too great a
temptation to be resisted, and one would stand timidly like a bird with
wings half spread, only to dash away as though the devil were after him,
when he saw my head disappear beneath the focusing hood.

Wu and a _mafu_ who could speak a little Tibetan finally captured one
picturesque looking fellow. He carefully tucked the tin cans, given for
advance payment, inside his coat, and with a great show of bravery allowed
me to place him where I wished. But the instant the motion picture camera
swung in his direction he dodged aside, and jumped behind it. Wu tried to
hold him but the Tibetan drew his sword, waved it wildly about his head and
took to his heels, yelling at the top of his lungs. He was well-nigh
frightened to death and when he disappeared from sight at a curve in the
road he was still "going strong" with his coat tails flapping like a sail
in the wind.

One caravan came suddenly upon the motion picture camera unawares. There
were several women in the party and, as soon as the men realized that there
was no escape, each one dodged behind a woman, keeping her between him and
the camera. They were taking no chances with their precious selves, for the
women could be replaced easily enough if necessary.

The trouble is that the Tibetan not unnaturally has the greatest possible
suspicion and dislike for strangers. The Chinese he loathes and despises,
and foreigners he knows only too well are symptoms of missionaries and
punitive expeditions or other disturbances of his immemorial peace. He is
confirmed in his attitude by the Church which throughout Tibet has the
monopoly of all the gold in the country. And the Church utterly declines to
believe that any foreigner can come so far for any end less foolish than
the discovery of gold and the infringing of the ecclesiastical monopoly.

Major Davies, who saw much of the Yuen-nan Tibetans, has remarked that it is
curious how little impression the civilization and customs of the Chinese
have produced on the Tibetans. Elsewhere, one of the principal
characteristics of Chinese expansion is its power of absorbing other races,
but with the Tibetans exactly the reverse takes place. The Chinese become
Tibetanized and the children of a Chinaman married to a Tibetan woman are
usually brought up in the Tibetan customs.

Probably the great cause which keeps the Tibetan from being absorbed is the
cold, inhospitable nature of his country. There is little to tempt the
Chi