io mo lan
chao!"--"Bridge bad, building for a thousand years!"--to which comes the
proverbial answer, "Chien mien wan lao!"--"Must last for ten thousand."
When there is a steep bit, one calls out, "Deo shan deo!"--"Steeper and
steeper!" and the others retort, "Kuan shan kuan!"--literally, "Official
upon official," but the meaning is plain, "As steep as the ladder of
promotion." In the villages one hears constantly, "Yu ti kou
yao!"--"There is a dog on the road,"--with the response, "Han lao-pan
lai chi tao!"--"Call the owner to chain it"; or else, "Tso shou wahwah
keo!"--"A child on the left hand,"--and then comes the answer, "Han ta
ma lah pao!"--"Call his mother to tend him."[2]

Every hundred yards or so on the road comes the cry, "Fan keo!"--"Change
shoulders!"--followed by a momentary stop to shift the pole. And you
always cross a town to the tune of "Pei-a, pei-a, pei-a!"--"Mind your
back, mind your back, mind your back!" And if a man does not mind, he is
likely to get a poke in the back from the chair pole.

The next day's journey was much the same thing as the preceding. We
started in the grey morning, and I and my two companions of the day
before had soon distanced the others. At first the trail was rough and
slippery, and all ups and downs. The vegetation was of almost tropical
density, and the moisture underfoot and overhead was so great that it
seemed to me I had never been wetter except in a bathtub. As we
descended to lower levels the valley broadened out, and the going
improved so that we were able to make very good time. At one point,
after passing through a little hamlet,--we came out on a high bluff
overlooking a good-sized stream flowing in from the south. Fifty feet
below roared the river, spanned at this place by a suspension bridge a
hundred and fifty feet long, constructed of three iron cables held
together by cross-chains at regular intervals. The footway was merely a
single row of boards not more than twelve inches wide, and there was no
handrail at all. The soldier at my side waved his hand significantly up
and down. I understood quite too well, and was shaking in my shoes at
the thought of walking that narrow, unsteady plank, when I espied my
knightly coolie, who, having deposited his load on the opposite bank,
was hurrying back to my assistance. Gripping Jack, who was as frightened
as I, under one arm, I seized the man's hand, and slowly we inched
across to safety. There we joined the people