
who would know what to look for, would remark these 
without such external aids. There can be no question for 
instance that even the Panthays or Yunnan Mohammedans, 
who have intermarried with the Chinese for centuries, still 
retain a certain distinctiveness which makes them easily 
recognisable. But I must confess that these more subtle 
differences baffle me. 
A few of the Lama men here, it is true, dressed only 
in a loose white cotton vest and drawers, but they seemed 
of a very poor class, and were not sufficiently numerous 
for purposes of comparison; they may indeed have been 
slaves. 
With the women on the other hand I had less difficulty, 
though they too had adopted Chinese dress, or a very fair 
imitation of it. The fact that they did not bind their feet, 
while sufficient to show that they were not Chinese, did 
not of course prove that they were Lamas. However far 
the absorption of a tribe may proceed, the women seem 
rigorously to eschew this revolting practice, as witness the 
Manchu women. Unlike those tribes who retain their 
native costume, the Lama women wear little jewellery ; 
small silver ear-rings and bracelets being quite inconspicu- 
ous after the heirlooms one is accustomed to see pendent 
from the head of a Moso woman. The hair is worn in a 
queue, at least amongst the unmarried girls, just as it is 
with the Manchu women, whereas amongst the Chinese 
that emblem is—or was—confined to the male sex. 
