[2] He then settled in the Valley of Black Waters or Heishui, 300 miles (480 km) north of Beijing and just within the borders of Mongolia.

There, beyond the Great Wall of China, a large but scattered population of native Christians had taken refuge from the persecutions of the Jiaqing Emperor ("Kia-king")[4] who had added Christianity to China's list of condemned superstitions and cults, threatening missionaries with execution and converts with enslavement to the Muslims of Xinjiang.

[citation needed] Huc devoted himself to the study of the dialects and customs of the "Tartars," for whom he translated several religious texts.

Upon entering Kuen-Kiang-Hien both missionaries fell dreadfully ill and had to put the journey on hold to rest and recover.

[4] The missionaries, along with Evariste, engaged in prolonged and thoughtful conversations and meditations with these lamas, contributing to the entirety of their success in China.

Lamas of these sorts possessed unimaginable magic power, and blessed them for the hot, wet journey ahead.

During the First Opium War (1839–1842) Qishan, then the governor of Zhili Province, had entered into negotiations with Captain Charles Elliot, first at Dagu, then at Canton.

Abbé Gabet returned to Europe in late 1846 in the company of Alexander Johnston, secretary to John Francis Davis, British minister plenipotentiary to China.

Huc returned to Europe in poor health in 1852, but he published a sequel to the Remembrances in 1854 and a large work on the entire history of Christianity in China, which came out in 1857 and 1858.

A German translation appeared in Leipzig in 1855, followed by Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Swedish, Russian and Czech (Prague, 1887).

[citation needed] Popular editions followed, including an illustrated, simplified story text for schoolboys.

Huc's works are written in a lucid, spicy, picturesque style, securing for them an unusual degree of popularity.

[4] However, his esteem for Tibetan manners and religion was not welcomed by his Church: "The late Abbé Huc pointed out the similarities between the Buddhist and Roman Catholic ceremonials with such a naïveté, that, to his surprise, he found his delightful 'Travels in Thibet' placed on the 'Index'.

At the time of Huc it was general to regard Asia and China specifically as the classic ground of despotism and slavery, and Chinese people were considered as absolutely submissive to the authorities.

However, while travelling through the Empire he came to the conclusion that religion, customs and prejudices opposed invincible obstacles to the free exercise of people's will.

As a frequent symbol of Chinese people being opposed to the Government, he mentions principal gates with a large assortment of old boots.

Principal gates were also important monuments to show how many good Mandarins the country actually had despite calumnious reports and injustices experienced by many of them because of the Government's influence.