ed to Kounboum, fully
persuaded that they had opposed to the brigands an impassable barrier.

The Pyramid of Peace did not appear, however, to have infused equal
confidence into the hearts of the herdsmen; for, one fine morning, they
all decamped together, bag and baggage, and went with their herds and
flocks to seek a less dangerous position elsewhere. They invited us to
follow their example, but we preferred to remain where we were, for in
the desert there is scarcely one place more secure than another. The
flight of the shepherds, besides, seemed to us a guarantee that our
tranquillity would not be disturbed, for we considered that the brigands,
when they learned that no flocks remained in the valley of Tchogortan,
would feel no interest in paying us a visit. We therefore, in our turn,
raised up in our hearts a Pyramid of Peace, in the form of a firm
reliance on the divine protection; and, thus fortified, we abode calmly
and fearlessly in our adopted home.

For some days we enjoyed the most profound solitude. Since the
disappearance of the herds and flocks, the argoleers, having nothing to
do, had kept away. We were alone with a Lama, left in charge of the
Lamasery. Our animals profited by the change, for now all the pasturages
of the valley were theirs; they could browse wherever they liked over the
valley, fearless of meeting a single competitor.

The desert, however, became after a time, once more alive, and towards
the commencement of September, the Lamas of the Faculty of Medicine
repaired to Tchogortan, for the purpose of botanizing. The disposable
houses received all they could contain, and the rest dwelt in tents,
sheltered by the great trees of the Lamasery. Every morning, after they
have recited their prayers in common, drunk their buttered tea, and eaten
their barley-meal, all the students in medicine tuck up their garments,
and go forth on the mountains, under the guidance of one of their
professors. They are each provided with a long iron-pointed stick, and a
small pick-axe; a leathern bag, filled with meal, is suspended from the
girdle, and some carry at their backs great tea-kettles, for the Faculty
spend the entire day on the mountain. Before sunset, the Lama physicians
return laden with perfect faggots of branches, and piles of plants and
grasses. As you see them weariedly descending the mountains, supported
by their long staves and bearing these burdens, they look more like
poaching woo