n a
conjecture.

By-and-by be recalled to mind that our aim, as last resolved, had been
the Lamasery of Rache-Tchurin; he turned round, and perceiving the
Lamasery in the distance, hurried thither as fast as he could go. When
he reached the structure, which stood in the form of an amphitheatre upon
the slope of a hill, he looked every where for us, and asked everybody
about us, for here, at least, there was no lack of persons from whom to
seek information, and our little caravan was composed in a manner likely
to attract the attention of those who saw it at all: two laden camels, a
white horse, and, above all, a black mule, that everyone we passed
stopped to remark, on account of its extreme diminutiveness, and the
splendid tint of its skin. M. Gabet inquired and inquired, but to no
purpose; no one had seen our caravan. He ascended to the summit of the
hill, whence the eye extended over a large expanse, but he could see
nothing at all like us.

The sun set, yet the caravan did not appear. M. Gabet beginning to fear
that some serious accident had befallen it, once more set off, and
searched in every direction, up hill and down dale, but he could see
nothing of us, and learn nothing of us, from the travellers whom he met.

The night advanced, and soon the Lamasery of Rache-Tchurin disappeared in
the darkness. M. Gabet found himself alone in the desert, without path
and without shelter, fearing alike to advance or to recede, lest he
should fall into some abyss. He was fain, therefore, to stop where he
was, in a narrow, sandy defile, and to pass the night there. By way of
supper, he had to content himself with an _Impression de Voyage_. Not
that provisions were wanting, by any means, but fire was, and water.
Besides, the feeling of hunger was superseded by the anxieties which
afflicted his heart as to the caravan. He knelt on the sand, said his
evening prayer, and then lay down his head upon one of the flour-sacks
beside the camel, keeping its bridle round his arm lest the animal should
stray during the night. It is needless to add that his sleep was neither
sound nor continuous; the cold, bare ground is not a very eligible bed,
especially for a man preyed upon by dark anxieties.

With the earliest dawn, M. Gabet mounted his camel, and though well nigh
exhausted with hunger and fatigue, proceeded anew in search of his
companions.

The caravan was not lost, though it was terribly astray. After M. Gabet
had q