applied our thoughts to the best use we should make of
our time while we remained at Tang-Keou-Eul. It was at last determined
that we should procure a master, and devote ourselves entirely to the
study of the Thibetian language and of the Buddhist books.

At eleven leagues from Tang-Keou-Eul there is, in the land of the Si-Fan,
or Eastern Thibetians, a Lamasery, whose fame extends not merely
throughout Tartary, but even to the remotest parts of Thibet. Thither
pilgrims flock from all quarters, venerating; for there was born
Tsong-Kaba-Remboutchi, the famous reformer of Buddhism. The Lamasery
bears the name of Kounboum, and its Lama population numbers no fewer than
4,000 persons, Si-Fan, Tartars, Thibetians, and Dchiahours. It was
determined that one of us should visit this place, and endeavour to
engage a Lama to come and teach us for a few months the Thibetian
language. M. Gabet, accordingly, departed on this mission, accompanied
by Samdadchiemba, while M. Huc remained at Tang-Keou-Eul, to take care of
the animals and of the baggage.

After an absence of five days, M. Gabet returned to the House of Repose,
eminently successful, having secured at the Lamasery of Kounboum a
perfect treasure in the person of a Lama who had passed ten of the
thirty-two years of his life in a grand Lamasery at Lha-Ssa itself. He
spoke pure Thibetian perfectly, wrote it with facility, and was very
learned in the Buddhist books; moreover, he was quite familiar with
several other idioms, Si-Fan, Mongol, Chinese, and Dchiahour; in a word,
he was a philologist of the first water. This young Lama was a Dchiahour
by birth, and a cousin-german of Samdadchiemba; his name was Sandara, and
in the Lamasery he was called Sandara the Bearded, by reason of the
remarkable length of that appendage in which he luxuriated.

The devotion which Samdadchiemba's cousin forthwith manifested in our
favour made us rejoice that we had not adventured with the Tartar-Khalkha
caravan, for here we were placed in the precise position for procuring
every requisite information about Thibet, and of making ourselves
acquainted at the same time with the language and religion of that
celebrated region.

We applied ourselves to study with perfect enthusiasm. First, we
composed in Mongol two dialogues, comprehending the most familiar
conversational phrases. These Sandara translated into Thibetian with
scrupulous attention. Every morning he wrote out a page in our pre