looked quite like wild men of the wood in this respect. The fear
of being recognised by the Chinese now no longer troubled us.

We told Samdadchiemba that we should cease, in a few days, to travel in
the Land of Grass, and that we should continue our route through the
Chinese empire. "Travel among the Chinese!" said the Dchiahour; "very
well. There are good inns there. They boil good tea there. When it
rains, you can go under shelter. During the night, you are not disturbed
by the blowing of the north wind. But in China, there are ten thousand
roads; which shall we take? Do we know which is the best?" We made him
look at the map, pointing out all the places which we should have to pass
before we reached Koukou-Noor. We even reduced, for his edification,
into lis, all the distances from one town to the other. Samdadchiemba
looked at our small geographical chart with perfect enthusiasm. "Oh,"
said he, "how sincerely I regret that I did not study while I was in the
Lamasery; if I had listened to my master, if I had paid more attention, I
might perhaps now understand the description of the world, that is here
drawn on this piece of paper. With this, one can go everywhere, without
asking the way. Is it not so?" "Yes, everywhere," answered we; "even to
your own family." "How is that? is my country also written down here?"
and as he spoke he bent over the chart, so as entirely to cover it with
his huge frame. "Stand aside and we will show you your country. Look;
do you see this little space beside that green line? That is the country
of the Dchiahours, which the Chinese call the Three Valleys
(San-Tchouen). Your village must be here; we shall pass not more than
two days' journey from your house." "Is it possible?" cried he, striking
his forehead; "shall we pass two days' journey from my house? Do you say
so? How can that be? Not more than two days' journey? In that case,
when we are near it, I will ask my spiritual fathers permission to go and
see once more my country." "What can you have to do now in the Three
Valleys?" "I will go and see what is doing there. It is eighteen years
since my departure from my house. I will go and see if my old mother is
still there; and if she is alive, I will make her enter into the Holy
Church. As for my two brothers, who knows whether they will have enough
sense not to believe any longer in the transmigrations of Buddha. Ah,
yes," added he after a short pause, "I