1891 
very much indeed. There is no bridge over the Salwin, and we crossed, 
mule, loads, men, etc., in a ferry, taking 3 hours to do it. Then came 
an ascent the steepness of which beggars description, - limestone bluffs 
with loose bowlders, with burning grass everywhere which made the heat 
still more intense. These fires are started by hill tribes such as the 
Lolos,, Minchias and Miaos whom the Chinese have driven into the hills 
where they eke out a precarious existence. I have found the people on 
this trip very civil, indeed, quite friendly. I only wish you could 
have had a glimpse of us all as we entered the hamlet of Wamangai, at 
the foot of some mighty limestone crags in a narrow canyon. It hap- 
pened to be market day, and there were about 300 extra people in the 
place, mostly tribes people from the hills, in various costumes. As 
we approached , we were soon surrounded by a mob and progress was almost 
impossible. It was, however, a good-natured mob which had never seen 
a foreigner. We went to a small temple of which this village boasts, 
followed by the mob. There was not a soul on the market and the open 
space in front of the temple was one seething mass of humanity; head 
on head they stood and from the temple steps I took two pictures of 
them. The worst was that they remained. The temple was one narrow, 
long dark room with a row of fierce looking gods on an earthen brick 
shelf; the front was one row of wooden doors, all latticed. Through 
every hole of the lattice work there peeped a face, and they strained 
their eyes and necks to get a glimpse of me. I felt like an animal in 
a zoo. There was no place to hide, and so I escaped and wandered about 
among the groves on the neighboring hillsides, until such time as I 
thought that at least the visiting crowd had gone home to their mountain 
fastnesses. When I returned I found the two village headmen had brought 
presents of red hill rice, a ham, and a smoked front leg of a pig. I 
returned the compliment with two tins of condensed milk. I suppose 
they liked the tin can better than the milk. 
"We were off at daybreak and spent the next night at a place 
called Tsaochiang, elevation 8,000 feet. In front of us was the mighty 
Mekong Range, snow covered in its upper slopes. As already stated we 
crossed itat 11,800 feet elevation, wading through deep snow and through 
graceful .slender bamboo forest, with rhododendrons and mighty fir trees. 
Below the fir belt was the most glorious Tsuga forest I have ever seen 
in all my life, - snow in patches everywhere. The somberness of the 
forest was somewhat brightened by beautiful rhododendrons. A thousand 
feet below the summit we found a tiny temple amidst a huge grove of 
these mighty Tsuga trees 4 feet in diameter. Here I stopped for lunch; 
the air was most invigorating, and the scenery indescribably beauti- 
ful, - a place for gods to dwell in. I went to a quiet spot in the 
forest (for our caravan had arrived and was - as usual - noisy) and 
there I gorged myself on this wonderful scenery, - deep, deep down be- 
low the Mekong, a narrow brown band, above me the snow-covered crest 
