CHAPTER. XVI 
THE REVOLUTIONIST OCCUPATION OF LA-CHI-MI 
A busy little village, La-chi-mi owes its importance 
directly to its salt well and indirectly to its position at the 
junction of three trade routes, one going south down the 
Mekong to the main road at Yung-chang-fu ; a second (and 
a very excellent paved road too, at least near La-chi-mi) 
going eastwards to the main road at Chen-chuan; and a 
third northwards up the Mekong to the main road at 
Wei-hsi. We had ourselves followed the last mentioned 
to some extent. 
The village is situated at the head of a deep ravine, 
some miles from the Mekong, and is closely invested on 
all sides by rather bare mountains. It boasts several small 
temples, one in an excellent state of repair, while an arched 
and roofed wooden bridge, which I found in course of con- 
struction, over the stream where it enters the gorge will 
when finished, be decidedly picturesque. The population of 
rather over two hundred families is chiefly Minchia, but the 
numerous shops and tiled roofs give a distinctly Chinese 
aspect to the village, enhanced by the manners, customs, 
and speech of the inhabitants. On the other hand, many 
of the houses are built of mud bricks and roofed with 
wooden slats, and the women present those few but obvious 
differences from the Chinese that we have already men- 
tioned. The yamen was a quaint old-world little place with 
two ancient cannon guarding the entrance at the head of a 
flight of steps, and numerous evergreen shrubs and dwarf 
trees standing in wooden tubs round the courtyard. Two 
dove-cots were hung against the wall and the soft cooing of 
doves sounded pleasant in the bright sunshine which flooded 
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