At once with much readiness he ranged some cash on the table in the form of an abacus, and, setting down some hieroglyphics on a sheet of paper, he worked out a calculation, by which he proved that I owed _him_ 400 cash, and, therefore, the accounts were now exactly balanced.

For my own expenses I gave him 1175 cash in Tengyueh and 400 more in Bhamo, so that my entire personal expenses between two points nine days distant from each other were rather more than _3s._ My entire journey from Shanghai to Bhamo cost less than _L20_ sterling, including my Chinese outfit.

Had I travelled economically, I estimate that the journey need not have cost me more than _L14_.

Had I carried more silver with me, I would still further have reduced the total cost of my tour.

The gold I bought in Yunnan with my surplus silver, I sold in Burma for 20 per cent.