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Show A Prince's Adventures in Thibet. The Journal des Debuts has received a long aud interesting letter from M. Bonvalot, who, accompanied by Prince Henry of Orleans, has for. the last year or more been traveling through Russia and Siberia into Thibet and China. M. Bonvalot is now on the road to Hanoi. This letter is dated June 28, and wai written at Ta-Tsien-Lou, on the frontier fron-tier of the Thibet Marches, which is occupied by a Chinese garrison, while it is also the headquarters of the Roman catholic missions iu Thibet. M. Bonvalot says: "We have been able to traverse nbout 1,000 miles of desert at au altitude varving from 13,-000 13,-000 feet to 19,000 feet." We reached the south of Lake Tcngri-Nor. which is ooly a day's journey on horseback from Lhassa, and if we did uot visit that place it was solely because we did not care to do so. Altogether we have traveled about 1,500 miles iu nn unknown un-known region, nearly half of the way without a guide. It is true that we have had a terrible winter, the quicksilver freezing. The only combustible we had was the droppings of the wild vaks.aud no water. "For a period of two months we made our lea with ice, which was generally dirty aud mixed with sand and earth. We had to take a provision of ice and vaks' droppings, enough to-last to-last several days. Our beasts of burden, camels aud horses alike, were decimated, deci-mated, or to speak more accurately, every one of them died of fatigue, thirst and hunger. The only inhabitants of these deserts were herds of autelopes, vast troops of yaks, a few emws and native birds. Some days we saw nothing, noth-ing, not even the crows, which follow the caravans as a shark Does a ship, the solitude being almost overwhelming, overwhelm-ing, so that after a few days of it our men were on the lookout for somo human form, just as shipwrecked men look for a sail upon the ocean. Needless Need-less to tell you that my companions. Prince Henry of Orleans, Father Dede-ben Dede-ben of the Belgian missions, and my worthy Rachmed are very pleased to have succeeded. We beiiovo that we have done credit, to Frauce, and that is sunicient compensation for all our hardships." |