e merit of the three methods; we will leave the point
to the decision of the respectable fraternity of tailors.

On the 17th of the moon, we proceeded very early in the morning to the
Chinese station of _Chaborte_, for the purpose of laying in a store of
meal. _Chaborte_, as its Mongol name intimates, is built upon a slough.
The houses are all made of mud, and surrounded each by an enclosure of
high walls. The streets are irregular, tortuous, and narrow; the aspect
of the whole town is sombre and sinister, and the Chinese who inhabit it
have, if possible, a more knavish look than their countrymen anywhere
else. The trade of the town comprehends all the articles in ordinary use
with the Mongols--oatmeal and millet, cotton manufactures, and brick tea,
which the Tartars receive in exchange for the products of the desert,
salt, mushrooms, and furs. Upon our return, we hastened to prepare for
our departure. While we were packing up our baggage in the tent,
Samdadchiemba went in search of the animals which had been put to pasture
in the vicinity. A moment afterwards he returned with the three camels.
"There are the camels," said we, with gloomy anticipation, "but where are
the horse and the mule; they were both at hand just now, for we tied
their legs to prevent their straying." "They are stolen, in all
probability. It never does to encamp too near the Chinese, whom every
body knows to be arrant horse stealers." These words came upon us like a
clap of thunder. However, it was not a moment for sterile lamentation;
it was necessary to go in search of the thieves. We each mounted a
camel, and made a circuit in search of the animals, leaving our tent
under the charge of Arsalan. Our search being futile, we resolved to
proceed to the Mongol encampment, and inform them that the animals had
been lost near their habitation.

By a law among the Tartars, when animals are lost from a caravan, the
persons occupying the nearest encampment are bound either to find them or
to replace them. It seems, no doubt, very strange to European views,
that because, without their consent or even knowledge, without being in
the smallest degree known to them, you have chosen to pitch your tent
near those of a Mongol party, you and your animals, and your baggage, are
to be under their responsibility; but so it is. If a thing disappears,
the law supposes that your next neighbour is the thief; or at all events
an accomplice. This it is which