SAMDADCHIEMBA, HUC'S COMPANION. 135 



building a church and house for themselves ; ten 

 months later, on our return, we actually found that a 

 good-sized two-storied dwelling had been completed 

 in our absence, and was inhabited by all three priests. 

 There are four stations in South-eastern Mongolia, 

 besides Siyinza, occupied by Roman Catholic Jesuit 

 missionaries ; one at the village of Sivanzi,^ about 

 thirty miles north-east of Kalgan, another at Jehol, 

 a third to the north of Newchwang, and a fourth at 

 the sources of the Shara-muren, near the ' Black 

 Waters,' ^ whence Hue and Gabet started in 1844 on 

 their journey to Tibet. 



At El-shi-siang-fu we saw Samdadchiemba, the 

 former companion of Hue. His real name is Sen^- 

 teng-chimta, and he is of mixed Mongol and Tan- 

 gutan race. He is fifty-five years of age, and enjoys 

 excellent health ; he related some of his adventures 

 to us, and described the different places on the road, 

 but he declined our invitation to accompany us to 

 Tibet, excusing himself on the score of old age. 



By the advice of the missionaries we hired at 

 Siyinza, at five lans {p."]s. 6d.) a month, a Mongol 

 Christian convert to attend to our camels and to 

 help our Cossacks with their work ; we also anti- 

 cipated benefit from his services as interpreter of 

 Chinese, with which language he was well ac- 

 quainted. Our expectations regarding him, however, 

 soon proved illusory, for after the first day's march 



1 This is probably the small village of Si-Wang mentioned by Hue 

 as a Christian Chinese station, north of the Great Wall, one day's 

 journey from Siuen-hwa-fu, i. 3. — M. 



' In Chinese He-shui, i.e. Black Waters {Ibid.). 



