rty and its infanticide. There seemed little else
to speak of.

Although the tribes were here then--and in a rawer state even then than
they are at the present time--little was known about them, and men had
not yet developed the cult of putting their opinions upon this most
absorbing topic into print. To-day, however, scores of men in Europe are
eagerly devouring every line of copy they can get hold of bearing upon
this fascinating ethnological study. Missionaries are plagued by
inquiries for information respecting the tribes of Western China, and it
is a curious feature of the situation that, with each article or book
coming before the public contradiction follows contradiction, and very
few people--not even those resident in the areas and working among the
tribes--can agree absolutely upon any given points in their data. The
numerous non-Chinese tribes I met in China formed one of the most
interesting, and at the same time most bewildering, features of my
travel; and I can quite agree with Major H.R. Davies,[R] who tackles the
tribe question with considerable ability in his book on Yuen-nan, when he
says that it is safe to assert that in hardly any part of the world is
there such a large variety of languages and dialects as are to be found
in the country which lies between Assam and the eastern border of
Yuen-nan, and in the Indo-Chinese countries to the north of that region.
The reason for it is generally ascribed to the physical characteristics
of the country, the high mountain ranges and deep, swift-flowing rivers,
which have brought about the differences in customs and language and the
innumerable tribal distinctions so perplexing to him who would put
himself in the position of an inquirer into Indo-Chinese ethnology. I
know more than one gentleman in Yuen-nan at the present moment having
under preparation manuscript upon this subject intended for subsequent
publication, and I feel sure that their efforts will add valuable
information to the all too limited supply now obtainable. In the
meantime, I print my own impressions.

I should like it to be known here, however, that I do not in any way
whatsoever put myself forward as an authority on the question. I had
not, at the time this was written, laid myself out to make any study of
the subject. But the fact that I have lived in North-East Yuen-nan for a
year and a half, and have traveled from one end of the province to the
other, in addition to having come across