by the wild buffalo whose fame had reached my ears the
previous day, and he had promptly dashed off in abject
flight through the jungle. The path he had taken was
strewn for some little way with the débris of his harness,
and presently I came upon the driver, who had, by some
miracle, fallen off without breaking his neck.
From that day to this I have never seen or heard
anything of the fugitive. Several of my cases, containing
wine and soda-water, were broken in pieces.
Let me hope that the flowers that bloom there now
betoken some memory of this libation.
My great fear was for my negatives of the Yunzalin,
and others which now illustrate this narrative. These
I had packed daily with my own hand, and they were
happily preserved. But for the space of three weeks I
lived in suspense, for I could not develop them sooner.
I had now had enough of elephants. The only
beast that remained could not carry all my baggage,
and I was in no mind to risk a further misadventure.
I therefore despatched my two constables to the village
to impress a number of porters, and .with the aid óf
these people I continued my journey. The road climbed
a steep hill, that was densely wooded and very cool and
moist. Scarcely any direct sunlight penetrated its
gloom. I reached the crest of the, pass an hour before
noon, and thereafter my way lay alepg bamboo-covered
slopes, and over valley-levels watered by numerous
streams, which I crossed and recrossed with tiresome
frequency.
At half-past two o’clock in the afternoon, I came
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to a halt, at the zayat of Yeboo village. My servants
did not arrive till five o’clock. They all looked
thoroughly beaten, and two of them went down with
fever. They had been afoot since four o’clock in the
moraine, and on the march for o ’ nearlJy twelve hours
Below the zayat there was a pretty stream, and across
this, to fill up the interval between my arrival and
theirs, I had myself carried, to shoot jungle-fowl in
some. kwins on the farther side. Beyond them rose
a range of blue hills shutting in the valley.
On my return, 1 found that a caravan, of some mixed
breed of Karen, had come in. Both animals and pack-
saddles were precisely similar to those of the Shan.
But the bells were of bamboo, and I missed the fuller
music of the Shan bells.
The pack-saddle used throughout these regions is
a very simple contrivance, of two pillows tightly packed,
and placed on the animal’s back at an angle of fifty
degrees. Upon these the wooden frame holding a
pannier at each end is deposited. A tailpiece, consisting
of a rope strung out from a curved bamboo,
helps in a measure to balance the panniers. No girths
are employed, and balance, if I am to judge from the
manner in which the panniers oscillate, alone retains
them in position. The panniers are tilted slightly
forward, and lie well over the animal’s withers. The
cattle, mainly of the ruddy colour that is common in
Burma, are well trained, and stand motionless while
the business of floading is in progress, but move off
immediately the signal to start is given.
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