ly saw
a joke in our words, which yet were so real and serious.

A scribe sat down at the feet of the Regent, and made an inventory of our
trunks, clothes, and kitchen implements. A lighted lamp was brought, and
the Regent took from a small purse which hung from his neck, a golden
seal, which was applied to all our baggage. Nothing was omitted; our old
boots, the very pins of our travelling tent, were all daubed with red
wax, and solemnly marked with the seal of the Tale-Lama.

When this long ceremony was completed, the Regent informed us that we
must now proceed to the tribunal. Some porters were sent for, and found
in very brief time. A Lama of the police had only to present himself in
the street and summon, in the name of the law, all the passers by, men,
women, and children, to come into the house immediately and assist the
government. At Lha-Ssa, the system of enforced labour is in a most
prosperous and flourishing state; the Thibetians coming into it with
entire willingness and good grace.

When enough labourers were collected, all our goods were distributed
among them, and the room was completely cleared, and the procession to
the tribunal set out with great pomp. A Thibetian horse soldier, his
drawn sword in hand, and his fusil at his side, opened the procession;
after him came the troop of porters, marching between two lines of Lama
satellites; the Regent, on his white charger, surrounded by a mounted
guard of honour, followed our baggage; and last, behind the Regent,
marched the two poor French missionaries, who had, by way of suite, a no
very agreeable crowd of gapers. Our mien was not particularly imposing.
Led like malefactors, or, at least, like suspected persons, we could only
lower our eyes, and modestly pass through the numerous crowd that
thronged on our way. Such a position was, indeed, very painful and
humiliating; but the remembrance of our holy Saviour, dragged to the
pretorium, through the streets of Jerusalem, was sufficient to mitigate
the bitterness with which we were afflicted. We prayed to him to
sanctify our humiliations by his own, and to accept them in remembrance
of his Passion.

When we arrived at the tribunal, the Chinese ambassador [Picture:
Carrying goods to the Tribunal] attended by his staff, was already in his
place. The Regent addressed him: "You want to examine the effects of
these strangers; here they are; examine them. These men are neither
rich, nor powerful, as