The Last of the Mekong 237 
died down to purple, the purple became violet, and still the 
glorious colours of sunset played up and down the valley. 
Away to the south a few wisps of cloud caught the 
slanting rays of the sun, which flashed like the beams of 
a heliograph through a gap in the black wall of rock 
overhead, and diffused an orange glow into the deepening 
blue. Then a few stars shone out, and the ridge was clearly 
silhouetted against the eastern sky : night had come down 
like a curtain. Suddenly across the valley the whole 
mountain side broke out in lines of rippling fire, which shot 
up silently out of the gloom, but it was only the dry grass 
and forest being fired for purposes of clearing and cultivation 
during the ensuing rainy season. 
I have mentioned the gales of wind which throughout 
the summer rage up the deep valleys and tear across the 
passes of the dividing ranges. I think it likely that the 
haze noted in the dry season is due, not to moisture in 
the atmosphere, but to impalpable dust whirled high into 
the atmosphere, where it floats till brought down by next 
season’s rain. The brilliant sunsets which we.experienced 
every night make this the more probable, and the heavy 
night dews in this dry climate are perhaps due to increased 
radiation both by day and night owing to these fine floating 
particles. 
The journey was marred by an incident which for a 
~moment threatened to be serious, though happily nothing 
came of it. One evening, owing to a misunderstanding, | 
got into trouble with some Miao muleteers, and on pushing 
into the room at the same moment that these men half 
slammed the door in my face, I saw by the glow of a 
charcoal fire, round which they had been sitting, what 
appeared to be a gun barrel almost touching my chest, and 
in the dusk beyond, the dark outlines of three men with 
benches raised above their heads as though to strike me. 
For a moment | stood perfectly still upon the threshold 
taking in the situation, and then, looking the angry 
frightened men in the face and smiling, I stepped quietly 
into the room, confident that as | was plainly unarmed, no one 
would touch me, though I felt nervous about that long black 
barrel ; guns have a way of going off when least intended. 
‘Is this a gun ?” I said to the man behind the door, and 
