206 DEPARTURE FROM TA-TSIEN-LU 
over to the French Consul. Upon my deciding to take 
them, he sent me eighteen coolie loads. These, with 
twenty coolie loads of my own, formed the total that I 
started with. I was now very busy packing up all the 
collections and getting in those from the stations outside 
the town. My collectors had orders to leave a month 
after I had gone, bring all they had found with them, 
and meet me at Kia-ting-fu. I also sent two men toa 
place called-Ho-kow, ten days’ journey west of Ta-tsien- 
lu, on the road, and about half way to Litang, which is 
situated in a valley nearly surrounded by lofty plateaux, 
where I expected they would find some interesting and 
rare insects. 
Many of my boxes were covered with raw hide by 
the Tibetans, who are very expert at this work. They 
take a hide from a freshly killed animal and fit and sew 
this over the boxes in a particularly neat way with the 
hair: inside. When the hide dries, it shrinks and 
hardens, forming a splendid and almost indestructible 
covering. 
July 21.—All being ready, I left Ta-tsien-lu after 
having thanked Mer. Biet and the Fathers for their 
kindness and said good-bye, and arrived at Wa-ssu-kou 
in the evening. 
July 22.—A village was passed to-day situated on the 
side of a valley near the banks of the Tung, which had 
