e he had returned to consciousness
the moon shone out brightly from behind a thick bank of clouds, and
cleared up the mystery. The supposed haystacks turned out to be
tents. The two figures with long sticks, whom I had suspected of being
brigands, were peaceable shepherds, dressed in the ordinary Oriental
khalat, and tending their sheep, which were grazing close by. Instead
of being in an empty hay-field, as I had imagined, we had before us a
regular Tartar aoul, such as I had often read about. For a moment I felt
astonished and bewildered. It seemed to me that I had fallen asleep in
Europe and woke up in Asia!

In a few minutes we were comfortably installed in one of the tents,
a circular, cupola-shaped erection, of about twelve feet in diameter,
composed of a frame-work of light wooden rods covered with thick felt.
It contained no furniture, except a goodly quantity of carpets and
pillows, which had been formed into a bed for our accommodation. Our
amiable host, who was evidently somewhat astonished at our unexpected
visit, but refrained from asking questions, soon bade us good-night
and retired. We were not, however, left alone. A large number of black
beetles remained and gave us a welcome in their own peculiar fashion.
Whether they were provided with wings, or made up for the want of flying
appliances by crawling up the sides of the tent and dropping down on any
object they wished to reach, I did not discover, but certain it is that
they somehow reached our heads--even when we were standing upright--and
clung to our hair with wonderful tenacity. Why they should show such
a marked preference for human hair we could not conjecture, till it
occurred to us that the natives habitually shaved their heads, and that
these beetles must naturally consider a hair-covered cranium a curious
novelty deserving of careful examination. Like all children of nature
they were decidedly indiscreet and troublesome in their curiosity, but
when the light was extinguished they took the hint and departed.

When we awoke next morning it was broad daylight, and we found a crowd
of natives in front of the tent. Our arrival was evidently regarded as
an important event, and all the inhabitants of the aoul were anxious
to make our acquaintance. First our host came forward. He was a short,
slimly-built man, of middle age, with a grave, severe expression,
indicating an unsociable disposition. We afterwards learned that he
was an akhun*--that is to