What the religious aspect is, it is difficult to say, for deep potations would seem to be the order of the day. The Miao-tzŭ, like the Lolos, are great drinkers, the wine being a native spirit. Art is not wanting among them; the women are exceedingly skilful at embroidery, and the beautiful silver ornaments—rings, clasps, bracelets, ear-rings, brooches, and necklaces—which they wear on fête days, are highly finished. Some of the sterner sex also affect one large silver ear-ring in, if my memory is not at fault, the left ear.

The dress of the Phö male consists of black loose trousers surmounted by a short jacket with tight sleeves. The garments of the female are far more striking. They consist, to begin at the top, of a black turban, short jacket and kilt reaching almost to the feet, the wrists and backs of the sleeves and the hem of the kilt being ornamented with embroidery, usually with silk. At the gathering in question, music and dancing are much indulged in.

The musical instruments are manufactured from bamboos of different sizes, some of them from twelve to fifteen feet long, fitted with a mouth-piece, their lower ends being inserted in a large hollow cylinder (the hollowed out trunk of a tree), while the upper end of the longest reed is usually surmounted by a cone made of the sheath which grows at the joints of large bamboos. This instrument is called the ki, and from it a loud booming noise is, owing to the presence of the cylinder, extracted. The musicians move round in a circle as they play, followed on the outskirts by the young women, who dance in a slow, solemn manner. Of course the ladies, like their Lolo and Shan sisters, do not bind their feet. They lead altogether a freer life than the Chinese, both sexes sitting down to meals at the same table, and entering fully into the conversation even in the presence of a foreigner.

MUSIC AND DANCING.

The language of the Phö, while following to a great extent the Chinese idiom, exhibits at the same time considerable divergence. A “cart-before-the-horse” principle is very marked throughout. An example or two will suffice to explain my meaning. The Chinese for “beef” and “mutton” is “niu jou” and “yang jou”—that is, “ox-meat” and “sheep-meat.” The Phö, on the other hand, say “ngi lia” and “ngi li,” which, literally translated, mean “meat-ox” and “meat-sheep.” Again, for “good man” the Chinese say “hao jên,” where “good man” is the subject of the sentence; the Phö say “nai ghou”—“man good,” and “very good man” is “nai ghou kuai,” that is, the adjective follows the noun and the adverb the adjective. There are eight tones readily distinguishable, but they are not so marked as in Chinese, where a false tone may lead to endless confusion. I have read over sentence after sentence to my teacher, carefully avoiding to distinguish tones, and, as a rule, he has interpreted in Chinese the exact meaning intended to be conveyed. With these brief remarks I leave the language to the student of philology. Appended are a few exercises and a short vocabulary in English and Phö. Those conversant with Chinese will at once detect the large admixture of Chinese words, which are for the most part only slightly modified; but the two most striking peculiarities of the language are the aspirated l and the v sound.

EXERCISES
IN
THE PHÖ LANGUAGE.

Exercise I.—SINGLE WORDS.

1.One.Yi.
2.Two.Au.
3.Three.Pieh.
4.Four.‘Hlao.
5.Five.Chia.
6.Six.Tiu.
7.Seven.Hsiung.
8.Eight.Ya.
9.Nine.Chu.
10.Ten.Chiu.
11.Some.Nao hsiu.
12.A thousand.Yi say.
13.Several.Hao nao.
14.A hundred.Yi pa.
15.Ten thousand.Yi ver.
16.Not.A.
17.To come.Ta.
18.Many.Nao.
19.Few.Hsiu.
20.To be; have.Mai.
21.Good.Ghou.
22.Some; few.Pa.
23.Numerative.Lai.
24.To return.Loh.
25.Odd; more.Ka.
26.Man; men.Nai.
27.Long.Ta.
28.Inch.Sai.
29.Share; part.Fai.
30.Single.Chĭāng.
31.Catty.Chiang.
32.Flesh; meat.Ngi.
33.Cow.Lia.
34.Sheep.Li.
35.Fish.Nieh.
36.Bushel.Toh.
37.Wheat.Ka mieh.
38.Rice.Sai; Kah.
39.Buckwheat.Chiu.
40.Door.Tiu.
41.Tooth; teeth.Mpi.
42.Li—a measure.Li.
43.Mountain.Pieh.
44.High.‘Hi.