The clan to which the hill tribes belong is generally denoted by the pattern of the petticoat of the women. It may therefore be as well, for the information of future travellers, to describe that of the La-hu. The upper portion of the petticoat is worked with horizontal red stripes, having interwoven lines of gold-thread; then comes an inch of plain red, followed by an inch and a half of blue, one inch of red, four inches of black, two and a half inches of blue, and a turning of a quarter of an inch of red at the bottom. Both men and women carried tobacco-pipes made of the root and part of the stem of a bamboo. One of the men had some Shan writing and numbers tattooed in vermilion on his arm as a charm. None of the others were tattooed. [Illustration: _A La-hu youth._ ] The La-hu had very active figures, well set up, and, like all mountaineers, great freedom in their gait. There was not the slightest sign of timidity or shyness about them; the women were even more at ease than the men, did most of the talking, and were evidently the cocks of the walk. All came up into the _sala_ as soon as they were invited, and at once squatted round us, like children round a Christmas-tree, bent on seeing and handling everything, and joyously receiving anything that might be presented. It was amusing to watch the signs of curiosity and eagerness in their eyes, as I showed them the bead necklaces and other trifles that they would receive after giving me their vocabulary and the information I required.