218 SCENE WITH THE TAETAES. 



had to be carried down : the old dose soon 

 put matters to rights with all, except poor 

 Jaunto, who was ill for some days, and was 

 at last cured by a mustard-poultice on his 

 stomach, which we left on by mistake for an 

 hour instead of ten minutes ; however, it had 

 the desired effect. 



The scene upon our arrival at the Tartar 

 village, was comical enough. Campbell and 

 myself had gone on ahead, leaving Wilson 

 with the laudanum bottle, to help the sick. 

 We had come on as fast as possible, to send 

 out the villagers to help them in. Upon our 

 arrival, we, not knowing a single word of 

 Tartar, endeavoured to make them compre- 

 hend what we wanted. We talked and 

 gesticulated, and they gabbled away in 

 Tartar, trying, as we afterwards learnt, 

 to make us understand "that they did 

 not know the road by which we had 

 come." The confabulation might have 

 lasted till now, had not our interpreter 

 arrived, with our poor cook, Jaunto, on 

 his back, who was the greatest sufferer ; 



