t many readers; but we did not feel
justified in either omitting or abridging it, because it has been an
object with us to neglect no document that might be of assistance to
those who, after us, may venture upon nomadic life for awhile.

The inhabitants of the valley of Tchogortan, though in the apparent
enjoyment of profound peace, are, nevertheless, an incessant prey to the
fear of the brigands, who, they informed us, make periodical incursions
from the mountains, and carry off all the cattle they can find. It was
stated that in 1842, these had come in a large body, and devastated the
whole of the surrounding country. At a moment when they were least
expected, they issued from all the outlets of the mountain, and spread
over the valley, sending forth fearful cries, and discharging their
matchlocks. The shepherds, terror-struck by this unforeseen attack, had
not even thought of the slightest resistance, but had fled in disorder,
carrying with them only that which they happened to lay their hands upon
at the moment. The brigands, profiting by this panic fear, burned the
tents, and collected, in one large enclosure, formed with ropes, all the
cattle and sheep they found in and about the place. They then proceeded
to the little Lamasery of Tchogortan. But the Lamas had already
disappeared, with the exception of the hermits, who remained perched on
their nests on the rocks. The brigands carried off or demolished
everything they came to: they burned the idols of Buddha, and broke down
the dams that had been constructed for the purpose of turning the
praying-mills. Three years after the event, we still saw the marked
traces of their ferocious devastations. The Buddhist temple, which had
stood at the foot of the mountain, had not been rebuilt. Its ruins,
blackened with their conflagrations, and some calcined portions of the
idols lay strewed upon the grass. The Lama hermits were spared, indeed;
but this, no doubt, was simply because the brigands saw it would be too
protracted and too arduous a labour to achieve the tormenting them in
their lofty and almost inaccessible abodes. The excesses which they
perpetrated against the black tents and against the temple of Buddha
itself, showed that, if they left the poor recluses unscathed, it was by
no means from respect or compassion.

So soon as the news of the arrival of the brigands reached Kounboum, the
whole Lamasery was afoot, and in commotion. The Lamas rushed to a