in the air, I
gesticulated, I whacked two men who came near me. At last they stopped,
expecting me to speak. Only a look of stupidest unintelligibility could
I return, however, and had to roar with laughter at the very foolishness
of my position up on that stone. Soon the multitude calmed down and
laughed, too. I yelled "Ts'eo," and we proceeded, leaving the Shans
again at peace with all the world.

Shans have been found in many other parts, even as far north as the
borders of Tibet. But a Shan, owing to the similarity of his language in
all parts of Asia, differs from the Chinese or the Yuen-nan tribesman in
that he can get on anywhere. It is said that from the sources of the
Irawadi down to the borders of Siamese territory, and from Assam to
Tonkin, a region measuring six hundred miles each way, and including the
whole of the former Nan-chao Empire, the language is practically the
same. Dialects exist as they do in every country in the world, but a
Shan born anywhere within these bounds will find himself able to carry
on a conversation in parts of the country he has never heard of,
hundreds of miles from his own home. And this is more than six hundred
years after the fall of the Nan-chao dynasty, and among Shans who have
had no real political or commercial relation with each other.[BE]

I found them a charming people, peaceful and obliging, treating
strangers with kindness and frank cordiality. For the most part, they
are Buddhists. The dress of the Chinese Shans, which, however, I found
varied in different localities, leads one to believe that they are an
exceptionally clean race, but I can testify that this is not the case.
In many ways they are dirtier than the Chinese--notably in the
preparation of their food. And I feel compelled to say a word here for
the general benefit of future travelers. _Never expect a Shan to work
hard!_ He _can_ work hard, and he will--when he likes, but I do not
believe that even the Malay, that Nature's gentleman of the farther
south, is lazier.

As servants they are failures. A European in this district, whose
Chinese servant had left him, thought he would try a Shan, and invited a
man to come. "Be your servant? Of course I will. I am honored." And the
European thought at last he was in clover. He explained that he should
want his breakfast at 6:00 a.m., and that the servant's duties would be
to cut grass for the horse, go to the market to buy provisions, feed on
the premises, and