Among the Celestials : vol.1 / Page 143 (Color Image)

0143	Among the Celestials : vol.1

CHAP. vi.] A USEFUL GUIDE. "5

of former caravans, which were so faint that I

could not distinguish them even when pointed

out to me, for a camel does not leave much

impression upon gravel, like a beaten-down

path in a garden ! Another of his desert-

acquired habits was that of going to sleep

walking. His natural mode of progression was

by bending right forward, and this seemed to

keep him in motion without any trouble to

himself, and he might be seen mooning along

fast asleep. These were his accomplishments.

His one failing was opium-smoking ; directly

camp was pitched he would have out his pipe,

and he used to smoke off and on till we started

again. I was obliged occasionally to differ

with this gentleman ; but, on the whole, we got

on well together, and my feelings towards him

at parting were more of sorrow than of anger,

for he had a hard life going backwards and

forwards up and down across the desert almost

continuously for twenty years ; and his in-

veterate habit of opium-smoking had used up

all the savings he ought to have accumulated

after his hard experiences.

The Mongol assistant, whose name was

Ma-to-la, was a careless, good-natured fellow,

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