Through the Land of the Cross-bow 209 
house of half its contents than he would for allowing a 
Chinese soldier of my party to take a single copper kettle 
—at least that is my opinion. The incident closed for the 
time being with the return of the kettle to its native fire- 
side, but what at first sight seemed to be the sequel was 
rather curious. 
It was impossible to reach La-chi-mi that day, for the 
new moon had already set and it had become very dark in 
the forest. The stars shone brightly in the clear sky, and a 
cold wind blew up the valley, so that we gladly stopped at 
the next village, situated in a clearing on the edge of the 
pine forest. The Minchias—the first specimens of the tribe 
with whom we had come in contact—received me kindly, 
and made all necessary arrangements for my comfort, 
though the dogs, being extremely jealous of poor Ah-poh, 
were not at all friendly. The huts as usual were of wood, 
with slat roofs kept down by stones, and the women, 
except for a tall dark blue turban standing up on the head 
like a pudding-cloth, much after the manner of the Shan 
turban, were dressed in the orthodox fashion. There was 
nothing Chinese in their appearance however, for they 
were one and all fine strapping wenches, though not con- 
spicuous for good looks, their large vacant faces putting 
one in mind of suet dumplings. Cross-bows with quivers 
of bear-skin, hung in every room. 
On the following morning we had only a ten mile walk 
before us to La-chi-mi, and before mid-day we stood at the 
summit of the hill looking down into the deep and narrow 
valley, where several hundred clustering grey roofs an- 
nounced the presence of a big village. Away to the west, 
through the broad mouth of the valley, we caught sight of 
the Mekong-Salween divide looking very blue in the haze, 
its lower slopes darkly chequered with forests, its wavy 
crest lightly painted with snow, silhouetting it strongly 
against the deep turquoise sky. 
For some minutes I stood looking at the scene, and 
then with something of a start noticed for the first time 
that my two soldiers, having quietly dropped behind, had 
disappeared altogether, without a word of explanation, a 
circumstance which the yamen-runner presently explained 
by saying that they did not feel themselves worthy to enter 
WT. 14 
