y orders very meekly, and the bystanders (there are always
bystanders in China) grinned approvingly.

The first two marches out from Hui-li led over the range into the Anning
valley, a high, rocky trail without much vegetation for the most part,
but after we struck the river, cultivation was almost continuous, one
hamlet following fast on another. This part of the valley is available
for irrigation, and the skill and ingenuity shown in making use of the
water supply is nothing short of marvellous. At one point we ascended a
long, wide, gentle slope all laid out in tiny fields, and well watered
from two large, fast-flowing streams. But where did they come from, for
the slope ended abruptly in a sharp, high precipice overlooking a gorge
through which flowed the Chin Ch'uan, a tributary of the Anning. But on
turning a corner at the head of the slope we saw that from high up on
the mountain-side an artificial channel had been constructed with
infinite labour, bringing water from the upper course of the stream to
the thirsty fields below.

Late on this same day the trail crossed a bare, rocky hillside, at one
point passing between masses of stone ruins; something like a tower to
the right, and on the left a sort of walled enclosure. I had lingered
behind to gather a nosegay of the small blue flowers that marked the
day's march. As I approached I saw some twenty or thirty men clad in
long white or black cloaks hanging about the ruins, and my big chair
coolie, who had constituted himself my special protector, coming to meet
me, hurried me by without stopping. When I joined the interpreter, who
was waiting for me at a discreet distance, I learned that the men were
Lolos, "half-tame wild men," employed by merchants and others to guard
this rather dangerous place where the trail approached somewhat closely
the territory of the independent Lolos. In spite of protests I went
back, accompanied by the big coolie and a soldier, to take some
pictures. A few of the men ran away, but most made no objection and
good-humouredly grouped themselves at my direction while I photographed
them as best I could in the waning light. Their independent bearing and
bold, free look interested me, and I should have been glad to talk with
them, but the interpreter was disinclined to come near, and it was
doubtful, too, if they could have spoken Chinese well enough to have
been understood.

The 25th of April was our last day into Ning-yuean-fu, and I wa