670
Travels of M. Huc.
DEC.
with the language and manners of the people, are but scantily carried through this voluminous work :-
"1
The day after our arrival at H'la-ri, the liáng-tái, or provisioner-general, in- stead of coming to salute officially the staff of the caravan, contented himself with sending us, as a visit card, a sheet of red paper, upon which were inscribed the characters of his name; and he had intimated by his messenger that a seri- ous sickness detained him in his appartement. Li Kwoh-ngan said to us, in a low voice, and with a meaning smile, "The liang-tái will be quite well when we are gone. As soon as we were alone, he exclaimed, “Ah! I expected this; whenever a caravan passes the liáng-tái Sz' (the name of the mandarin) is very ill; it is a fact known to every one. According to custom, he should have prepared for us a first-class repast, and it is to avoid doing this that he pretends to be ill. The liáng-tai Sz' is the most miserly man known; he is always dressed like a palanquin-bearer; he eats tsamba like a barbarian of Tibet; he never smokes, he never plays, he never drinks wine; in the evening his house is not lit up; he goes to bed feeling his way there, and rises late in the morning for fear that he should be hungry too early. Oh! a man like that is not a man, he is mere turtle's egg. The ambassador, Kishen, wishes to displace him, and he will do well. Have you in your country liang-tái of that kind?'' "What a question! the liang-tái of the kingdom of France never go to bed without a candle; and when great men present themselves, they never fail to make ready a good dinner."
"Ah! that is it; such is the right proceeding! but this Sx' mu-chu"-at these words we could not help bursting out into a laugh. “Ah!" said the mandarin, "tnat name appears to you ridiculous. You do not know why the liang-tái Sz' is called Šz'-mu-chu; it is in reference to a curious anecdote. The liang-tái Sz', before he was sent to H'lari, exercised the duties of a small mandarin in a little district of the province of Kiáng-sí. One day two men of the people presented themselves before him and begged that he would sit in judgment in regard to a trout, to which they each laid claim. The judge, Sz' thus pronounced his verdict- Having separated the truth from falsehood, 1 see clearly that this trout is neither thine nor thine; I declare then that it belongs to me. Let my verdict be respected.' The satellites of the tri- bunal went and took possession of the trout, and the judge had it sold at the neighboring market. Ever since then the mandarin, Sz', is called everywhere Sz'-mu-chu, that is to say, Sz', the trout.”
"
almost
Crossing another lake on the ice, they lodged at the thermal waters of Tsa-tchu-ka, and next day passed the Chor-ku-la, as difficult as the H'lari, and beyond which was an extensive upland, cut up here and there by ravines and gullies, which looked like so many dark and frightful abysses. Some of these had to be crossed by the usual pine-tree bridges. The caravan arrived, however, at Alan- lo with the loss of only three oxen. Hence they descended by a pine- forest to Lank-ki Tsung, a village of wooden houses, the situation of which, after a long mountain journey, appeared extremely beautiful. A pass-that of Tanda, more difficult than any they had yet met with -still lay before them. Detained at the forest village for some days, they fed heartily on venison, pheasants, fresh butter, and a sweet tuberculous root-a kind of truffle-dug out of the mountain sides. The fare was not bad, but possibly monotonous. The rest of the time was spent in prayer, and playing at chess, which the Tartars play as is done in Europe, but the Chinese differently. They say chik for check, and mat for mate. The mountain of Tanda was passed, after