Page:Mongolia, the Tangut country, and the solitudes of northern Tibet vol 2 (1876).djvu/64

44 courtyard of the house with the intention of following. Before we had proceeded a hundred paces, Siya rode up and assured me that the Dungans had been again heard of, and that, although it had started, the caravan would be turned back; the young prince ended by entreating us to remain till the whole affair was satisfactorily explained. Siya's companion, the lama chief of the Tangutans, who had been so anxious hitherto that we should travel together, now repeated the words of the prince, and urged us to defer our departure.

His appearance and his sudden change of manner had more weight with us than all the warnings of the prince. We could no longer count on him as a friend, but must regard our future travelling companion as an enemy; how, then, could we place confidence in him? As a last resource, but one which I knew could not lead to much, I asked Siya if he would give me his word of honour that we should not be cheated, and that the caravan would not leave without us? 'I give it willingly! I answer for it,' he joyfully exclaimed, caring very little how he attained his object of detaining us. The lama chief also assured me that they would not start without us. Accordingly, we turned into the prince's suburban garden and pitched our tent, awaiting further events.

How can I describe our disappointment, particularly at first? It was certainly too bad. The long-cherished object of our desires, to gain which we had suffered so much, the prize which we had seemed