CHAPTER XVIII 
BACK TO BURMA 
DeEscENDING the narrow tree-girt valley I soon came 
upon peninsulas of rice-fields thrust out toward the foot of 
the hills like grasping tentacles, and shortly afterwards 
emerged on to the T‘eng-yueh plain. Prosperous-looking 
villages nestled close against the hills, a busy fishing 
population was engaged with nets and rods amongst the 
swamps of the river, and crowds of people were wending 
their way towards the city, with loads of country produce 
for the market. I had seen no such sight for nine months, 
and suddenly I felt that life on the plains also was very 
good indeed. 
The battlemented wall of T‘eng-yueh was already plainly 
visible and half an hour later I walked into the British 
Consulate, where I was welcomed by Mr C. D. Smith, the 
Acting-Consul. And now the astonishing news burst upon 
me. My caravan had not arrived, there was fighting 
between the revolutionists on the Tali road, and chaos in 
the city ; the European population of five, with the excep- 
tion of Mr Smith, had been compelled to go down to Bhamo 
soon after the outbreak, and I heard of the desperate fight- 
ing in the Yang-tze valley and of the true import of the 
revolution, little more than faint echoes of which had at 
that time penetrated to the Tibetan frontier. 
The situation in T‘eng-yueh was briefly this. An incon 
spicuous and quite incapable merchant of no social standing 
had successfully plotted for the murder of the three military 
leaders, who, on the night of October 27, were shot dowr 
and bayoneted by the soldiers ; the yamens were then looted, 
the jail fired, and the prisoners set free. Out of all this 
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