1G4 



THE HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS OF KWEICHOW 



she becomes a proud mother the hair is twisted into a lofty 

 horn rising straight up from the crown of the head like a 

 pyramid. 





The men wear the same kind of embroideries as the 

 women, and a sort of long loose garment falling below the 

 knees, girded in at the waist. Their upper garment has loose 

 sleeves looped up about the elbow with ornamental braid 

 which they make on primitive little looms. Bound their 

 heads they wind cloth turbanwise. In their clothes the Miao 

 seem to have the same appreciation of beauty as the Chinese, 

 but their hovels are quite devoid of it, we were told. They 

 live on the simplest food, nothing but flour, cooked before 

 grinding, which they mix with water into' a kind of porridge 

 and eat twice a day: this with some vegetables, or wild 

 herbs gathered on the hill sides is their staple food. "When 

 Mr. Slichter had given them a message from us saying how 

 pleased we were to visit their country, they replied that they 

 much regretted that their poverty prevented them from 

 offering us hospitality. The}" have never shewn any trading 

 instincts, and are by nature purely agriculturalists and 

 warriors. 



