TRIBUTARY LOLOS 117 
clear day, the great Snowy Mountains above Ta-tsien- 
lu could be plainly seen to the north-west. They are 
eighty miles away as the crow flies, and the journey 
there takes eight or nine days from Ta-tien-chih. Far 
up the mountain in the crevices and hanging from 
projections on the rocks, huge icicles could be seen 
with the aid of a glass. These, it is no exaggeration to 
say, Were in many cases as large as a church steeple, 
and when they fall they bring down tons of earth and 
rock with them, leaving huge semicircular cavities in 
the places from which they have been suspended. 
On June 15 some Lolos paid us a visit. These were 
not the independent but tributary or subject Lolos, and 
are allowed to travel and work in China on the borders 
of their own country. They are not allowed to wear 
the horn, the distinctive mark of a true Lolo, and 
which is formed by the hair being knotted above the 
forehead, and then wrapped in a cloth, to form a pro- 
jection some inches in length, but had on small flat 
Chinese caps. They are very different. in appearance 
from the Chinese, and evidently a distinct race. Their 
height is about the average, and they are strong, active, ' 
wiry, and splendid mountaineers. A few carried 
matchlocks, the remainder spears about ten feet long, 
and they had with them a pack of hounds, miserable- 
looking specimens. They told me that they hunted the 
