xtended voyage we were to undertake for the purpose
of studying the character and manners of the Tartars, and of ascertaining
as nearly as possible the extent and limits of the Vicariat. This
journey, then, which we had so long meditated, was now determined upon;
and we sent a young Lama convert in search of some camels which we had
put to pasture in the kingdom of Naiman. Pending his absence, we
hastened the completion of several Mongol works, the translation of which
had occupied us for a considerable time. Our little books of prayer and
doctrine were ready, still our young Lama had not returned; but thinking
he could not delay much longer, we quitted the valley of Black Waters
(_He-Chuy_), and proceeded on to await his arrival at the Contiguous
Defiles (_Pie-lie-Keou_) which seemed more favourable for the completion
of our preparations. The days passed away in futile expectation; the
coolness of the autumn was becoming somewhat biting, and we feared that
we should have to begin our journey across the deserts of Tartary during
the frosts of winter. We determined, therefore, to dispatch some one in
quest of our camels and our Lama. A friendly catechist, a good walker
and a man of expedition, proceeded on this mission. On the day fixed for
that purpose he returned; his researches had been wholly without result.
All he had ascertained at the place which he had visited was, that our
Lama had started several days before with our camels. The surprise of
our courier was extreme when he found that the Lama had not reached us
before himself. "What!" exclaimed he, "are my legs quicker than a
camel's! They left Naiman before me, and here I am arrived before them!
My spiritual fathers, have patience for another day. I'll answer that
both Lama and camels will be here in that time." Several days, however,
passed away, and we were still in the same position. We once more
dispatched the courier in search of the Lama, enjoining him to proceed to
the very place where the camels had been put to pasture, to examine
things with his own eyes, and not to trust to any statement that other
people might make.

During this interval of painful suspense, we continued to inhabit the
Contiguous Defiles, a Tartar district dependent on the kingdom of Ouniot.
{11} These regions appear to have been affected by great revolutions.
The present inhabitants state that, in the olden time, the country was
occupied by Corean tribes, who, expelled