d in silence; we felt the natural warmth of our body
diminishing every minute, and our blood beginning to freeze. We offered,
therefore, the sacrifice of our lives to God, for we were convinced that
we should die of cold during the night.

One of us, however, collecting all his strength and all his energy,
climbed up an eminence, which commanded a view of the contiguous defile,
and discovered a footpath, leading by a thousand sinuosities into the
depths of the immense ravine; he pursued its direction, and after a few
steps in the hollow, perceived in the sides of the mountain large
openings, like doors. At this sight recovering at once his courage and
his strength, he ascended once more the eminence in order to communicate
the good news to his companions. "We are saved," he cried; "there are
caves in this defile; let us hasten to take refuge in them." These words
immediately aroused the little caravan; we left our animals upon the
hill, and speedily descended into the ravine. A footpath led to the
opening; we advanced our heads, and discovered in the interior of the
mountain, not simple caves formed by nature, but fine, spacious
apartments excavated by the hand of man. Our first exclamation was an
expression of thankfulness for the goodness of Providence. We selected
the cleanest and largest of these caverns and in an instant passed from
the utmost misery to the height of felicity. It was like a sudden and
unhoped-for transition from death to life.

[Picture: Caves of the Ortous]

On viewing these subterranean dwellings, constructed with so much
elegance and solidity, we were of opinion that some Chinese families had
repaired to this country to cultivate the soil; but that, repelled by its
barrenness, they had given up their enterprise. Traces of cultivation,
which we perceived here and there, confirmed our conjecture. When the
Chinese establish themselves anywhere in Tartary, if they find mountains,
the earth of which is hard and solid, they excavate caverns in their
sides. These habitations are cheaper than houses, and less exposed to
the irregularity of the seasons. They are generally very well laid out;
on each side of the door there are windows, giving sufficient light to
the interior; the walls, the ceiling, the furnaces, the kang, everything
inside is so coated with plaster, so firm and shining, that it has the
appearance of stucco. These caves have the advantage of being very