QUEER PEOPLE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 6296, 21 January 1882, Page 7

QUEER PEOPLE.

Is a recent number of the organ of the China Inland Mission,' Mr. TJroumton, one of the Mission agents at Kwei-Yang-Fu, in the province of Qu'ei : Chow, gives ati interesting account of a "visit "he paid, to the Miao-tsi, the natives of, the mountains that run from Y unnan into the west of'-the prbvince. r Ho had made a friend"of one of the people, and to the village of this friend Mr Broumton went, and was welcomed in his house.. He . found two or three-women at the door doing, some very pretty fancy work ; his friend was' away in the fields; so" Mr. Broumton went into the house and Waited Jhis return, soon; making himself at. hoipe with the women.; Presently hia host arrived ; a fowl was soon caught and cooked, and with some bacon ; made a splendid meal. There were" severalrelatives at the. table,. and towards evening! two or three guests, dropped in. Miao-tsi, 1 unlike the Chinese, are great wine-dripkers, and Mr. Broumton vi-as horrified to see the amount of wine, or r.ituer rice-spirit, that these visitors disposed of. A man at the table filled a small cup-and passed it to each visitor in tuvn, and he was expectcd to drain it off. During this wine drinking they saug songs. Two men sing together, and.if either make a mistake he has to drink a cup of wine as a forfeit. The singing is most monotonous, and sounds like very bad chanting. They seem to enjoy it, for they appeared to forget to eat, and kept up their music until past midnight. Next day every one was about his work at daylight, as though he had gone to bed sober and betimes. After a capital breakfast, they all, including Mr. Broumton, started for the hill where a fSte was to be held. It was a beautiful day, the hill scenery was grand, and people dressed in the dark blue oaiico which gives the name to the tribe were filing along the narrow paths towards the hill-top, adding to the picturequeness of the scene. When they reached the plateau on which the gathering was to take place, a few hundred people were there, and more kept.coming all -the afternoon. Oil the hill slopes were groups of women in their picturesque costumes, and men in their simple clothing of black cotton, so much more manly than the flowing skirts of a Chinaman. The men of both tribes, the Black Miao and the Ka-teo Miao, dress alike—short jackecs with tight sleeves and loose trousers, all of black calico. The -women of the Ka-teo tribe dres9 their hair in a high roll, and wear a printed cloth on their heads, which is kept in its place by bands of red and white. The skirts they wear are closely plaited like a Scotch kilt, and must take many yards of material; they reach down to the knees, and look heavy and stiff. The legs are bound round with cloth worked, in patterns of red and white ; some of them use such a quantity of this bandaging that their legs are quite disproportionate. They wear a jacket with tight sleeves, and a band of very prettily printed white round the arms. They have a curious article of dress, a sort of apron with shoulder-pieces, which reaches a little below the waist. It has an exact counterpart behind, and some had two or three on, one over the other. Many of the Ka-teo women had enormous silver earrings hanging down nearly to, the shoulders. Some wore bracelets, and nearly all had three or four large silver rings round their necks. The dress of the women of the Black Miao commends itself more to the English mind. The skirts are closely pleated, and reach down to the ankles, with a border of • fancy work near the hem. They wear a black cotton cloth bound round the head. Jackets are short, with a band of beautiful silk embroidery round the wrist and up the seam at the back of the sleeves. All their clothing is black, and in many cases woven and dyed by themselves; in other cases they buy it from the Chinese. They had a curious earring, a disc of silver introduced into a large hole in the lobe of the ear. Mr. Broumton's host s daughter had pieces of silver in the lobes of her ears as large as halfpence. They pierce a hole in the ear, and enlarge it to the requisite size by wearing stalks of grass in it, and gradually adding to the number. Like the Ka-teo women, they had solid rings for necklaces and bracelets. They use straw sandals, though some had shoes; their natural gait is a contrast to the hobbling of the Chinese women with their cramped feet. The great feature of the gathering was the music and dancing, if either may be so . termed. Their musical instruments are not easy to describe. They are exiled Ki by the Miao-tsi, and "Luh-shend" (six sounds) by the Chinese. They consist of long bamboo pipes inserted in a large wooden mouthpiece. There are usually six of these pipes, but sometimes only two. Some of these pipes are very large ; the pipes of one of them were quite 18ft. long. The '|Ki" produce a strange booming sound, which can be heard at a great distance. They are reed instruments, with tongues neatly made of brass. Seven or nine performers form one set, and play together, standing in a line. ItrequireE great efiort to blow these huge instruments ; but they seem to enjoy it. The players appear to keep good time, and while they were playing they slowly moved round the field, all the time keeping their faces towards thecentre. Outsidethesepreformerstheyoung women danced, moving round the fishl th© same way. It was by 110 means lively dancing—indeed, it seemed rather solemn. This ceremony is of a character, and they have a tradition that if ifc is no' performed they will have a bad year.