grow, the purple
wistaria spreads itself over the mass of vegetation which covers the
precipitous hills from base to summit.

Bamboos of many kinds wave among the trees or grow in masses by
themselves, and climbing geranium and ferns mount from one foothold to
another over tree-trunks or rocks, rooting as they go.

Nests of wasps and weaver birds hang from the canes. Jungle-fowl and
pheasant, snipe and partridge, are there to provide the traveller with
food, and often, flying heavily from tree to tree, a peacock offers a
welcome addition to your larder.

The forest is dense, and in places almost impenetrable, and as you
ride or cut your way through the thick undergrowth, monkeys of large
size follow you through the tree-tops, scolding and chattering at your
intrusion; and lemurs, fear overcome by curiosity, approach you
closely, as though to see what kind of creature is this that
penetrates these wilds.

Wildness best describes these leafy solitudes in which roads are
almost unknown, and which the larger beasts as well as men appear to
shun.

Along the river-bank, however, are many little hamlets, where in
dug-out canoes the natives fish the rivers, using many ingenious nets
and traps, or weirs which stretch from bank to bank.

Carts are never used here, and such traffic as is carried on must be
done by means of pack-ponies, whose loads are so contrived that,
should they stumble on their rugged path, they can easily free
themselves of their burden.

We are now near to the Chinese frontier, and many straggling groups of
Chinese, Shans, and Shan-tilok (which is a mixture of the two) may be
met bearing bales or baskets of produce on their backs to some distant
settlement; or occasionally a family party, bent upon some pilgrimage
or journey, carry their household goods and young children in baskets
slung from bamboo poles, which cross their shoulders.

On the lower levels, where paths are more frequent, little bridges of
picturesque design cross the streams, from which rise warm miasmic
mists. In the early morning dense fogs fill the valleys, often
accompanied by frost; but as the sun gains power and the mists are
sucked up, the heat is intense; and these extremes of heat and cold,
combined with the smell of rotting vegetation and exhalations from the
ground, render this region a perfect fever-den, in which no white man
can safely live.

Though the general character of the country consists of lofty
mountains a