ck, while his
fellow-missionary, Gabet, rode a camel and their one Tartar retainer
rode a black mule. It took them a year and a half to reach the sacred
city of Lhasa, for many and great were the difficulties of the way.
Their first difficulty lay in crossing the Yellow River, which was
in flood.

"It is quite impossible to cross the Yellow River," they were told.
"Eight days ago the river overflowed its banks and the plains are
completely flooded."

"The Tartars only told us the truth," remarked Huc sadly. "The Yellow
River had become a vast sea, the limits of which were scarcely visible:
houses and villages looked as though they were floating upon the waves.
What were we to do? To turn back was out of the question. We had vowed
that, God willing, we would go to Lhasa whatever obstacles impeded."

And so they did. The camels were soon up to their knees in a thick
slimy compost of mud and water, over which the poor animals slid on
their painful way. Their courage was rewarded, native ferry-boats came
to their rescue, and they reached the other side in safety. They were
now on the main caravan route to the Tibetan frontier and the Koko-Nor.
Immense caravans were met, with strings of camels extending for miles
in length. Three times between the Yellow River and the Koko-Nor Lake
did they pass the Great Wall built in 214 A.D. After over four months
of travel Huc arrived at the monastery of Kunkum on the borderland
of Tibet. This was the home of four thousand Lamas all clothed in red
dresses and yellow mitres, and thither resorted the worshippers of
Buddha from all parts of Tartary and Tibet.

"The site is one of enchanting beauty," says Huc. "Imagine in a
mountain-side a deep, broad ravine adorned with fine trees and alive
with the cawing of rooks and yellow-beaked crows and the amusing
chatter of magpies. On the two sides of the ravine and on the slopes
of the mountain rise the white dwellings of the Lamas. Amid the dazzling
whiteness of these modest habitations rise numerous Buddhist temples
with gilt roofs, sparkling with a thousand brilliant colours. Here
the travellers stayed for three months, after which they made their
way on to the Koko-Nor Lake.

"As we advanced," says Huc, "the country became more fertile, until
we reached the vast and magnificent pasturage of Koko-Nor. Here
vegetation is so vigorous that the grass rose up to the stomachs of
our camels. Soon we discovered far before us what seemed a broad s