264 
MESSRS. A. ROSE AND J. COGGTN BROWN ON 
Government. 
and worked with a will, felling trees from the hill-sides , slinging them from rock to 
rock, and binding the logs with bamboo strands. All were dressed in their best with 
their broadest turbans, their cowries and their swords, but one young gallant stood 
out as the finest of them all, most profuse in his ornaments, most strenuous in his work, 
the first to leap into the water for the fixing of a stay, the first to cross the single log 
that crossed the dangerous chasm. The onlookers whispered that he had come a court- 
ing from a distant village, and the lady of his choice looked on from among the bevy 
of gaily-dressed maids on the bank above. The completion of the bridge was cele- 
brated with high festival, the wine flowing freely and the dance lasting far into the 
night. At first the men and maids formed in separate semi-circles, facing one another, 
but it was not long before they were dancing together and all shyness gone. Suddenly 
a maiden left her place and, wine-cup in hand, slipped into the darkness outside the 
fire-lit ring taking with her the young hero of the bridge. Cheek pressed to cheek 
and arms encircling each other’s necks they drained the cup together and so their 
troth was plighted. In the cold light of morning came the father of the maid intri- 
guing for the happy youth to serve as guide for us across the mountains. ‘ ‘ Behold 
the prudent parent,” quoth a neighbour, “ honour and glory there may be in this 
affair, but he looks to those more solid benefits which will serve to make a worthier 
marriage gift.’ ’ 
The Lisu of the Upper Salween have their own hereditary chiefs, who generally 
exercise control over several villages lying close to one 
another. There appears, however, to be no unity among 
the race as a whole, and isolated villages are often found which recognize no chief. 
Between Latitudes 26°-i5 / and 27°-4o' the tribesmen are entirely independent, and the 
Chinese show no desire to penetrate their ill-reputed land. Up to about Latitude 
26°-i5 / of the Salween Valley the ” Pai” or White Lisu are subject to hereditary Sawb- 
was or chieftains, who recognize the Chinese authority and are called upon to pay an 
annual tax to the neighbouring district officials. These Sawbwas are often of Chinese 
or mixed descent and are assisted in their duties by Chinese clerks doubtless in the 
interests of the suzerain power. 
On the east bank of the Mekong the Thibetan Chief of Yetche exercises authority 
over a large number of Lisu, and in the Tien Tang Kuan, Ming Kuang and Ku Yung 
Kai districts hereditary Fuyi or chiefs, generally of Chinese descent, control the Lisu 
population and collect from them a small land tax. In the districts near Tengyueh, 
which are more directly under the influence of Chinese officialdom, the headmen of 
villages are allowed a small annual subsidy, in return for which they undertake the 
responsibility of protecting travellers and trading caravans from molestation and 
robbery when passing through their districts. 
There appears to be little control over the land in these inaccessible mountain 
tracts, anyone who is sufficiently active to bring it into cultivation being free to do so — 
a privilege in which the Chinese hill-men find few competitors among the neighbouring 
Lisu , whilst they receive all encouragement from the officials who watch with satisfaction 
the peaceful advance of the men of Han, the onward march of progress and industry. 
