aces yellow and white, coal-black and brown hair, and many
other physical peculiarities differentiating one tribe from another.

In many instances, these tribes, conquered slowly by the encroaching
Chinese during the long and tedious term of centuries marking the growth
of the Chinese Empire to its present immensity, are allowed to maintain
their social independence under their own chiefs, who are subject to the
control of the Government of China--which means that excessive taxation
is paid to the _yamen_ functionary, who extorts money from anybody and
everybody he can get into his clutches, and then gives a free hand.
Others, in a further state of civilization, have been gradually absorbed
by the Chinese and are now barely distinguishable from the _Han Ren_
(the Chinese). And others, again, adopting Chinese dress, customs and
language, would give the traveler a rough time of it were he to suggest
that they are any but pure Chinese. To the ethnological student, it is
obvious that so soon as the Chinese have tyrannized sufficiently and in
their own inimitable way preyed upon these feudal landlords enough to
warrant their lands being confiscated, reducing a tribe to a condition
in which, far removed from districts where co-tribesmen live, they have
no _status_, the aboriginals throw in their lot gradually with the
Chinese, and to all intents and purposes become Chinese in language,
customs, trade and life. This absorption by the Chinese of many tribes,
stretching from the Burmese border to the eastern parts of Szech'wan,
whilst an interesting study, shows that the onward march of civilization
in China will sweep all racial relicts from the face of this great
awakening Empire.

But at the same time there are many branches of a tribal family, some
found as far west as British Burma and all more or less scattered and
disorganized as the result of this silent oppression going on through
the years, who still are ambitious of preserving their independent
isolation, particularly in sparsely-populated spheres far removed from
political activity. So remote are the districts in which these
principalities are found, that the Chinese themselves are entirely
ignorant of the characteristics of these tribes. They say of one tribe
which is scattered all over China Far West that they all have tails; and
of another tribe that the men and women have two faces! And into the
official records published by the Imperial Government the grossest