"The Leang-Tai will
recover as soon as we are gone." When we were left alone, he said, "Ah,
I knew how it would be: every time a caravan passes, Leang-Tai-Sue (the
name of the Mandarin) is at death's door; that is well understood by
everybody. According to the usages of hospitality, he should have
prepared for us to-day a feast of the first class, and it is to avoid
this, that he feigns illness. The Leang-Tai-Sue is the most avaricious
man imaginable; he never dressed better than a palanquin bearer; he eats
tsamba like a barbarian of Thibet. He never smokes, he never plays, he
never drinks wine; in the evening his house is not lighted; he gropes his
way to bed in the dark, and rises very late in the morning, for fear of
being hungry too early. Oh, a creature like that is not a man; 'tis a
mere tortoise-egg! The ambassador Ki-Chan is resolved to dismiss him,
and he will do well. Have you any Leang-Tais of this kind in your
country?" "What a question! The Leang-Tais of the kingdom of France
never go to bed without a candle, and when the oulah passes through their
town, they never fail to get ready a good dinner." "Ah, that is the
thing! those are the rites of hospitality! but this Sue-Mou-Tchou--" at
these words we burst into a hearty fit of laughter. "By-the-by," asked
we, "do you know why the Leang-Tai-Sue is called Sue-Mou-Tchou; the name
seems to us somewhat ignoble?" "Ignoble, indeed; but it has reference to
a very singular anecdote. Leang-Tai-Sue, before he was sent to Lha-Ri,
exercised the functions of Mandarin in a small district of the province
of Kiang-Si. One day, two labourers presented themselves at his
tribunal, and besought him to give judgment in the matter of a sow, which
they both claimed. Judge Sue pronounced thus his decision: 'Having
separated truth from fiction, I see clearly that this sow belongs neither
to you, nor to you; I declare, therefore, that it belongs to me: respect
this judgment.' The officers of the court proceeded to take possession
of the sow, and the judge had it sold in the market. Since that
occurrence, Mandarin Sue has been always called Sue-Mou-Tchou (Sue the
sow)." The recital of this story made us deeply regret that we must
depart without seeing the physiognomy of this interesting individual.

We left the town of Lha-Ri in changeable weather; our first day's march
was only sixty lis, and offered nothing remarkable, except a large lake
which they say is eight lis