204 Through the Land of the Cross-bow 
of the Mekong north of Yang-tsa, it was plain that there 
was not here the summer rainfall which we got at Tsu-kou. 
The extreme narrowness of the Mekong rift, and the greater 
elevation of the mountains further east acting as rain- 
conductors, probably accounts for the monsoon here passing 
harmlessly over the Mekong and drenching the plateau 
to the east. As above Yang-tsa, the deep ravines cut out 
by the mountain torrents demanded the most exasperating 
détours, and the river, frequently interrupted by rapids, was 
rarely navigable even for ferry boats. Rope bridges oc- 
curred here and there, but were always of the annoying 
kind that landed one automatically over the middle of the 
river, after which gymnastics were required whether one 
decided to go on or turn back, the only alternative being 
to stay there. 
In the evening we reached the insignificant village of 
Ching-p‘an, where I slept in an extraordinarily smoky little 
hovel. Everybody bustled about to garnish up the place 
as much as possible; three planks across two forms con- 
stituted in turn bedstead, supper-table, chair, and wash- 
hand-stand, for my apartment was so small we could get 
nothing else inside, even if the resources of the establish- 
ment had run to it, which they did not. 
On the following day we were due at Shi-teng, whither 
my passport from Wei-hsi entitled me to travel under official 
escort, which really means at everybody else’s expense if 
one is so minded. At Shi-teng I should have to obtain a 
new passport from the local official, for no Chinese official 
can give a passport for territory under the jurisdiction of 
his superiors, though he can give a through-passport for 
territory administered by a mandarin of inferior rank. We 
had now reached the limit of the Ting of Wei-hsi’s command 
in this direction, both Shi-teng and La-chi-mi being under 
the Lichiang-fu official. 
However, when we stopped that morning at a small 
village for the mid-day meal, I learnt that the Shi-teng 
official had just arrived on his way up the valley, and our 
interview took place immediately. As always when one 
proposes to travel in unadministered territory, the official 
found excellent reasons for requesting me to rejoin the 
main road at Chen-chuan, which I could have done by 
