bited as we at first supposed. In
walking over some rocky hills close by, we found a herd of goats and
three miserable tents, concealed in a ravine. The poor inmates came out
and begged for a few leaves of tea and a little tsamba. Their eyes were
hollow, and their features pale and haggard. They knew not, they said,
where to take refuge, so as to live in peace. The fear of the brigands
was so powerful over them, that it divested them even of the courage to
flee away.

Next day the caravan continued its route, but the Chinese escort remained
encamped on the bank of the river; its task was completed, and after a
few days rest, it would return home. The Thibetian merchants, so far
from being distressed at the circumstance, said that now the Chinese
soldiers were no longer with them, they should be able to sleep at night,
freed from the fear of thieves.

On the 15th November, we quitted the magnificent plains of the
Koukou-Noor, and entered upon the territory of the Mongols of Tsaidam.
Immediately after crossing the river of that name, we found the aspect of
the country totally changed. Nature becomes all of a sudden savage and
sad; the soil, arid and stony, produces with difficulty a few dry,
saltpetrous bushes. The morose and melancholy tinge of these dismal
regions seems to have had its full influence upon the character of its
inhabitants, who are all evidently a prey to the spleen. They say very
little, and their language is so rude and guttural that other Mongols can
scarcely understand them. Mineral salt and borax abound on this arid and
almost wholly pastureless soil. You dig holes two or three feet deep,
and the salt collects therein, and crystallizes and purifies of itself,
without your having to take any trouble in the matter. The borax is
collected from small reservoirs, which become completely full of it. The
Thibetians carry quantities of it into their own country, where they sell
it to the goldsmiths, who apply it to facilitate the fusion of metals.
We stayed two days in the land of Tsaidam, feasting upon tsamba and some
goats which the shepherds gave in exchange for some bricks of tea. The
long-tailed oxen and the camels regaled themselves with the nitre and
salt which they had every where about for the picking up. The grand
object with the whole caravan was to get up its strength as much as
possible, with a view to the passage of the Bourhan-Bota, a mountain
noted for the pestilential vapours