days, however, we changed the oulah
three several times without experiencing the least delay. The orders had
been so well given beforehand, that on our arrival at each stage, we
found everything ready arranged for our departure on the morrow.

If we had not known that in these countries, desert in appearance, there
were shepherds living in the gorges of the mountains, it would have been
impossible for us to understand this prompt organization of the oulah.
Generally speaking, it was only in large towns that the service of the
caravan experienced delays and difficulties.

On the fourth day of our departure from Ghiamda, after having crossed a
great lake on the ice, we stopped at the station Atdza, a small village,
the inhabitants of which cultivate a few acres of land, in a little
valley encircled by mountains, the tops of which are covered with hollies
and pines. The Chinese Itinerary says, on the subject of the lake you
see before your arrival at Atdza, "The unicorn, a very curious animal, is
found in the vicinity of this lake, which is 40 lis long."

[Picture: The Unicorn]

The unicorn, which has long been regarded as a fabulous creature, really
exists in Thibet. You find it frequently represented in the sculptures
and paintings of the Buddhic temples. Even in China, you often see it in
the landscapes that ornament the inns of the northern provinces. {245}
The inhabitants of Atdza spoke of it, without attaching to it any greater
importance than to the other species of antelopes which abound in their
mountains. We have not been fortunate enough to see the unicorn during
our travels in Upper Asia. But all we were there told about it serves to
confirm the curious details which Klaproth has published on this subject
in the new _Journal Asiatique_. We think it not irrelevant to give here
an interesting note which that learned orientalist has added to his
translation of the "Itinerary of Lou-Hoa-Tchou."

"The unicorn of Thibet is called, in the language of this country, serou;
in Mongol, kere; and in Chinese, tou-kio-cheou: which means the
one-horned animal, or kio-touan, the straight horn. The Mongols
sometimes confound the unicorn with the rhinoceros, called in Mantchou,
bodi-gourgou; and in Sanscrit, khadga; calling the latter also, kere."

The unicorn is mentioned, for the first time, by the Chinese, in one of
their works, which treats of the history of the first two ages of our
e