1б4 1 PLAY THE PART OF DOCTOR. 



return for the service we had clone him ; for robbers 

 had been deterred from molesting his banner by 

 apprehensions lest they should steal something be- 

 longing to the Russians ! 



Endless were the absurd stories circulated about 

 us. Thus it was generally believed that though we 

 were but four in number, yet at my bidding a thou- 

 sand men would rise up and do battle in our behalf; 

 it was asserted that I had power over the elements, 

 and could infect cattle or even men with diseases, &c. 

 And I am firmly convinced that ere many years 

 have elapsed, the story of our journey in those coun- 

 tries will have passed into a legend, adorned with all 

 sorts of imaginative flights. 



I had to play not only the saint but the doctor also. 

 The latter title was given me in the early months of 

 the expedition owing to my plant-gathering habits, and 

 to the successful cures which I afterwards performed 

 on some fever patients with doses of quinine ; quite 

 enough to convince the Mongols firmly of my powers 

 of healing. My fame spread far and wide throughout 

 Mongolia, Kan-su, Koko-nor, and Tsaidam. In the 

 two latter countries numbers of sick persons, especi- 

 ally women, came to consult me upon their maladies. 

 Being entirely ignorant of medicine, and having only 

 a small supply of drugs, and without either time or 

 inclination for such work, I usually had recourse to 

 one of the most impudent quackeries that ever ap- 

 peared in the medical world, viz. Bawnsteitismus, 

 a system which professes to cure every ill that flesh 

 is heir to by punctuating the skin of the affected 



