FROM TALI TO TSEKOU 



A ten minutes' mule ride and we were in Tsekou. We had 

 accomolished the exploration of the Chinese Mekong ; we had 

 verified the routes of Cooper, Gill, and the missionaries of Thibet, 

 as well as those of Garnier and the Pavie Mission. After the grand 

 works of Rochill and of Dutreuil de Rhins, there only remains an 

 expedition into the Degue to complete the knowledge of the whole 

 course of the great Indo-Chinese artery, the F"rench river. With 

 Tsekou we had attained the northern apex of our enterprise ; 

 henceforward we should be homeward bound. But first to rest, to 

 talk with our fellow-countrymen, and to reorganise our forces while 

 stopping a space in the gateway of Thibet. 



i.^" 



/luh- 



Passing a Mule over the Mekong al Tsedjrong. 

 219 



