e his journey in a palanquin. We
joined our entreaties to theirs, and we were fortunate enough to triumph
over the avarice of the Pacificator of Kingdoms. He appeared at last to
comprehend that a dead man had no need of money, and that first of all he
should see to the saving of his life. The son of the Mandarin Pei seemed
to have died just in the nick of time for placing at Ly-Kouo-Ngan's
disposal, his palanquin and his eight Chinese bearers, all of whom were
at Kiang-Tsa. We halted for one day to repair the palanquin and to give
the bearers time to prepare their travelling sandals.

The countries which we passed to the south of Kiang-Tsa, seemed to us
less cold and less barren than those we had journeyed through previously.
The ground perceptibly declined; we were still, indeed, completely
surrounded by mountains, but they gradually lost their savage and
mournful aspect. We no longer saw those threatening forms, those
gigantic masses of granite with sharp and perpendicular declivities.
High grass and forests showed themselves on every side, cattle became
more numerous, and everything announced that we were rapidly advancing
towards more temperate climes; only the tops of the mountains still
preserved their crowns of snow and ice.

Four days after our departure from Kiang-Tsa, we reached the banks of the
Kin-Cha-Kiang (River of Gold-dust), which we had already crossed on the
ice with the Thibetian ambassador, two months before our arrival at
Lha-Ssa. Amid the beautiful plains of China, this magnificent river
rolls on its blue waves with an imposing majesty; but among the mountains
of Thibet, it is ever bounding about, throwing the great mass of its
waters to the bottom of gorges and valleys, with terrible impetuosity and
noise. At the spot where we came to the river, it was enclosed between
two mountains, the sharp flanks of which, rising perpendicularly on its
banks, made for it a narrow but extremely deep bed; the waters ran
rapidly, sending forth a low and lugubrious sound. From time to time, we
saw huge masses of ice approach, which, after having whirled round in a
thousand eddies, at last were dashed to pieces against the sharp
projections of the mountain.

We followed the right bank of the Kin-Cha-Kiang for half a day. Towards
noon, we reached a small village, where we found everything prepared
beforehand for crossing the river. The caravan divided itself among four
flat boats, and, in a little while,