Priests were as plentiful as blackberries; if they had been dressed in black instead of yellow, the traveller might have imagined that he was in Edinburgh at Assembly time.
In the morning another escort of half a dozen men was ready to accompany me for the day's stage to Manyuen.

They were in the uniform of the Santa Sawbwa, in blue jackets instead of green.

They were armed with rusty muzzle-loaders, unloaded, and with long Burmese swords (_dahs_).

They were the most amiable of warriors, both in feature and manner, and were unlike the turbaned braves of China, who, armed no better than these men, still regard, as did their forefathers, fierceness of aspect as an important factor in warfare (_rostro feroz ao enemigo!_)--an illusion also shared in the English army, where monstrous bearskin shakos were introduced to increase the apparent height of the soldiers.

The officer in command was late in overtaking me.