ass: what could we under the
circumstances desire more? Hungry, thirsty, weary as we were, the place
seemed a perfect Eden.

The camels were no sooner squatted, than we all three, with one accord,
and without a word said, seized, each man his wooden cup, and rushed to
the pond to satisfy his thirst. The water was fresh enough; but it
affected the nose violently with its strong muriatic odour. I remembered
to have drunk water just like it in the Pyrenees, at the good town of Ax,
and to have seen it for sale in the chemists' shops elsewhere in France:
and I remembered, further, that by reason of its being particularly
stinking and particularly nasty, it was sold there at fifteen sous per
bottle.

After having quenched our thirst, our strength by degrees returned, and
we were then able to fix our tent, and each man to set about his especial
task. M. Gabet proceeded to cut some bundles of horn-beam wood;
Samdadchiemba collected argols in the flap of his jacket; and M. Huc,
seated at the entrance of the tent, tried his hand at drawing a fowl, a
process which Arsalan, stretched at his side, watched with greedy eye,
having immediate reference to the entrails in course of removal. We were
resolved, for once and away, to have a little festival in the desert; and
to take the opportunity to indulge our patriotism by initiating our
_Dchiahour_ in the luxury of a dish prepared according to the rules of
the _cuisinier Francais_. The fowl, artistically dismembered, was placed
at the bottom of our great pot. A few roots of synapia, prepared in salt
water, some onions, a clove of garlic, and some allspice, constituted the
seasoning. The preparation was soon boiling, for we were that day rich
in fuel. Samdadchiemba, by-and-by, plunged his hand into the pot, drew
out a limb of the fowl, and, after carefully inspecting it, pronounced
supper to be ready. The pot was taken from the trivet, and placed upon
the grass. We all three seated ourselves around it, so that our knees
almost touched it, and each, armed with two chopsticks, fished out the
pieces he desired from the abundant broth before him.

When the meal was completed, and we had thanked God for the repast he had
thus provided us with in the desert, Samdadchiemba went and washed the
cauldron in the pond. That done, he brewed us some tea. The tea used by
the Tartars is not prepared in the same way as that consumed by the
Chinese. The latter, it is known, merely employ t