By first: personal acquaintance with the Si-fan (Weston savages—Tibetais) was made' at Hsintankuau (new rapid fort) two days' journey below Sung-plan, where three men dressed in loose sheepskin robes, the fur inside,—and a woman in the same but embroidered with x wide, red hem and her head adorned with a garland of heavy yellow stones the size of small apples—called with an offering of fruit. It was just Tight and I was on the point of starting; off on the day's journey. They came in bowing politely: one man_spoke Chinese and informed me that. they'bad come of the presiuas evening but seeing me busy writing had retired. The apples were the only good apples Ihave tasted in China—rosy and luscious. I gave them a pencil in retarn,.a present all Tibetans much appreciate. In Sungp'nn many. more called on me, always bearing presents, and. wonderful contrast. in their polite reticent behaviour. to the impertinent curiosity of the Chinese. Like the climate, the food at Sungp'an is European in character, and in the cool bracing air most enjoyable after a long course of Chinese slops. The Sifan are the purveyors of this.part—mutton, from: the sheep just, of their summer feed, truly better flavoured than I have ever eaten in London or Pai sweet fresh butter and rich cow's milk; Yak beef (hardly equal to English), p statees and parched barley flour (in Tibetan fswmba) which, mixed with tea and butter, makes a sustaining potuge. Later on, iv our excursions -to the Ts'ao-ti grass country) we were dependent nion Si-fan hospitality on the road. _T was nceompanied by a Chineéo who lived in Sungp'nn' and had traded with the Tibetans for many years and spoké'thoir language. The nomads here live' in light" tents of cotton cloth while pasturing their flocks in summer on the high plateaux, bat their homes are in villages in the ravines which, during our visits, appeared to be chiefly tenanted by the women, the mien being out with their cattle. The villages are all stockaded and hence termed Chai (LIS) by the Chinese, each house being in x small farmyard enclosure and guarded by the fierce Tibetan maxtif—s, whose deep-toned " growl is: far more threatening " than the incessant bark of the Chinese cur. The -houses are built of wond, are tsvo-storied -and roofed either with earth -beaten hard or with rough slates resting on -close-set wooden rafters. -Below are the cattle and above is the human dwelling. In the bettor class houses this comprises- main dwelling room, onthe floor of which is the hearth; an oratory,-or shrine, gaudily painted and beautifully kept, and: other smaller rooms, ust omitting the latrine, clean and_odourless, arranged -é-la Japenals. 'The roads' unto and through the Chai are narrow, muddy paths between palisades, and are as muddy as.a farm yard in Essex: this does not so much matter as everyone is mounted. The first thing upon arriving at.the gate ig to call upon.the Indy of the house to chain up the dogs. This done, the gate is opened; we tie our ponies up in the basement and ascend the ladder to the upper floor: At my first visit, my Chinese companion cautioned me. that. the Sifan were very eccentric people' who, although they were such savages. that they had neither chairs nor tables, yet they objected to spitting on the floor, and that. to spit in the fire was an unpardonable offence to them. Thus duly warned I managed. to conform to their prejudices in this respec". The dwelling room has the hearth in the
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