TSEKOU TO KHAMTI 



as best we could. I counted twenty-nine beings within the limits 

 of that tent — Frenchmen, Chinese, Annamites, Thibetans, Lissous, 

 and Kioutses. The men maintained an excellent demeanour, but 

 beneath our jokes we all had the serious reflection that if the 

 waters still increased, or we failed to cross, the alternative would 



Beside Ihe I)u-lclni-mu. 



be that of abiding in a district that could barely provide us with 



two days' sustenance. 



But with dawn on the 2Sth (October) came unexpected relief. 



As if by enchantment the inundation had receded, the shingle 



bank on which we had been marooned was free, the Du-tchu-mu 



was only a sullen torrent growling between its almost normal banks ; 



the very bugs were gone. 



287 



