FROM TONKIN TO INDIA 



the native authorities, still less upon fellow- racial Thibetans. In 

 addition, in the remote possibility of our success, the fact of lead- 

 ing men from Tsekou into Tsarong would assuredly bring down 

 reprisals upon the Christians and our countrymen for assisting 

 us. In my opinion the check appeared certain, and the attempt 

 therefore useless. We were wayworn, a journey into Thibet 

 would be very long, winter would be on us closing the passes, 

 and we should not improbably end by having to spend several 

 months in some remote valley. Albeit we were here actually at 

 the threshold of Thibet, all these considerations forced us to 

 renounce the idea of penetrating farther, and, though it cost us 

 some regret to relinquish the route to the north-west, we felt 

 that the success of our main enterprise would console us for 

 having abandoned an achievement so dependent on chance. 



The upshot of these reflections was that we decided to strike 

 due west on the Salwen, which we should cross to enter Bayul. 

 The region which, south of Dzayul, is watered by the upper 

 basin of the Irawadi, is designated by the name of the Rotin 

 (ratan). Bayul itself is in part a dependency of the mokoua 

 of Yetche, some Dzayul families, and the Lamaserai of Tchamou- 

 tong, and partly free. The only particulars we could gather with 

 regard to this country were that it was watered by the Kiou-kiang, 

 that the ways were very bad, and that naked savages inhabited 

 the trees. 



In this manner we were about to embark on the hitherto 



entirely unknown, with the hope of being enabled to solve the 



problem of the sources both of the Salwen and the Irawadi, and 



with India for our Promised Land, approached by a new route, 



and longed for as a haven of rest. 



We reduced our baggage, retaining only twelve mules besides 



246 



