Page:Christianity in China, Tartary, and Thibet Volume II.djvu/274

 260 CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA, ETC. end of that day we heard somctirmg like the voice of a iiiaii, crying in the desert, and though we could not sec him, we directed our steps towards the place whence tlic voice seemed to come, and met a peasant, who gave us some good news." Firstly, tiie companion of l)'Andnida, the brother who had remained at Mana, on account of the bad state of his health, was quite wull again, and ready to set off with the caravan; secondly, the autho- rities of the district had become more kindly disposed towards the missionary, and instead of wisliing to nuike liini prisoiior, had sent him some provisions, barley meal, honey, and some furs to pmteet him iVom the cold; and as they had considered it an impossibility for him to cross that vast desert plain in this season, they had sent off a messenger to bring him back, and guide ]»im to a safe i)lace, where he might wait for the caravan. Father d'Andrada, greatly comtorted by these gool tidings, gave himself up with confidence to his guide, and after another three days' march, reached a mountain gorge inhabited by shepherds, who received the party into their tents with frank and cordial hospitality. The caravan was not long in coming up with them, and then D'Andrada had the happiness of meeting the brother whom he had left so ill perfectly restored to health. As to himself, some days of rest and of good milk diet sufficed to restore his strennrth. "I felt, indeed," he says, " better than I had ever been, and the only indisposition that remained, was the extreme weakness of my eyes, which could not bear the light at all." The caravan had to stop at this encampment for six weeks, when the snow melted, audit resumed its march, following the path pursued with so little success by