o the house. The Pehmo then twists the grass into a length of
rope, which he hangs over the doorway of the house. Out of a piece of
willow a small arrow is made, and a bow similar in size is cut out of a
peach tree. These are placed on the doorposts. On a piece of soft white
wood a figure of a man is roughly carved, and this, with two sticks of
any soft wood placed cross-wise, is fastened to the rope hanging over
the doorway, on each side of which two small sticks are placed. The
Pehmo then proceeds with his incantation, muttering: 'From now,
henceforth and for ever will the evil spirits keep away from this
house.'

"Most Nou-su at the present time observe the New Year festival on the
same date and with the same customs as the Chinese. Formerly this was
not so, and even now in the remoter districts New Year's day is observed
on the first day of the tenth month of the Chinese year. A pig and sheep
are killed and cleaned, and hung in the house for three days. They are
then taken down, cut up and cooked. The family sit on buckwheat straw in
the middle of the chief room of the house. The head of the house invites
the others to drink wine, and the feasting begins. Presently one will
start singing, and all join in this song: 'How firm is this house of
mine. Throughout the year its hearth fire has not ceased to burn, My
food corn is abundant, I have silver and also cash, My cattle have
increased to herds, My horses and mules have all white foreheads K'o K'o
Ha Ha Ha Ha K'o K'o, My sons are filial, My wife is virtuous, In the
midst of flesh and wine we sleep, Our happiness reaches unto heaven,
Truly glorious is this glad New Year.' A scene of wild indulgence then
frequently follows.

"The Nou-su possess a written language. Their books were originally made
of sheepskin, but paper is now used. The art of printing was unknown,
and many books are said to have been lost. The books are illustrated,
but the drawings are extremely crude."[T]

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote R: _Yuen-nan, The Link between India, and the Yangtze_, by
Major H.R. Davies, Cambridge University Press.]

[Footnote S: Literally "Eyes of the Earth"--the landlords.]

[Footnote T: A good deal of information in this chapter was obtained
from an article by the Rev. C E Hicks, published in the _Chinese
Recorder_ for March, 1910. The portion quoted is taken bodily from this
excellent article.]

FIFTH JOURNEY.

CHAO-T'ONG-FU TO TONG-CH'UAN-FU.

CHAPTER XI