Page:Through China with a camera.pdf/224

 flickering feebly in a cup of oil above it, and here, in this cheerless dwelling, a boisterous party had gathered themselves together and were engaged in smoking and drinking. Our entrance was but little noticed and less appreciated; they had nothing we wanted, not even a civil word. A drunken old woman staggered up with a teapot containing sam-shu, and offered to sell us the vessel, when she had first carefully exhausted its contents. Meanwhile La-liat, who had been sleeping on a sort of counter, woke up, recognised my friend and agreed to trade. Strange to relate, in grateful remembrance of his former acquaintance with the Doctor, he supplied us with a dozen eggs and a brown jar, and then positively refused to accept payment. He also showed us raw camphor, skins, horns, boars' tusks, ratan and other wares which he had obtained from a party of savages who had come down from their hunting-grounds to Lakoli the day before. In return for these goods he had supplied them with beads, turkey-red cloth, knives and gunpowder.

Our armed guide slept on a mat in the hut beside us, while Ahong, my servant, and I were engaged till about 2 a.m., boiling down my bath in the Chinese pot. It was a tedious job. First Ahong slept as we sat before the fire ; then I slept ; then we both slept, and the fire went low and had to be tended. I complained of my boy's sleeping and immediately dozed off myself, and so on until the whole liquid was evaporated. Once the alcoholic fumes in passing off caught fire; then 1 heard a terrible shriek and started up to find the scared face of a savage old woman glaring close to mine. She must have been placed there to watch us, and she vanished instantly into the darkness whence she had appeared. Ahong, disturbed in his sleep, caught sight of the apparition and declared that it was the —