CHAPTER VIII.

TA-LI FU TO YÜN-NAN FU.

A view from the walls of Ta-li--The Mohammedan rebellion--A dying patriot’s prayer--Tibetan dogs--Amherst pheasants--A visit to the marble quarries--False musk--Min-chia maidens--The Ta-li plain--Playful gusts from the Tsang-shan--Good-bye Ta-li--A folklore hunting ground--The Erh Hai and the Mekong--Trade with Upper Burmah--Canton peddlers--Hsia-kuan, or the “Lower Fortress”--Ruined cities--Wretched roads--Half-starved--The foreigner and the camel--Marked courtesy at Ch’u-hsiung Fu--Yün-nan salt wells--A sackful of mails--A roadside trial--Across the Yün-nan lake--Three days in Yün-nan Fu--Trade with Western China and the introduction of railways. 131