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16
confined to the lower slopes. Half-way up the hills where our road lay opium was the most important crop, followed by a summer sowing of maize, but we also saw some patches of wheat and beans.
The Lisu are stay-at-home people, which is not surprising in view of the difficulty of getting about. Few of them can give any information about country more than three days' march from their own village, and fewer still have ever seen a town of 1,000 inhabitants or a square mile of flat country. These hills are so cut off from all relief by the outer world, and the villagers are so poor, that the problem of how to get enough to eat is the burning question of the day. There are no free-tooders here. In none of the villages beyond Lu Chang could we buy a pound of rice or other cereals, though fowls and an occasional goat were forthcoming. Even paterfamilias practises high protection. He tries to get enough grain to feed himself and his family till the next harvest, and will not let a spoonful go out of the house.
The Chinese lower down the Salween regard all the country above Mao Chao as "black" or wild Lisu territory, utterly beyond the pale of civilization. There are no Chinese residents on the Salween north of Cheng Ka. No doubt the Lisu often raid in various directions, hunger being the chief incentive, though sometimes the object is to make slaves, or, in the case of forays towards the north, to cut off the Chinese gold- workers. The slave traffic seems fairly brisk. At Pai Pa the price of a male or female child of 8 to 10 years was about 20 rupees, but some of our porters told us that if we could come on to their village some distance further north we should find a larger selection and at easier rates. The slavery is of the domestic type, but the slave has also to work in the fields.
At Pai Pa, while I was sitting in my tent, I was surprised by a very dirty old man with remarkably brilliant black eyes, who threw himself down on the ground at the door of my tent and began a chant in a high, loud voice. I thought that he was a beggar, and asked the by-standers what his song was all about. They said in a rather awe-struck manner that they did not understand it. On inquiry I then discovered that I was in the presence of the local soothsayer, or medicine man.
Realizing that he might be a person of some importance, I at once gave him a necklace of red beads and a rupee, whereupon he declared, in language which could be understood of the people, that my goings and comings in the Lisu country would be most prosperous--an announcement which had an impressive effect on the by- standers.
These "tien ssu," or prophets, as the Chinese call them, are to be found in many Lisu villages. They deal in charms, medicines, funeral rites, omens, incantations, and in the knowledge of all things which, for the ordinary mortal, are hidden in the womb of time. No doubt among the ignorant villagers they have considerable influence, and could, if they wished, raise disturbances. The language of their trade is probably an archaic form of Lisu, and the various chants and invocations which they use have been handed down for generations and from times of old.
I cannot confirm the reports of the savage and barbarous babits of these Lisu. I was entirely in their hands for two weeks, and I found that their good-will was very easy to win.
Porters were always forthcoming so long as there was a ration of rice to give them, and I never had the least trouble. They are a hardy race, and though their manners are rough, they did not appear to be given to quarrelling among themselves like the Kachins, and the European traveller can march with them without feeling that uncontrollable desire to assault them which he nearly always feels in the case of Chinese coolies. Given the absence of Chinese soldiers and officials, and a carefully arranged supply of food, the complete exploration of the Lisu country on the Upper Salween would, for a good walker, be no difficult task, provided that he went in the autumn, when the weather is fine, when there is the minimun of snow on the passes, and local supplies of cereal food for a small party could be purchased.
From the village of Pai Pa there is a pass via the village of Chi Me Le westwards over the great Salween divide to Langsu or the Maru country along the N Maikha, while Kang Fang on the Upper Ngaw Chang River can also be reached by this pass in four days from Pai Pa. There is said to be another route over this range some three days north of Pai Pa, but the communication between the Salween and the N'Maikha is difficult and unfrequent, as the Marus and Lisu have very little to do with each other. We had hoped to explore the Chi Me Le Pass, but the deep snows and continuous rain rendered the track quite impassable.
17
Chinese Expedition to the Maru Country.
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The Chinese Headman of Ku T'an, a village near Teng Keng, came into camp at Lu Chang and told me all about an attempt which had been made in the 16th year of Kwang Hsü (1890) to establish Chinese influence on the Upper N'Maikha. He had taken charge of the expedition, which consisted of fifty persons, nearly all Chinese. The venture was financed by the Teng Keng, Ta Tang, and Ming Kwang Headmen to the extent of 3,000 taels. It had two objects-firstly, to check the advance of British control from Myitkyina; and, secondly, to work the brine wells on the N'Maikha at about latitude 26° 30′.
The venture proved a failure owing to the extreme difficulty of the country, the absence of proper arrangements to bring up supplies, and the deadly climate. The Headman told me that he could speak some Maru, and had remained on the Upper N'Maikha for about seven months. The Maru villages he described as being constantly at feud with one another, and endeavouring to enlist his assistance in their quarrels.
The brine wells proved to be rich, but the expense and difficulty of transport to China rendered it impossible to make any profit, and the attempt to establish a Chinese colony had to be abandoned. This Ku Tan Headman was a particularly intelligent man, and told me that the Chinese, with their methods, would never be able to open up the country, and that they have no funds to make what was absolutely essential, namely, passable track. He asked me to mention that he would like to serve under any British officer who might be conducting an expedition into the Maru country. His route had been via Kang Fang, then across the Ngaw Chang, and up into the mountains beyond.
To describe the government of the Lisu on the Upper Salween would be like describing the snakes of leeland. North of latitude 26° there is practically none, except in so far as the "prophets" and old men of each village look after the affairs of that village. The jurisdiction of the Teng Keng Fu Yi (residing on the right bank of the Salween, latitude 26°), extends along the right bank only as far as the Ku Tan. Many of Teng Keng's villages are Chinese, or half-caste Lisu. The Teng Keng Fu Yi is a boy of about 16. Proceeding north, the next Fu Yi is at Lu Chang, to the north of the Ku Tan Stream, and situated at 6,000 feet high above the right bank of the Salween. This Fu Yi is an intelligent child of 9; he is of Lisu extraction, and the clan name is Cha. His affairs are managed by his mother and their villagers. Practically all Lisu seem to be in a prosperous and happy condition. The Lu Chang territory is about 10 miles from south to north. Next comes the Mao Chao Fu Yi. His village, like Lu Chang, is perched on a terrace 3,000 feet above the right bank of the river, and backed by the snowy Irrawaddy divide. This Fu Yi is about 35 years of age; his territory is some 14 miles from north to south, and entirely inhabited by Lisu. His rule is wholly confined to attempts, sometimes successful, sometimes otherwise, to levy money or goods from his villages. Pai Pa is the last Mao Chao village proceeding north.
Beyond Pai Pa for three days the country nominally belongs to the Lao Wo Fu Yi, who resides in the hills between the Salween and the Mekong at about latitude 26°. The village of Cheng-ka, ou the right bank of the Salween, below Pai Pa, and its ferry belongs to him, and his agent resides at Cheng-ka. Lao Wo's efforts at government appear to be less successful than those of Mao Chao, but they go further, for he does not confine himself to trying to levy money; he also endeavours from time to time to raid his subjects and carry off the fairest of their damsels.
Again, north of the territory claimed by Lao Wo, the Fu Yi of Chou, known as "Lo Tu Kuan," ie., the native official Lo, who has his residence on the Mekong, is supposed to be the overlord of the Lisu on both banks of the Salween; but his control, even on the left bank, and in the hills between the Salween and the Mekong, is of so shadowy a description that it may be said not to exist at all.
None of these Fu Yi appear to claim, and most certainly none of them control, any territory to the west of the great divide in the Irrawaddy basin.
North of about latitude 27° 40′ the La Tzu tribe along the banks of the Salween are supposed to be tributary to the Moso, Thibetan Chief of Yetche, on the left bank of the Mekong. North, again, of the Lu Tzu country, i.e., from about latitude 28° 20′, the Salween Valley is, it is believed, wholly inhabited by Thibetans of the Tsarong Province.
[2167 x-1]
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