the
contradictions into which he involved the questioned party, and to put
forward in prominent relief the apparent improbability of his story. How
was it, he asked, that the robbers had stolen the butter, yet left the
bag in which the butter was carried? How was it they had respected the
little snuff-bottle, yet carried off the embroidered purse which served
it as a cover. When he had finished his inquiries, he added, with a
malicious smile: "I have put these few questions to my brother out of
pure curiosity; I attach no importance to them. It is not I who have to
disburse the wherewithal to buy him fresh provisions."

Samdadchiemba, meantime, was dying with hunger, so we gave him some
sapeks, and he went to dinner in a neighbouring eating-house. As soon as
he had quitted the room, Sandara proceeded: "Nobody shall ever persuade
me that my brother has been robbed. The brigands in this part of the
country don't do their work in the way he wants to make out. The fact
is, that Samdadchiemba, when he got among the Tartars, wanted to show
off, and distributed his provisions right and left in order to make
friends. He had no reason to fear being lavish; what he gave away cost
him nothing." The probity of Samdadchiemba was a fact so thoroughly
impressed upon our convictions, that we altogether repudiated this wicked
insinuation, which we clearly saw proceeded at once from Sandara's
jealous annoyance at the confidence we reposed in his cousin, and from a
cunning desire, in giving us the idea that he was warmly attached to our
interest, to divert our attention from his own petty peculations. We
gave Samdadchiemba, who did not at all perceive his relative's treachery,
some more provisions, and he returned to the pastures of Koukou-Noor.

Next day, the town of Tang-Keou-Eul was the scene of terrible disorder.
The brigands had made their appearance in the vicinity, and had driven
off 2000 head of cattle belonging to the tribe called _Houng-Mao-Eul_
(Long Hairs). These Eastern Thibetians quit once a-year the slopes of
the Bayan-Khara mountains in large caravans, and come to Tang-Keou-Eul to
sell furs, butter, and a kind of wild fruit that grows in their district.
While they are engaged in these commercial operations, they leave their
large herds in the vast prairies that abut upon the town, and which are
under the jurisdiction of the Chinese authorities. There was no example,
we heard, of the brigands having ventured to