and found accommodation for him at
his house. At first he tried the orthodox plan of getting a Mongol
teacher to visit and instruct him. Before he secured one he used to
visit such Mongols as he found in the neighbourhood, trying to acquire a
vocabulary from them, asking the names of the articles they were using,
their actions, and all such other matters as he could make them
understand. But his loneliness, his ignorance of the language, the
inaction to which he was condemned, partly by his difficulty in getting
a suitable teacher, and partly by the uncertainty as to whether the
authorities would allow him to remain, told upon his eager spirit as
week after week passed by, and he became subject to fits of severe
depression. Here is a picture of one of these early days. He had been
trying to talk with a Buriat carpenter, in a place called Kudara, not
far from Kiachta:--

'After getting my quota of words I walked through the town. The
main object in it is the church, a large whitewashed structure
built by Mr. Grant's father-in-law when he was a rich man. He was
made poor, comparatively speaking, in one night by a great fire
which burnt up all before it. In addition to the church are some
streets of Cossack houses, desolate enough looking, the streets
desolate enough at best, but rendered much more so this morning by
the snow melting in the sun, which is still high, and manages to
thaw away all the snow that falls in places where it shines, though
it was frost all day in the shade. Passing the town I made for the
river, which rolled on quiet and cold. Passed through large
orchards of apple(?) trees; doubled about, went to the extreme
west, got on a hill, and came round home again in time for dinner
at 4 P.M. I felt very lonely, and not having a teacher I am thrown
idle, as it were, a great part of the day after I get my words. It
is true I am taking notice of all I see, but it always occurs to me
that this is not furthering the Mongolian Mission in any direct
way. I often think of what Dr. Alexander said in his charge at my
ordination: "_You do not go to discover new countries._" Would I
had a teacher, that the language might go on full swing! To-day I
felt a good deal like Elijah in the wilderness, when the reaction
came on after his slaughter of the priests of Baal. He prayed that
he might die. I wonder if