ge itself is graceful and strong, swinging easily 30ft. above
the current; it is built of powerful chains, carried from bank to bank
and held by masses of solid masonry set in the bed-rock. It is 60 yards
long and 10ft. wide, is floored with wood, and has a picket parapet
supported by lateral chains. From the river a path led us up to a small
village, where my men rested to gather strength. For facing us were the
mountain heights, which had to be escaladed before we could leave the
river gulch. Then with immense toil we climbed up the mountain path by
a rocky staircase of thousands of steps, till, worn out, and with
"Bones" nearly dead, we at length reached the narrow defile near the
summit, whence an easy road brought us in the early evening to Shuichai
(6700ft.).

In the course of one afternoon we had descended 2000ft. to the river
(4250ft. above the sea), and had then climbed 2450ft. to Shuichai. And
the ascent from the river was steeper than the descent into it; yet the
railway which is to be built over this trade-route between Burma and
Yunnan will have other engineering difficulties to contend with even
greater than this.

My soldier to-day was a boy of fifteen or sixteen. He was armed with a
revolver, and bore himself valiantly. But his revolver was more
dangerous in appearance than in effect, for the cylinder would not
revolve, the hammer was broken short off, and there were no cartridges.
Everywhere the weapon was examined with curiosity blended with awe, and
I imagine that the Chinese were told strange tales of its deadliness.

Next morning we continued by easy gradients to Talichao (7700ft.),
rising 1000ft. in rather less than seven miles. It was bitterly cold in
the mists of the early morning. But twenty miles further the road dipped
again to the sunshine and warmth of the valley of Yungchang, where, in
the city made famous by Marco Polo, we found comfortable quarters in an
excellent inn.

Yungchang is a large town, strongly walled. It is, however, only a
remnant of the old city, acres of houses having been destroyed during
the insurrection, when for three years, it is said, Imperialists and
Mohammedans were contending for its possession. There is a telegraph
station in the town. The streets are broad and well-paved, the inns
large, and the temples flourishing. One fortunate circumstance the
traveller will notice in Yungchang--there is a marked diminution in the
number of cases of goitre. And the diminut