SOJOURN AT TSEKOU 



covered with brushwood that linked the right bank of the torrent 

 of Tsekou to the Mekong. Above and beyond, the mountains, 

 with their uniform covering of rigid pines, rose to the heights on 

 the left of the river. Immediately behind Tsekou, hills were piled 



sides 



es. 



md 



we 



upon hills until the horizon was shut in on 



seemed to be enclosed within 



a little world apart. The eye 



sought its only outlet to the 



north, where the Mekong had 



forced for itself a narrow 



passage at the base of a high 



mountain which occasionally 



emerged from its usual canopy 



of clouds, and displayed a 



rocky summit patched with 



snow. It bore the name oi the 



village beneath its shoulder, 



Loukou. 



The concession of the 

 Fathers was of considerable 

 extent, and reached the top 

 of the chain that separated 

 the Mekong from the Salvven 

 basin, embracing in its area 

 numerous villages echeloned at various heiehts, from which on 

 Sunday a congregation of nearly three hundred Christians 

 descended to mass. Father Dubernard has collected the debris 

 of several mission stations, and has become the rallying- point 

 for those believers whom persecution has driven to the refuge 



As I 



221 



Father Dubernard. 



of this agricultural community which he has founded 



