172 



THE HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS OF KWEICHOW 





open down to the waist, but married women wear a kind of 

 felt apron suspended from just above the breast. This felt 

 is made by beating wool till it becomes a solid mass. The 

 cloth of which the other part of the dress is composed has a 

 shiny surface (due to heating) almost like sateen. They all 

 wear thick puttees, generally white in colour, and short kilted 

 embroidered skirts, just coming below the knee : they wear 

 no head covering, except occasionally a bit of red twisted 

 into the hair. 



The men were persuaded to play an instrument made 

 of pipes which sounded not unlike the bagpipe, but without 

 the drone, and they also danced to it. The steps were rather 

 stealthy, alternating with rapid pirouetting and sinking almost 

 to the ground on one bent leg and shooting out the other 

 straight in front. They are great huntsmen and heavy 

 drinkers. 



The Wooden Combs are ancestor worshippers like the 

 Chinese, and we had the good fortune to receive three dooty- 



