uctions, being conformable with our wish, we did not
hesitate. We resolved to adopt the secular dress of the Thibetian Lamas;
that is to say, the dress which they wear when not actually performing
their idolatrous ministry in the Pagodas. The costume of the Thibetian
Lamas suggested itself to our preference as being in unison with that
worn by our young neophyte, Samdadchiemba.

We announced to the Christians of the inn that we were resolved no longer
to look like Chinese merchants; that we were about to cut off our long
tails, and to shave our heads. This intimation created great agitation:
some of our disciples even wept; all sought by their eloquence to divert
us from a resolution which seemed to them fraught with danger; but their
pathetic remonstrances were of no avail; one touch of a razor, in the
hands of Samdadchiemba sufficed to sever the long tail of hair, which, to
accommodate Chinese fashions, we had so carefully cultivated ever since
our departure from France. We put on a long yellow robe, fastened at the
right side with five gilt buttons, and round the waist by a long red
sash; [Picture: Missionaries in Lamanesque Costume] over this was a red
jacket, with a collar of purple velvet; a yellow cap, surmounted by a red
tuft, completed our new costume. Breakfast followed this decisive
operation, but it was silent and sad. When the Comptroller of the Chest
brought in some glasses and an urn, wherein smoked the hot wine drunk by
the Chinese, we told him that having changed our habit of dress, we
should change also our habit of living. "Take away," said we, "that wine
and that chafing dish; henceforth we renounce drinking and smoking. You
know," added we, laughing, "that good Lamas abstain from wine and
tobacco." The Chinese Christians who surrounded us did not join in the
laugh; they looked at us without speaking and with deep commiseration,
fully persuaded that we should inevitably perish of privation and misery
in the deserts of Tartary. Breakfast finished, while the people of the
inn were packing up our tent, saddling the camels, and preparing for our
departure, we took a couple of rolls, baked in the steam of the furnace,
and walked out to complete our meal with some wild currants growing on
the bank of the adjacent rivulet. It was soon announced to us that
everything was ready--so, mounting our respective animals, we proceeded
on the road to Tolon-Noor, accompanied by Samdadchiemba.

We were now l