Page:Ling-Nam; or, Interior views of southern China, including explorations in the hitherto untraversed island of Hainan (IA cu31924023225307).pdf/135

 edlong the North River. 13r

we beheld a company of ospreys soaring majestically, wheeling and screaming above its summit. Along the opposite shore were well-wooded hills, while the banks were adorned with sedges of great height, whose feathery plumes waved gracefully before the wind.

Above this point we come to the town of Pak-to, near which are rocky hills along the river, which give back yemarkable echoes. We reach here the entrance of the Ue-uen stream, which comes down in its turbulent course from a mountainous district. The chief town on its banks is Lung-kwai, and the main products are timber, bamboo, and corn. In the hills along its course are found several tribes of the aboriginal Mius. Chinese accounts give the number as eighty families, most of whom have the surname Poon. Their language is unintelligible to the Chinese, who say it sounds like the chattering of birds. They wear clothes of a peculiar pattern, and dress their hair once a month with oil and wax. At night they sleep with their heads resting on high pillows. The wilder portion of this race maintain their original characteristics, but those who have come under Chinese influence are more civilised, and cultivate the hills and valleys. ‘Their wornen have earrings of a peculiar shape, and wear long gowns that reach down to their feet, and are secured without buttons. The men also bore their ears for rings. Both men and women wear embroidered garments. In marriage they do not regard sumames. In their girdles they carry knives and bows for nse against tigers and wolves, and they eat the flesh of wild animals. They make whisky out of corn, and on the fifteenth of the seventh month (about