228 The Last of the Mekong 
me, he held it in one hand exactly as he had seen me 
holding it, but with this oversight—that his finger was not 
on the spring, so that though he hissed at it till he was blue 
in the face, it resolutely refused to obey him. My gun and 
camera were always a source of great interest to the Chinese 
and to such tribes as had attained the same degree of over- 
powering curiosity; but the Tibetans, Lutzu, Moso, and 
others were comparatively indifferent to such marvels, 
partly, I think, owing to a far more deeply-rooted super- 
stition, which caused them to view such altogether incom- 
prehensible things as a camera with no little alarm. 
These people were very anxious to see me fire my gun, 
but as there was nothing to shoot at, and as, moreover, | 
might have disgraced myself for ever in Lao-wau by missing 
it, if there had been, I did not comply with the request. 
Lao-wau, with a population of about four -hundred, 
has I believed acquired an entirely fictitious importance, 
for no earthly reason that I could see, for though situated 
on one of the few roads between the Mekong and Salween 
rivers, it is quite a miserable little place. 
Next day we were due to reach Lu-k‘ou on the Salween, 
but, our two rather dilapidated porters being well advanced 
in years and possessed of only three eyes between them, 
we proceeded so slowly that, in spite of continuing by night, 
we had finally to stop some miles short of the river. 
In the drier parts of the torrent bed grew tussocks 
of tall grass, sometimes reaching a height of twelve or 
fifteen feet, the big feathery inflorescences glistening like 
silver; this grass is extensively used for thatching the huts 
of the Shans and Lissus who inhabit the Salween valley. 
The path by which we descended the gorge, however, 
frequently took us through dense jungle, affording welcome 
shade from an uncomfortably hot sun. Evidently we were 
coming into a country more densely populated than any we 
had traversed since leaving Wei-hsi, for presently we came 
upon a roadside stall where pears and splendid golden 
oranges were temptingly displayed. From time to time we 
passed men and women carrying loads of cotton up to Lao- 
wau, and towards evening we took our meal in the camp of 
some muleteers who were going up the ravine with thirty 
or forty mules. 
