•^(?Aaviiai]i^^

^■i

A\^-i.iBR/\RY6'/

dAlNl!i\\>

■•';^.

'■■л

\EUNIVERS/. ,tLf,r.>

%ШШ '^П\Ш\ a3MNil3WV^

|-Ч^-

NJl

ril' '

/

TRAVELS IN EASTERN HIGH ASIA

VOL. I.

LONDON : PRINTED BY

SPOTTISWOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE

AND TARLIAMENT STREET

LT Col. Nicholas Michailovitch Prejevalsky.

MONGOL ^, A,

THE TANGUT COUNTRY,

5 AND THE

SOLITUDES OF NORTHERN TIBET

BEING A

"g^ttntibz of Щхп Hoars' ШтпЬй in ёивкхп piglj ^sia.

LIEUT.-COLONEL N. 1PREJEVALSKY,

OF ТНЛ RUSSIAN STAFF CORPS : ЫЕМ. OF THE IMP. RUSS. GEOG. SOC.

TRANSLATED BY

E. DELMAR MORGAN, F.R.G.S.

WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES BY

COLONEL HENRY YULE, C.B.

LATE OF THE ROVAL ENGINEERS (beNGAl).

/.V TWO VOLUMES— VOL. L

ШйЬ Paps ixxxH llksiraibits.

LONDON:
SAMPSON LOW, Mz\RSTON, SEARLE, & RIVINGTON,

CROWN BUILDINGS, iSS FLEET STREET.
r^ 1876.

JCfd

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.

vs^ It was at one of the meetings of the Russian
?^ Geographical Society in the winter of 1873-74 that
V Colonel Prejevalsky, then recently returned from

^ his travels, first gave an account of his adventures

and experiences in the heart of Asia.
■^ Being personally acquainted with him, and hear-

ing that he was seeking a publisher for an English
t version of his work, the idea suggested itself to me
^. of becoming the means of making known to English
S readers these Russian explorations in countries of
^ daily growing interest. The task, however, would
have been a difficult one had I not succeeded in
^ securing the all-valuable co-operation of Colonel
> - Yule, who from beginning to end has assisted me
'^^^ by his ready advice, suggestions, and amendments.
"^ To Dr. Hooker, President of the Royal Society,
\ my warmest thanks are also due for his kindness

S in revising the names of plants.

^ Most of the illustrations are from photographs

■*^ lent by Baron Fr. Osten Sacken, late President of
the physical section of the Imp. Geog. Soc, and
well known in Europe as geographer, explorer, and
botanist. He has also furnished the plates ' Ovis

4250'?'7

vi TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE.

Poll' and ' Gyps Nivicola ' from his copy of Severt-
soff's work on the Fauna of Turkestan. Of the
remaining illustrations I am indebted for that of
the Rhubarb Plant to Professor Maximovitch, of
the Imperial Botanical Gardens of St. Petersburg ;
three are from photographs by Mr. J. Thomson,
whose splendid photographic albums of China and
its people are deservedly admired, and the remainder
are borrowed from the ' Tour du Monde.'

In the following translation, Avhile preserving
the Author's meaning, I have endeavoured to re-
move from the path of the reader those stumbling-
blocks which might arise from following too closely
the original idiom ; in this way Russian versts are
rendered into English miles, Russian fathoms into
feet or yards, degrees of Centigrade into Fahrenheit,
old style dates into new style, &c.

I take this opportunity of expressing my thanks
to Mr. Clements Markham, C.B., Hon. Sec. R.G.S.,
for an introduction to the publishers of this work ;
to Mr. Henry Dresser, F.Z.S. ; to Dr. Glinther, of
the British Museum ; to Mr. Robert Harrison, of the
London Library ; to Mr. Edward Weller, for the care
and pains he has bestowed on the accompanying
map ; and to Mr. Cooper, who has executed the
engravings.

It only remains to say a few words about the
Author.

Lieut. -Col. Prejevalsky was born in the govern-
ment of Smolensk of parents belonging to the class of
landed gentry. He received his education at the gym-

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. \n

nasiiim or public school of Smolensk, finishing his
studies at the Academy of the Staff Corps. From
early life he displayed a strong love for natural
science, and it was to gratify these tastes that he
applied for and obtained permission to serve in
Eastern Siberia. Thither he proceeded in 1867,
and there he remained two years, occupying all the
time he could spare from his official duties in hunt-
ing, shooting, and collecting objects of natural
history. On his return to St. Petersburg in 1S69
he published his ' Notes on the Ussuri,' containing
a great deal of information on the eastern boundaries
of Russia in Asia. Soon after its appearance in
1870 Lieut.-Col. Prejevalsky prepared for his second
greater expedition, for which his previous travels
and studies had served as a preparation. His
companion and helpmate throughout this arduous
undertaking was Lieut. Pyltseff. I have only to
add that, from a letter recently received from him, I
learn that he is preparing for a third expedition,
and that he hopes this time to penetrate to Lob-nor,
and possibly from that quarter into Tibet.

E. DELMAR MORGAN.

London : Jam/aiy i, 1876.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

By Colonel H. Yule.

Within the last ten years the exploration of High Asia
which, on our side at least, had long been languid, has re-
vived and advanced with ample strides. So rapid, indeed,
has been the aggression upon the limits of the Unknown
that in the contemplation of a future historian of geogra-
phical discovery it may easily seem that the contraction
of those limits in our age might fitly be compared to the
rapid evaporation of the cloud Avith which the breath has
tinged a plate of polished steel.

It is hardly a dozen years since our mapmakers had to
rely for the most important positions in Chinese Turkes-
tan on the observations of the Jesuit surveyors of the
eighteenth century; and as late as the publication of that
well-known work of the Messrs. Michell, ' The Russians in
Central Asia,' the issuC; in the appendix to that book, of a
new and corrected transcript of those data, was regarded as
of some geographical moment. The incidental notices
contained in fragmentary extracts or translations from
medieval Persian writers, and the details given in Chinese
geographical works, often hard to understand, often them-
selves (like Ptolemy's Tables) only a conversion into writ-
ten statement of the graphic representations of loose and
inaccurate maps, were painfully studied by those who
desired to enlarge or recompile the geography of the
great Central basin which lies between the Himalya and
the Thian Shan. Indeed, from Samarkand eastward to
the caravan-track which leads from the Russian frontier at
Kiakhta to the gate of the Great Wall at Kalgan, a space
of 47 degrees of longitude, we were entirely dependent on

X INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

such imperfect criticism of fragmentary sources as we have
indicated. Almost the only scientific inroad on this im-
mense territory, and that but trifling in its extent though high
indeed in interest, was the excursion of Lieut. John Wood
of the Indian Navy to the Great Pamir, in the winter of
1838. The scientific exploration and surveys of the Rus-
sians were indeed slowly though surely advancing the
march of accurate knowledge from the north ; but it was
confined within the limits, vast indeed, of their own terri-
tory, and touched the Thian Shan only near the western
extremity of that mountain region.

With ourselves, exploration, in any extensive sense,
beyond our Indian frontier had almost ceased for a great
many years after the calamities of Kabul ; the only
notable exceptions that I can call to mind being the
advance of that accomplished botanist Dr. T. Thomson to
the Karakorum Pass, and the journey of his colleague
Capt, Henry Strachey, of the Bengal Army, across the
western angle of Tibet Proper, from Ladak to Kumaon,
in 1846. But like the Russians on their side, our survey
officers had been gradually mastering the ground up to the
limits of the states actually held by our feudatory the
Maharaja of Jamu and Kashmir, and to those of the small
Tibetan provinces near the Sutlej which fell to us as part
of the Sikh dominions at the end of the first Punjab war.
And so on both sides a base was secured for ulterior raids
upon the Terra Incognita.

This Incognita was not indeed unknown in the sense in
which Southern Central Africa was unknown before David
Livingstone's first journey ; such sources as those to which
we have referred above gave some general idea of what
the region contained. But even where the Jesuit surveyors
left maps, they had left, so far as we know, no narrative or
description of the regions in question. And of Tibet in
particular we had so little accurate knowledge that the
latitude of its capital, the ' Paternal Sanctuary,' the Vatican
and holy city of half Asia, was uncertain almost to the
extent of sixty minutes.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. xi

The first memorable incursion into the territoiy in
question was the journey of Hue and Gabet in 1845-46.

The later writings of Hue, pieces of pretentious and un-
trustworthy book-making, have thrown some shadow upon
the original narrative ; some of his own countrymen have
been disposed to look on his work as half a fiction ; and
stories have even reached me from Russian sources which
professed to recount confessions made by Hue of his having
invented his own share in the narrative, and of his having
received from Gabet on his deathbed, ' on board a boat in
the Canton river,' or taken from his luggage after his death,
the true journals on which the popular story of the Journey
to Lhassa was founded. These stories are imaginative fabri-
cations, as will be seen from the facts we are about to recapi-
tulate. I confess, however, that, judging from the rubbish
of Hue's later writings, my own impression long was that
Gabet had been the chief author of the Souvenirs, and this
was confirmed to me by a conversation with which the
lamented M. Jules Mohl honoured me during his last visit
to England.^ But his recollection, I now feel satisfied, had
deceived him.

In the end of 1846, as Sir John Davis tells us, Mr. A.
Johnston, his own secretary as Plenipotentiary in China, in
proceeding from Hong Kong to Ceylon, found Pere Joseph
Gabet, then on his way to France, a fellow-passenger with
him, and heard from him many particulars of the journey.
Mr. Johnston found these so curious and interesting that
he noted down the principal circumstances, and on rejoin-
ing his chief presented him with the MS., and Sir John
sent it on to Lord Palmerston. ' Nothing more,' adds Sir
John Davies, * was heard of the matter till the appearance
of Hue's two volumes' (i.e. in 185 1). This is, however, a
mistake, as I find by an examination, as careful as my time

^ M. Mohl told me an c4necdote of his visiting, about the time of
Hue's publication, one of the vicars apostolic from the Eastern Mis-
sions,— I think Monseigneur Pallegoix from Siam. The new book was
lying on the table, and the bishop apologised, saying he ought to have
left it in his bedroom ; ' a bishop ought not to be caught reading
romances.'

xii INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

has allowed, of the volumes of the Annalcs de la Propaga-
tion de la Foi.

The first notice of the journey that I find in this peri-
odical is in vol. xix. pp. 265 scqq. (1847). This, after
some introductory matter regarding the origin of the Mis-
sion in Mongolia, gives a letter from Hue to M. Etienne,
the Supt.-General of the Congregation of the Mission,
dated Macao, December 20th, 1846, presenting a sketch
of the journey up to their arrival at Lhassa, January 29th,
i8zi6.i

The next paper bearing on the subject is in the same
volume, and is a Notice siir la Pritre Boiiddhiquc, by
M, Gabet, ' qui vient de rentrer pour quelques mois en
France.'

Vol. XX. (p. 5) contains a letter from Gabet to M.
Etienne, dated Tarlane, June 1842. It had been mislaid,
and thus was not published till 1848. It describes a jour-
ney to the Suniut country and the Great Kuren, i.e. Urga.
This is the basis of the passages on that subject in the
Souvenirs (vol. i. pp. 133 seqq).

In the same volume, p. 118, we have an extract from
a report by Gabet, which continues the narrative of Hue's
letter in vol. xix. down to their exit from Tibet. It is
vague and dull, and presents a great contrast to his com-
rade's vivacity. At p. 223 there is a fuller account by
Gabet of their residence at Lhassa. It is curious that it
does not contain a word of their swaggering conduct in
presence of the mandarins, as described in the Souvenirs.
Vol. xxi. (1849), and xxii. (1850), contain supplementary

* Among many other passages the following is unmistakably in
the style of the Souvenirs : ' Tolon-noor est comnie une monstrueuse
pompe pncumatique к faire le vide dans les bourses Mongoles.' It is
characteristic, too, of the clever but pretentious abb(5 that he says the
name Djao-iiaimati-soitme, applied to the town of Tolon-noor on the
maps (since D'Anville's), is ' ^galement inconnu et incompris des
Tatares et des Chinois.' Hue professes familiarity with Mongol, yet
he is unable to interpret this name (applied, indeed, not properly to
Tolon-noor, but to the site of Kublai's summer palace at Shangtu,
twenty-six miles to the north of it). The words mean simply ' the
hundred and eight temples.'

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. xiii

letters or papers by Hue, and this finishes the series. The
Souvenirs were published in 1851.

Gabet had then apparently already been sent to the
Brazils, where he died ; • and I have no doubt the Souve-
nirs were, as they purport to be, the work of Hue himself,
based on the papers by both, of which extracts had been
published in the Annalcs. I doubt whether even any
extraneous aid of Parisian litterateurs was called in ; Hue
himself was an adept in that vein, as his letters show.

Colonel Prejevalsky several times finds fault with Hue's
inaccuracy in details, a subject which will be briefly noticed
presently. And in one of the letters which was sent to Rus-
sia during his journey, he even seems to imply a doubt of
the genuine character of the narrative.'^ Of this he has
probably thought better, as the expression of suspicion is
not repeated in the present work. Indeed, Colonel Preje-
valsky's own plain tale is the best refutation of such suspi-
cions. For it is wonderful, to the extent of the coincidence

' Hue's manner of mentioning the fact is vague, and names no
date. It is in the Preface to his second work, The Chinese Empire,
which is itself dated in May 1854.

"^ ' In Koko-nor and Tsaidam the great caravan which Hue pro-
fesses to have accompanied to Lhassa is perfectly well remembered,
and it is somewhat astonishing that nobody has any recollection of the
presence of foreigners among its members. Hue further asserts that
he passed eight months at Gumbum {KoiDiboiun of Hue ; properly
sKii-bum, V. p. xxxiv. infra] ; but I saw many lamas who had resided in
that temple for thirty or forty years, and all solemnly assured me that
there had never been a foreigner amongst them. On the other hand,
in the Ala-shan country, the presence of two Frenchmen at Ninghia
twenty-five years ago was distinctly remembered.' (In Pr. R. G. S.,
xviii. 83.) It is to be recollected that Hue and Gabet were disguised
as lamas, and probably their real character was known to few.

And on the other hand, Prejevalsky himself (i. p. 135) mentions hav-
ing seen, at one of the R. С missions in Mongoha, Samdadehiemba,
the servant of Hue and Gabet, whom their readers remember as well as
we remember Sancho or Sam Weller. ' He is of mixed Mongol and
Tangutan race. He is fifty-five years of age, and enjoys excellent
health ; he related some of his adventures to us, and described the
different places on the road.' Here there is no insinuation that Sam-
dadchiemba's stories were inconsistent with Hue's. Mr. Ney Elias
was also acquainted with Samdadehiemba.

xiV INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

of their routes, how the representations of the ghb French
priest and the Russian soldier agree. Only Prejevalsky's
picture of the scene before him is a photograph, careful
in accuracy, but not displaying much power of selection as
to light or point of view; Hue's is the painting of a clever,
perhaps too clever, artist, but still coloured from nature.
Artist he is indeed, and as far as may be from science,
but, after reading Prejevalsky's narrative, I have felt, more
than ever before, the charm of Hue's vivacious touches ;
more than ever, because the perusal of the Russian work
convinced me that his pictures (I do not refer to the
braggadocio, probably imaginary, of his conduct before
Chinese officials) are true as well as clever. Who that has
read the book, — though probably the generations that have
risen since 1851, and that have had so much else to read
may not have read them, — who can forget that inimitable
picture of the yaks of the caravan, after fording the freezing
waters of the Pouhain-gol, staggering under the load of
icicles that depended from their shaggy flanks } ^ or that
other of the wild company of the same species, nipt by the
frost in swimming across the head-waters of the mighty
Yangtse, and there frozen hard in cold death, the whole
hairy herd of them .•' ^

^ ' Les boeufs h, longs poils ctaient de veritables caricatures ; impos-
sible de figurer rien de plus drole ; ils marchaient les jambes ecartees,
et portaient peniblement un enorme systeme de stalactites qui leur
pendaient sous le ventre jusqu'h. terre. Ces pauvres betes etaient si
informes et tellement recouvertes de glagons qii4l semblalt qii'ojt les
ait mis conjire dans du sucre candP (ii. 201).

^ ' Au moment 011 nous passames le Mouroui Oussou sur la glace,
un spectacle assez bizarre s'offrit h. nos yeux. Dcjh. nous avions re-
marque de loin, pendant que nous dtions au campement, des objels
informes et noiratres, ranges en file en travers de ce grand fleuve.
Nous avions beau nous rapprocher de ces ilots fantastiques, leur forme
ne se dessinait pas d'une maniere plus nette et plus claire. Ce fut
seulement quand nous fumes tout pr5s, que nous pumes reconnaitre
plus de 50 boiufs sauvages incrustes dans la glace. Ils avaient voulu,
sans doute, traverser le fleuve h. la nage, au moment de la concrdtion
des eaux, et ils s'ctaicnt trouvcs pris par les glagons, sans avoir la
force de s'en dcbarrasser, et de continuer leur route. Leur belle tctc,
surmontde de grandes cornes, dtait encore Ъ. ddcouvert ; mais le reste

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. xv

The specific charges which Prejevalsky brings against
Hue's narrative are the following : —

1. His description of the ford of the Pouhain-gol, a
river flowing into the Koko-nor Lake from the westward,
as an extremely difficult passage of a stream broken up
into twelve branches ; whereas it forms but a single stream
where the Lhassa road crosses it, and that only 105 feet
wide, with a depth of one or two feet. (See this work,
vol. ii. p. 158, and Hue, ii. p. 200.)

2. His entire omission to mention the high chain south
of the Koko-nor.

3. His depicting the Tgaidam country as an arid steppe,
whereas it is a salt-marsh, covered with high reeds.

4. His omitting to mention the Tsaidam river, though
it is twenty-two times as wide as the Pouhain-gol.

5. What he says regarding the gas on the Burkhan
Bota mountain ' is very doubtful,' says Col. Prejevalsky.

6. His representing the Shuga chain as very steep,
whereas its gradients would, even as they are, bear a rail-
way.

7. The chain of the Baian-kara-ula, 'about which Hue
relates marvellous stories,' is only a succession of low ele-
vations, never exceeding 1,000 feet above the plains that
lie to the north, and only a little steeper towards the
Murui-ussu. ' There is here no pass ' (i.e. I presume no
col to be crossed), * and the road follows a stream down to
the Murui-ussu.'

8. Hue speaks only oi crossing the Murui-ussu (or Upper
Yangtse), after passing the Baian Kara ; but the Lhassa
road lies along its banks the whole way up to its source in
the Tang-la mountains, a distance of some 200 miles.

Now, Nos. 4 and б are, as Mr. Ney Elias has already
pointed out, mistakes of Col. Prejevalsky 's own. Hue
docs mention the Tsaidam river; he does not represent

du corps etait pris dans la glace, qui dtait si transparente, qu'on
pouvait distinguer facilement la position de ces imprudentes betes ;
on eut dit qu'elles etaient encore к nager. Les aigles, et les corbeaux
leur avaient arrache les yeux' (ii. 219).

xvi INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

the Shuga range as very steep : ' Le mont Chuga etai't pen
escarpe du cote que nous gravissions ' (ii. 213). The great
trouble in passing it was owing to a strong icy wind and
deep drifts of snow, in which they had to pitch their tent
and dig for argols.

As regards No. 7 I can find in Hue no marvellous
stories. He speaks, indeed, of the terrors of avalanches,
though probably meaning only the perils of snow-drifts.
The snow lay very deep when he passed, and it is conceiv-
able, pace Col. Prejevalsky, that the course of a ravine may
not have been the path adopted under such circumstances.

As regards No. 8 there is nothing I think in Hue abso-
lutely inconsistent with his having followed up the great
river after crossing it. But Prejevalsky himself is, according
to his countryman Palladius, not quite correct in saying
that the road in question follows the river to its source.
And moreover there are three roads on towards Lhassa from
the point where the river is crossed.'

In cases i and 2 it is probable that Hue was filling up
a mere skeleton diary from memory, and the experience of
many will recognise that in such a process natural features
will sometimes exchange characteristics in the recollection.
This has, possibly, been the case with the Pouhain-gol and
the Tsaidam river in Hue's narrative ; whilst it is by no
means made certain that there are not routes, more or less
diverse, and parallel to one another, which are adopted
according to circumstances.^ Altogether Col. Prejevalsky s
criticisms are a little too much in the vein of Hue's
countryman : Je nc crois pas atix tigrcs, moi, parceque je
lien ai pas vii !'

As for No. 5, 'the gas on the Burkhan Bota,' it is absurd
to make even the suggestion of bad faith in regard to this ;

' I derive these particulars from a Chinese Itinerary piibhshcd by
Father Palladius in Russian, and kindly translated for me by Mr.
Morgan.

- Hue, after quitting the shores of Koko-nor, travelled for six days
to the westward, with very little southing, before reaching the Pouhain-
gol. This indicates quite a different part of the river from that crossed
by Col. Prejevalsky close to the lake.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. xvii

it is only an instance of Hue's exceeding ignorance of
nature, with all his cleverness. The passage is so curious
in this light as to be worth quotation. At the foot of the
mountain he says : —

' The whole caravan halted awhile, as if to question its
own strength, . . A subtle and light gas was anxiously in-
dicated, which they called pestilential vapour, and all the
world seemed to be downcast and discouraged. After
having taken the prophylactics which tradition enjoins, and
which consist in munching two or three cloves of garlick, at
last we began to clamber up the flanks of the mountain.
Soon the horses refused to carry their riders ; we began to
go afoot with short steps ; insensibly all faces grew pale ;
the action of the heart was felt to be waning ; the legs would
no longer do their duty ; presently we lay down, got up,
and made a few steps in advance, then lay down again ;
and in this deplorable fashion it was that the famous
Burkhan Bota was crossed.'

All this is a vigorous description of the occasional
effects of rarefied atmosphere on a person using bodily
exertion. The very phrase used, les vapeiirs pcstilentielles,
is a translation of the term Bisk ka hawa, or ' poison-air,'
by which the pains of attenuated atmosphere are indicated
on the Indian side of the Himalya. Even the cloves of
garlick, mentioned by Hue, are the ancient Asiatic antidote
used in such circumstances. Benedict Goes, in describing
the passage of Pamir, speaks of the custom of using garlick,
leeks, and dried fruits as ' an antidote to the cold,' which
was so severe that animals could scarcely breathe it. Faiz
Bakhsh and the Mirza both mention the use of dried fruits ;
and Mr. Matthew Arnold refers to a variety of the same, I
have no doubt with good authority.^

^ ' But as a troop of pedlars, from Cabool,
Cross underneath the Indian Caucasus,
That vast sky-neighbouring mountain of milk-snow ;
Winding so high, that, as they mount, they pass
Long flocks of travelling birds dead on the snow,
Chok'd by the air, and scarce can they themselves
VOL. L a

xviii INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

But then Hue goes on to talk foolishness about ' the
carbonic acid gas Avhich we know is heavier than atmosphe-
ric air ' — and so forth, and to tell how this carbonic acid
gas caused a difficulty about lighting a fire. Marco Polo
mentions the latter fact, but, belonging to the pre-scientific
age, he attributes it to the great cold.^

In a Chinese Itinerary through Tangut and Tibet,
already cited, I find a perfect explanation of Hue's strange
talk. At a great many stations on both sides of the
Murui-ussu (or Upper Yangtse), it is noted that there are
' noxious vapours ' at the camping-ground ; so no doubt
Hue merely accepted and embellished the phrase of his
travelling companions.

A more amusing illustration of this notion is given in
Dr. Bellew's recent book, ' Kashmir and Kashgar,' where
an Afghan follower, to whom he had given chlorate of
potash, says : ' Yes ! I'll take this, and please God it will

Slake their parch'd throats with sugar'd mulberries —
In single file they move.' . . .

Sohrab and Rustutn.

The authority for the ' sugar'd mulberries ' is, as Mr. Arnold him-
self has kindly informed me, Alex. Burnes. It is a pity that this vivid
and accurate picture is a little marred to an Anglo-Indian ear by the
misplaced accent of Kabul (as it ought to be). It was told characteris-
tically of the late Lord Ellenborough that, after his arrival in India,
though for months he heard the name correctly spoken by his coun-
cillors and his staff, he persisted in calling it Cabool till he met
Dost Mahommed Khan. After the interview the Governor-General
announced as a new discovery, from the Amir's pronunciation, that
Cabul was the correct form.

^ Another medieval antidote to the effects of attenuated atmo-
sphere at great heights seems to have been the application of a лvet
sponge to the mouth. It is mentioned by Sir John Maundevile in
speaking of Mount Athos ; and by a contemporary of his, John de'
MarignoUi, in reference to a lofty mountain in 'Saba,' probably Java.'
His accuracy of expression is remarkable : ' From the middle of the
mountain upwards the air is said to be so thin and pure that none, or
at least very few, have been able to ascend it, and that only by keep-
ing a sponge filled with water over the mouth.' Drs. Henderson and
Bcllew, in crossing the high plateau to Kashgar, found chlorate of
potash to be of great value in mitigating the symptoms of distress.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. xix

cure me. But this dam is a poisonous air, and rises out of
the ground everywhere. If you walk ten paces it makes
you sick, and if you picket your horse on it, it spurts from
the hole you drive your peg into, and knocks you senseless
at his heels.'

Hue, whatever his cleverness as a painter of striking
scenes, was not only Avithout science, but without that geo-
graphical sense which sometimes enables a traveller to
bring back valuable contributions to geographical know-
ledge, even when without the means of making instrumen-
tal observations.

A succession of political events during the last twenty
years has greatly changed the state of things in Upper
Asia, and has tended to the rapid widening of geographical
knowledge. The chief of these events have been the revolt
of the Mahommedan subjects of China in Eastern Turkes-
tan and Dzungaria, followed by the advance of Russian
authority into the basin of Hi, and by our own communi-
cations with the new authorities in the Kashgar Basin ; the
results of war with China in the establishment of Euro-
peans at Peking, and the gradual abatement of the barriers
that excluded them from the exploration of the interior
provinces of China Proper ; and, lastly, the rapid spread of
Russian power over Western Turkestan.

The journey of the unfortunate Adolphus Schlagintweit
to Kashgar, where he was barbarously murdered in 1857,
was the first achieved from the Indian side.

In the last twelve years Col. Montgomerie has been
indefatigable in his organisation of expeditions into the
Unknown region by trained Pundits. First Yarkand
was reached ; then Lhassa ; and a variety of other geo-
graphic raids were made upon Tibetan territory by this
kind of scientific light-horse. But much as they have done
to fill up blanks upon our maps, and to amend their accu-
racy, it is impossible for us to regard these vicarious
achievements with the same satisfaction that Ave derive
from geography conquered by the daring and toil of Euro-

a 2

XX INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. '

pean travellers of the old stamp. These, however, have
not been lacking either on the Russian side or on our own,
nor, as we shall see, have France and Germany failed to
contribute to the series of modern explorations in High
Asia. Shaw and Hayward and Johnson were the pioneers
of British exploration in Eastern Turkestan ; and these
have been followed by the less perilous journeys of Sir D.
Forsyth and his companions, by the ride of the latter
across Pamir, and by their success in connecting, at least by
preliminary survey, our own scientific frontier with that of
Russia. Cooper's two daring attempts to traverse the for-
midable barriers which- man, even more than nature, has
set between India and China, are hardly within the field
that we are contemplating

Since 1865-66 Armand David, like Hue and Gabet a
Lazarist priest, but very unlike them in his zeal for natural
science, has made a variety of adventurous journeys within
the eastern borders of this little-known region. On one of
these expeditions (1866) he devoted ten months to the
study of the natural history of the Mongolian plateau in
the vicinity and to the westward of Kwei-hwa-cheng or
Kuku Khoto. In 1868 he visited the province of Szech-
wan, and advanced into the independent and hitherto
entirely unknown Tibetan highlands on its NVV. frontier,
and thence into the eastern part of the Koko-nor territory.
On this and previous journeys he claims to have discovered
forty new species of mammals, and more than fifty of birds.
Among the former are two new monkeys, living in very
cold forest regions of the hill country just mentioned, and
a new white bear. There has as yet been no publication
in extcnsu of the journeys of this ardent and meritorious
traveller.

Baron Richthofen, whose explorations of China have
been at once the most extensive and the most scientific
of our age, has traversed only a small part of the Mon-
golian plateau ; but from his remarkable power of appre-
hending, and of indicating in a few words, the most cha-
racteristic features of structure and geography, he has

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. xxi

thrown more light on the physical character of the region,
so far as he saw it, than any other traveller.

Our countryman, Mr. Ney Elias, who has shown a
remarkable combination of a traveller's best gifts with sin-
gular modesty in their display, has carried a new line of
observations along the vast diagonal of Mongolia from
the Gate at Kalgan to the Russian frontier on the Altai,
through Uliassutai and Kobdo, a distance of upwards of
2,000 miles. To him these remarks are often indebted.

Dr. Bushell and Mr. Grosvenor have also passed the
Wall at Kalgan to visit Dolon-nor, and Shangtu, the deso-
late site of the summer-palace of the great KublaT.

We cannot attempt to recall even the chief names in
the history of exploration from the Russian side, though I
should be loath to leave unspecified the successful journey
of that accomplished couple, Alexis and Olga Fedchenko,
to the Alai Steppe, which is in fact a northern analogue of
Pamir, separated from the southern plateaux, so called, by
the mighty chain to which Fedclienko gave the name of
Trans-Alai, the Kizil-yurt of our own Anglo-Indian tra-
vellers. But of all modern Russian incursions on the tracts
that we have designated as the Unknown, Lieut.-Col.
Prejevalsky's has been the boldest, the most persevering,
and the most extensive.

The scene of his explorations was that plateau of
Mongolia of which we have so often spoken, and that
region which rises so far above it, the terraced plains, and
lofty deserts of Northern Tibet, which spread out at a
level equal to that of the highest summits of the Bernese
Oberland, whilst the ranges which buttress the steps of the
ascent rise considerably higher.

Captain (now Lieut.-Col.) Prejevalsky was already
known as an able explorer, when, in 1870, he was deputed
by the Imperial Geographical Society of St. Petersburg,
under the sanction of the War Department, to conduct an
exploration into Southern Mongolia. With his companion
he left Kiakhta on November 29, 1870, for Peking, where
they remained till the spring.

xxii INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

The time was unfavourable for such a journey as
was proposed ; for the Mahommedan rebellion in NW.
China and the adjoining regions was in full blaze.
Singanfu, the capital of Shensi, and famous capital of
China in ancient times, had in the spring of 1870 been in-
vested, and an invasion of Shansi, perhaps of Pechihli itself,
had only just been barred by a timely check of the rebels
at Tung-kwan, on the great south-west elbow of the Yel-
low River, a point often, and in all ages of Chinese history,
the key of important campaigns. About midsummer the
strong frontier town of Kuku Khoto (or Kwei-hwa-cheng),
in the border-land north of the Great Wall, was entirely
blockaded from the side of Mongolia, whilst raids were
frequently made into its suburbs. In October Uliassutai
had been attacked, and the open part of the town burnt,
and so greatly were the Chinese alarmed for Urga itself
that they allowed it to be protected by a Russian garrison.
Prejevalsky himself does not (in this work at least) state
these sufficient reasons for delaying his expedition ; he
rather seems to leave us to infer that the delay Avas part of
the programme ; but we borrow the details from a notice
by Mr. Ney Elias, who was himself in North China and cog-
nisant of the circumstances. ^

It was impracticable, however, in such a state of things
to carry out the journey projected, and in the meantime
Colonel Prejevalsky determined on undertaking a pre-
liminary and experimental journey to the busy town of
Dolon-nor and the salt lake of Dalai-nor in Eastern Mon-
golia, Returning to Kalgan, he reorganised his little cara-
van, and on May 1 5 again ascended the Mongol table-land,
and travelled westward parallel to its southern margin, and
through the Tumet country,^ till they struck the western

' Pro. R. Geog. Soc, vol. xviii. p. 76.

^ Regarding this country of the Tumet, Mr. Ney Elias affords an

interesting anecdote : — ' While at Tientsin last spring, one J

G , a tide-waiter in the Customs service, and formerly a sailor,

told me that every winter, when the river was closed by ice, he Avas in
the habit of going on a shooting excursion into Mongolia, beyond the
Kou-pc-Ko pass, " but last winter," he coolly added, " I went to

1

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. xxiii

extremity of the Inshan mountains on the northern bank
of the Hoang-ho. Thence they descended to Bautu, on
the left bank of the river, and crossed into the dreary
plains of the Ordos.

Their course lay now for nearly 300 miles Avestward,
and parallel to the southern bank of the river, where it
forms that great northern bend, familiar to all who have
been in the habit of consulting maps of China. In all our
maps the river is here represented as forming a variety of
branches, but the main stream as constituting the most
northerly of these. This bed still remains, but the river
now flows in the most southerly of the channels, some
thirty or forty miles farther south than it did in former
times.

At the town of Ding-hu (called on former maps by the
Mongol name Chaghan-subar-khan), the travellers crossed
to the left bank of the Yellow River, and here they were in
the province of Ala-shan, of which we have from Prejevalsky
for the first time some distinct account. It forms a part of

Tibet." This assertion somewhat surprised me, and led to a cross-
examination, by means of which I elicited, among other matters re-
lating to his excursion, the following : — He had passed the Great Wall
at Kalgan, and had ridden a seven or eight days' journey towards
the west, when he arrived in a mountainous country, w^here there
were yaks. He had " read in books " that yaks were found in Tibet.
The natives called the country Tibet, and so did his Chinese cox-
swain, who accompanied him. The people were " something like the
Mongols," but spoke differently. Thinkmg he was mixing up his
reading and experience for my special benefit and instruction, I left
him, and thought no more of his story until some two months after-
wards, at Kwei-hwa-cheng, 1 remarked that the Chinese pronounced
the name of the Mongol tribe in that district Ti'miet or Timet, instead

of Toumet, and the truth of G 's story at once flashed across my

mind . . . and that he saw yaks there I have not the slightest
doubt, for I have seen them in the same neighbourhood ....
though of course not indigenous, as he apparently supposed.

' Having read of Tibet, and never having either read or heard of the
Toumet Mongols, he easily picked up the Chinese pronunciation of the
latter, and confusing the m and the b, told a story that would have
earned for a preaching friar of the fourteenth century some very hard
names.' — {Letter dated Sept. 29, 1873.)

xxiv INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

Marco Polo's Tangut, and probably a part, at least, of Ala-
shan is identical with his district of Egrigaia, of which the
chief town was called CalasJian.

Twelve days' journey to the south-east brought the
party to Din-yuan-ing (Wei-ching-pu of maps), the present
capital of the principality, where they were well received by
the Prince and his family, who has a deep impression of
the greatness of the White Khan, i.e. of the Czar. This
reception Col. Prejevalsky notes as the only hospitable
welcome that they had met with ; and he hardly records
any recurrence of the like.

From this place they made an excursion into the
mountainous region of Ala-shan, which rises boldly from
the valley of the Hoang-ho ; its highest summit, which they
visited, reaching to 10,650 feet above the sea.

These wooded mountains afforded the traveller ample
booty in his especial pursuit as a sportsman and zoologist.
On returning from their excursion to the capital of Ala-
shan, they found their means all but exhausted, and were
compelled reluctantly to turn their faces Peking-wards ;
on this journey keeping entirely to the left bank of the
river, and of its old deserted bed, and following in great
part, I have no doubt, the route of Marco Polo on his first
approach to the Court of the Great Khan.

Prejevalsky, benefiting by the experience acquired on
these journeys, employed himself for two months in pre-
paring for a third expedition ; and himself acquiring at the
same time, by practice at the Russian Observatory, some
acquaintance with practical astronomy. A third start from
Kalgan was made in March 1872.

They reached Din-yuan-ing on May 26, and some
days later having joined a Chinese caravan travelled with it
through Kansuh to the Lama monastery of Chobsen, about
forty miles north of Sining-fu, a month's journey in all.
From this point the Russians diverged to the mountains
bordering on the Tatung river for the sake of collections in
natural history ; and these \vere very abundant, affording
46 new species of birds, 10 species of mammalia, and 431

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. xxv

plants. They also investigated (^e I'isu, for the first time
it is believed in modern days, the famous rhubarb plant in
its native region. With a view to its cultivation in Russian
territory, a quantity of seed was collected.

The traveller had, even at this point, become sensible
that his means were inadequate to carry the party to Lhassa,
and had, with a sore heart, to accept the inevitable. But
he determined not the less to explore the basin of the
great lake Koko-nor, and the Tsaidam region to the SW.
of it.

At this time Sining-fu, Tatung, and Suhchau were in
the hands of the Tungani or Chinese Mahommedan insur-
gents. Kanchau and Lanchau, with several other cities,
were held by the Imperialists. The whole country between
the two parties was continually scoured by bands of free-
booters, who carried on their devastations beneath the very
noses of the Chinese troops.

The fame of the rifles and skill of the Russians kept
the Tungani from all attempts to meddle with them ; and
on September 23 they left Chobsen for the Koko-nor,
passing right across the country haunted by the rebels. On
the march they came on a large body of Tungani, but by
putting a bold face on the encounter the little body of
Russians utterly discomfited the robbers, луЬо turned tail
and fled ignominiously. At last on October 14 they
arrived in the basin of the Koko-nor, and pitched their
tents on its shores, at some 10,000 feet above the sea. The
steppe here is fertile and well peopled with both men and
cattle. The people are both Mongol and Tangiitans, re-
specting whom a few words will be found in the Supple-
mentary Notes to Volume II.

After purchasing some camels there remained but some
forty pounds in pocket. But sure of maintenance from their
guns, Prejevalsky resolved to push on.

A high range of mountains was crossed in quitting the
basin of the lake ; and the travellers then entered the
region of Tsaidam, which he describes as a vast salt-marsh,
covered with reeds, as if recently the bed of a great lake.

xxvi INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

This marshy hollow is said by the Chinese to stretch W,
and N. to Lake Lob. Here a sore temptation presented
itself to Prejevalsky, as at once traveller, zoologist, and
sportsman, to diverge to the westward for a new species of
game, — the Wild Camel.

This is a somewhat interesting subject ; for disbelief in
the existence of the Wild Camel has been strongly expressed,
— and indeed not long since by one of the greatest of
scholars as well as geographical authorities on Central Asia.
It is worth while, therefore, to observe that its existence by
no means rests on the rumour heard by Prejevalsky. There
is much other evidence ; none of it, perhaps, very strong
taken alone, but altogether forming a body of testimony
which I have long regarded, even without recent additions,
as irresistible.

The following are the testimonies of which I have re-
tained memoranda, but I believe there are several others in
existence : —

L Shah Rukh's ambassadors to China (A.D. 1420) mid-
way in the Great Desert between Kamul and Shachau, or
thereabouts, fell in with a wild camel.* — П. The Persian
geography called Haft Iklini ('The Seven Climates'),
probably quoting from Haidar Razi, says of the Desert
of Lob : ' This Desert contains wild camels, which are
hunted.' ^ — in. In Duhalde we find the following from
Chinese sources : ' Both wild and tame camels are found
in the countries bordering on the north of China ... at
present wild camels are only to be met with in the countries
north-west of China.' ^ — IV. In the Journal of the * As. Soc.
of Bengal,' ix. 623, I see that Sir Proby Cautley quotes
Pallas as arguing, on Tartar evidence, that the wild camel
is found in Central Asia. Cuvier ascribes this to the
Buddhist custom of giving liberty to domestic animals.
This may have been the origin of the breed, as of the wild
horses of S. America and Queensland. But we see above

' See Cathay and the Way Thither, i. cc.
"^ Notices ct Extraits, Sec, xiv. pt. i. 474.
' English folio cd. ii. 225.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. xxvii

that they have been known for at least 450 years. — V. 'Izzat
Ullah, who travelled as a ' Pundit ' in the employment
of Moorcroft, mentions that Khotan is said to abound in wild
asses, wild camels, cattle, and musk-deer.^ —VI. Mr. R, Shaw,
in his * High Tartary ' : ' The Yoozbashee says they (lyre-
horned antelopes), go in large herds, as do also wild
camels (J) in the great desert eastward ' (p. 168). — VII. Sir
Douglas Forsyth, in a letter which he wrote to me from
Shahidullah, on his last mission to Kashgar, mentioned that
the officer who met them there had shot the wild camel in
the Desert of Turfan. It was a good deal smaller than the
tame camel. — VIII. The same gentleman in the printed
report of his mission gives more detailed evidence, appa-
rently from another native informant, which I quote below.^
IX. Mr. Ney Elias also received strong and repeated evi-
dence of the existence of wild camels north of the Thian
Shan ' from intelligent Chinese travellers, as well as from the
native Mongols . . . Many of the former, who declared they
had seen these animals between Kobdo and Hi, Uliassutai
and Kuchen, I questioned as to their being really wild, or
having become so subsequent to domestication ; but the
answers were always emphatically that they had never
been tame .... Moreover, the wild camels were always

1 y. R. As. Soc, vii. 319.

2 * The wild animals of Lob are the wild camel. ... I have
seen one which Avas killed. . . . It is a small animal, not much
bigger than a horse, and has two humps. It is not like a tame camel ;
its limbs are very thin, and it is altogether slim built, I have seen
them in the desert together with herds of wild horses. They are
not timid, and do not run away at the sight of a man. They do nothing
unless attacked ; they then run away, or else they turn and attack the
huntsman ; they are very fierce, and swift in their action as an arrow
shot from the bow ; they kill by biting and trampling under foot, and
they kick too like a cow. They are hunted for the sake of their wool,
which is very highly prized, and sold to the Turfan merchants.' — Rep.
OH Mission to Yarkand in 1873, p. 53.

The word applied to the wild horse mentioned here is Kulan,
which is the Turki name of the Tibetan Kya?ig, more properly a
species of wild ass. This e'quivoqiie is probably at the bottom of the
many mentions of wild horses ; but I would not say so positively.

xxviii INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

described to me as smaller in size and much darker in
colour than tame ones,'' — X. Dr. Bellew says: 'The
deserts on the east of this territory, in the vicinity of Lob
.... are the home of the wild camel. It is still, as of
old, hunted there, and is described as a very vicious and
fleet animal, and of small size, not much larger than a
large horse. A Kirghiz shepherd, who had resided for
some years at Lob, told me that he had frequently seen
them at graze, and had himself joined in many hunting
expeditions against them for the sake of their wool, which
is very highly prized for the manufacture of a superior
kind of camlet.'^ — XI. The Russian Father Hyacinthe, in
his memoirs on Mongolia, speaking of Middle Mongolia,
says that there are found wild camels, wild mules, wild
asses, wild horses, and wild goats, especially on the more
westerly steppes.^ — XII. Captain Valikhanoff says that
Chinese works very often speak of wild camel hunts, which
formed one of the amusements of the rulers of the cities of
Eastern Turkestan in past ages, though he could not get
information regarding the animals."* — XIII. Several ad-
ditional testimonies will be found cited by Ritter (iii. 341,

342).'

We have indulged in that digression after wild camels,
which Prejevalsky denied himself. He passed on into the
lofty and uninhabited desert of Northern Tibet, which
extends for a width in latitude of some 500 miles, at an
altitude of 14,000 to 15,000 feet above the sea, and reached

* Proc. R. Geog. Soc, xviii. 80.

2 Kashmir and Kashgar, p. 348.

^ Denkwiirdigkeiten tiber die Mongolei, p. no.

* Russians in Central Asia, p. 141.

^ Ritter (ii. 241), speaking of the ancient Turks of the Gobi, says ;
— ' Their prisoners of war were compelled, like the Roman prisoners
among the Germans, to act as their herdsmen. Sheep, oxen, asses,
horses, and camels constituted their wealth. These -last have also
existed in those tracts yr^w the inost ancient times in a mild state, so
that we must believe this to be their natural habitat, and in all proba-
bility they were first tamed by the Turk nomads.' I cannot find that
Ritter has authority for the words which I have italicised ; perhaps
they only represent his own impression.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. xxix

the upper stream of the Great Yangtse, known there to
the Mongols as the Murui-ussu or Winding Water. In
this region, uninhabited by man, wild animals abound ;
wolves, argali or wild sheep, antelopes of various sorts, and
above all the wild yak, are found in vast numbers. These
last our traveller estimates to exist in millions ; strange, if
it be true, that such a vast amount of flesh can derive
nourishment and growth from those bleak and scanty
pastures. For the individual animal also is of enormous
bulk, an old male reaching to a weight of i, 600 lbs.,
measuring six feet to the hump, and eleven feet in length
without the tail.

Their guns thus provided them with animal food in
abundance, supplemented only with barley-meal and brick-
tea. But their camels were utterly worn out and their
funds exhausted, and thus Avithin less than a month's jour-
ney of Lhassa they were compelled, with bitter regret, to
turn their backs on that almost unvisited city. And the
same causes compelled the travellers to leave unattempted
an expedition to the mysterious Lob-nor, though the way
was open, and a guide procurable. '

Retracing their steps over the plains of Tsaidam and
the Koko-nor, they again devoted some weeks of spring to
extending their zoological collections in the moist region of
the Kansuh mountains; and then, after much toil and suffer-
ing in crossing the desert tract of Ala-shan, they again
reached Din-yuan-ing, where their pockets, not too soon,
were replenished by a remittance from General Vlangali,
at Peking. So wprn and ragged were they, that as they
entered the town the Mongols bestowed on them what
Prejevalsky evidently regards as one of the most oppro-
brious of epithets ; they called them ' the very image of
Mongols ' !

Whilst sending out their camels for three weeks' graz-
ing, they renewed their zoological explorations of the

^ The true position of this lake, as well as its character, is very
doubtful. See remarks in Marco Polo (2nd cd. i. 204), and by Mr. Ney
Ellas in the Proc. R. Geo^. Soc. xviii. 83.

XXX INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

adjoining mountain region ; and then started on a journey
never before attempted by any European, the direct route
from Ala-shan across the Gobi to Urga.

This arduous journey had to be accomplished in the
height of summer, and occupied from July 26 to Septem-
ber 17. 'This desert,' the author says, speaking of the
depressed basin on their route called the Galpin Gobi
(3,200 feet), ' is so terrible that in comparison with it the
deserts of Northern Tibet may be called fruitful. There, at
all events, you may often find water and good pasture-land
in the valleys ; here there is neither the one nor the other,
not even a single oasis ; everywhere the silence of the
Valley of Death.' Finally, after a week's repose at Urga,
the travellers re-entered their country's frontier at Kiakhta,
on October I, 1873.

Their toil had extended over three years, during which
they had travelled upwards of 7,000 miles, of which they
had laid down about half in routes surveyed for the first
time, and accompanied by very numerous observations for
altitude by the aneroid first, and afterwards by boiling
point. The route surveys were checked by eighteen de-
terminations of latitude ; and a meteorological record
was kept throughout the journey. The plants collected
amounted to 5,000 specimens, representing upwards of 500
species, of which a fifth are new. But especially impor-
tant \vas the booty in zoology, which is Prejevalsky's own
specialty, for this included '^^'j large and 90 smaller mammals,
1,000 specimens of birds, embracing 300 species, 80 speci-
mens of reptiles and fish, and 3,500 of insects. The journey
and its acquisitions form a remarkable example of resolu-
tion and persistence amid long-continued toil, hardship, and
difficulty of every kind, of which Russia may well be proud.

A defect in the constitution of the expedition which
forces itself on the observation of a reader was evidently
the want, not only of any sufficient knowledge of the lan-
guages in use, but of any competent interpreter, — indeed,
on a large part of the journey,' it would seem, of anyone

' See vol. ii. p. 1 1 1.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. xxxi

whatever worthy to be called an interpreter, — combined, as
Mr. Elias has remarked, with a ' general inexperience of
Chinese human nature.' The traveller himself is inclined
to indulge somewhat strongly in contemptuous and inimical
judgments of the people among whom he found himself;
but this very contempt and hostility, with its sure reaction
in ill-will from the other side, was certain to be aggravated
by the difficulties of communication. The absence also, of
a good interpreter renders it necessary to reject or doubt a
good many of Col. Prejevalsky's interpretations of names.

Before closing these remarks it may be well to notice
one or two points on which comment may be made more
conveniently here than in the Notes appended to these two
volumes.

One of the most novel and remarkable circumstances
that come out in this narrative is the existence of an in-
tensely moist mountain region in Kansu, to the north of
the Hoang-ho, and on the immediate east of Koko-nor,
This tract ^ constitutes there what Prejevalsky calls the
* marginal range,' a feature everywhere characteristic of the
plateau of Mongolia, i.e. a belt of mountain following and
forming the rim of the plateau and the descent from it,
but also rising considerably above the level of the plateau
itself In this range, after a short and easy ascent from
the side of the table-land, at a distance of only twenty-
seven miles from the arid desert of Ala-shan, the travellers
found themselves on a fertile soil, abounding in water,
where rich grass clothed the valleys, dense forests darkened
the steep slopes of the mountains, and animal life appeared
in great abundance and variety.^ The rains, during their
stay of some weeks in these mountains, in June and July,
луеге incessant, and the humidity in their tents excessive.
The facts are not very clearly brought out in the narra-
tive, and the scientific records of the journey have not yet

^ See vol. ii. ch. iii.

'^ Here Col. Prejevalsky was able to study the real rhubarb plant on
its native soil,— the first European who had seen it there, I beheve,
since Marco Polo.

xxxii INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

been published. But we are told (ii. 102) that the most
southerly chain of these mountains, viz. that which rises
directly from the plain of Sining-fu, is without forest, at
least on its southern slopes, and its alpine zone almost
without a flora, — expressions which seem to indicate the
humid and fertile mountain region as isolated between two
arid tracts. Our information as to the mountain regions
■ still further south is very scanty indeed ; but the brief
account of Pere Armand David's visit to the highlands on
the south-east of the Koko-nor region, and nearly in the
same meridian as that of which we have been speaking,
describes a similar, but even moister climate. ' The at-
mosphere was so charged with moisture that it sufficed to
precipitate this in rain, if several men joined in making a
loud noise and firing off their guns.' • The mountains were
perpetually clothed in mist, which favoured the growth of
conifers and rhododendrons ; of the last no less than six-
teen species were collected. Further south, again, on the
same meridian, we have Mr. Cooper's account of his
journey from Ching-tu-fu into Eastern Tibet ; and here also
we have a picture of heavy rains between July and Sep-
tember (see pp. 219, 367, 395). We are here approaching
the Irawadi valley and the mountains that bound Bengal
on the east, where the summer rain is so heavy and regular.
So that these Kansuh Alps, with their heavy rains and
abundant vegetation, seem to fall within the north-western
limit of a vast area over which the heavy summer rains,
which in India accompany what we call the south-west
monsoon, are the rule, presenting so strong a contrast to
the dry summers and wet winters of the sub-tropical zone
of Europe.' ^

Another subject which seems to require notice here
consists of those characteristics of Tibetan Buddhism to
which allusions frequently occur in Prejevalsky's narrative,

' Bull, de la Soc. Geog. for 187 1, pt. i., p. 465.

^ Indeed, it would seem, of the western shores of both continents.
The area affected by these summer monsoons, or sea-winds precipi-
tating moisture, appears to embrace Manchuria, the coast of the Gulf
of Okhotsk, and the Amur region up to the Baikal. (See Dr. Wojeikofif,
in Pfh-n/iann's MitthciliDigcn for 1870.)

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. xxxiii

especially that of the so-called * incarnate Buddhas.' Preje-
valsky's allusions to the subject are somewhat crude and
loose, insomuch that, hard matter as it is to grasp, and
especially to put briefly, I must make the attempt, by aid
of Koeppen's admirable book.

' Lamaism,' says Koeppen, ' is the Romanism of the
Buddhist Church. The thorough-going development of
the priestly power, both in itself and in its relations to-
wards the laity, and, closely bound up with that, the
erection of an outward, visible, and sovereign Church
and ecclesiastical State, exercising rule over people and
provinces ; — these form the essential character by which
Romanism is distinguished from the older Christianity,
and by which Lamaism is distinguished from the old
Buddhism of India. Wherever these have in other respects
departed from the earlier forms, whether in religious prac-
tice, in discipline, or in worship, these departures have
been, in the one case as in the other, but as means to
an end.'

The similarities between Lamaism and Roman Catho-
licism, moreover, extend so far beyond general character-
istics of this kind, run into so many particulars, are often
so striking, and sometimes so grotesque, that they have
been contemplated with some dismay and perplexity by
zealous missionaries of the Roman Church, from the Middle
Ages downwards to our own. Indeed, it has been alleged,
— but, be it said, it is an allegation which I have en-
deavoured to verify without success, — that Pere Hue him-
self, who had noted some of the superficial resemblances
with his usual neatness of expression, was, on his return to
Europe, astonished to find his book in consequence regis-
tered in the Index ProJiibitornm of an ungrateful Congre-
gation.

The details of resemblance between those peculiari-
ties of Roman Catholicism which seem to persons out-
side of its pale to have so little in common with the
spirit of the New Testament, and the peculiarities of this
other system, which, perhaps under analogous influences,
VOL. I. b

xxxiv IXTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

has deviated so far from the original form of Sakya's
doctrine, would be worthy of more careful study than they
have yet received. And this study might, possibly, suggest
wholesome considerations to some Avell-meaning persons
among our countrymen j"ust now.

In its older forms Lamaism was a kind of Buddhism
corrupted, on the one hand by the aboriginal Shamanism,
and on the other hand by Sivaite magic and mysticism.
It also allowed, at least in certain cases, of the marriage
of priests, under varying conditions and limitations, kin-
dred to those which strictly belonged to the character of
the pure Brahman. Thus, certain of the hierarchy were
allowed to live in the married state until an heir was born ;
others until the son also had an heir. And the sacred
dignities were thus often hereditary in the literal sense.

In the middle of the fourteenth century arose the great
reformer of Lamaism in the person of Tsongkaba, born in
the province of Amdo, at the spot now marked with con-
sequent sanctity by the great monastery of Kunbum.'
Tsongkaba was a reformer, manifestly, not in the spirit of
Luther or Calvin, but rather in that of Francis or Dominic ;
but we are not in a position to indicate very clearly the
scope of his reforms. He did, however, evidently make
some considerable effort to revert to the original practices
of Buddhism. And the most visible and external of his
reforms, the substitution of the yellow cap and robe for the
red which had characterized the older Lamas, was an in-
stance of this. Such also was the more important mea-
sure of recalling the priesthood to a strict and universal
profession of celibacy. The old Indian Buddhism did
recognise wedded persons under certain secondary vows as
lay brothers and lay sisters, but knew no such persons as
married sramanas, or full members of the Church. Tsong-
kaba also greatly checked, or strove to check, the inter-
vention of magical practices among the faithful. These
were excessively prevalent among the older Lamas, — as,

^ sKu-b/a/i (pronounced Ku-bum, or K'lai-bmn), 'the 100,000
images/ some thirty or forty miles south of Sining.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. xxxv

indeed, we may see from Marco Polo's repeated allusions to
the diabolical arts of the sorcerer Bakshis of Tebet and
Keshenmr. The reform did not, apparently, prohibit all
magic, but only its grosser arts, distinguishing, as Koeppen
felicitously expresses it, between white magic and black ;
forbidding necromantic incantations, with regular sorcery
and witch-broth-cookery, as well as vulgar tricks like fire-
breathing, knife-swallowing, and the pretended amputation
of the limbs, — or even the head, — of the performer by his
own hand. These were all pet practices of the old red un-
reformed Lamas, and still remain so. Tsongkaba's reform
had great swing, and has long been predominant in num-
bers and power.

He was, of course, canonized among his followers, and
is generally regarded as having been an incarnation of the
Dhyani Buddha ^ of the present world-period, Amitabha,
though sometimes also of the Bodhisatvas, — or Buddhas
designate, — Manjusri and Vajrapani. His image is found
in all the temples of his Yellow Church, often between
those of its two Pontiffs, the Dalai Lama of Lhassa, and
the Lama Panchhan Rinbochhi of Tashilunpo.

The reforms of Tsongkaba led to, or at least culmi-
nated in, a new development of Lama doctrine and order ;
from one point of view, in the establishment of a regular
papacy, — though dual or bicephalous ; from another point
of view, in that of a peculiar system of succession such as
has, probably, no parallel on earth.

Thus there exist since his time two chief prelates and
pontiffs of the Yellow Church, exercising both spiritual and
temporal power, — two popes, in fact, each within his own
dominion ; the one at Lhassa, the Dalai Lama, as he is best

' The Dhyani Buddhas (or Buddhas of contemplation) belong to
the complex subtleties of northern Buddhism. The human Buddha
performing his work upon the earth has a celestial reflexion, or repre-
sentative, in the world of forms, who is a Dliythii Buddha. A Bodhi-
satva is one who has fulfilled all the conditions necessary to the
attainment of Buddahood (and its consequent Nirvana), but from
charity continues voluntarily subject to reincorporation for the benefit
of mankind.

b 2

xxxvi INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

known to us, by a Mongol term, signifying ' The Ocean ; '
the other at Tashilunpo (' The Hill of Grace') or Digarchi,
styled in Tibetan the Panchhan Rinbochhi, or ' Most Excel-
lent Jewel.' In rank, sanctity, and spiritual dignity these
may be regarded as equal ; but in extent of temporal
dominion the Lhassa Pontiff vastly surpasses his colleague.

These two Princes of the Church are in a manner inde-
feasible. Whenever one or other shuffles off this mortal
coil he proceeds to resume it again under the form of a
child born to succeed to the dignity, and indicated by
miraculous signs as the reincarnation of the departed Pon-
tiff. This is the system of supernatural succession of those
reborn saints whom the Mongols term KJiubilghan.

The history of its institution is buried in obscurity ; but
the old Red-cap hierarchy, at least in some of its sects, had
established the hereditary character of the higher eccle-
siastical dignities. To preserve this was impossible under
the celibate enforced by Tsongkaba ; and the system of
succession by pretended reincarnation may have been a
scheme artfully devised to preserve union among the Yellow
sect, who might easily have been split by the discords and
intrigues of an elective papacy, as those causes again and
again split the Catholic world, until it came under the
compressive force exercised upon it by the existence of
seceding Churches. However that may be, it came to pass,
sooner or later, that not only those two chief pontiffs, but
also the secondary and tertiary dignitaries of the hierarchy
came to hand on their succession in the same supernatural
manner.

The transmigration of souls, or what is most simply
described by that expression, is well known to be a pro-
minent doctrine of all Buddhism. Among the northern
Buddhists also, after many centuries, had arisen a doctrine
(derived probably from the Hindu Avataras) which repre-
sented the Bodhisatvas (i.e. potential or designate Buddhas,
awaiting in a celestial repose the time of their accomplished
Buddhahood) as occasionally and voluntarily assuming
human form. Thence by a third step Lamaism evolved its

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. xxxvii

climax in this doctrine of contiiuiotis incarnations, main-
taining the succession to high spiritual dignity on earth.

Th.Q Bicddhas of the past, — those culminations of spiritual
progress who have attained and accomplished their day in
that supreme position, vanish in Nirvana and return no
more. But the Bodhisatvas, for the weal of mankind,
become thus repeatedly embodied on earth. This volun-
tary incarnation is a different thing from the ordinary
re-birth of metempsychosis. The latter is a fate incumbent
on every living soul till it be freed from all impurity. But
voluntary incarnation is the peculiar privilege of those sin-
free souls alone which have wrought their way out of the
toils of transmigration. Transmigration, in short, from a
Buddhist point of view, is a natural, whilst reincarnation
is a siipcy'datural process.

This doctrine, no doubt, had early seeds, but it ex-
panded to its full development only in the fifteenth cen-
tury, and in the Yellow Church of Tsongkaba.

The Dalai Lama of Lhassa is always looked on as the
incarnation of the Bodhisatva Avalokite^vara, the special
guardian of Tibet. The Panchhan Rinbochhi is regarded
immediately as the re-born Tsongkaba, but therefore
ultimately as the Dhyani Buddha Amitabha. So that, as
regards the spiritual rank and doctrinal authority that he
represents, the latter would, perhaps, stand highest ; but he
of Lhassa preponderates in temporal dominion, and conse-
quently in ecclesiastical influence.

It is very obscure how this double popedom arose ; but
the most probable deduction from the fragmentary facts
accessible is that the Lhassa pontificate is somewhat the
oldest, going back to very near the age of Tsongkaba, and
that the Panchhan Rinbochhi dates from the foundation of
the great monastery of Tashilunpo, circa 1445-47. ^^
know that in 1470 both existed, for both in that year
received seals and diplomas from the Chinese Emperor.

For a considerable time the two were only the arch-
priests of the Yellow sect, and were so regarded by the
chiefs of the Reds, who held an analogous position. But

xxxviii INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

since the invasion of Tibet in 1643, by the Mongol Gushi
Khan, who depressed the Reds, and established the Dalai
Lama as temporal sovereign of the greater part of Tibet,
no such equality exists. The chief prelates of the Red
sects in Tibet Proper, in Bhotan, and in Ladak, have now
long been in a kind of dependence on the Yellow papacy,
and are, both in Lhassa and in Peking, counted among the
KhutiikJitits or Monsigjiori of the Lamaitic hierarchy. I
have no doubt that Rome, so fertile in analogies with
Lamaism, could furnish a perfect parallel ; but the nearest
that occurs to my scanty knowledge is the position of the
priests of the Greek rite in Sicily, or that which a high
Catholic prelate Avas recently alleged to have desired to
recognise in certain would-be deserters of the Church of
England.

The KJmUikhtus, — Monsignori, as I have just called
them, or perhaps Cardinals, as Pere Hue himself calls
them, — form the second order in the hierarchy, and in Tibet
Proper, like the Roman cardinals up to 1870, they hold the
civil administration of the provinces in their hands. They
also are counted among reincarnate saints. The best
known of them is that patriarch of Mongolia who, since
1604, dwells at Urga, the most powerful and revered of all
the Lama hierarchy after the Two Jewels of Central
Tibet.^ Next to him is the second Mongolian patriarch,
dwelling at Kuku Khoto ; Avhilst a third represents
Lamaism at the Court of Peking.

After these come the commoner herd of re-incarnates,
\vho are numerous, insomuch that a great many monasteries
in Mongolia and Tibet have an incarnate saint, or * Livine
Buddha,' as they are sometimes called by travellers, for
their abbot. These are the CJuiberons of Hue ; the Gige?ts
of Prejevalsky. And the Red-caps themselves, who in
former times admitted of succession by natural descent,

have now adopted this supernatural system.- |

5
* ^ See Prejevalsky, i. pp. 11-13. This is the personage wljom Hue

calls Guison Tiiinba. i

* P. Armand David tells a curious story of the ' living Buddha ' of

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. xxxix

Till the end of last century the designation of the
successor to all posts in the hierarchy, by this alleged
reincarnation, lay in the hands of the ecclesiastics, who
pulled the wires, however varied the manner in which the
play of identification was played. But for many years
past the Court of Peking has been the practical determiner
of this mystic succession.

Enough of introduction. I add but one word more.
In looking back to the cursory review of recent exploration
with which these remarks were commenced, I cannot but
note, with some feeling of self-vindication in regard to time
and labour heretofore spent in the elucidation of the great
Venetian traveller of the Middle Ages, that all the ex-
plorers whom I have named have been, it may be said
with hardly a jot of hyperbole, only travelling in his fo )t-
steps, — most certainly illustrating his geographical notices.

If Wood and Gordon and Trotter have explored
Pamir, so did Messer Marco before them. Shaw, Hay-
ward, and Forsyth in Kashgar ; Johnson in Khotan ;
Cooper and Armand David on the eastern frontier of
Tibet ; Richthofen in Northern and Western China ; Ney

a monastery in the Urat country, north of the Hoang-ho. This abbot
was rich, and having amassed 30,000 taels he devoutly determined to
make an offering of it to the Grand Lama at Lhassa. He set out,
accordingly, with a great retinue of monks. But these were excessively
averse to the idea of carrying all their silver to Lhassa ; probably they
chanted in Mongol something like the medieval Latin rhymes
Rome : —

' О vos bursa: turgida: Lassam veniatis,
Lassac viget physica bursis constipatis I'

So, in crossing a river, they pitched in their own living Buddha and
carried back the treasure. The abbot was, however, cast up on the
shore, and continued his journey to Lhassa, whence he had returned,
two or three years before P. David's visit, to his ancient convent. The
brethren, in the belief that their superior had quitted his former shell,
had duly selected a young Mongol as his re-incarnation. ' Their dis-
gust, therefore, was great to see their old chief reappear. The popular
feeling was in favour of the old abbot ; but the monks, with their ill-
gotten gear, were too strong, and the unlucky Gigeii was obliged to
retire to a remote monastf^rv. n-i-mrn bo livod as a simple Lama.

xl INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

Elias and Bushell in Mongolia ; Paderin at Karakorum ;
Prejevalsky in Tangut ; all have been tracking his steps
and throwing light, consciously or unconsciously, on his
Herodotean chapters. And yet what a vast area that he
has described from personal knowledge remains beyond
and outside of the explorations and narratives of these
meritorious travellers !

There remains but to add that the engagement to assist
Mr. Morgan in the production of this work was made, some
eighteen months ago, under circumstances which afforded
leisure for the task. The promise has had to be kept under
very different circumstances of place and occupation ; and
this must be the apology for some oversights, and perhaps
some repetitions, in the Notes and Introduction.'

H. YULE.

London : February 23, 1876.

^ Almost along with the revised proofs of these pages I have re-
ceived Mr. Markham's publication of the journeys of Bogle and
Manning ; not in time to benefit by it, unless by a few minor insertions
in the Supplementary Notes.

AUTHOR'S PREFACE.

Four years ago, thanks to the suggestion of the
Imperial Geographical Society, warmly seconded by
the Minister of War, whose intelligent co-operation
in all scientific matters is so well known, I was ap-
pointed commander of an expedition to Northern
China, with the view of exploring those remote
regions of the Celestial Empire, about which our
knowledge is of the most limited and fragmentary
kind, derived for the most part from Chinese litera-
ture, from the descriptions of the great thirteenth-
century traveller — Marco Polo, and from the nar-
ratives of the few missionaries who have from
time to time gained access to these countries. But
such facts as are supplied by all these sources of
information are so vague and inaccurate that the
whole of Eastern High Asia, from the mountains of
Siberia on the north to the Himalyas on the sou h,
and from the Pamir to China Proper, is as little
explored as Central Africa or the interior of New
Holland. Even the orography of this vast plateau
is most imperfectly known, and as to its physical
nature — i.e. its geology, climate, flora, and fauna — we
are almost entirely ignorant.

xlii AUTHOR'S PREFACE.

Nevertheless this terra incognita, exceeding in
extent the whole of Eastern Europe, situated in
the centre of the greatest of all the continents, at
a higher elevation above the level of the sea than
any other country on the face of the globe, with its
gigantic mountain ranges and boundless deserts,
presents from a scientific point of view grand and
varied fields of research. Here the naturalist and
the geographer may pursue their respective studies
over a wide area. But great as are the attractions of
this unknown region to the traveller, its difficulties
may well appal him. On the one hand, the deserts,
with all their accompanying terrors — hurricanes, lack
of water, burning heat and piercing cold, must be
encountered ; on the other, a suspicious and bar-
barous people, either covertly or openly hostile to
Europeans.

For three consecutive years we faced the difficul-
ties of travel in the wild countries of Asia, and only
owing to unusual good fortune attained our object
of penetrating to Lake Koko-nor and to the upper
course of the Blue River (Yang-tse-Kiang) in
Northern Tibet.

Good fortune, I repeat, never forsook me through-
out my journey, from beginning to end. In my
young companion, Michail Alexandrovitch Pyltseff,
I had an active and zealous assistant, whose energy
never failed in the most adverse circumstances ; whilst
the two Trans-Baikal Cossacks, Pamphile Chebayeff
and Dondok Irinchinoff, who accompanied us in the
second and third )cars of our travels, were brave

AUTHOR'S PREFACE. xliii

and Indefatigable men, who served the expedition
faithfully and loyally. I should also mention with
equal gratitude the name of our late envoy at Peking
— Major-General Alexander Gregorievitch Vlangali ;
for he was chiefly instrumental in organising the
expedition, and he was its warmest supporter from
first to last.

But although fortunate in the moral support I
received, on the other hand the material resources
of our expedition were extremely inadequate, and
this circumstance impaired its efficiency. To say
nothing of the privations which we experienced on
the journey, entirely owing to the want of money,
we were unable to provide ourselves even with the
requisite good instruments for taking observations.
For instance, we had only one mountain barometer,
which soon broke, and I was obliged to have re-
course to the ordinary Reaumur thermometer to
determine heights by boiling water,^ obtaining less
accurate results ; for magnetic observations луе had
nothing but a common compass adapted for this
purpose at the observatory of Peking. In fact,
our outfit, even of the most necessary instruments
for scientific observations, was of the most meagre
description.

In the course of nearly three years,^ in traversing

' Parrot's thermometer, which I took with me from St. Peters-
burg for measuring akitudes, broke during the journey through Siberia ;
however, in such a journey as ours, this instrument would have been
too troublesome, and almost impossible to protect from breakage.

* From November 29, 1870, to October i, 1873, '-e. from the day
of our departure from Kiakhta to the day of our return to that place.

xliv AUTHOR'S PREFACE.

Mongolia, Kan-su, Koko-nor, and Northern Tibet,
we travelled i i,ioo versts (7,400 miles), 5,300 (3,530
miles) of which, i.e. the whole distance out, were
sketched by means of the compass. This map,
which is appended on the reduced scale of 40 versts
(or about 2б| miles) to the inch,^ has been based
on 18 astronomical observations for latitude, which
I determined by means of a small universal in-
strument.^

The magnetic declination was ascertained at nine
places, and at seven the horizontal influence of the
earth's maofnetism. Four times a week we took
meteorological observations, frequently noting the
temperature of the earth and water, and the mois-
ture of the atmosphere with the psychrometer. We
determined the altitudes with the aneroid and boil-
ing water. Our researches were chiefly directed to
physical geography and the special study of mam-
malia and birds ; Ave made ethnological observations
whenever circumstances would permit. We also
collected and brought home 1,000 specimens of
birds belonging to 238 different genera, 130 skins
of mammalia, large and small, comprising 42 kinds ;
about 70 specimens of reptiles ; 1 1 descriptions of
fish ; and more than 3,000 specimens of insects.

Our botanical collection includes the flora of all

^ Reduced again, in the English version accompanying this trans-
lation, to a scale of slightly more than one-half that amount per inch.

^ The longitude of these points, \vhich unfortunately could not be
determined, was found approximately by projecting my route survey
between the latitudes fixed, and by taking into account the declination
of the needle.

AUTHOR'S PREFACE. xlv

the places we visited — 500 to 600 kinds of plants
represented by 4,000 specimens. Our small minera-
logical collection contains samples of the minerals of
all the mountain ranges we visited.

Such are the scientific results of our journey ; and
these met with warm approbation, not only from the
Geographical Society, but from the different men of
science who volunteered their services to classify
them.

The academician K. T. Maximovitch kindly
undertook the description of the flora, which will
form the third volume of the present edition of our
travels. The second volume will comprise our spe-
cial studies on the climate of those parts of Inner
Asia that we visited, and notes on the zoology and
mineralogy will be contributed by A. A. Inostrant-
seff and K. T. Kessler, professors at the St.
Petersburg University; A. T. Moravitz, the ento-
mologist ; N. A. Severtsoff, W. K. Tachanoffsky, the
zoologists ; and A. A. Strauch, academician. All
these savants have generously assisted me in clas-
sifying the different kinds of animals, plants, and
minerals mentioned in the pages of this book.

Lastly, I must express my earnest gratitude to
Colonel Stubendorff of the Staff Corps, and Colonel
Bolsheff of the Topographical Department, who have
taken a keen interest in compiling the map from my
route survey ; and also to Fritsche, director of the
Peking Observatory, who gave me hints as to the
astronomical and magnetic observations, and kindly
undertook to work these out. This first volume of

xlvi AUTHOR'S PREFACE.

our travels comprises descriptions of the physical
geography and ethnography of the country we
visited, and also a narrative of the progress of the
expedition. The two following volumes will treat
of special subjects, and will appear — the second in
December of the present year, and the third a year
later, i.e. at the end of 1876.

N. PREJEVALSKY.
St. Petersburg : January i, 1875.

i

CONTENTS

OF

THE FIRST VOLUME.

CHAPTER I.

FROM KIAKHTA TO PEKING.

Eve of departure — Post across Mongolia — Mode of conveyance
— Departure from Kiakhta — Physical features of the country
north of Urga — Temples there — Brick-tea — The Kutukhtu and
Chinese Policy towards Lamaism — Description of the town —
Disposal of the dead— Government — The Dungans — The Gobi
— Its character — Its vegetation and inhabitants — The post-road
— Argols — Rapacity of crows— The Sand-grouse {Syrrhaptes)
— The Mongol lark — The Alpine hare — The Steppe antelope
{Dzeren) — Antelope-shooting — The native methods of hunting
— Pastures of the Chakhar Mongols — Characteristics of people
— Border-land of the Mongolian Plateau — Town of Kalgan or
Chang-kia-kau— Tea caravans — Chinese Impositions on Mon-
gols — The Great Wall — Compradors and their Dialect —
* Pigeon-Russian' — Road to Peking — Chinese inns and cuisine
— Descent into great plain of China — Arrival at Peking .

CHAPTER II.

THE MONGOLS.

The Mongols — Physical characteristics — Modification of cha-
racter on the Chinese border— Pigtail introduced — Costume —
The Yurta or Felt Tent — Uncleanliness — Tea-drinking— Food
and beverages — Gluttony — Animal food — Cattle — Importance
of their herds— Indolent habits — Physical capabilities and de-
fects— Cowardice — Sagacity and obtuseness — Curiosity — Points
of the compass — Estimation of distance — Calendar and Year-

РЛСК

xlviii CONTENTS OF

PAGE

Cycle — Language and diversities —Literature — Love of gossip
— Songs — Mongol women — Marriage customs and domestic
relations — Hospitality and polite customs — Freedom of man-
ners— Lamaism — Religious service — ' От viani padmi Jiom ' —
The Dalai Lama — Pilgrimages— The Clergy — Monasticism —
Superstitions — Masses for the dead — The Author's view of
Missions — Administrative organisation of the Mongol tribes —
Grades of rank among chiefs, and their salaries — Population —
Laws, punishment, and taxation — Military force — Decay of
martial spirit 47

CHAPTER IIL

THE SOUTH-EASTERN BORDER OF THE MONGOLIAN PLATEAU.

Peking — First impressions — The sti'eets and walls — European
establishments — Preparations for the journey — Fire-arms and
outfit — Insufficiency of funds and its consequence — Financial
Arrangements — Chinese Currency — Inconvenience of the
Copper Currency^Passport — Departure from Peking — Pre-
liminary tour to the North — Ku-pe-kau gate in wall — Migra-
tion of wild-fowl — Road to Dolon-nor — Wood on the way —
Jehol— Fauna of the route — Goitre — Khingan Range — Dolon-
nor— Idol foundry^ — Shandu River — Tsagan Balgas — Sandhills
called Guc/tin, gu7'bu or ' the 33 ' — A Steppe-fire on the Dalai-
nor — The Lake Dalai — Birds on the lake — Mocking-bird —
Surveying difficulties — Mode of surveying — Suspicions of the
Natives — The Route plotted daily — Road back to Kalgan —
Steppe horses — Imperial pasture lands — Climate of South-
Eastern Mongolia — The two-humped camel — Its habits, uses,
&c. — Arrival at Kalgan 90

CHAPTER IV.

THE SOUTH-EASTERN BORDER OF THE MONGOLIAN

PLATEAU — {contimied).

Reorganisation of the Party — Fresh start from Kalgan — R. C.
Missions — Samdadchiemba, Hue's companion — Dishonest con-
vert— Vigilance needed against thieves — Shara-hada Range —
Suma-hada Range — The Argali ; its habits and incidents of
chase — Late spring — Lifeless aspects — The Urute country and
Western Tumites — Tedious purchase of sheep — Dumb bar-
gaining— Difficulties in purchase of milk — Our traffic with the
Mongols — Throw off the trading character with advantage —

THE FIRST VOLUME. xlix

TAGE

Rude treatment from Chinese — The strong hand necessary —
Difficulties about change — The In-shan mountain system — First
sight of Hoang-ho — Tent flooded — Bathar Sheilun temple —
The mountain antelope — Its extraordinary jumps — Chinese
soldiers — Munni-ula mountains — Their flora, fauna, and avi-
fauna— Legends regarding them — Ascent of the range — Chinese
demand for stags' horns^ Vicissitudes of inountain sport — Im- .
pressive scenery — Pass across range — Valley of the Hoang-ho
— City of Bautu — Interview with Commandant — Search for
lodging — Mob rudeness — We are made a show of — Departure
from Bautu — Passage of the Hoang-ho — Mihtary opium
smokers 132

CHAPTER V.

ORDOS.

Definition of Ordos — Nomads contrasted with settlers — Historical
sketch — Divisions— The Hoang-ho and its floods — Route up
the Valley — Depth, width, and navigation of river — Old
channels ; deviation of its course — Disputes about boundaries
— Flora of the valley — Scanty vegetation — Liquorice root —
Aspect of valley changes — Kuzupchi sands — Terrors of the
desert — Legends — Oases and their vegetation — Sterility of the
valley — Birds and animals— Traces of Dungan insurrection —
A stray camel — Intense heat — Lake Tsaideming-nor — Opium
cultivation — Bathing — Superstition about the tortoise — Flight
of Chinghiz-Khan's wife — Tradition of Chinghiz-Khan — The
White Banner — Tomb of Chinghiz-Khan — The Kara-sulta, or
Black-tailed antelope — Shooting these antelope — Their haunts
in the desert — Ruined temple of Shara-tsu — Scarce population
— Wild cattle — Their origin and habits — Two bulls shot —
Fishing ; Mosquitoes — Salt lake ; Ruins of city — Order of
march ; sweltering heat — Water ! the halt — Wolfish appetites ;
evening — Loss of a horse ; Djuldjig — Arbus-ula range ; Ding-
hu — Crossing Hoang-ho — Interview with Mandarin — Showing
our guns — Baggage examined — Mandarin robs us — Embar-
rassing situation — Under arrest — Explanations — We take our
departure 180

CHAPTER VL

ALA-SHAN.

The Eleuths — Extent and character of Ala-shan — Sandy tracts of
Ala-shan — Flour of the Sulhir grass — Flora and Fauna of Ala-
shan — Birds of Ala-shan — Population of Ala-shan — Mongols of

VOL. I. С

CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

ГАСЕ

Ala-shan — Lake Tsagan-nor — Route to Din-yuan-ing — Arrival
there — Din-yuan-ing and the Prince — The Prince of Ala-shan
and his family — The Gigen — Lama Baldin-Sordji — Curiosity of
the people — Intercourse with the younger Princes — Questions
about Europe — Openings for trade — Stories about the Dalai
Lama — ' Shambaling,' the Promised Land — State visit to the
Prince — Interview with Prince Ala-shan — Views of the Anglo-
French war — We proceed to the mountains — Mountains of
Ala-shan — Birds of Ala-shan mountains — Mammals of Ala-
shan — The kuku-yamans or mountain sheep — Shooting them
in the mountains— A frightened herd — Desperate leap — Return
to Din-yuan-ing — Obliged to retrace our steps .... 231

TABLE OF NOTES TO VOLUME L

NOTES BY MR. MORGAN.

Great Floods in China 271

The Gandjur or Kanjur : the Sacred Literature of Tibet . . 272

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES BY COL. YULE.

On the meaning of the word Z?<^7wi 274

On the word ' Gigen ' 275

On the terms ' Pehhng ' and ' Fanqui ' 276

On Kumiz and Dardsun ib.

Tartar Manners at Food 277

Mongol Orientation ib.

The Chinese Year 278

The Mongol Alphabet 280

The Khata {Kkadak), or Ceremonial Scarf 281

Om Mane Padme Hum ! 282

The Obo 283

Tsagan Balgas 284

Dumb Bargaining ib.

Shambaling 2S5

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

TO

THE FIRST VOLUME.

Map of Eastern Asia, showing Col. Prejevalslcy's and Hue's Routes.
Col. Prejevalsky's Route Survey Map.

1. Portrait of Author Frontispiece.

2. Chinese Cart in front of the Russian Consul's House

at Urga, being a Facsimile of that in which the
Author travelled from Kiakhta to Kalgan (from a
Photograph lent by Baron Fr. Osten Sacken,
Hon. Corn Mem. R.G.S.) to face page 4

3. General View of Ta-kuren (Urga) (from a Photo-

graph lent by Baron Fr. von der Osten Sacken) . „ „ 8

4. Street in Urga (borrowed from the 7"t>«r </?< J/i9«^i?) „ „ 14

5. The Yurta, or Felt Tent (from a Photograph lent by

Baron Fr. Osten Sacken) . . . . . „ ,, 50

6. Mongol Girl (from a Photograph lent by Baron Fr.

Osten Sacken) .......„„ 69

7. Group of Khalkas Mongols (borrowed frorii the

To7ir du Monde) „ „ 84

8. Ruins of Emperor's Summer Palace (from a Photo-

graph by J. Thomson, Esq., F.R.G.S.) . . „ „ 102

9. Mongol Cavalry (from a Photograph lent by Baron

Fr. Osten Sacken) ...... Ф^^g^^ 182

10. Mongol Soldier (from a Photograph lent by Baron

Fr. Osten Sacken) „ 225

[I. Ruins of Chapel of Sisters of Mercy at Tien-tsin,
destroyed by Chinese Rioters (from a Photo-
graph by J. Thomson, Esq., F.R.G.S.) . . „ 254

TRAVELS IN MONGOLIA.

CHAPTER I.

FROM KIAKIITA TO PEKING.

Eve of departure — Post across Mongolia — Mode of conveyance — De-
parture from Kiakhta — Physical features of the country north of
Urga — Temples there — Brick-tea — -The Kutukhtu and Chinese
у towards Lamaism — Description of the town — Disposal of
the dead — Government^The Dungans — The Gobi — Its character
— Its vegetation and inhabitants — The post-road — Argols — Ra-
pacity of crows — -The sand-grouse {Syrrhaptes) — The Mongol lark —
The Alpine hare — the Steppe antelope (/>я^г^;г)— Antelope-shoot-
ing— The native methods of hunting — Pastures of the Chakhar
Mongols — Characteristics of people — Border-land of the Mon-
golian Plateau — Town of Kalgan or Chang-kia-kau^Tea caravans
— Chinese Impositions on Mongols — The Great Wall — Compradors
and their Dialect — ' Pigeon-Russian ' — Road to Peking — Chinese
inns and cuisine — Descent into great Plain of China — Arrival at
Peking.

Early in November 1870, after posting through
Siberia, I arrived with my young companion, Michail
Alexandrovitch PyltsefT, at Kiakhta, where our
journey through MongoHa and the adjacent countries
of Inner Asia was to begin. At Kiakhta we were
at once sensible of our approach to foreign countries.
The strings of camels in the streets of the town, the
sunburnt faces and prominent cheekbones of the
VOL. 1. в

1.^

2 PASSPORT.

Mongols, the long pigtails of the Chinese, the
strange and unintelligible language, all plainly told
us we were about to bid a long farewell to our
country and all dear to us there. Hard as it was to
reconcile ourselves to the thought, we were some-
what cheered by the prospect of soon commencing
a journey which had been the dream of my early
childhood. Entirely in the dark as we were in re-
gard to our future wanderings, we resolved first
of all to go to Peking, there to obtain a passport
from the Chinese Government, and then to start
for the remoter regions of the Celestial Empire.
This advice was given us by General Vlangali, at
that time our Ambassador in China, who from first
to last assisted the expedition by every means in his
power, and whose generous forethought contributed
more than anything to its ultimate success. After-
wards, on our first march from Peking, we saw the
advantage of having a passport direct from the
Chinese Foreign Office, instead of one from the
Frontier Commissioner at Kiakhta. Such a pass-
port gave us far greater importance in the eyes of
the local population, a very material consideration
in China, and (it must be confessed) in other
countries also.

Europeans have the choice of two modes of
conveyance from Kiakhta to Peking; either by post-
horses, or by caravan camels engaged by special
bargain with their owners.

Postal communications through Mongolia were
established by the treaties of Tien-tsin (1858) and

*

POSTAL COMMUhUCATIONS. 3

Peking (i860). By these conventions the Russian
Government acquired the right of organising at its
own expense a regular transmission of both Hght
and heavy mails between Kiakhta, Peking, and
Tien-tsin, The Mongols contract to carry the post
as far as Kalgan, the Chinese, the rest of the way.
We have opened post-offices at four places : Urga,
Kalgan, Peking, and Tien-tsin. At each of these a
Russian official is stationed, who superintends the
post-office, and attends to the regular despatch of
the post. The light mails leave Kiakhta and Tien-
tsin three times a month : the heavy mails only once
a month. The latter are carried on camels escorted
by two Cossacks from Kiakhta, while the former
are accompanied only by Mongols, and are carried
on horses. They are usually taken from Kiakhta to
Peking in two weeks ; while the heavy mails take
from twenty to twenty-four days. The cost to our
Government of maintaining the post through Mon-
golia is about 1 7,000 rubles (2,400/.) ; the receipts at
all the four offices amounting altogether to 3,000
rubles (about 430/.).^

The Chinese Government has also undertaken to
transport, from Kiakhta to Peking and back, every
three months, at its own cost, for the convenience of
our clerical and diplomatic Missions at Peking, a
heavy post not exceeding 26 cwts. in weight each
time.

1 There is another post-road between Urga and Kalgan, estabhshed
by the Chinese for themselves. From this road another one to Ulias-
sutai branches off on the border of the Khalkas country, near the
station of Sair-ussu.

В 2

4 MODE OF CONVEYANCE.

On extraordinary occasions when papers of great
importance have to be transmitted to our Ambas-
sador at Peking, or by him to his Government, it is
arranged that Russian officers may be . despatched
as couriers," notice being given a day before the
despatch of the messenger to the Chinese governor
at Kiakhta and the Ministry of War at Peking.
Horses are then prepared at all the Chinese and Mon-
golian stations, and the entire distance of i,ooo miles
may in this way be accomplished in a two-wheeled
Chinese government cart in nine or ten days. No
charge is made for this special service, but according
to established custom, the Russian officer presents a
gratuity of three silver rubles (about 8^-.) at each
station. Another mode of communication across
Mongolia is by hiring a Mongol who undertakes to
transport the traveller by camel caravan across the
Gobi. This is the way in which all our merchants
travel on their way to China for business purposes,
or on their way back to Russia. The traveller
usually disposes himself in a Chinese cart, which
presents the appearance of a great square wooden
box, set on two wheels, and closed on all sides. In
the fore part of this machine there are openings at
the sides, closed with small doors. These holes
serve the traveller as a means of ingress and egress
to his vehicle, in which he must preserve a recum-
bent position head foremost, in order that his legs
may not be on a higher level than his head. The
shaking in this kind of car baffles description. The
smallest stone or lump of earth over which one

-^=- ■^rm^^j'amvji^

CHINESE CART.

The vehicle represented in the above woodcut belonged to the Amban or Governor of Urga,
and was photographed in front of the house of the Russian Consul, where this functionary hap-
pened to be paying an unofficial visit. The cart in which our author travelled, and which is
described in the te.\t, resembled the one shown on this page.

DEPARTURE FROM KIAKHTA. 5

of the wheels may chance to roll produces a violent
jolting of the whole vehicle and consequently of its
unfortunate occupant. It may easily be imagined
how his sufferings may be aggravated when travel-
ling with post horses at a trot.

In a conveyance of this kind, hired from a
Kiakhta merchant, we determined to proceed with
camels through Mongolia to Kalgan. Our con-
tractor лvas a Mongol луЬо had brought a quantity
of tea to Kiakhta and was returninor for a fresh

О

load. After some negotiations, we finally agreed
with him for the transport of ourselves, one Cossack,
and all our baggage, to Kalgan for 70 lans (140
rubles, 2qI)}

The journey was not to take more than forty
days, a comparatively long time, as the Mongols
usually convey travellers from Kiakhta to Peking in
twenty-five days, but the price charged for this acce-
lerated speed is proportionately higher. I wished
to acquaint myself as far as I could with the nature
of the country through which I was about to travel,
and, therefore, a slow rate of progress was rather
an advantage to me than otherwise. A Cossack of
the Buriat tribe belonging to the Trans- Baikal force
Avas ordered to accompany us as interpreter of the
Mongol language. He proved to be an excellent
dragoman ; but being the son of a rich man, and
disliking the hardships of travel, he soon became so

^ Lan appears to be the Russian way of representing the word
Avhich French and English sinologues write usually as Hang, viz. the
tael, or Chinese ' ounce of silver.' — Y.

6 NORTHERN MONGOLIA.

home-sick that I was obhged to send him back, and
received two new Cossacks in his stead.

At length, towards the evening of November 29,
new style/ we started on our journey. The harnessed
camel set in motion the cart which contained myself
and companion and our common friend, a setter,
' Faust,' brought with us from Russia. Soon we
left Kiakhta behind, and entered Mongolia. Fare-
well my country, a long farewell ! shall we ever see
thee again, or shall we never return from that distant
foreign land ?

For the w^hole distance of about 200 miles " from
Kiakhta to Urga the appearance of the country
quite equals that of the best parts of our Trans-
Baikalia ; here we see the same abundance of trees
and water, the same luxuriant pasturage on the
gentler slopes of the hills ; in fact, there is nothing to
remind the traveller of his proximity to the desert.
The absolute height of the region between Kiakhta
and the river ^ Kara-gol averages 2,500 feet ; then
the country rises till it attains at Urga an elevation
of 4,200 feet above the level of the sea. This ascent
forms the outer northern border of the vast plateau
of the Gobi.

' All the dates in this translation hare been reduced to the new
style. — M.

"^ According to a recent traveller, the distance from Urga to
Kiakhta is 176 miles. See ' Rough Notes of a Journey made in the
Years 1868-73,' p. 19. Tnibner, 1874.— M.

•^ The word gol is the Mongol for river, and is always added to
the name of a river, in the same way as nor (more correctly nur, lake)
to the name of a lake, and daban (range) or ula (mountain) to the
name of a range or a mountain. [See Supplementary Note.]

ITS PHYSICAL FEATURES. 7

The district between Klakhta and Urga may be
generally described as hilly, but the elevations are
not great, and most of the hills are round. The
ranges have an easterly and westerly direction, and
are totally devoid of lofty peaks and steep bluffs ; the
passes are, therefore, not high, and the ascents and
descents are orradual.

Three of these ranges following the road to
Urga are distinguished from the rest by their
greater elevation : one on the north bank of the
river Iro ; a second, the Manhadai, in the centre ; and
third, the Mukhur, close to Urga. The only steep
and lofty pass across these mountains is the Man-
hadai, which may be avoided by taking a more
circuitous road to the east.

The district we are describing Is plentifully
watered ; its chief rivers are the Iro and Kara-gol,
flowing into the Orkhon, a tributary of the Selenga.
The soil is mostly black earth or loam, well adapted
for tillage ; but agriculture has not yet been Intro-
duced Into this region, and only a few acres, about
100 miles from Klakhta, have been cultivated by
Chinese settlers.

The hilly belt of country between Klakhta and
Urga is well wooded. But the trees, which chiefly
grow on the northern slopes of the hills, are far
inferior In size, shape, and variety to the Siberian
timber. The prevailing kinds are fir, larch, and
\vhlte birch, interspersed with a few cedars, ash, and
black birch. The hill-sides are occasionally dotted
with sparse clumps of wild peach and acacia, and the

8 ARRIVAL AT URGA.

rich grass supplies abundant food for the cattle of
the Mongols all the year round.

Of the animal kingdom we found few varieties
in winter. The most common kinds were the grey
partridge {Perdix barbatd), hare {Lepus Tolai), and
Alpine hare {Lagomys Ogotono) ; wintering larks
{Otocoris albigula), and linnets {Fringilla liuota),
along the road-side in large flocks. Handsome red-
billed jackdaws {Fi^egillus graculus) became more
numerous as we approached Urga, where they actu-
ally build their nests in the house occupied by our
Consul, The natives told us there were numbers
of roe in the woods, as \vell as wild swine and
bears. In fact, the fauna of this district, as well as
its flora, is quite of a Siberian character.

After a Aveek's journey, we arrived at the town
of Urga, where луе passed four delightful days with
the family of the Russian Consul, J. P. Shishmareff.

The town of Urga, the chief place of Northern
Mongolia, is situated on the river Tola, an affluent
of the Orkhon, and is well known to all the nomads
under the name of Bogdo-Kuren or Ta-Kuren,
i.e. sacred encampment; its name of Urga, derived
from the word Urgo (palace), was given it by the
Russians.

The town is divided into two halves — the Mon-
golian and Chinese. The former is called Bogdo-
Kuren, and the latter, not quite three miles to the
east of it, bears the name of Mai-mai-cheng, i.e. place
of trade. In the centre, half-way between the two
parts of Urga, well situated on rising ground near

W^b.m

m

гйа

TEMPLE OF MAIDARI. 9

the bank of the Tola, is the two-storied house of the
Russian Consul, with its wings and outbuildings.

The population of Urga is estimated at 30,000.
The inhabitants of the Chinese town are all Chinese
officials or traders. Both these classes are forbidden
by law to live with their families, or lead a tho-
roughly settled life. But the Chinese generally
evade the law by keeping Mongol concubines. The
Manchu officials, however, bring their families with
them.

The most striking features in the Mongolian
town are the temples, Avith their gilt cupolas, and the
palace of the Knttikkt^t, or living representative of
the Divinity.

The exterior of this palace differs but slightly
from the temples, the chief of which in size and
architectural pretensions is the shrine of Maidari,
the future ruler of the world. ^ This is a lofty, square
building, with fiat roof and battlemented walls. The
image of Maidari, raised on a pedestal, occupies a
central position in the interior ; he is represented in
a sitting posture with a beaming expression of face.
This image measures 'x,'^^ feet in height, and is said
to weigh about 125 tons : it is of gilt brass, manufac-
tured at the town of Dolon-nor,'^ and brought in
pieces to Urga.

Before the image of Maidari is placed a table

^ Maidari is the Mongol form of the Indian Maitreya, the name
of the Buddha that is next to come, the fifth of the World-period in
which we live. — Y.

* This town is on the south-east border of Mongolia, and is the
chief place for the manufacture of Mongol idols.

lo BRICK-TEA.

covered with votive offerings, amongst which I
noticed a common glass stopper. Numbers of other
lesser deities (biirkhans) are ranged round the walls,
which are also adorned with a variety of pictures of
sacred subjects.

Besides the temples and a few Chinese houses,
the remaining habitations of the Mongolian town con-
sist of felt tents (yurtas) and little Chinese houses,
each standing in its own plot of land, surrounded by
a lio-ht fence. Some of these small enclosures stand

о

in rows, so as to form a kind of street, others are
grouped together without any apparent order or
regularity. The market square occupies a central
position ; here four or five Russian merchants have
opened shops and ply a retail trade, and are also
engaged in the transport of tea.

The standard of value most current in Urga, as
well as throughout Northern Mongolia, is brick-tea,
Avhich, for this purpose, is often sawn up into small
lumps. The value of goods sold in the market and
shops is reckoned by the number of bricks of tea :
for instance, a sheep is worth from 12 to 15 bricks;
a camel 120 to 150; a Chinese pipe from 2 to 5,
and so on. Russian banknotes and silver rubles
are accepted in payment by the people of Urga, and
usually by all the natives of Northern Mongolia; but
Chinese lans are preferred, and brick-tea is by far
the most acceptable, especially among the poorer
classes. Anyone, therefore, desirous of making pur-
chases in the market, must lug about with him a
sackful or cartload of heavy tea-bricks.

LAMA ISM AND THE KUTUKHTU. л

The population of the MongoHan part of Urga
is chiefly composed of lamas, — i.e. of the clergy. At
Bogdo-Kuren they number as many as 10,000. This
statement may appear an exaggeration, but if the
reader take into consideration the fact that a third
of the whole male population of Mongolia belongs
to the lama class, he will not doubt its accuracy.
There is a large training-school at Urga for boys
destined to become lamas ; it is divided into three
faculties, viz. Divinity, Medicine, and Astrology.

Urga ranks in the estimation of the Mongols
next to Lhassa,^ in Tibet, for sanctity.

In these two towns the principal religious digni-
taries of the Buddhist world reside. In Lhassa, the
Dalai Lama, Avith his assistant Pan-tsin-Erdeni ; ^ in
Urga, the Kutukhtu, or third person in the Tibetan
patriarchate.

According to the Lama doctrine these digni-
taries are the terrestrial impersonations of the God-
head, and never die, but are renewed by death.
They believe that after death their souls pass into
the bodies of newly-born boys, and thus re-appear to
men under fresher and more youthful forms. Search
is made in Tibet for the new-born Dalai Lama,

' Lhassa, the capital of Tibet, is called by the Mongols Munhu-
tsu Cthe ever sacred).

''■ Pan-tsin-Erdeni does not reside in Lhassa itself, but at the
monastery of Chesi-Lumbo [i.e. at the place which is variously called
in our maps Teshu-lumbo, Jachi-lunpo, and Shiggatzi, at least 120
miles from Lhassa. It is scarcely correct to call the Panjan Irdeni
or Panjan Rimbochi, the personage whom Lieut. Samuel Turner
visited as envoy from Warren Hastings in 1783, and whom he calls
the Teshoo Lama, the 'assistant ' of the Dalai-Lama. — ^Y.].

12 CHINESE POLICY.

according to the instructions of his predecessor. In
the same way the Kiitukhtu of Urga is generally
sought for in Tibet, in accordance with the pro-
phetic indications of the Dalai Lama. When the
newly-born saint is discovered, an immense caravan
is sent from Urga to convey him to Bogdo-Kuren ;
and a thank-offering for his discovery, amounting to
30,000 lans in money, and sometimes even more, is
presented to the Dalai Lama.

During our stay at Urga the throne of the
Kutukhtu remained unoccupied, the holy potentate
having died a year or two before ; and although his
successor had been discovered in Tibet, the Mon-
gol embassy could not make their way thither, owing
to the Mahomedan (Dungan) insurrection, which had
extended to Kan-su, through which lies the road
from Urga to Lhassa.

Besides the Kutukhtu of Urga, there are other
Kutukhtus or Gigens in other temples in Mongolia
and at Peking itself, but they are all inferior in rank
to their brother of Bogdo-Kuren, and when they
appear before him they must prostrate themselves
like other mortals.

The Chinese Government fully appreciates the
extraordinary influence which these Gigens and
Lamas exercise over the ignorant nomads, and on
this account protects the whole religious hierarchy
in Mongolia. In this way the power of the Chinese
is perpetuated, and the hatred generally entertained
by the Mongols for their oppressors somewhat
abated. The Gigens, individually and as a class,

DESCRIPTION OF URGA. 13

are, with very few exceptions, of very limited under-
standing. Brought up under the watchful guardian-
ship of the neighbouring lamas, they have no oppor-
tunity of cultivating their intellects even in the
ordinary affairs of life, and exist in a little world of
their own. The whole education even of the most
important among them consists of elementary in-
struction in the Tibetan language and the Lamaist
books, and even this knowledge is often most super-
ficial. Accustomed from infancy to be looked on as
living deities, they seriously believe in their own
divine origin and renewed birth ^ after death. Their
intellectual inferiority ensures the ascendancy of the
attendant lamas, who do not scruple to poison clever
boys whose lot it has been to belong to this sacred
class. Such a fate is said not unfrequently to befall
the Kutukhtus of Urga through the connivance of
the Chinese Government, which dreads the rivalry
of any independent personage at the head of the
Mongol hierarchy.

The Kutukhtu of Urga is very wealthy, and
besides the offerings of enthusiastic devotees he
owns 150,000 slaves, who inhabit the environs of
Urga, and other parts of Northern Mongolia. All
these slaves are under his immediate authority, and
form the so-called Shdbin class.

Outwardly the Mongol part of Urga is dis-
gustingly dirty. All the filth is thrown into the
streets, and the habits of the people are loathsome.

' The Gigens whom we met during our journey never made use of
the expression ' at my death,' but always ' at my renewed birth."

14 DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD.

To add to all this, crowds of starvino- be2f2fars
assemble on the market-place ; some of them (mostly
poor old women) make it their final resting place.
It would be difficult to picture to oneself anything
more revolting. The decrepid or crippled hag lies
on the ground in the centre of the bazaar with a
covering of old pieces of felt thrown to her by way
of charity. Here she will remain, too weak to move,
covered Avith vermin and filth, imploring alms from
the passer-by. In winter the cold winds cover her
den with the snowdrift, beneath which she drags out
her miserable existence. Her very death is of an
awful nature ; eye-witnesses have told us how, when
her last moments are approaching, a pack of dogs
gather round and wait patiently for their victim to
breathe her last, when they devour her corpse, and
the vacant den soon finds another such occupant.
In the cold winter nights the stronger beggars drag
the feeble old women out into the snow, where they

Ml

are frozen to death, crawling themselves into their
holes to avoid that fate.

But these sights are not the only ones of the
sacred city. More sickening scenes await the tra-
veller if he resort to the cemetery, which is situated
close to Urga. Here the dead bodies, instead of
being interred, are flung to the dogs and birds of
prey. An awful impression is produced on the mind
by such a place as this, littered with heaps of bones,
through which packs of dogs prowl, like ghosts, to
seek their daily repast of human flesh.

No sooner is a fresh corpse thrown in than the

GOVERNMENT. 15

dogs tear it to pieces, and in a couple of hours
nothing remains of the dead man. The Buddhists
consider it a good sign if the body be quickly de-
voured ; in the contrary event they believe that the
departed led an ungodly life. The dogs are so
accustomed to feed in this way that when a corpse
is being- carried through the streets of the town to

о о

the cemetery the relations of the deceased are in-
variably followed by dogs, sometimes belonging to
his own encampment (yurta).

The government of Urga, together with the two
eastern aimaks (khanates) of the Khalkas, or of
Northern Mongolia, viz. those of Tushetu-khan, and
Tsitseng-khan, is in the hands of two ambans or
governors. One of them is always a Manchu sent
from Peking, the other, one of the local Mongol
princes. The two remaining aimaks of the Khal-
kas, those of the Djasaktu-khan and Sain-noin,
are under the Tsiang-tsiun (commander-in-chief) of
Uliassutai.

Although the Mongol Khans who govern these
aimaks are absolute masters in all that concerns
the internal affairs of their khanates as sovereign
princes, they, nevertheless, own allegiance to their
Chinese rulers, who are the jealous guardians of
Chinese ascendancy over the nomads.

During our stay at Bogdo-Kuren луе heard ter-
rible reports of the Dungans, i.e. the Mahomedan
insurgents, who had j'ust plundered Uliassutai, and
threatened Urga with a similar fate. Their appre-
hensions for this city, which is of such importance in

1 6 DESERT OF GOBI.

the eyes of the nomads, induced the Chinese to
march hither 2,000 of their own soldiers, and to
assemble 1,000 Mongol troops. But the notorious
cowardice of these fighting men afforded a very
insufficient safeguard to Urga, and the Russian
Government was obliged to send a considerable force
(600 infantry and Cossacks, with two guns) to pro-
tect the consulate and the tea trade. This detach-
ment remained at Urga more than a year, and
thanks were due entirely to it if the insurgents re-
linquished their attack on Bogdo-Kuren.

At Urga the Siberian character of Northern Mon-
golia ceases. On crossing the Tola the traveller
leaves behind him the last remaining stream ; and
here too, on Mount Khan-ola, considered sacred ever
since the Emperor Kang-hi hunted there, ^ he must
take his last look at forest scenery. Southwards, as
far as the borders of China Proper, lies the same
desert of Gobi,^ which extends like an enormous
girdle across the plateau of Eastern Asia, from the
western spurs of the Kuen-lun to the Khingan moun-
tains, which divide Mongolia from Manchuria.

The western part of this desert, especially be-
tween the Thian-shan and Kuen-lun, is entirely
unexplored even at the present day. The eastern
half is best known along the Kiakhta and Kalgan

' It is probable that the sacredness of Khan-ola is due to a more
ancient and notable circumstance, viz. that the great Chinghiz-Khan
was buried there ; see ' Ouatremere, H. des Mongols,' p. 117 seqq, ;
and ' Marco Polo,' bk. i. ch. li. note 3. — Y.

''■ 'J"he word Gobi in Mongol literally means a waterless barren plain
almost devoid of grass. The word for stcp])e is Tala.

DESERT OF GOBI. 17

road, which crosses it diagonally. Here the barome-
trical levels of Fuss and Bunge in 1832, the journeys
of Timkowski, Kowalevsky, and other savants, some
of whom have generally accompanied our ecclesiastical
missions to China, have enlightened us on the topo-
graphy and physical character of this part of Asia.
Lastly, the recent journey of the astronomer Fritsche
on the Eastern Gobi, and my own observations in
its south-eastern, southern, and central parts, have
supplied, not merely conjectural but most accurate
data concerning the topography, climate, flora, and
fauna of the eastern half of the great desert of
Central Asia.

The barometrical levellinof of Fuss and BuuQ-e first
exploded the theory, till then prevalent among geo-
graphers, of the great height (8,000 feet) of the
whole Gobi, reducing it to 4,000 feet. Further ob-
servations by the same savants proved that in the
direction of the Kiakhta-Kalran caravan road the
absolute height of the plateau in the middle part
sinks to 2,400 feet, or as Fritsche will have it, even
to 2,000 feet ; and this depression continues for
about sixty-five miles, but does not extend far to
the east, as Fritsche's journey showed, nor to the
west, as we found on our march from Ala-shan to
Urga, through the centre of the desert. It should
also be mentioned that the Eastern Gobi is not so
thoroughly desert in character as it becomes towards
the south and west. Thus, the plains in Ala-shan,
and in the vicinity of Lake Lob, are sterile and
desolate in the extreme.
VOL. I. с

i8 THE GOBI PROPER.

As we have before stated, the Siberian character
of the country, with its mountains, forests, and abun-
dant supply of water irrigation, ceases near Urga,
and from hence southwards nature assumes the true
Mongohan aspect. After the first day's journey the
traveller finds everything changed.

A boundless steppe, slightly undulating in some
parts, in others furrowed with low rocky ridges, fades
away in the bluish misty distance of the horizon
without any break in its sameness. Here and there
may be seen numerous herds and flocks of Mongols
grazing, and their encampments frequently stand
near the roadside. The road is so good as to be
perfectly practicable for a tarantass.

The Gobi Proper has not yet begun, and the belt of
steppe we are describing, with its soil of mingled clay
and sand, clothed with excellent grass, serves as a
prelude to it. This belt extends from Urga to the
south-west along the Kalgan road for about 130
miles, and then imperceptibly shades off into the
sterile plains of the Gobi Proper.

Even the Gobi is rather undulating than flat,
although you sometimes come on tracts of perfectly
level plain, extending unbroken for many miles to-
gether. These level tracts are particularly frequent
in the central part of the plateau, whereas in the north
and south there are plenty of low hills either in
detached groups or in prolonged ridges, rising only
a few hundred feet above the surrounding plains,
and for the most part consisting of bare rocks. Their
ravines and valleys are all marked by dry water-

ITS VEGETATION AND INHABITANTS. 19

courses, which only contain water after heavy-
rains, and even then for not more than a few hours.
Along these water courses the inhabitants dig wells
to supply themselves with water. No running
streams are met with the whole way from the River
Tola to the borders of China Proper, i.e. for about
600 miles ; the rains in summer forming temporary
lakes in the loamy hollows which soon dry up during
the severe heat.

The soil of the Gobi Proper is composed of
coarse reddish gravel and small pebbles interspersed
with different stones such as occasional agates.
Drifts of yellow shifting sand also occur, although
of a less formidable character than those in the
southern part of the desert.

Vegetation finds no sustenance here, and the
Gobi produces even grass but scantily. Completely
barren spots are certainly rare along the Kalgan
road, but such grass as grows is less than a foot high,
and hardly conceals the reddish-grey surface ; only in
those places where the gravel is replaced by clay, or
in the hollows where the summer moisture is longer
retained, a kind of grass called by the Mongols Diri-
siLu {Lasiagi'ostis splendtns), grows in clumps four to
five feet high, and as tough as wire. Here and there
too some solitary little flower finds an asylum, or if
the soil is saline the budarhana [Kalidiu??t gracile),
the favourite food of camels, may be seen. Every-
where else the wild onion, scrub wormwood, and a
few other kinds of Compositcc and Gramiiied, are the
prevailing vegetation of tlie desert. Of trees and

с -1

20 THE POST ROAD.

bushes there are absolutely none ; indeed, how could
there be, in such a region ? Putting out of question
the natural impediments to vegetation, the winds of
winter and spring blow day after day with such
violence that you see even the humble shrubs of
wormwood uprooted by them, rolled into bundles,
and driven across the barren plain !

The population in the Gobi Proper is far more
scanty than in the steppe country which precedes it.
Indeed, none but the Mongol and his constant com-
panion the camel, could inhabit these regions, desti-
tute alike of water and timber, scorched by an almost
tropical heat in summer, and chilled in winter to an
icy cold.

The barrenness and monotony of the Gobi pro-
duce on the traveller a sense of weariness and
depression. For weeks together the same objects
are constantly before his eyes : cheerless plains,
covered in winter with the yellowish withered grass
of the preceding year, from time to time broken by
dark rocky ridges, or by smooth hills, on the summit
of which the swift-footed antelope {Antilope giUtu-
rosa) occasionally casts a light shadow. With heavy
measured tread the laden camels advance ; tens,
hundreds, of miles are passed, but the changeless
desert remains sombre and unattractive as ever. . . .
The sun sets, the dark canopy of night descends,
the cloudless sky glitters with myriads of stars, and
the caravan, after proceeding a little further, halts for
the night. The camels show unmistakable satisfac-
tion at being freed from their burdens, and lie down

RAPACITY OF CROWS. 21

at once near the tents of their drivers, who busy
themselves in preparing their unsavoury meal. In
another hour men and beasts are asleep, and all
around reigns the deathlike silence of the steppe, as
though no living creature existed in it. . . , Besides
the post road, which is farmed by Mongols, there
are other routes across the Gobi from Urga to
Kalgan which are usually followed by the caravans.
At certain distances ^ along the post road wells are
dug and tents pitched which serve as stations, but
alonsf the caravan-routes the number and size of the
Mongol encampments depend on the quality and
quantity of pasturage. These roads, however, are
only frequented by the poorer inhabitants, who earn
a livelihood from passing caravans either by begging,
pasturing camels, or by the sale of dried argols
(dung of animals), which is an article of great value
both for the domestic use of the nomads and for
travellers, as it is the only fuel in the whole Gobi.

Our days dragged on with tedious monotony.
Following the central caravan-route we generally
started at midday and marched till midnight, averag-
ing twenty-seven to thirty-three miles per diem.
During the daytime my companion and I generally
went on foot a-head of the caravan and shot any
birds we saw.

The crows soon came to be looked on as our
bitter enemies, on account of their unbearable rapa-
city. Soon after we started I noticed some of these

* There are forty-seven post stations between Urga and Kalgan,
along a distance of about 660 miles.

22 RAPACITY OF CROWS.

birds pursuing the baggage camels which followed
our cart, and after perching on the packs fly away
with something in their beaks. On a closer investi-
gation, I discovered that they had torn a hole in one
of the provision bags, and were purloining our rusks.
They would hide their plunder somewhere on one
side of the road, and then return again for more.
After this discovery, all such thieves were summarily
shot ; but others soon appeared in their stead, to
share a like fate.

This went on every day till we reached Kalgan.
The rapacity of the crows in Mongolia surpasses
belief. These birds, so shy with us, are there
so impudent as to steal provisions almost out of
the tents of the Mongols. Nay, they will actually
perch on the backs of the grazing camels, and tear
their humps with their beaks. The foolish, timid
animal only cries at the top of its voice, and spits at
its tormentor, who returns again and again to the back
of the camel until it has inflicted a large wound by
means of its powerful beak. The Mongols consider
it wrong to kill birds, and so they cannot rid them-
selves of the crows, which accompany every caravan
across the desert. It is impossible to leave any food
outside the tent without its being instantly stolen by
these audacious birds, who, if they can find nothing
better, will tear the undressed hides off the boxes of
tea. These crows and the kites in summer were
our inveterate foes throughout the expedition.
Many a time they robbed us of small skins which
we had prepared for our collection, to say nothing

SAND-GROUSE. 23

of the meat they stole ; but many hundreds of them
paid the penalty of their lives for their unceremo-
nious effrontery.

The only other members of the feathered tribe
which we saw in the Gobi were the sand-grouse and
Mongol larks. Both these kinds are peculiarly cha-
racteristic of Mongolia.

The sand-grouse [Syrrkaptes paradoxus),^ disco-
vered and described at the end of the last century
by the celebrated Pallas, is distributed over the
whole of Central Asia as far as the Caspian Sea,
and is occasionally met with as far south as Tibet.
This bird, called Boildurtc by the Mongols, and
Sadji by the Chinese, only inhabits the desert, where
it feeds on the seeds of different grasses (dwarf
wormwood, suihh'-, 8lc.), upon which it entirely de-
pends for food in winter. In the cold season vast
numbers flock together in the desert of Ala-shan,
attracted by the seeds of the sidJiir {Agriophylhim
Gobicuni), of which they are very fond. In summer
some of them appear in Trans- Baikalia, where they
breed. Their eggs, three in number, are laid on
the bare ground, where the hen bird sits staunchly,
although the bird is in ordinary circumstances timid.
In winter they are often compelled by the cold and

^ Or Syrrkaptes Pallasii, allied to the Pterodcs to which the name
sand-grouse is, I believe, more usually applied, but with some curious
peculiarities. This bird, whose proper home is in the steppes of
North-Eastern Asia, and which is described by Marco Polo under the
name of Barguerlac (Turki Baghirtlak), visited England in con-
siderable numbers between 1859 and 1863, but has not since, I be-
lieve, renewed its immigration, so far from its natural habitat (see
Marco Polo, 2nd ed., i. 265, and the references there). — Y.

24 THL MONGOL LARK.

snowstorms to take refuge in the plains of Northern
China, where they may be seen in large packs ; but
as soon as the weather moderates they return to
their native deserts. Their flight is remarkably
rapid, and when in large numbers the whirring
sound made by their wings is heard a long way,
resembling the noise of an approaching storm. ^ They
are very awkward runners on the ground, probably
owing to the peculiar formation of their feet, the
toes almost growing together, and the sole being
covered with a horny substance like the hoof of a
camel.

After their morning meal, the sand-grouse always
resort to some spring, well, or salt-lake to drink.
Here they will not alight till they have first de-
scribed two circles in the air to assure themselves of
safety, and after hurriedly satisfying their thirst they
fly off again. They will sometimes fly long distances
to the water.

The Mongol lark {^Mcla^iocorypha Mongolica)
is only met with occasionally on the desert tract ; its
habitat is in the grassy portions of the Gobi, and
there in winter it is found by hundreds and thou-
sands. Those we saw were mostly in the Southern
Gobi ; they are also not uncommon in China, at all
events during winter.

The Mongol lark is the best songster of the
Central Asian desert. In his music he rivals his
European congener. He has also a remarkable

' Marco Polo's recollection of this characteristic is condensed into
the words ' moult volant.^ — Y.

THE MONGOL LARK. 25

power of imitating the notes of other birds, intro-
ducing them into his own melody. Like our lark,
he sings as he soars up to the sky, or when perched
on a stone or stump of a tree. The Chinese call
him bai-ling, and delight in his song, often keeping
him as a cage-bird.

Like the sand-grouse, the Mongol lark visits the
north, and breeds in Trans-Baikalia, although it pre-
fers remaining in Mongolia, where it makes its nest
on the ground like the European species, depositing
three or four eggs in a little hole. In the desert
of Mongolia, where the cold weather lasts all the
spring, these larks form their nests late in the year,
and we found their fresh-laid eggs in the beginning,
and even the end, of June. Wintering in those parts
of the Gobi where little, if any, snow falls, they with-
stand the severest cold (as much as -34° Fahr.),^ find-
ing shelter in the tufts of dirisitn, the small seeds of
which are at this season their chief food. This, and
similar observations we have made, lead to the opi-
nion that many of the feathered tribe are driven
southwards in winter by want of food, and not by
cold.

The Mongol lark is found as far south as the
northern bend of the Yellow River, and then avoid-
ing Ordos, Ala-shan, and the mountains of Kan-su,
it re-appears in the steppe near Lake Koko-nor.
Two other kinds of larks also winter in the Gobi in
very large numbers (Otocoris albjgtcla, Alatida pis-
poldta), and the Lapland ortolan {Plectrophanes Lap-

' Л lower temperature even than this was recorded at Urga.

2б THE ALPINE HARE.

ponied) ; the latter, however, is mostly seen in the
country of the Chakhars, i.e. on the south-eastern
border of the Gobi.

Of mammalia peculiar to this desert only two
characteristic kinds can be mentioned : the Alpine
hare and antelope.

The Alpine hare (Lagomys Ogotono), or, as the
Mongols call it, the Ogolono, belongs to the order of
rodents, and is from the form of its teeth regarded
as closely allied to the hare. It is about the size of
the common rat and burrows in the earth, invariably
choosing for its habitat the grass steppes, particularly
where the ground is uneven, and the valleys in the
mountains of Trans-Baikalia and the north of Mon-
golia. It is never found in the barren desert, and,
therefore, does not inhabit the central and southern
Gobi.i

The ogotono is a curious little animal of a sociable
disposition, and where one of its burrows is found
some tens, hundreds, or even thousands more will
invariably be near it. In winter, when the cold is
intense, they never leave their holes,^ but as soon
as the temperature becomes warmer they come out
and sit at the entrance sunning themselves, or
scamper from one burrow to another. The poor
ogotono has so many enemies that it must be con-
stantly on the look-out for danger. It will some-
times only venture half-way out of its hole, raising

'^ The ogotono is very numerous in the grass plains of South-
eastern Mongolia.

^ These little animals arc never dormant in winter.

THE ALPINE HARE. 27

its head to assure itself of the absence of danger.
Steppe-foxes, wolves, but especially buzzards, hawks,
kites, and even eagles, daily destroy countless num-
bers of these little animals. The skill with which
the winged assailants seize their prey is remarkable.
I have often seen a buzzard descend so rapidly on
its victim as not to give it time to retreat into its
burrow, and an eagle on one such occasion swooped
down from a height of at least 200 feet. The buzzard
{Bitteo ferox) feeds entirely on the ogotono ; but such
is the rapidity with which they breed that this
wholesale destruction is probably the only way of
checking their excessive increase. Curiosity is a
distinctive trait of this animal ; it will allow a man
or dog to approach within ten paces of it, then sud-
denly disappear in its hole ; but, in a few minutes its
head may be seen at the entrance, and, if the object
of its fears has removed a little further away, it will
venture out and resume its former position. Another
of its habits, peculiar also to other kinds of this tribe,
is to lay in a store of hay for winter use, stacking
it at the entrance of its home. The hay is collected
towards the end of summer, carefully dried and made
into little stacks weighing from four to five or even
ten pounds. This serves for its couch underground
and for food during the winter ; but very often the
labour is in vain and cattle devour its store. In such
case the unfortunate little creature is reduced to feed
on the withered grass which grows near its burrow.

The ogotono can exist a long time without water.
In winter it can quench its thirst with snow, and in

28 STEPPE ANTELOPE.

summer with rain, or if there be no rainfall, with
dew, which, however, is rare ; but the question is
what does it find to drink in spring and autumn,
when for months together no rain or snow falls on
the plateau and the atmosphere is excessively dry ?

This little animal is found as far south as the
northern bend of the Hoang-ho, beyond which it is
replaced by other kinds.

The dzeren {Antilope giitturosa) is a species of
antelope, about the size of the common goat, cha-
racteristic of the Gobi desert, especially of its eastern
or less barren part. It is also met with in Western
Mongolia, ^ and in the environs of Lake Koko-nor,
which is the southern limit of its distribution.

These antelopes are gregarious, their herds some-
times numbering several hundred or even thousand
head in those parts where food is plentiful, but they
are most frequently seen in smaller numbers of
fifteen to thirty or forty head ; although they avoid
the neighbourhood of man, they always select the
best pasturage of the desert, and, like the Mon-
gols, migrate from place to place in search of food,
sometimes travelling great distances, especially in
summer, when the drought drives them to the rich
pasture lands of Northern Mongolia, and as far as
the confines of Trans- Baikalia. The deep snows of
winter often compel them to travel several hundred
miles in search of places almost or entirely free from
snow. They belong exclusively to the plains, and

' There arc no dzerens in Ala-shan on account of the utterly desert
and barren character of that country.

ANTELOPE-SHOOTING. 29

carefully avoid the hilly country, but sometimes
appear in the undulating parts of the steppe, par-
ticularly in spring, attracted by the young grass,
which shoots up under the influence of the sun's
warmth. They shun thickets and high grass, ex-
cepting at the time of parturition, which is in May,
when the doe seeks the covert to conceal her new-
born offspring. But a few days after their birth the
fawns follow their mothers about everywhere, and
soon rival the fleet-footedness of their sires. They
very seldom utter any sound, though the males oc-
casionally give a short loud bleat. Nature has en-
dowed them with excellent sight, hearing, and smell ;
their swiftness is marvellous, and their intelligence
well developed, qualities which prevent their falling
so easy a prey, as they otherwise would, to their
enemies — man and the wolf.

Antelope-shooting is a difficult business, both be-
cause the animal is so shy, and because even when
hit mortally it will often get away. In the open
steppe a man cannot approach within 500 paces of
them, and if they are once startled you may say
twice that distance. Their careful avoidance of any
cover makes it next to impossible to stalk them in
the open plain. It is only in those parts of the
steppe that abound in hillocks that a man can get
within 300 yards, or sometimes, but rarely, within
200 yards, and even then he cannot be certain of his
quarry. Granted that at 200 yards, with a good
rifle, you are sure of your aim, on the other hand,
your bullet does not kill unless it chance to hit the

Зо MODES OF HUNTING ANTELOPE.

head, heart, or lungs. In any other case the dzeren
escapes, although perhaps mortally wounded, and is
often lost to the hunter, for it runs faster with a
broken leg than a good horse can gallop. For this
sport you must have a rifle with a long point-blank
range, because it is almost impossible to judge dis-
tances accurately in the steppe. You must have a
rest for your rifle, such as the native sportsmen of
Siberia use, otherwise you will be apt to find that,
after having walked quickly for a considerable dis-
tance, your hand is shaky just when you want to
take your aim ! In fact on entering the deserts of
Asia the sportsman must lay aside his European
experiences and learn a great deal from the native
hunters.

The Mongols, armed with their poor matchlocks,
hunt the dzerens in the following way. In those
parts of the steppe where antelope abound they dig
small pits at certain distances apart. These holes at
first excite mistrust, so the animals are left alone for
some weeks to get used to them. The hunters then
repair to their allotted stations, and conceal them-
selves in the pits, while others make a wide circuit
to windward driving the herd towards the am-
bush, and no gun is fired till they are within a
distance of fifty paces or even less. The drivers
must know their business and be thoroughly familiar
Avith the habits of the animal, otherwise their labour
will be lost. They must never gallop suddenly up
to the herd, because if they do the antelope almost
always escape. The usual plan is to make a circuit

FIRST SIGHT OF ANTELOPE. 31

round the herd, slowly narrowing the circle with
repeated halts, or else to ride on one flank at a foot's
pace, gradually edging the herd towards the ambush.

The natives have another mode of hunting
dzerens. A Mongol, mounted on a quiet and well-
trained camel, rides over the steppe. On seeing
antelope he dismounts, and leading his camel by the
bridle quietly approaches the herd, concealing him-
self as much as possible by keeping step with the
camel. At first the antelope are startled, but seeing
only a camel quietly browsing, they allow the hunter
to approach within a hundred paces, or even nearer.
Towards the end of summer the dzerens are very fat,
and are eagerly hunted by the Mongols for the sake
of their delicate flesh, and also for their skins, which
are made into winter clothing. The nomads, how-
ever, rarely wear the skins themselves, but sell them
to Russian merchants at Urga or Kiakhta. Dzerens
are also snared in traps made in the shape of a shoe,
of tough grass {dirisiLu). When caught by the leg
in one of these, the animal lames itself in its struof-
gles to get free, and is unable to move.

The dzeren have even a more deadly enemy
than man in the wolves. Whole herds, according
to Mongol description, meet their death from these.
And they are also subject at certain periods to epi-
demics, which, as I myself witnessed in the winter
of 1871, commit great ravages among them.

It was on our way to Kalgan, some 230 miles
from Urga, that we first saw the dzeren. I need not
dwell on the impression produced by the first sight

32 CHAKHAR MONGOLS AND THEIR COUNTRY.

of a herd of these antelope on myself and com-
panion. We went after them day after day, to the
extreme dissatisfaction of our Mongols, who had to
wait hours for us, and at length became so discon-
tented that we could only appease them by giving
them a share of the spoil.

Notwithstanding the barrenness and desolate
appearance of the Gobi, the road to Kalgan was
kept amply alive by the tea-caravans which passed
us by the dozen daily. I will presently describe
one of these caravans, but now let us go back to the
plateau of Mongolia.

After leaving the Khalka country, we passed
through the land of the Sunni Mongols, and left
behind the most barren part of the Gobi, entering
a more fertile belt, which forms a fringe on the
south-east, as a like belt does on the north, to the
wild and barren centre of the plateau. The surface
of the country now becomes more uneven, and is,
covered with excellent grass, on which the Chakhar
Mongols pasture their numerous herds. These
people are the frontier police of China Proper, hav-
ing been enrolled in the government service, and
divided into eight banners. Their country is about
130 miles in width, but its length from east to west
is nearly three times as much.

Owing to their constant intercourse with the
Chinese, the Chakhars of the present day have lost
not only the character, but also the type, of pure
Monq-ols. Prescrvino- the native idleness of their
past existence, they have adopted from tlie Chinese

CHAKHAR MONGOLS AND THEIR COUNTRY. 33

only the worst features of their character, and are
degenerate mongrels, without either the honesty of
the Mongol or the industry of the Chinaman. The
dress of the Chakhars is the same as that worn by
the Chinese, whom they resemble in features, having
generally a drawn or angular, rather than a flat or
round face. This change of type is produced by
frequent intermarriages between the Chakhar men
and Chinese women ; the offspring of this union of
race is called Erlidzi. Other Mongols, particularly
the Khalkas, detest them as much as they do the
Chinese, and our drivers always kept watch at
night while travelling through this country, because
they said that all its inhabitants луеге the greatest
thieves.

The Chakhar country is badly Avatered, but a
few lakes may now and again be seen, the largest of
which is Lake Anguli-nor. It is only when you get
near the border of the plateau, and after you have
passed some small streams, that the first signs of
cultivation and settled life appear. The Chinese
villages and cultivated fields plainly tell the traveller
that he has at last left the wild desert behind him,
and has entered a country more congenial to man.

At length, far away on the horizon, can be dis-
cerned the dim outlines of that range which forms
so distinct a definition between the high chilly pla-
teau of Mongolia and the warm plains of China
Proper. This range is thoroughly Alpine. Steep
li ill-sides, deep valleys, lofty precipices, sharp peaks
often crowned with overhanging rocks and an ap-

VOL. J, D

34 BORDER OF MONGOLIAN PLATEAU- k'ALC AN.

pearance of savage grandeur, are the chief charac-
teristics of the mountains, alon^ the axis of which is
carried the Great Wall Like many other ranges
of Inner Asia, which have a lofty plateau on one
side and low plains on the other, this presents no
ascent from the side of the plateau. To the very
last the traveller makes his way through undulating
hills, until a marvellous panorama is suddenly dis-
closed to his view. Beneath his feet are rows
upon rows of lofty mountains, precipices, chasms,
and ravines, intermingled in the wildest confusion ;
beyond lie thickly populated valleys, through which
glide winding rivers. The contrast between that
which has been passed and that which lies before
is wonderful. The change of climate is not less
remarkable. Hitherto, durino- the whole of our
march, frosts were of daily occurrence, sometimes
exceeding —34° Fahr., and always accompanied by
strong north-west winds without snow. Now, as we
descended, the temperature grew warmer at every
step, and on arriving at Kalgan the weather was
spring-like, although it was yet early in January ; so
marked was the change in a distance of about
seventeen miles, separating this town from the com-
mencement of the descent. The high land has a
height of some 5,400 feet, whereas the town of Kal-
gan, at the entrance to the plains, is only 2,800 feet
above the level of the sea.^

This town, called by the Chinese Chang-kia-
kau, commands the pass through the Great Wall,

' Kalgan is derived from the Mongol word Kha/i^ui, i.e. a barrier.

KALGAN. 35

and is an in^portant place for the Chinese trade with
Mongoha.^ Kalgan numbers 70,000 inhabitants,
who are entirely Chinese, but include a great many
Mahomedans, known throughout China by the name
of Hzuei Hwei. Two Protestant missionaries, and
several Russian merchants enoraored in the tea-car-
rying trade, reside here. Notwithstanding the in-
creased importation of tea by sea, and the consequent
diminution of the land transport, 200,000 chests are
still annually sent from Kalgan to Urga and Kiakhta,
each weia"hins;- 108 lbs. This tea is brouo;ht to Kal-
gan from the plantations near Hankau," partly by
land and partly by steamers, to Tien-tsin ; one-half
is then delivered to Russian merchants for further
transport, and the remainder is forwarded to Kiakhta
or Urga^ by the Chinese themselves. The Mon-
^^ols are the carriers, and earn large sums from this
business, which only lasts during the autumn, winter,
and early spring (up to April). In summer all the
camels are turned out to grass on the steppe, where
they shed their coats and recruit their strength for
fresh work.

The caravans of tea form a very characteristic
feature in Eastern Mongolia. In early autumn, i.e.
towards the middle of September, long strings of
camels may be. seen converging on Kalgan from all
quarters, saddled, and ready to carry a burden of

1 Russian cloth, plush and furs are also sent hither.

"^ This town is on the lower Yangtszc-Kiang, or Blue River ; in it
are the establishments of the Russians and other Europeans engaged
in the tea-trade.

^ Some of the tea is left here for the consumption of the Mongols.

D 2

Зб TEA-CARA VANS.

four chests of tea (a little under 4 cwts.) on their
backs across the desert. This is the usual load of a
Mongol camel, but the stronger ones bear an addi-
tional fifth chest. The Mongols contract to carry
tea either direct to Kiakhta or only to Urga, beyond
which place the mountains and frequent deep snows
are formidable obstacles to the progress of camels.
The tea is only transported in this manner as far as
Urga ; it is conveyed the rest of the way in two-
wheeled bullock-carts.

The average cost of the transport of one chest
from Kalgan to Kiakhta is equivalent to three lans
(or taels) ; each camel can therefore earti twelve lans
(or about 3/. los.). The caravan generally accom-
plishes two journeys from Kalgan to Kiakhta during
the winter, the owner earning about 7/. by each of
his animals. Two drivers are usually placed in
charge of twenty-five camels and their loads ; the
cost of transport is therefore very small, and the
contractor realises a large profit, after deducting for
losses by the death of camels from fatigue and
starvation. The caravan camels are often rendered
unfit for service by sore feet, lameness, or galled
backs, occasioned by careless loading. If the lame-
ness be caused by worn-out hoofs, the Mongols bind
the animal, throw him on the ground, and sew a
piece of leather over the injured hoof, which answers
the purpose of a sole, and generally effects a cure ; a
sore-backed camel is unfit for further use that season,
and is let loose on the steppe to recover. Taking
into account the percentage of lost and damaged

CHINESE IMPOSITIONS ON MONGOLS. n

camels, the owner of some dozens of these animals
may gain a large profit ; but many carriers have
several hundred camels, and of course their earnings
are proportionately greater. One would suppose
that the Mongols would grow rich in this way, but
in fact it is otherwise, — hardly one of them taking
home a few hundred rubles, and almost all the
money passes into the hands of the Chinese.

The latter impose upon the simple-minded Mon-
gols in the most scandalous way. On the arrival of
the autumn caravans, the Chinese ride out to meet
them, and invite the owners to stay with them.
Lodgings are given gratis, and every attention is
shown. The unkempt Mongol, to whom the
Chinese at any other time does not deign to speak,
now lounges on the couches of his host, the rich
merchant, who generally waits upon his guest in
person, and anticipates his slightest wish. The
Mongol accepts all this hospitality as genuine, and
authorises his host to settle accounts for him with
the merchant whose tea he contracts to carry. This
is exactly what is required by the Chinaman. On
receiving the money, always paid in advance, he
swindles his client in the most unconscionable way,
and then offers him first one and then another article,
charging double price for all. Part of the money is
then kept back for taxation and fees to officials,
and more is expended on entertainment, until the
Mongol takes his departure from Kalgan with a
mere fraction left of his large earnings. Some of
this, too, he is compelled to devote to religious uses,

425077

38 THE GREAT WALE

SO that he returns home in spring nearly empty-
handed.^

The land transport is so expensive that the price
of brick-tea, which is exclusively consumed by the
Mongols and inhabitants of Siberia, is increased by
three times the cost of its production. A caravan
takes from thirty to forty days on the road from
Kalgan to Kiakhta, according to agreement with
the contractor.

The tea chests are first covered with thick
woollen cloths, wdiich are afterwards stripped off,
and the boxes sewn up in undressed hides, and des-
patched to European Russia, on carts or on sledges,
according to the season of the year. Kalgan, as we
have said, commands one of the passes through the
Great Wall, which we beheld for the first time.
It is built of large stones, cemented together with
mortar. The wall itself is tapering, 21 feet high,
and about 28 feet wide at the foundation. At the
most important points, less than a mile apart, square
towers are erected, built of bricks laid in mortar,
as headers and stretchers. The size of the towers
varies considerably, the largest measuring 42 feet on
each side at the base, and the same in height.

The wall winds over the crest of the dividing
range, crossing the valleys at right angles, and block-
ing them with fortifications. At such places alone
could this barrier be of any advantage for defensive

^ See in Hue a clever description of the way in which the Mongol
is swindled. Hue's ' Souvenirs d'un Voyage dans la Tartarie, le Thibet,
et la Chine,' vol. i. 173.— Y.-

THE GREAT WALL. .39

purposes. The mountains, inaccessible by nature,
are nevertheless crowned by a wall as formidable as
that which bars the valleys.

What could have been the object of this gigantic
work ? How many millions of human hands must
have laboured at it ! What a vain expenditure of
national strength ! History records that this wall
Avas built, upwards of two centuries before the birth
of Christ, by the Chinese sovereigns, to protect
their empire from the inroads of the neighbouring
nomads ; but we also read that the periodical
irruptions of the barbarians were never checked by
this artificial barrier, behind which China ever lacked,
and even now lacks, that sure defence of a nation —
moral strength.

The Great Wall, however, which the Chinese
estimate to be about 3,300 miles long, and which is
continued on one side into the heart of Manchuria,
and on the other a long way beyond the upper
course of the Yellow River, is very inferior in those
parts more remote from Peking. Here it was built
under the eyes of the Emperor and his chief officers
of state, and is therefore a gigantic work ; but in
those distant localities, far removed from the super-
vision of the superior government, the celebrated
Great Wall, which Europeans are wont to regard as
a characteristic feature of China, is nothing but a
dilapidated mud rampart, 21 feet high. The mis-
sionaries Hue and Gabet mention this fact ^ in the

' See Hue's ' Souvenirs d'un Voyage dans la Tartarie,' &с. Paris,
1850, vol. ii. p. 28.

4® COMPRADORS, AND THEIR DIALECT.

description of their journey through MongoHa and
Tibet ; and we ourselves, in 1872, saw a wall of this
kind on the borders of Ala-shan and Kan-su.

We passed five days at Kalgan, where we met
with the greatest kindness from M. Matrenitsky and
some others of our countrymen, who, in their mer-
cantile capacity, manage the tea-carrying trade for
the Russian firms at Hankau. Their residences are
outside the town of Kalgan, near the entrance of the
beautiful valley by which we descended : a situation
which has the advantage of escaping the dirt and
smells, — those inseparable adj'uncts of every town in
the Celestial Empire.

Like other foreigners in China, the Russians at
Kalgan transact business through the medium of
compradors, i.e. Chinese who are entrusted to con-
duct negotiations with their countrymen ; but some
of the Kalcran merchants know enouo^h Chinese to
do business for themselves, and others are brought
into direct intercourse with the Mongol carriers. At
Tien-tsin, however, and all the other ports of China
open to Europeans, every mercantile house must
have its compradors. They transact all the business,
and rob their employers so outrageously that in a
few years a comprador is generally able to set up
a business establishment of his own.

The compradors living with foreigners learn to
speak the language of their master, whatever may
be his nationality. The Russian language is less
easily acquired than any other, on account of the
difficulty of pronouncing the words and mastering

' PIGE ON-R и SSI Л N: 41

the construction of the sentences. ' Quickly thy
viastcr s /loots,' once said a comprador at Kalgan to
me on seeing me shoot rock-pigeons on the wing.
' Thy food zuill not zuillf enquired the same indivi-
dual, offering me at the same time something to eat.
We met several such grammarians at Urga. One
of them had the reputation of having formerly manu-
factured false Russian bank-notes, which he circu-
lated among the Mongols. On asking him if he
still continued this occupation, he replied : ' Ноги is
that possible now thy paper bad is? write write — (i.e.
the text on the bank-note) — -fczu few onr people do
can, biit the face (i.e. the portrait) very wonderful is.'
The Mongols, however, are not particular about the
artistic merit of the bank-note ; and we saw several
false notes at Urga, the portraits on which were
simply drawn by hand.

Another comprador thus expressed his opinion
to me of foreigners residing in China : ' Thy people
same as Pehling-Fanqui ^ not ; thy people our people
odali ^ good ; Pehling-Fanqui bad are.' I could not
help being flattered at hearing such praise from a
Chinaman, who thus assured me ' that луе were not
at all like the French and English, but the same as
the Chinese who good are.'

However, this opinion, which may have been
only that of the individual, does not free the Russian
from the general hatred which the Chinese entertain

* Pehling is the Chinese for Englishmen j Fanqui for Frenchmen.
"^ Odali means 'same as' in the dialect of Trans- Baikalia,

42 ROAD TO PEKING.

for all Europeans, and from the nickname applied to
all of us of Yang-kzuei-tsz, i.e. ' foreign devil.'

The European will hear himself called by no
other name ; and on our first entrance into China
Proper we experienced all the miseries which await
the traveller from the West within the limits of the
Celestial Empire. But of this later. I will now
continue my narrative.

With the assistance of our countrymen at Kalgan
we hired two riding-horses for the journey to Peking,
and some mules for the baggage. Europeans usually
travel in litters carried between two mules, but we
preferred riding, because we could see the country
better in this way than in closed litters.

The distance from Kalgan to Peking is about
140 miles, usually performed in four days. Several
halts are made on the road at inns, most of which
are kept by Mahomedan emigrants from Eastern
Turkestan. Good inns are very difficult of access
for the European, who is shown into mean caravan-
serais, where he is charged double, triple, and even
ten times the usual price. But after sitting for six
or seven consecutive hours in the saddle, chilled
with the night air, one is glad of any shelter. In
spite of the well-known liberality of Europeans, such
is the hatred to the ' foreign devils ' that we were
sometimes refused a night's lodging, notwithstanding
the intervention of our Chinese mule-drivers. This
befell us at the town of Sha-chang, where we were
obliged to ride for an hour from one inn to another,
offering ten times the usual charge, before obtaining
shelter in a dirty, cold room.

CHINESE INNS AND CUISINE. 43

Our Ignorance of the language was another great
hindrance to us, especially at the stations where we
Avanted something to eat. Fortunately, I had writ-
ten down at Kalgan the names of some Chinese
dishes which served as our memL to Pekino-. I do

О

not know how others may like the taste of Chinese
cookery, with its flavour of sesamum oil and garlic ;
but, as for us, the messes in the Inns were simply
disgusting — the more so because we saw haunches of
asses' meat In the butchers' shops, and always had
well-grounded suspicions that we were fed on the
same. The Chinese themselves show no repug-
nance to any kind of nastiness, and will even eat
dogs' flesh. On our second visit to Kalgan we saw
some Chinese butchers buy a camel suffering from
the mange so badly that its whole body was one
mass of sores, and then and there cut it up and sell
the meat. Any animal that has died Is eaten, as a
matter of course, and the asses sold In the meat
shops have never come by their death in a violent
manner, for such is the meanness of this people that
they will never willingly kill a beast of burden for
the sake of its meat, If It has any work left in it.
The reader can now form an idea of the relish with
which Europeans, fully aware of the coarse gastro-
nomical tastes of their hosts, partake of the dishes
served In Chinese Inns.

On leaving Kalgan, and turning his back on the
border range, a wide, thickly-populated, and highly
cultivated plain lies before the traveller. The
cleanly appearance of the villages affords a striking
contrast to the towns. The road is very animated ;

44 DESCENT INTO GREAT PLAIN OF CHINA.

— Strings of asses laden with coal, mule-carts, litter-
bearers, and scavengers pass along. In all the vil-
lages and towns full-grown men may be seen all
day long on the roads, with a basket in one hand
and a spade in the other, collecting animal dung,
which is used for manuring the fields and for fuel.

Twenty miles from Kalgan, on the edge of the
plain, stands the large town of Siuen-hwa-fu, sur-
rounded, like all the Chinese towns, with a battle-
mented mud wall, like the Kitai-gorod at Moscow.
After leaving it, the road enters the mountains, fol-
lowing a gorge through which flows the rapid and
wide stream of the Yang-ho. In the narrower and
more intricate parts of the defile the road is hewn
out of the rocks, and it is altogether well adapted
for wheeled conveyances. After passing the town
of Tsi-ming, we again enter a plain, about nine miles
wide, extending towards the v/est between two chains
of mountains, one of which we have just crossed ; the
other, higher and far grander, forms the outer bar-
rier of the second descent by which the table-land of
Eastern Asia subsides into the plain which extends
eastward to the Yellow Sea.

The elevation of the country between Kalgan
and Chadau, which stands at the entrance to the
last range of mountains, is very even, and the jour-
ney is continued over high land.^ At Chadau the
descent of the second range, called Si-shan by the
Chinese, begins. Like the Kalgan mountains, this

' Kalj^an is 2,800 feet, Chadau (Chatow or Chatao of our maps)
i,6oo feet, above the sea.

PASS OF GIVAN-KAU. 45

range is only developed fully on the further side,
i.e. towards the plain at its base.

The road follows the pass of Gwan-kau the
whole way from Chadau as far as the town of Nan-
kau, situated at the egress from the mountains.
The pass is only 70 to 80 feet wide at first, and is
shut in by stupendous rocks of granite, porphyry,
grey marble, and silicious slate. The road was once
paved with stone-flags, but is now completely out
of repair, and almost impassable for equestrians,
although the Chinese drive their two-wheeled carts
over it, as well as caravans of camels, laden with tea.

Along the crest of this range is built the second,
so-called inner, Great Wall, far greater and more
massively built than that of Kalgan. It is composed
of great slabs of granite, with brick battlements on
the summit ; the loftiest points are crowned with
watch-towers. Beyond it are three other walls,
about two miles apart, all probably connected \vith
the main barrier. These walls block the pass of
Gwan-kau with double gates, but the last of all in
the direction of Peking has triple gates. Here may
be noticed two old cannon, said to have been cast
for the Chinese by the Jesuits,

Immediately after passing through, the defile
Avidens, although its wild, weird appearance con-
tinues for some distance further. Mountain torrents
and cascades rush noisily down the rocks, and at
the foot of overhanging cliffs Chinese houses appear
everywhere, with their vine}'ards and small orchards
of fruit-trees. At len^rth the traveller arrives at the

4б ARRIVAL AT РЕК IXC.

town of Nan-kail, i,ooo feet below Chadau, from
which it is only fifteen miles distant.

Thus the entire width of the border of the pla-
teau, from the summit of the descent above Kalgan
to the entrance into the plain of Peking at Nan-kau,
is about 130 miles. Towards the west it probably
widens, dividing into a number of parallel chains,
abuttmg on the northern bend of the Hoang-ho,
while to the east the distinct ranges unite in one
broad belt of mountains, which continues to the Gulf
of Pechihli in the Yellow Sea.

Peking^ is only one day's journey, i.e. about
35 miles, from Nan-kau. The country is a plain,
hardly above the sea level, wdth an alluvial soil, con-
sisting of clay and sand, highly cultivated in all parts.
The frequent villages, groves of cypress, tree-j'uniper,
pine, poplar, and other trees marking the burial-
places, lend variety and beauty to the landscape.
The climate is warm ; at a season when in Russia
severe frosts are prevalent, the thermometer here at
noon rises many degrees above freezing point in the
shade. Snow is rare ; if it fall occasionally at night,
it generally thaws the next day. Wintering birds
abound, and we saw thrushes, mountain finches,
greenfinches, bustard, rooks, kites, pigeons, and wild
ducks.

Nearer to Peking the population is so dense that
villages grow into towns, through which the tra-
veller is unconsciously approaching the wall of the
city, until at last he finds himself to have entered
tlie far-famed capital of the East.

' Pckincj is onlv 120 feet above the sea level.

NORTHERN OR KHALKA MONGOLS. 47

CHAPTER 11.

THE MONGOLS.

The Mongols — Physical characteristics — Modification of character on
the Chinese border — Pigtail introduced — Costume — The Yuria or
Felt Tent — Uncleanliness — Tea-drinking — Food and beverages —
Gluttony — Animal food — Cattle — Importance of their herds — Indo-
lent habits — Physical capabilities and defects— Cowardice — Saga-
city and obtuseness — Curiosity — Points of the compass — Estimation
of distance — Calendar and Year-Cycle — Language and diversities
— Literature— Love of gossip — Songs — iMongol women — Marriage
customs and domestic relations — Hospitality and polite customs —
Freedom of manners — Lamaism — Religious service ' Cm mani
padmi hom' — The Dalai Lama — Pilgrimages — The Clergy — Mo-
nasticism — Superstitions — Masses for the dead — The Authors view
of Missions — Administrative organisation of the Mongol tribes —
Grades of rank among chiefs, and their salaries — Population —
Laws, punishment, and taxation — Military force — ^Decay of martial
spirit.

The present chapter is specially devoted to the Eth-
nology of Mongolia, in order that in continuing the
narrative of our journey, anecdotes relating to the in-
habitants may be mentioned incidentally and not
dwelt on in detail. In describing the physical geo-
graphy and nature of the country we visited, and the
various episodes of our wanderings, the most notice-
able traits of its inhabitants might have been scat-
tered here and there through the volume, and thus
have escaped the attention of the reader. To avoid
this, I resolved to devote an entire chapter to a descrip-
tion of the people of Mongolia and the peculiar cha-
racteristics of their nomad life, merely making casual

48 MONGOLS ON THE CHINESE BORDER.

mention of them afterwards. Let us begin with
their external appearance, taking as our model the
inhabitants of the Khalkas country, where the purity
of the Mongol race is best preserved.

A broad flat face, with high cheek-bones, wide
nostrils, small narrow eyes, large prominent ears,
coarse black hair, scanty whiskers and beard, a dark
sunburnt complexion, and, lastly, a stout thick-set
figure, rather above the average height : such are
the distinguishing features of this race. In other
parts of Mongolia, but especially on the south-east,
where for some distance it borders with China Proper,
the original type is much less distinct ; and, although
the nomads reconcile themselves with difficulty to a
settled life, still in some way their neighbours have
exercised such influence over them that in those dis-
tricts lying immediately outside the Great Wall
they have almost become Chinese. With few excep-
tions, the Chinese Mongol still dwells in his yurta or
felt tent, tending his herds ; but in appearance and
still more in character he is a decided contrast to his
northern brethren, and bears a close resemblance to
his adopted countrymen He follows their fashions in
his dress and domestic habits ; and, owing to frequent
intermarriages with their women, his coarse flat fea-
tures are cast in the more recrular mould of the

О

Chinese face. His very character has unciergone a
remarkable change ; the desert has become distaste-
ful to him, and he prefers the populous towns of
China, where he has learnt the advantages and plea-
sures of a more civilised existence. But, in thus
gradualh' dej)arting from liis former life, the Chinese

I

COSTUME OF BOTH SEXES. 49

Mongol adopts only the worst qualities of his neigh-
bour, retaining his own inherent vices, until he has
become a degenerate mongrel, demoralised, instead
of rising to a higher social grade, under Chinese in-
fluence.

The Mongols, like the Chinese, shave the head,
only leaving sufficient hair on the crown to plait
into a long tail behind, whilst the heads of their
lamas are left entirely bare.^ Whiskers and beard,
naturally of scanty growth, are worn by none.

The pigtail was introduced into China by the
Manchus, after their conquest of the Celestial Empire
about the middle of the seventeenth century. Since
then it has been considered an external mark of sub-
mission to the reigning (Ta-tsin) dynasty, and all
Chinese subjects are compelled to wear it.

The Mongol women allow the hair to grow, and
plait it in two braids, decorated with ribbons, strings
of coral, or glass beads, which hang down on either
side of the bosom. Silver brooches, set with red
coral, which is highly esteemed in Mongolia, are fas-
tened in the hair. The poorer women substitute
common beads for coral, but the brooches, which are
secured above the forehead, are generally of silver,
or as a rare exception, of brass. Large silver ear-
rings and bracelets are also customary.

The dress of the Mongols consists of a kaftan
or 1оп2: robe made of blue daba,'"^ Chinese boots, and

' They use Chinese knives in shaving, and soften the hair with
warm water.

* Chinese cotton stuff,

VOL. I. E

50 THE YURTA OR FELT TENT.

a wide hat turned up at the brim. Shirts or under-
clothing of any kind are unusual ; warm trousers,
sheepskin cloaks, and fur caps are worn in winter.
In summer the dress, consisting of Chinese silk, is
sometimes more elaborate ; the robe or fur cloak is
always fastened round the waist with a belt, to which
are attached those invariable appendages of every
Mongol, a tobacco pouch, pipe, and tinder-box.
Besides these, the Khalka people carry a snuff-box,
which they offer on first meeting an acquaintance.
But the pride of the Mongol lies in the trappings of
his horse, which are thickly set with silver.

The dress of the women differs from that of the
men ; their upper garment is a short sleeveless jacket
without a belt. The dress, however, of the fair sex,
and style of wearing the hair, varies in different parts
of Mongolia.

The universal habitation of the Mongol is the
felt tent or yurta, which is of one shape throughout
the country. It is round, with a convex roof, through
an opening in which smoke escapes and light is ad-
mitted. The sides are of wooden laths, ^ fastened
together in such a way that, when extended, they re-
semble a lattice with meshes a foot square. This
frame-work is in several lengths, which, when the
yurta is pitched, are secured with rope, leaving room
on one side for a wooden door three feet high, and
about the same in width. The size of these dwellings
varies, but the usual dimensions are from 1 2 to 15 feet

* The wood required for yurtas is mostly broug^lit from the Khalka
country, which abounds in forests.

UNCL EA N LIN ESS. 5 1

in diameter, and about 10 feet high in the centre. The
roof is formed of Hght poles attached to the sides and
doorway by loops, the other ends being stuck into a
hoop, \vhich is raised over the centre, leaving an
aperture 3 to 4 feet in diameter, which answers the
double purpose of chimney and window.

When all is made fast, sheets of felt, of double
thickness in winter, are drawn over the sides and
door and round the chimney, and the habitation is
ready. The hearth stands in the centre of the inte-
rior ; facing the entrance are ranged the burkhans
(gods), and on either side are the various domestic
utensils. Round the hearth, where a fire is kept
burning all day, felt is laid down ; and in the yurtas
of the wealthier classes even carpets for sitting and
sleeping on. In these, too, the walls are lined with
cotton or silk, and the floors are of wood.

This habitation is indispensable to the лvild life
of the nomad ; it is quickly taken to pieces and re-
moved from place to place, whilst it is an effectual pro-
tection against cold and bad weather. In the severest
frost the temperature round the hearth is comfortable.
At night the fire is ptit out, the felt covering drawn
over the chimney, and even then, although not warm,
the felt yurta is far more snug than an ordinary tent.
In summer the felt is a good non-conductor of heat,
and proof against the heaviest rain.

The first thing which strikes the traveller in the
life of the Mongol is his excessive dirtiness : he
never washes his body, and very seldom his face
and hands. Owing to constant dirt, his clothinq-

52 TEA-DRINKING.

swarms with parasites, which he amuses himself by
kilHng in the most unceremonious way. It is a
common sight to see a Mongol, even an official or
lama of high rank, in the midst of a large circle of
his acquaintances, open his sheepskin or kaftan to
catch an offending insect and execute him on the
spot between his front teeth. The uncleanliness
and dirt amidst which they live is partly attributable
to their dislike, almost amounting to dread, of water
or damp. Nothing will induce a Mongol to cross
the smallest marsh where he might possibly wet his
feet, and he carefully avoids pitching his yurta any-
where near damp ground or in the vicinity of a
spring, stream, or marsh. Moisture is as fatal to
him as it is to the camel, so that it would seem as
if his organism, like the camel's, were only adapted
to a dry climate ; he never drinks cold water, but
always prefers brick-tea, a staple article of consump-
tion with all the Asiatic nomads. It is procured
from the Chinese, and the Mongols are so passion-
ately fond of it that neither men nor women can do
without it for many days. From morning till night
the kettle is simmering on the hearth, and all mem-
bers of the family constantly have recourse to it.
It is the first refreshment offered to a guest. The
mode of preparation is disgusting ; the vessel ^ in
which the tea is boiled Is never cleansed, and is

* Their domestic utensils are anything but numerous. They are —
an iron saucepan, for boiling their food in, teapot, a skimmer, a
leathern skin or wooden tub to hold water or milk, a wooden trough for
serving the meat in. To these must be added an iron fire-dog, tongs to
hold the argols, and occasionally a Chinese axe.

FOOD AND BEVERAGES. 53

occasionally scrubbed with argols, i.e. dried horse or
cow dung. Salt water is generally used, but, if un-
obtainable, salt is added. The tea is then pared off
with a knife or pounded in a mortar, and a handful
of it thrown into the boiling water, to which a few
cups of milk are added. To soften the brick-tea,
which is sometimes as hard as a rock, it is placed
for a few minutes among hot argols, which impart a
flavour and aroma to the whole beveraee. This is
the first process, and in this form it answers the
same purpose as chocolate or coffee with us. For
a more substantial meal the Mongol mixes dry
roasted millet in his cup, and, as a final relish, adds
a lump of butter or raw sheep-tail fat (kurdiuk).
The reader may now imagine what a revolting com-
pound of nastiness is produced, and yet they con-
sume any quantity of it ! Ten to fifteen large cup-
fuls is the daily allowance for a girl, but full-grown
men take twice as much.^ It should be mentioned
that the cups, which are sometimes highly orna-
mented, are the exclusive property of each indi-
vidual ; they are never washed, but after every meal
licked out by the owner ; those belonging to the
more wealthy Mongols are of pure silver, of Chinese
manufacture ; the lamas make them of human skulls
cut in half, and mounted in silver. The food of the
Mongols also consists of milk prepared in various
ways, either as butter, curds, whey, or kumiss. The
curds are made from the unskimmed milk, which is

' Mongols have no regular hours for meals : they eat and drink
whenever they feel disposed, or have the opportunity.

54 FOOD AND BEVERAGES.

gently simmered over a slow fire, and then allowed
to stand for some time, after which the thick cream
is skimmed off and dried, and roasted millet often
added to it. Ihe whey is prepared from sour
skimmed milk, and is made into small dry lumps
of cheese. Lastly, the kumiss {iaj^astwi),^ is pre-
pared from mares' or sheep's milk ; all through the
summer it is considered the greatest luxury, and
Mongols are in the habit of constantly riding to visit
their friends and taste the tarasum till they generally
become intoxicated. They are all inclined to indulge
too freely, although drunkenness is net so rife among
them as it is in some more civilised countries. They
buy brandy from the Chinese when they themselves
visit China with their caravans, or from itinerant
Cliinese merchants, who in summer visit all parts of
Mongolia, exchanging their wares for wool, skins, and
cattle. This trade is very profitable to the latter, as
they generally sell their goods on credit, charging
exorbitant interest, and receiving payment in kind,
reckoned at prices far below the real value.

Tea and milk constitute the chief food of the
Mongols all the year round, but they are equally
fond of mutton. The highest praise they can bestow
on any food is to say that it is ' as good as mutton.'
Sheep, like camels, are sacred ; indeed all their do-
mestic animals are emblems of some good qualities.
The favourite part is the tail which is pure fat. In
autumn, when the grass is of the poorest description,
the sheep fatten wonderfully, and the fatter the

' See S^\pplementary Note.

MANNER OF EATING. ■ 55

better for Mongol taste.^ No part of the slaughtered
animal is wasted, but everything is eaten up with
the utmost relish.

The gluttony of this people exceeds all descrip-
tion. A Mongol will eat more than ten pounds
of meat at one sitting, but some have been known
to devour an average-sized sheep in the course of
twenty-four hours ! On a journey, when provisions
are economised, a leg of mutton is the ordinary
daily ration for one man, and although he can live
for days without food, yet, when once he gets it,
he will eat enough for seven.

They always boil their mutton, only roasting the
breast as a delicacy. On a winter's journey, when
the frozen meat requires extra time for cooking, they
eat it half raw, slicing off pieces from the surface,
and returning it again to the pot. When travelling
and pressed for time, they take a piece of mutton and
place it on the back of the camel, underneath the
saddle, to preserve it from the frost, луЬепсе it is
brought out during the journey and eaten, covered
with camel's hair and reeking with sweat ; but this is
no test of a Mongol's appetite. Of the liquor in
which he has boiled his meat he makes soup by
adding millet or dough, drinking it like tea. Before
eating, the lamas and the more religious among the
laity, after filling their cups, throw a little into the
fire or on the ground, as an offering ; before drink-

' They have a remarkable way of killing their sheep : they slit up
the creature's stomach, thrust their hand in, and seize hold of the
heart, squeezing it till the animal dies.

5б ANIMAL FOOD J CATTLE.

ing, they dip the middle finger of the right hand
into the cup and flick off the adhering drops.^

They eat with their fingers, which are always
disgustingly dirty ; raising a large piece of meat
and seizing it in their teeth, they cut off with a knife,
close to the mouth, the portion remaining in the
hand. The bones are licked clean, and sometimes
cracked for the sake of the marrow ; the shoulder-
blade of mutton is always broken and thrown aside,
it being considered unlucky to leave it unbroken.

On special occasions they eat the flesh of goats
and horses ; beef rarely, and camels' flesh more rarely
still. The lamas will touch none of this meat, but
have no objection to carrion, particularly if the dead
animal is at all fat. They do not habitually eat
bread, but they will not refuse Chinese loaves, and
sometimes bake wheaten cakes themselves. Near
the Russian frontier they will even eat black bread,
but further in the interior they do not know what it
is, and those to whom we gave rusks, made of rye-
flour, to taste, remarked that there was nothing nice
about such food as that, which only jarred the
teeth.

Fowl or fish they consider unclean, and their
dislike to them is so great that one of our guides
nearly turned sick on seeing us eat boiled duck at
Koko-nor; this shows how relative are the ideas of
people even in matters which apparently concern the
senses. The very Mongol, born and bred amid

' Thib is one of the ancient Mongol practices. Sec ' Marco Polo,'
and cd., i. p. 300. — V^

IMPORTANCE OF THEIR HERDS. 57

frightful squalor, who could relish carrion, shuddered
when he saw us eat duck a Г EiLVOpeenne.

Their only occupation and source of wealth is
cattle-breeding, and their riches are counted by the
number of their live stock, sheep, horses, camels,
oxen, and a few goats — the proportion varying in
different parts of Mongolia.^ Thus, the best camels
are bred among the Khalkas ; the Chakhar country
is famous for its horses, Ala-shan for its goats ; and
in Koko-nor the yak is a substitute for the cow.

The Khalka country ranks first in the wealth of
its inhabitants, who are mostly well oh""; even after
the cattle-plague had destroyed countless oxen and
sheep, large herds were still owned by individuals,
and there is hardly a native but possesses some hun-
dred of the fat-tailed sheep. In Southern Mongolia,
i.e. in Ordos and Ala-shan, the sheep are of a differ-
ent breed, and at Koko-nor they have yet another
kind with horns eighteen inches lonof. As all the

о о

requirements of life : milk and meat for food, skins
for clothing, wool for felt, and ropes, are supplied by
his cattle, which also earn him large sums by their
sale, or by the transport of merchandise, so the
nomad lives entirely for them. His personal wants,
and those of his family, are a secondary considera-
tion. His movements from place to place depen J on

^ The price of cattle varies in different parts of the country thus ;

In Khalka In the Chakhar In Koko-nor.
country. country.

Sheep . . 2 to 3 . . 2 to 3 . . I to i^ . ^.^i^^^^

Oxen . . 12 „ 15 . . 15 . . 7 „ 10 ( ians=

Camels • . 3° » 35 • • 40 . . 25 [ ^s. Ы.

Horses . . 12 „ 15 . . 15 . . 25 J per head.

58 INDOLENT HABITS.

the wants of his animals. If they are well supplied
with food and water, the Monpol is content. His skill
and patience in managing them are admirable. The
stubborn camel becomes his docile carrier ; the half-
tamed steppe-horse his obedient and faithful steed.
He loves and cherishes his animals ; nothing will
induce him to saddle a camel or a horse under a
certain age ; no money will buy his lambs or calves,
which he considers it wrong to kill before they are
full-grown. Cattle-breeding is the only occupation
of this people ; their industrial employment is limited
to the preparation of a few articles for domestic use,
such as skins, felt, saddles, bridles, and bows ; a
little tinder, and a few knives. They buy everything
else, including their clothes, of the Chinese, and, in
very small quantities, from the Russian merchants
at Kiakhta and Urofa. Mining: is unknown to them.

о о

The inland trade is entirely one of barter ; and the
foreio^n trade is confined to Peking and the nearest
towns of China, whither they drive their cattle for
sale, and carry salt, hides, and wool to exchange for
manufactured eoods.

The most striking trait in their character is sloth.
Their whole lives are passed in holiday making,
which harmonizes with their pastoral pursuits. Their
cattle are their only care, and even they do not cause
them much trouble. The camels and horses graze
on the steppe without any watch, only requiring to be
watered once a day in summer at the neighbouring
well. The women and children tend the flocks and
herds. The rich hire shepherds, who are mostly

EXCELLENT HORSEMANSHIP. 59

poor homeless vagrants. Milking the cows, churning
butter, preparing the meals, and other domestic
work, falls to the lot of the women. The men, as a
rule, do nothing but gallop about all day long from
yurta to yurta, drinking tea or kumiss, and gossiping
with their neighbours. They are ardent lovers of
the chase, which is some break to the tedious mono-
tony of their lives, but they are, with few exceptions,
bad shots, and their arms are most inferior, some
having flint-and-steel muskets, while others have
nothlnof but the bow and arrows. An occasional
pilgrimage to some temple, and horse-racing, are
their favourite diversions.

With the approach of autumn the Mongols throw
off some of their laziness. The camels, which have
been at pasture all the summer, are now collected
together and driven to Kalgan or Kuku-Khoto^ to
prepare for the transport of tea and merchandise
to and from Klakhta, and to carry supplies from
Kuku-Khoto to the Chinese forces stationed between
Ullassutai and Kobdo. Some few are employed in
carrying salt from the salt lakes of Mongolia to the
nearest towns of China Proper. In this way, during
the autumn and winter, all the camels of Northern
and Eastern Mongolia are earning large profits for
their owners. With the return of April, the trans-
port ceases, the wearied animals are turned loose on
the steppe, and their masters repose in complete Idle-
ness for five or six months.

The Mongol is so Indolent that he will never

' Kwci-hwa-chcne.

бо PHYSICAL CAPABILITIES AND DEFECTS.

Avalk any distance, no matter how short, if he can
ride ; his horse is always tethered outside the yurta,
ready for use at any moment ; he herds his cattle on
horseback, and when on a caravan journey nothing
but intense cold "will oblige him to dismount and
warm his limbs by walking a mile or two. His legs
are .bowed by constant equestrianism, and he grasps
the saddle like a centaur. The wildest steppe-horse
cannot unseat its Mongol rider. He is in his ele-
ment on horseback, going at full speed ; seldom at a
foot's pace, or at a trot, but scouring like the wind
across the desert. He loves and understands horses ;
a fast galloper or a good ambler is his greatest
delight, and he will not part with such a treasure, even
in his direst need. His contempt for pedestrianism
is so great that he considers it* beneath his dignity
to walk even as far as the next yurta.

Endowed by nature with a strong constitution,
and trained from early childhood to endure hard-
ships, the Mongols enjoy excellent health, notwith-
standing all the discomforts of life in the desert.
In the depth of winter, for a month at a time, they
accompany the tea-caravans. Day by day the ther-
mometer registers upwards of— 20° of Fahrenheit,
with a constant wind from the north-west, intensi-
fying the cold until it is almost unendurable. But in
spite of it they keep their seat on their camels for
fifteen hours at a stretch, with a keen wind blowing
in their teeth. A man must be made of iron to
stand this ; but a Mongol performs the journey
backwards and forwards four times during the

MONGOL COWARDICE. 6i

winter, making upwards of 3,000 miles. As soon as
you set him to do other work, apparently much
lighter, but to which he is unaccustomed, the result
is very different. Although as hard as nails, he
cannot walk fifteen or twenty miles without suffering
great fatigue ; if he pass the night on the damp
ground he will catch cold as easily as any fine gentle-
man, and, deprived of his brick-tea, he will never
cease grumbling.

The Mongol is a slave to habit. He has
no energy to meet and overcome difficulties ; he
will try and avoid, but never conquer them. He
wants the elastic, manly spirit of the European,
ready for any emergency, and willing to struggle
against adversity and gain the victory in the end.
His is the stolid conservatism of the Asiatic, passive,
apathetic and lifeless.

Cowardice is another striking trait of their cha-
racter. Leaving out of the question the Chinese
Mongols, whose martial spirit and energy has been
completely stamped out, the Khalka people are
vastly inferior to their ancestors of the times of
Chinghiz and Okkodai.^ Two centuries of Chinese
sway,^ during which their warlike disposition has
been systematically extinguished and suffered to
stagnate in the dull round of nomad existence, have

^ Okkodai, the third son and successor of Chinghiz-Khan, estab-
lished his capital at Karakorum, and founded the walls and palace in
1234. See ' Marco Polo,' 2nd ed., i. p. 228. — M.

2 That is to say, from the time when the Khalkas became subject
to China in 1691, during the reign of Kanghi. Western Mongolia,
the so-called Dzungaria, was conquered by the Chinese in 1 756.

б2 SAG AC/TV AND OBTUSE NESS.

robbed them of every trace of prowess and bravery.
The recent incursions of the Diingans into their
territory proved how degenerate they had become.
The very name of Hwei, Hzuei, i.e. Mussulmans,
created a panic and caused them to fly ignominiously
without offering the least resistance to their foes.
And yet every advantage was on their side ; they
were in their own country, and were of course well
acquainted with the localities — a matter of some
importance in warfare, particularly in an arid desert
like the Gobi ; they could always outnumber the
Dungans, who were badly armed and undisciplined.
But, despite all this, the latter ravaged Ordos and
Ala-shan, captured Uliassutai and Kobdo, although
defended by Chinese regulars, invaded the Khalka
country several times, and would have taken Urga
had it not been for the presence of some Russian
soldiers.

We cannot deny that, besides cunning, dissimula-
tion and deceit, — qualities especially prevalent among
the natives of the border-land of China, — the Mongols
exhibit great sagacity. Among those of pure blood
immorality is chiefly confined to the lamas ; the
common people, or, as they are called, the Kara-
Kuiig, i.e. black folk, when uncontaminated by
Chinese or lama teaching, are kind and simple-
minded. But even their sagacity Is very one-sided.
The intimate knowledge they have of their native
plains excites one's admiration ; they will extricate
themselves from the most desperate situation, fore-
tell rain, storms, and other atmospheric changes ;

7...

CURIOSITY; POINTS OF THE COMPASS. 63

follow the almost imperceptible tracks of a stray
horse or camel, and are sensible of the proximity of
a well ; but when you try and explain to them the
simplest thing which does not come within their
daily routine, they will Из1ец with staring- eyes and
repeat the same question without understanding
your answer. The obtuseness of the Mongol is
enough to exhaust one's patience ; you are no longer
talking to the same man you knew in his native state,
you have now to do with a child, full of curiosity, but
incapable of understanding what you tell him. Their
inquisitiveness is often carried to an excess. When
the caravan enters a populous district, the inhabi-
tants appear from all sides, some of them from a
distance, and after the usual salutation, ' iitendic,' i.e.
* How do you do ? ' they begin asking you ' Whi-
ther are you travelling?' 'What is the object of
your journey ? ' ' Have you nothing to sell } '
' Where did you buy your camels ? ' and ' How
much did you pay for them ? ' and so on. No sooner
is one gone than another takes his place ; sometimes
a troop rides up, always with the same questions.
At the halting-place your patience is sorely taxed.
Hardly are the camels unloaded before they are
upon you, examining and handling your property,
and even entering your tent. The smallest article
excites their curiosity ; your arms, of course, but
even such trifling objects as boots, scissors, padlocks,
are all handled in turn, and they all ask you to give
them first one thing, then another. There is no end
to it. Every new-comer begins afresh, and the pre-

б4 ESTIMATIOX OF DISTANCE.

vioiis visitors explain and show him all your posses-
sions, and, if they get the chance, make off with
something by way of a keepsake.

One of their peculiarities cannot fail to arrest
the attention of the stranger, and that is, their habit
of moving from place to place without ever using
the words right or left, as though the ideas they
express were unknown to them. Even in the yurta
a Mongol will never say to the right hand or to the
left, but always such or such a thing is cast or west
of him. It may be worth mentioning here that the
points of their compass are the reverse of ours ;
their north is our south, and therefore the east is
on the left, not on the right, of their horizon.^

They calculate distances by the time occupied in
travelling with camels or horses, and have no other
accurate scale of measurement. If you ask how far
it is to any given place, the answer is always so
many days' journey with camels, or so many days'
ride on horseback. But as the rate of travelling
and length of marches vary according to circum-
stances and the disposition of the rider, they never
fail to add ' if you ride well,' or ' if you travel slowly.'
A day's journey in Khalkas is twenty-eight miles
with camels, and from forty to forty-seven on horses.
About Koko-nor they travel more slowly with the
former, not over twenty miles a day. A good
camel will average about three miles an hour with a
load on its back, or four without one.

The unit in the Mongol's scale of distances is a

' Sec Supi)lcnicntary Note.

CALENDAR AND YEAR-CYCLE. 65

day and a night ; he has no idea of dividing them
into hours. Their almanac is the same as the
Chinese, and is printed at Peking in Mongol cha-
racters. The months are all lunar, some containing
twenty-nine, others thirty days. Hence there is a
week over every year to complete the revolution of
the earth in its solar orbit. Every fourth year the
extra weeks make a month, which is added to the
winter, summer, or one of the other seasons, accord-
ing to the calculations of the Peking astronomers.^
This month has no special name, but is called after
one of the others, so that in Leap-year there are two
Januaries or two Julys, &c. The new year com-
mences on the first day of the white month, Tsagan
Sar, corresponding with the middle of February ;
which marks the beginning of spring, and is kept as
a great holiday in all Buddhist countries. The ist,
8th, and 1 5th days of every month are also festivals,
and are also called Tserting?

Their cycle is twelve years, each year having the
name of some animal, thus : —

Tlie 1st year Kuhigima (mouse). Tlie 7th year Mori (horse).
„ 2nd „ Ukyr (cow). „ 8th „ Hofii (sheep).

„ 3rd „ Bar (tiger). „ 9th „ Meehit (monkey).

„ 4th ,, Tolai (hare). „ loth „ Takia (fowl).

„ 5th „ Z?c (dragon). „ nth ,, AW^i?/ (dog).

„ 6th „ Л/<?о-^ (serpent). „ 12th „ Hakhai {^\^.

Five of these cycles make a larger one, answering to

' See Supplementary Note.

"^ On the New Year's Day, or White Feast of the Mongols, see
' Marco Polo,' 2nd. ed. i. p. 376-378, and ii. p. 543. The monthly festival
days, properly for the Lamas days oi fasting and worship, seem to
differ locally. See note in same work, i. p. 224, and on the Year-cycle,
i. p. 435-— Y.

VOL. L F

66

DIVERSITIES OF LANGUAGE.

our century. A man's age is computed by the
lesser cycles ; thus, if you are twenty-eight you are
said to be in the year of the hare, i.e. two complete
cycles of twelve years in each have elapsed since your
birth, and you have entered the fourth year of your
third cycle.

With regard to the language, I must confess that,
with the multifarious occupations of the expedition,
and in the absence of a good dragoman, we were
unable to study it closely, or pay much attention to
the different dialects. This was a serious omission,
but it was chiefly caused by our want of funds ; if
we had been able to dispose of ample means, I could
have hired a good interpreter thoroughly conversant
with his business ; but circumstanced as we were, ours
could not spare a minute for days together for his
proper duties ; and his limited intelligence made
him of very little use on occasions when tact and
address were required.

The Mongolian language prevails throughout
the country. It is rich in words, and has several
forms and dialects, which, however, are not very
distinct, except as between Northern and Southern
Mongolia, where the difference is strongly marked.^
Words in use among Southern Mongols are perfectly

Among Khalkas. In Ala-shan.
Khalat (Tunic) is Zupsa Labishik
Bowl is Imbu . Haisa

Cloth „ Tsimbu. Dahar

Gunpowder „ Dari . Shoroi
Milk „ Su . . Yusu

Hither „ Nasha . Naran

Thither „ In-shi . Tigehi

' Thus-

Among

Khalkas.

In Ala-shan.

Night

is

Shuni

. Su

Sheep

■>■>

Honi

. Hoi

Evening

»>

Udishi

. Ashin

Teapot

»

Shahu

. Debir

Boots

5»

Gutul

. Gudusu

Meat

J)

Mahan

. Ideh

Cloak

»

Dehl

. . Dibil

LITER A TURE. 67

unintelligible to the Khalkas, and the pronunciation
of the former is softer ; thus, k, ts, ck, become
respectively kh, ck; and g, e.g. Tsagan (white), be-
comes C/iagan, Kuku-hoto becomes khuhu-khoto,
and so on.

Even the construction of the sentence changes,
and our interpreter sometimes could not understand
expressions used by the Mongols of the South,
although he could not explain why they were unin-
telligible. All he would say was, ' They talk non-
sense.'

It appears to me that very few Chinese words
have been introduced into the Mongol language, but
that in the neighbourhood of Koko-nor a great deal
is derived from the Tangutan. In South-Eastern
and Southern Mongolia, Chinese influence prevails,
and is evidenced in the character of the people as
well as in their language, not so much from the
number of foreign words introduced into it as by a
general change, and a more monotonous and phleg-
matic pronunciation than that of the true Khalka
Mongols, who talk in loud, energetic accents.

The written characters, like the Chinese, are
arranged in vertical columns, but are read from left
to right. ^ There are a good many printed books,
the Chinese Government having appointed a special
commission, at the end of the last century, to trans-

' The present Mongol letters were acquired in the thirteenth cen-
tury of our era, in the reign of Kublai-Khan. [See Supplementary-
Note.]

F 2

68 LOVE OF GOSSIP.

late Into Mongol historical, educational, and religious
works. The numerals are also peculiar to the people,
and are used in business transactions equally with
the Manchu. There are schools at Peking and
Kalgan for teaching the language, and an almanac
and some books are from time to time printed in it.
The lettered classes are the princes, nobles, and
lamas, the latter also learning Tibetan, the princes
and nobles Mongol and Manchu. The common
people are in general illiterate. All Mongols are
fond of talking. Their greatest pleasure is to sit
and chat over a cup of tea. On meeting them, their
first question is, ' What's the news ? ' and they will
ride twenty or thirty miles to communicate some bit
of gossip to a friend. In this way rumours fly
through the country with astounding celerity, almost
equal to the telegraph. During our journey, the
inhabitants, hundreds of miles ahead of us, knew all
about us, down to the smallest details — of course
with all sorts of exaggerations.

The first thing which strikes a stranger in talking
to them is the frequent use of the words ise and sc^
both signifying ' very good,' and occurring in nearly
every phrase. They are also used as affirmatives,
' yes,' ' it is so.' In receiving an order or listening
to an anecdote from an official, the Mongol utters
his invariable tse or se. If he wish to express a
good or bad quality in anything, approval or cen-
sure, besides repeating these two syllables, and
sometimes without, he holds up the thumb or fore-
finger of the right hand, as the case may be, the

Ш

MONGOL GIRL.

Madame de Bourboulon, who accompanied her husband across Northern Mongolia on
their way from Shanghai to Moscow in 1862, describes the occupants of a Yurta as follows :

'They wore vests of green and red velvet, and over these a long robe of violet silk falling
to the feet, which were shod with boots of purple leather decorated with glass beads. Their
costume was in other respects the same as their father's, with the exception of their long
and fine black hair divided into numberless small tresses, intermixed with ribbons and coral
beads." — /,,■ 'lour du Monde, xi. p. 248.

SOJVCS. MONGOL WOMEN. 69

former for praise, the latter for blame. He addresses

his equal as nokor, i.e. ' comrade, ' as we should say

( • >
sir.

Their songs are always plaintive, and relate to
their past life and exploits.^ They usually sing on
a caravan journey, and occasionally in the yurta, but
the women's voices are not heard so often as the
men's. Troubadours or wandering minstrels always
secure an appreciative audience. Their musical
instruments are the flute and guitar ; we never saw
them dance, and they are probably unskilled in
the art.

The lot of the woman is most unenviable. The
narrow sphere of nomad life is even more restricted
for her. Entirely dependent on her husband, she
passes her time in the yurta nursing the children
and attending to domestic duties. In her spare time
she works with the needle, stitching clothes or some
piece of finery made of Chinese silk. Some of the
handiwork is in good taste and beautifully finished.

A Mongol can only have one lawful wife, but he
may keep concubines, who live with the real wife,
the latter taking precedence in rank and ruling the
household ; her children enjoy all the rights of the
father, while those of the concubines are illegitimate,
and have no share in the inheritance. An illecjiti-

о

mate child can be legitimised by the sanction of
government.

At the marriage festivals the relatives of the

' The most common song in Mongolia is ' Dagn-khara,' i.e. 'The
Song of the Black Colt.'

70 MARRIAGE CUSTOMS

husband are treated with respect ; those of the wife
are of no account. To ensure the happiness of the
young couple an auspicious reading of the stars ^
under which they were born is indispensable. If the
omens are unpropitious, the marriage does not take
place.

The bridegroom pays the parents of the bride,
according to agreement, sometimes a good sum as
purchase-money, either in cattle, clothes, or, more
rarely, in coin ; the wife provides the yurta, with all
its fittings, as her portion.'"^ If the marriage turn
out unhappily, or even to gratify some whim or
caprice, the husband may put his wife away, but the
latter may also desert a husband who is not affec-
tionate. In the first case the purchase-money is not
usually returned, and the man may only retain part
of the dower ; but if the wife desert her husband she
must repay part of the ante-nuptial settlement. This
custom often gives rise to little romantic episodes,
enacted in the heart of the steppe, which never find
their way into a novel.

The women are good mothers and housewives,
but unfaithful wives. Immorality is most common,
not only among the married women, but also among
the girls. Adultery is not even concealed, and is
not regarded as a vice. In the household the rights

^ They reckon their period of twelve years by the signs of the
Zodiac. [Surely the Author here means to refer to the Cycle signs
(supra, p. 64), not the Zodiac. — Y.]

" A full description of a Mongol wedding will be found in ' Tim-
kowsky's Travels,' vol. ii. pp. 303-311, and in Hue's ' Souvenirs d'un
Voyage dans la Tartaric et le Thibet,' vol. i. pp. 297-301.

AND DOMESTIC RELATIONS. 71

of the wife are nearly equal to those of the husband,
but in all out-door arrangements, as in moving camp,
paying debts, buying and selling, the authority of
the men is supreme, and no reference even is made
to the women ; but, as there is no rule without an
exception, so we have seen Mongol ladies who not
only managed their household, but interfered in other
affairs as \vell — in fact, completely henpecked their
husbands.

The appearance of the women is not attractive.
The typical features of their race, the flat face and
high cheekbones, spoil their looks ; and the rough
life in the yurta, exposure to the weather and dirt,
deprive them of any feminine grace and delicacy,
and all attractiveness to European eyes. As a rare
exception, but only in some princely families, a beauti-
ful face may now and then be seen, its fortunate
possessor being surrounded by a crowd of adorers,
for the Mongols are very susceptible to the charms
of the fair sex. The women are far less numerous
than the men, a fact which is accounted for by the
celibacy of the lamas. The Mongol is an excellent
father, and passionately fond of his children. When-
ever we gave them anything they always divided it
equally among all the members of their family, were
it a lump of sugar, and the portion of each individual
only a crumb. The elders are always held in great
respect, especially old men, whose opinions and
commands are implicitly followed. They are very
hospitable. Any one who enters the yurta is regaled
with tea and milk, and, for old acquaintance sake, a

\

(

0^

72 HOSPITALITY

Mongol will Open a bottle of brandy or kumiss, and
will even slaughter a sheep.

On meeting an acquaintance, or even a stranger,
the Mono-ol salutes him with a ' mcndu ' * viendic-seh-
beina! A pinch of snuff is interchanged, and the
greeting is renewed * mal-seh-bcinal ' ta seh-beina^ i.e.
* How are your cattle } ' This is always one of the
first questions, and they make no enquiry after your
health until they have learned that your sheep,
camels, and horses are fat and well to do. In Ordos
and Ala-shan the usual greeting is ' Avmr se' ' Are
you well ? ' but in Koko-nor it is substituted by the
Tangutan ' Tehimi' ' How do you do ? ' The friendly
pinch of snuff is unusual in Southern Mongolia, and
unknown in Koko-nor. Some amusing anecdotes
are related, illustrating the custom of enquiring after
cattle in the case of young travellers, journeying for
the first time from Kiakhta to Peking. A young
officer, bearing despatches for Peking, and happen-
ing to change horses at one of the Mongol stations,
he was soon surrounded by natives, who began their
respectful enquiries as to the health of his sheep, &c.
Learning from the interpreter the meaning of their
questions, he emphatically shook his head and denied
possessing any ; but they could not believe that a
personage of his exalted rank could exist without
sheep, cows, horses, or camels. We often had the
most detailed questions asked us, such as : 'In whose
care had we left our cattle before our departure on
so long a journey ? ' ' What was the weight of the
kurdink (fat tail) on each of our sheep ? ' * Did we

АЛ'П POLITE CUSTOMS. 73

enjoy the luxury of eating this dehcacy at home ? '
How many good amblers did we possess, and how
many fat camels?' In Southern Mongolia, as a
mutual token of good-fellowship, hadaki (silk scarves)
are interchanged by the host and his guest ; these
scarves are bought of the Chinese, the quality vary-
ing with the rank of the recipient.^

When these salutations are over, tea Is offered,
and, as a special mark of civility, lighted pipes are
handed round. The visitor never wishes his host
good-bye on taking his departure, but gets up and
walks straight out of the yurta. The host always
escorts his guest to his horse, which is tethered a
few paces from the tent, — a sign of respect invariably
shown to lamas of importance and government
officials.

x-^lthough servility and despotism are so strongly
developed among them that the will of the superior
generally replaces every law, a strange anomaly is
observable In the freedom of intercourse between
rulers and the ruled. At the sieht of an official the
Mongol bends the knee and does reverence, but
after this obsequious token of submission he takes
his seat beside him, chats and smokes with him.
Accustomed from childhood to perfect liberty, he
cannot endure restraint for any length of time, but
soon gives free rein to his habits. This freedom of
manners and equality may surprise the Inexperienced

' Among the Khalkas the scarves serve as currency, but are rarely
used for presents. [The polite interchange of the scarf [Kltata of the
Tibetans) is noted again in one of the later chapters on Tangut. — Y.]

74 FREEDOM OF MANNERS. LAMAISM.

traveller, but, if he look more deeply into it, he will
find it is nothing but the wild unbridled nature of the
nomad, requiring liberty for his childish habits, and
perfectly indifferent to the awful despotism of social
life. The very official, who to-day sits beside his
inferior and smokes a pipe with him on terms of
good-fellowship, may to-morrow punish his com-
panion, confiscate his sheep, or practise any injustice
he likes with impunity.

Bribery and corruption are as prevalent here as
in China ; a bribe will work miracles, and nothing
can be done without it. The worst crime may go
unpunished if the perpetrator gives a good purse to
the proper authorities ; on the other hand, a good
act has no merit without a certain offering, and this
system pervades the whole administration, from the
lowest to the highest.

Turning to their religion, we see how deeply
Lamaism has struck root in their midst, more so
perhaps than in any other Buddhist country.^ Hold-
ing contemplation to be the ideal of all perfection, it
exactly suits their indolent character, and has laid
the foundation of that terrible asceticism which
induces them to sever themselves from all desire for
progress, and to seek, in obscure and abstract ideas
of the Divinity and life beyond the tomb, the sum
and end of man's earthly existence.^

'^ It is not known exactly when Buddhism was introduced into
Mongoha ; a few traces of Shamanism, one of the oldest religions of
Asia, are still left in the country.

* We have nothing to do with the philosophy of Buddhism in this
work ; this subject has been treated in the Russian language by Pro-
fessor Vassilielf, entitled ' Buddhism.'

RELIGIOUS SERVICE. 75

Their religious service is performed in Tibetan/
which is also the language of their sacred books.
The most famous is the Ganjtir, comprising 108 vols.,
including, besides religion, such subjects as history,
mathematics, astronomy, &c. Service in the temples
is performed three times a day : at morning, midday,
and in the evening. The call to prayers is by blowing
trumpets made of large sea-shells ; when the congre-
gation are assembled, the lamas, seated on the floor
or on benches, chant passages from the sacred books.
From time to time this monotonous chanting is
interrupted by exclamations from the presiding lama,
repeated after him by the others, and at certain in-
tervals cymbals or brass plates are clashed, which
add to the general noise. The service continues for
some hours ; when the Kutukhtu is present in person,
the ceremonial observed is of course more imposing.
He always occupies a throne, robed in vestments,
Avith his face towards the idols, while the attendant
lamas swing censers in front of him and read the
prayers.

The frequently repeated prayer, constantly on
their lips, is * От mani padmi Jiom! ^ We tried in
vain to discover its meaning. The lamas assured

* Which the lamas themselves do not always understand. The
Tibetan letters are arranged in horizontal lines, not like the Chinese
and Mongolian, which are in vertical columns.

'^ Klaproth's explanation of this prayer, which, he says, is composed
of four Hindu words, meaning ' Oh ! precious lotus,' is unsatisfactory.
See Timkowski's * Travels,' English edition, London, 1827, vol. ii.
p. 349, note.

Mr. Wilson found these words beautifully inscribed on stones in
some parts of the Himalayas, even high up the mountains. In refer-

7б ' ОМ MANI PADMI НОМ:

US that it contained the whole mysticism of their
rehgion, and was inscribed not only on the temples,
but on other buildings. Besides the usual temples ^
in those localities far removed from them, dugiini, i.e.
oratories, are arranged in the huts. Lastly, on the
passes and high mountains large heaps of stones,
called obo, are piled up in honour of the guardian
spirits. These * obo ' are held in superstitious reve-
rence, and a Mongol never passes one without adding
a stone, rag, or tuft of camels' hair, as an offering. In
summer religious services are held at them, and the
people meet here on holidays.

The Dalai Lama of Tibet, residing at Lhassa, is
the head of the whole Buddhist hierarchy, and sove-
reign of Tibet, acknowledging fealty, however, to
China ; but this submission is merely nominal, and
is only outwardly shown by gifts sent three times a
year to the Emperor,^

Equal to the Dalai Lama in sanctity, but not in po-
litical importance, is another Tibetan saint, Pan-tsm-
Erdeni]^ the third and last personage in Buddhism
is the KutukhtiL of Urga. Next in rank come the
remaining Kutukhtus or Gigens, who live at the
different temples dispersed throughout Mongolia or

ence to their meaning, he quotes Koeppen's remarks in the ' Lamaische
Hierarchic und Kirche,' p. 59, which are most striking. See 'The
Abode of Snow,' by Andrew Wilson. Blackwood, London, 1875. pp.
329-332. — M. (See Supplementary Note.)

' Called in Mongolia sumo, less frequently kit or datsan.

^ The Chinese Government maintains a division of troops and an
envoy plenipotentiary at Lhassa [which seems somewhat inconsistent
with merely ' nominal ' subjection. — Y.]

' See p. II, supra. — Y.

THE DALAI LAMA. 77

in Peking ; there are upwards of a hundred of them ^
in MongoHa. They are all terrestrial saints, of
highly-developed holiness, who never die, but pass
from one body to another. A newly-born gigen is
discovered by the lamas of the temple to which his
predecessor belonged, and is confirmed in office by
the Dalai Lama. It devolves upon the latter digni-
tary to appoint a successor to himself, but the Chinese
Government secretly exercises great influence in the
election, which usually falls on some poor unknown
family. The personal insignificance of the Dalai
Lama, in the absence of family ties in the country, is
the best guarantee the Chinese can have of the
submission of Tibet, or, at all events, of their own
security from an unruly neighbour. They have
indeed good cause to be watchful, for if a talented,
energetic person were to appear on the throne of the
Dalai Lama, he might with one word, like the voice
of a god, cause a rising of the nomads from the Hima-
layas to Siberia. Deeply imbued with religious
fanaticism and the bitterest hatred for their oppres-
sors, the wild hordes would invade China and cause
it great injury.

The influence of the gigens is unlimited ; a prayer
offered up to one of them, the touch of his garments,
his benediction, are regarded in the light of the
greatest blessings humanity can enjoy ; but they are
not to be had gratis. Every believer must bring his
offering, which, in some cases, is very large. The

' 103 in all. Hyacinthe's ' Statistical Description of the Chinese
Empire,' part ii. p. 60.

78 PILGRIMAGES.

temples of Mongolia, especially the larger and more,
famous, attract wealthy pilgrims from far distances.

These pilgrimages, however, are, if we may so
call them, private enterprises. Lhassa is the sacred
city ; hither large caravans of worshippers annually
come, and, regardless of the difficulties of the long
journey, esteem it a special mark of Divine favour
to be allowed to fulfil their religious obligations.
The Dungan insurrection put a stop to them for
eleven years, but, as soon as the Chinese forces occu-
pied Eastern Kan-su, they were renewed. Women
sometimes take part in them, but, let it be said to
their credit, are not such hypocrites as the men.
This may be from the fact that all domestic work is
done by them, and they have less time -to spare for
religion. The inhabitants of the border-land are
also far less devout than those in the heart of the
country.

The clergy, or so-called lamas, ^ are very nume-
rous, and comprise a third, if not more, of the
male population, who are thereby relieved from the
payment of all taxes.^ It is not difficult to become a
lama. Parents must voluntarily dedicate their son
to this profession while he is an infant, shave his
head, and dress him in a red or yellow robe. This
is an external mark of the future vocation of the

' Properly speaking, the word ' lama ' is only applied by Mongols to
their superior clergy ; an ordinary member of that profession is called
Huvarak. But the former name is much more generally used than
the latter.

^ Lamas holding important posts at the temples are entirely freed
from imposts ; those non-officiating arc paid for by their families.

THE CLERGY. 79

child, who is afterwards given over to the temple,
where he is taught his letters and the Buddhist
mysteries by the elder lamas. ^ In some of the most
important of these establishments, for instance at
Urga or Kumbum,^ special schools are built for the
purpose, and divided into faculties. On completing
his studies, the lama is attached to some temple, or
practises as a physician.

Promotion to the highest ranks is effected by an
examination in the Buddhist books. The ranks of
the clergy are as follow : Kamba, Hehlung, Heh-
tsul, and Bandi — each having a distinctive dress-'
and station during prayer-time, and separate rules
for the regulation of their lives. The highest grade
is the Kambu or Kianbu, ordained directly by the
Kutukhtu, with the right of conferring ordination on
the lower ranks. The Kutukhtus are also obliged to
pass through the different degrees, but they reach
them sooner than ordinary mortals.

The lamas discharge certain duties in the temple
according to their rank. The Tsiabartsi is the
sacristan ; the Ptarba, housekeeper ; Kesgui, eccle-
siastical superintendent ; Ujnzat, precentor ; Duntsi,
treasurer ; Sordji, superior or abbot.

Besides these, several hundred (sometimes a
thousand or more) lamas are attached to every

* Lamas unattached to a temple, but who live in yurtas, also take
pupils.

"^ The temple of Kumbum is in the province of Kan-su, near Si-ning.

^ The dress of the lamas is invariably yellow, with a red belt or
band over the left shoulder. At prayer-time, special yellow mantles
and tall caps are worn, differing in appearance according to their
rank.

8o MONASTICISM.

temple, who do nothing but pray, subsisting on
the abns of the faithful. Some have never been
sent to school by their parents, and are, therefore,
illiterate, but they wear the same red robes as the
others, and bear the title of their office, which is
considered honourable.

All lamas must be celibates, an abnormal state,
which gives rise to every kind of immorality.

Women above a certain age may enter this pro-
fession, for which they are regularly ordained. Their
heads are shaved, they are compelled to swear the
observance of a strict life, and have the privilege of
wearing yellow, like the lamas. They are often met
with among aged widows, and are called shab-
gantsa.

Lamaism is the most frightful curse of the
country, because it attracts the best part of the male
population, preys like a parasite on the remainder,
and, by its unbounded influence, deprives the people
of the power of rising from the depths of ignorance
into which they are plunged.

But although this religion has taken so strong a
hold on them, superstitions are equally prevalent.
Evil spirits and witchcraft beset the Mongol's path.
Every unfavourable phenomenon of nature is ascribed
to the wicked spirit ; every sickness is caused by
him. Their everyday lives are full of superstitious
observances. Thus, they will not give or sell milk
in cloudy weather or after sunset, lest their cattle
should die ; it is considered unlucky to sit in the
entrance of the yurta, or to eat seated on the heels,

SUPERS TIT IONS. 8 1

some accident will surely happen afterwards ; a
journey must never be discussed beforehand, bad
weather or a hail-storm will be certain to follow ; the
names of father or mother must not be mentioned ;
nothing should be sold or given away for three days
after the recovery of one of the cattle, and so on.

But all these customs are a mere fraction of
their superstitions. Soothsaying and sorcery are
strangely developed among them, and are exercised
not only by the shamans and lamas, but also by ordi-
nary mortals, women excepted. The soothsayers
carry rosaries or strings of Chinese copper money,
and make use of sundry exorcisms. If a beast be
lost, a pipe or tinder-box mislaid, recourse is always
had to the prophet to learn where to look for the
missing property ; when a journey is about to be
undertaken the auguries must be consulted ; if a
drought occur, the whole tribe must apply to a sha-
man, and large sums are paid to induce him to make
the heavens send down to earth the life-giving
moisture ; if attacked by a sudden illness, the Mongol
calls in a lama to drive away the devils which have
entered his body. Time after time the impositions
practised by sorcerers and magicians are exposed,
yet the Mongol never loses his childish reliance on
them. One fortunate result is sufficient to wipe out
the recollection of all previous failures, and the reputa-
tion of the prophet stands as high as ever. Some
are so artful that they discover beforehand all that is
necessary to know for the successful practice of their
profession, and after deceiving others so often they

VOL. I. G

82 MASSES FOR THE BEAD.

at length themselves believe in their own super-
natural powers.

The Mongols expose the bodies of their dead to
be devoured by birds and beasts of prey, th^ir lamas
deciding in which direction the head should lie.
Princes, glgens, and lamas of importance are interred
or burnt after death. Masses are said for the de-
parted for forty days on payment of a sum of money.
The poor who cannot afford to pay are deprived of
this honour, but the rich distribute cattle among
the different temples where masses are said for
their deceased relatives for the space of two or
three years.

A Mongol, who might claim, apart from inevit-
able defects in intelligence and morality, to be called
a good and religious man, will show himself to be a
true barbarian in giving vent to his passions. It
is only necessary to see the savage way in which
they behave to the Dungans. The very man who
would scruple to kill a lamb, because he con-
sidered it wrong, will cut off the head of his
prisoner with the utmost sangfroid. Neither sex
nor age is respected ; the captives are slaugh-
tered indiscriminately. The Dungans certainly re-
taliate in like manner ; but I only mention this to
prove how powerless is religion alone, without other
civilising influences, to soften and transform the bar-
barous instincts of a nation. Buddhism inculcates
principles of lofty morality, but it has not taught the
Mongol to look upon every man as his brother and
respect even an enemy.

THE AUTHOR'S VIEV/ OF MISSIONS. 83

Again, the custom of exposing the dead to be
devoured by wild animals, a sight which may be
seen by any traveller near Urga, where hundreds of
corpses 'are annually devoured by dogs and crows,
revolting to the rudest nature, but not so to the
Mongol, who coolly drags his nearest and dearest
relatives to this spot, and sees the dogs tear his
father, mother, or brother to pieces as unconcernedly
as though he were a senseless creature.

Let this be a lesson to Christian missionaries in
these countries, not to teach the mere outward ob-
servance of religion, but to accompany their doctrines
with refining influences of civilisation and the culture
of a superior race. First wean the Mongol from
his dirt ; convince him that idleness and sloth are
vices and not among life's pleasures ; impress upon
him that God requires of every man good works,
and not merely a certain number of set prayers ; and
then, if you will, explain to him the forms of the
Christian religion. The new doctrines must not
only open his mind to a new spiritual and moral life,
but must effect a radical chanofe in his domestic and
social state. Then only will Christianity bear fruit
and throw out new shoots sowing good seed among
the rude untutored inhabitants of Monp-olia.^

о

' [Col. Prejevalski's opinion seems to be that when the tree pro-
duces its fruits, then, and not till then, is the time to plant it. — Y.]
Geographically Mongolia of to-day comprises the extent of coun-
try from the upper waters of the Irtish on the west to Manchuria
on the east, and from Siberia on the north to the Great Wall and
the Mahomedan countries lying near the Thian Shan on the south.

G 2

84 AIJMLYIS TRA Г1 VE ORG A NISA TION

At the end of the seventeenth century the Chin-
ese, after subduing almost the whole of this country,
allowed its separate organisation to remain un-
changed ; only introducing a more efficient system
of administration ; and while maintaining the inde-
pendence of its princes in local affairs, they placed
them under the strict supervision of the Government
of Pekinof. All the business connected with Monofo-
На is transacted by the Foreign Office [Li-fan-yiten),
matters of high importance being referred to the
Emperor. It is governed on the basis of a military
colony ; its chief divisions or principalities are called
aimaks} each comprising one or more koslmngs,
i.e. banners which are subdivided into regiments,
squadrons, and tens. The aimaks and koshungs
are governed by hereditary princes, who acknowledge

Its southern boundary, however, is south of the Great Wall, in the
basin of lake Koko-nor, where the frontier takes a deep bend to the
south.

^ Northern Mongolia, i.e. the Khalka country, is composed of 4
aimaks and 86 koshungs ; Inner and Eastern Mongolia, with Ordos,
of 25 aimaks, divided into 51 koshungs ; the country of the Chakhars
into 8 banners ; Ala-shan forms i aimak, with 3 koshungs ; Koko-nor
and Tsaidam, 5 aimaks, and 29 koshungs. Western Mongolia, so-
called Dzungaria, comprises 4 aimaks, and 32 koshungs ; but as the
numbers of its Mongol inhabitants were small in comparison with the
Chinese immigrants before the insurrection, it was divided into seven
military circuits. The aimak of Uriankhai includes 17 koshungs.
Full details on the administrative divisions of Mongolia may be found
in Hyacinthe's 'Statistical Description of the Chinese Empire,' part ii.
p. 88-1 [2 ; and in ' Timkowsky's Travels ' (English translation, edited
by Klaproth, London, 1827, vol. ii. p. 223-292). From these two
sources 1 have derived my information on the territorial divisions and
government of Mongolia. \Aimak is properly a division of persons,
not of territory, though it may have acquired a localised sense.
Originally all the organisation of Mongol authority had reference to
persons^ who might be on the Volga one year, on the Amur another. —
Y.]

^Шш'ШШйт

OF THE MONGOL TRIBES. 85

the Emperor of China as their lord paramount, and
may not enter into any relations with foreign powers
without reference to Peking. The tosalakchi, whose
office is also hereditary, rank next ; each banner has
one, two, or four of these officials ; the prince, who is
military chief of the banner, has two lieutenants
{ijicireii zaiigJiiii) ; every regiment has its colonel
{chialan zanghin\ and captains of squadrons [somtm
zanghui)} The w^hole military force of the aimak is
under a tsiang-tsimi (general), chosen from among
the Mongol princes.

The princes of the koshungs or banners assemble
once a year for the gathering ^ iclmlkaii), presided
over by one of their number who must have been
confirmed in his authority by the Emperor. These
assemblies, at w^hich local questions are decided, are
under the control of the governors of the nearest
provinces of China.^

Some parts of the country bordering with China
Proper are modelled entirely after the Chinese
system ; such as the district of Cheng-ta-fu beyond
the Great Wall, north of Peking, tne aimak of Chak-
har, north-west of Kalgan, and the district of Kuku-
hoto (Kwei-hwa-cheng), still further to the west, near
the northern bend of the Yellow River. Western

^ Every squadron has two officers, six under-officers, and 150 rank
and file.

^ Assemblies are also summoned on extraordinary occasions.

^ The governor of Kuku-hoto has the charge of Ordos, Western
Tumit, and the nearest aimaks of Mongolia ; Koko-nor and Tsaidam
are placed under the governor of Si-ning (in Kan-su) ; the two
westernmost aimaks of Khalkas are governed by the tsiang-tsiun of
Uliassutai, and so on.

86 uKAVES OF RANK AMOXG CHIEFS

Mongolia [Dzwigaria) until the recent insurrection
was divided into seven military circuits ^ under a
different form of government.

The princely caste has six grades ranking in the
following order : Khan, Tsin-wang, Isnm-wang,
Behlch, Behzeh, and Kiuig. Besides these are the
nobles owning land (Tsasak-tai-tsi),'^ the greater
number tracino- their descent from Chino^hiz-Khan.

о о

The title descends to the eldest son by lawful mar-
riage if he has attained the age of nineteen, Imperial
permission having been first obtained. If there be
no legitimate sons, the title may be transmitted to
one of the natural children or to the nearest male
relative, but not without the consent of the Emperor ;
the other children rank as nobles {tai-tsi) divided
into four classes. In this way the princes never
increase in number (there are 200 altogether), but
the nobility are constantly becoming more numerous.
The princes, as we have said, enjoy no political
rights, and are under the absolute authority of the
Peking Government, which watches their actions
with jealousy. Their salaries^ are received direct
from the Emperor, who promotes them at will from
one class to another. Princesses of the Imperial
family^ are sometimes given in marriage to Mongol

* Two of these (Urumchi and Barkul) were included in the pro-
vince of Kan-su.

'^ The name ' Tsasak ' is given lo every proprietary chief in
Mongoha.

^ The sahiries of the princes alone amount to 120,000 lans of silver
and 3,500 pieces of silk annually.

* These princesses also receive fixed salaries from the Emperor,
and arc only allowed to come to Peking once in ten years.

AND THEIR SALARIES. POPULATION. 87

princes, in order to strengthen by family ties the
power of China over their nomadic subjects. Every
prince must appear at court once every three or four
years to pay his respects to his sovereign ; on these
occasions they bring gifts, mostly camels or horses,
receiving in return silver, silk, costly dresses, caps
adorned with peacocks' feathers, &c., always of far
greater value than those brought. Indeed Mongolia
costs China a round sum every year ; ^ on the other
hand, the Middle Kingdom is secured from any
possible invasion by the ruthless nomads.

The exact population of Mongolia is unknown.
Pere Hyacinthe estimates it at three millions, Tim-
kowski at two ; in any case the number is insigni-
ficant in proportion to the extent of country. This
could hardly be otherwise if we consider the condi-
tions of nomad life, and how barren the Mongolian
deserts for the most part are. The increase of
population is also very slow, owing to the celibacy of
the lamas, and the diseases which at times cause
great ravages.

The Mongols are divided into four classes :

^ A prince of the ist rank receives 2,000 lans of silver and 25
pieces of silk.

A prince of the 2nd rank receives 1,200 lans of silver and 15 pieces
of silk.

A prince of the 3rd rank receives 800 lans of silver and 13 pieces
of silk.

A prince of the 4th rank receives 500 lans of silver and 10 pieces
of silk.

A prince of the 5th rank receives 300 lans of silver and 9 pieces of
silk.

A prince of the 6th rank receives 200 lans of silver and 7 pieces of
silk.

Tsasak tai-lsi (nobles), receive 100 lans of silver and 4 pieces of
silk.

83 LA} IS, FUA4SHMENT, AND TAXATION.

princes, nobles [iai-tsi), clergy, and common people.
The first three enjoy all civil rights ; the last are
semi-independent military settlers, who are not liable
to a land tax or to military service. Their laws are
embodied in a separate code published by the
Chinese Government, to which the princes must
conform in their administration ; proceedings of
minor importance are, however, decided according
to traditional usage. The punishments are fines
and banishment, and for crimes and robberies with
violence, in some instances, death. Corporal punish-
ment is inflicted on the common people as well as on
nobles and officials judicially degraded. Bribery,
corruption, and every kind of abuse in the adminis-
tration and judicial proceedings are most prevalent.

The people only pay a cattle tax to their princes ;
but on extraordinary occasions, such as when the
latter travel to Peking or to the assembly, on
the marriage of their children, or on removal of
camp, special collections are levied. The Mongols
pay no tax whatever to China, and are only liable to
military service, from which, however, the clergy are
exempt. The army is exclusively cavalry ; one
hundred and fifty families form a squadron ; six
squadrons a regiment, the regiments of one koshung
a banner. The people defray the cost of military
equipments, but government provides arms. If the
whole nation were called out for military duty, Mon-
golia ought to supply 284,000 men, ^ but less than

' Men are liable to military duty from the age of eighteen to sixty;
one man in three of a family is relieved from service. The arms are

MI LIT A R Y FORCE; DEC A Y OF MA R TIA L SPIRIT. 89

one-tenth of that number would be available. The
tsiang-tsiuns (generals) of the aimaks (districts)
ought to inspect the forces and examine their arms,
but it is usual for every koshung to avoid this by
bribery. The indolent Mongol will rather pay his
money than turn out for military service. The Chin-
ese Government is in one sense content with this,
because it proves that the ancient martial spirit of the
nomads is year by year becoming extinct,

exceedingly bad, consisting of spears, swords, bows, and matchlock
guns.

90 PEKING, FIRST IMPRESSIONS.

CHAPTER III.

THE SOUTH-EASTERN BORDER OF THE MONGOLIAN

PLATEAU.

Peking — First Impressions — The Streets and Walls — European Esta-
blishments— Preparations for the Journey — Fire-arms and Outfit —
Insufficiency of Funds and its Consequence — Financial Arrange-
ments— Chinese Currency — Inconveniences of the Copper Cur-
rency— Passport — Departure from Peking — Preliminary Tour to
the North^ — Ku-pe-kau Gate in Wall — Migration of Wild-fowl —
Road to Dolon-nor — Wood on the Way — Jehol — Fauna of the
Route — Goitre — Khingan Range — Dolon-nor — Idol Foundry —
Shandu River — Tsagan Balgas— Sandhills called Giichin-gurbu
or ' the 33 ' — A Steppe-fire on the Dalai-nor — The Lake Dalai —
Birds on the Lake — Mocking-bird — Surveying Difficulties — Mode
of Surveying — Suspicions of the Natives — The Route plotted
daily — Road back to Kalgan — Steppe Horses — Imperial Pasture
Lands — Chmate of South-Eastern Mongolia — The two-humped
Camel — Its habits, uses, &c. — Arrival at Kalgan.

Peking, or, as the Chinese call, it, Pch-king} was the
starting point of our expedition. Here we met with
the most cordial hospitality from our countrymen,
the members of the diplomatic and clerical missions,
and here we abode nearly two months making pre-
parations for the journey. My acquaintance with
the city is very superficial. Its great extent and out-
landish appearance to European eyes, the strange
manners of the Chinese, and, lastly, ignorance of
the language, prevented me from acquainting my-
self in detail with all its marvels. I may candidly

' Pc/t-king, i.e. 'northern capital.'

PEK'ING, ITS STREETS AND WALLS. 91

confess, however, that the impression it left on my
mind was far from agreeable ; indeed, a new comer
could hardly be pleased with a city in which cess-
pools and crowds of naked beggars ^ are the adjuncts
of even the best streets. If we add to this the in-
solent effrontery of the Chinese themselves and the
nickname of Kwei-tss, i.e. ' foreign devils,' with
other opprobrious epithets, which they bestowed
upon us, it may readily be imagined that Peking is
not the pleasantest place in the world for a stroll.
To complete the picture, collectors of manure are
continually moving about plying their trade with
baskets on their arms ; the smells are beyond de-
scription, and the water used for laying the dust is
taken from the sewers.

The principal streets are wide and straight, bor-
dered with rows of shops decorated in every con-
ceivable style, and with mud walls which conceal from
view the dwellings of the inhabitants. The town is
lighted with paper lanterns stuck on wooden tripods
several hundred yards apart, in which are usually-
placed lighted tallow candles. There is no particular
need, however, of nocturnal illumination, because the
Chinese generally conclude their out-door business
by sunset, so that with the approach of twilight
hardly anyone is to be seen abroad even in the
most populous quarters of the town.

Peking is divided into two parts, an inner town
(Nei-cheng) in which the palace of the Emperor

^ The beggars in Peking are said to number 40,000 ; they have a
king or chief of their own, who exacts a certain tribute from all the
shops in the town.

92 EUROPEAN BUILDINGS LN PEKE\'G.

Stands, and an outer (Wai-cheng), much smaller than
the first/ each being surrounded by a battlemented
mud wall (on which towers rise at intervals), that of
the inner about fourteen miles in circumference,^
33 ft. in height and 60 ft. thick, with nine gates,
which are closed at sunset and opened at sunrise ;
that of the outer only ten miles round with seven
gates.

The five foreign embassies ^ are all too^ether in
the southern quarter of the inner town near the
gate of Tsian-men. Our missionary establishment
stands in the north-eastern angle of the so-called
northern suburb (Peh-kwan*); this town also con-
tains four Catholic churches,^ several Protestant in-
stitutions, and a custom-house. These complete
the list of European buildings in Peking, no foreign
merchants, Russians included, having the right by
treaty of trading here.

The task of preparing for our journey was not
an easy one. We had no one to consult, for none
of the Europeans resident at that time at Peking

' The terms 'inner 'and 'outer' are incorrect inasmuch as both
he close together, but one does not include the other. The palace is
situated in the Imperial town (Hwang-cheng), which occupies the
centre of the inner. A detailed description of the capital of the Celes-
tial Empire has been translated from the Chinese by Pere Hyacinthe.

' The whole of Peking, exclusive of its suburbs, is about 20 miles
(58 li) in circumference. The number of its population is uncertain,
but cannot be very large, because there are so many ruins and empty
spaces in the town.

' English, Russian, French, German, American.

■• The southern suburb, in which the diplomatic mission-buildings
are situated, is called ' Yuen-kwan.'

* Peh-iang, Nan-tang, Si-tang, and Dum-tang. [ Tung-\.2i\лg ? i.e.
North, South, West, and East.— Y.]

PREPARATIONS FOR THE JOURAEY. 93

had travelled beyond the Great Wall in a westerly
direction. Our object was to strike the northern
bend of the Yellow River, visit the country of Ordos
and Lake Koko-nor, and, in fact, explore regions
almost entirely unknown to Europeans. We had,
therefore, to be guided by our instincts in equipping
ourselves with everything needful, and in deciding
upon the best means of travelling.

Our winter journey from Kiakhta to Peking, fol-
lowed by a prolonged residence in the latter city,
convinced me that the only chance of success in
travellino; throuMi the secluded dominions of China

о о

lay in entire independence of the inhabitants, who
viewed with hostility every attempt of Europeans
to penetrate into the more remote regions of their
country. We tried in vain to find a Chinese or a
Mongol who would accompany us on our proposed
wanderings. The offer of liberal payment, the
promise of a large reward if the journey were suc-
cessful, and other tempting baits of this kind, failed
to overcome their distrust and cowardice; some at
first agreed to our proposals, but afterwards broke
their word. Seeing how impossible it was to depend
on such auxiliaries for a distant expedition like ours,
луе determined on buying camels and managing
them ourselves, with the assistance of two Cossacks
who were to accompany us.

Having procured seven pack-camels and two
riding-horses, \ve proceeded to arrange the baggage
and take necessary supplies for a twelvemonth, as
this time we did not expect to reach Koko-nor. but

94 FIRE-ARMS AND OUTFIT.

intended devoting a year to the exploration of the"
middle course of the Yellow River, and then return-
ing to Peking. When everything was ready, our
impedimenta consisted chiefly of guns and ammu-
nition for the chase, both very ponderous but indis-
pensable : first, as a means of collecting specimens
of birds and animals ; secondly, because we should
have to depend on them for supplying us with food
in the districts which had been entirely depopulated
by the Dungans, as well as in those parts of China
where the inhabitants might refuse to sell us provi-
sions in the hopes of starving us out ; lastly, our guns
would protect us against robbers, by whom, at. all
events during the first year, we were unmolested, a
circumstance which may be attributed to our being
Avell-armed, and proving the force of the old maxim,
' Si vis pacem para belliim!

The rest of our baggage comprised the appara-
tus for preparing specimens and drying plants ; such
as blotting-paper, pressing-boards, tow for stuffing,
plaster-of- Paris, alum, &c., &c. All this was packed
into four large boxes which galled the backs of our
camels, but, at the same time, were indispensable
to contain the collections. Lastly, I purchased a
quantity of small articles for the sum of about 40/.
to assist me in my assumed character of merchant.
This merchandise, however, proved to be a" useless
incumbrance ; the time lost in trafficking interfered
with our scientific pursuits, and did not serve to
conceal the real object of our journey. The pro-
visions for our immediate wants were a case of

RESULT OF OUR. INSUFFICIENCY OF FUNDS. 95

French brandy, 36 lbs. of sugar, and two sacks of
rice ; we hoped to obtain as much meat as we re-
quired with our g-uns.

This meagre supply for our personal consumption
was occasioned by the slenderness of our finances.
The first year of our travels we received from the
War Department, the Geographical Society, and
the Botanical Gardens of St. Petersburg the aggre-
gate sum of 350/., including my salary ; in the
second and third the amount was increased to
500/. ; my travelling companion, M. Pyltseff, re-
ceived the first year 40/. and the two following 80/.
I state the case plainly as to our monetary resources
simply because the want of means was the greatest
possible hindrance to us. In proof of this, I may
remark that as each Cossack was entitled to 28/. a
year salary, which I paid regularly in silver, I could
not afford more than two men. My companion and
I were, therefore, obliged to load the camels our-
selves, to pasture them, to collect argols for fuel, &c.,
in fact, do all the drudgery ; whereas, under other
circumstances, the time thus spent might have been
devoted to scientific observations. Again, I could
not afford a good interpreter of the Mongol language,
thoroughly conversant with his duties, who would
have been of the greatest service on several occa-
sions. My Cossack-dragoman was by turns labourer,
herdsman, cook, constantly employed in one or other
of these capacities, and only able now and then to
spare a short time for his legitimate business. Lastly,
our poverty was the cause of our actually suffer-

9б FINANCIAL ARRANGEMENTS.

ing from hunger more than once, when no game was
obtainable and we could not pay the extortionate
price demanded for a sheep. On returning to Peking
after the first year, I could not help smiling on hear-
ing a member of one of the foreign embassies enquire
how we managed to carry about with us so large a
quantity of silver, gold not being current in Mongolia.
What would this gentleman have thought of us if he
had known that on starting from Peking we only
took 65/. in cash ?

To add still more to our embarrassment, the
moneys assigned for our use were not even paid in
full, but were remitted to Peking in half-yearly in-
stalments by the War Department, and a year in
advance by the Geographical Society and Botanical
Gardens. The obliging assistance of General Vlan-
gali rescued us from the critical position in which we
should otherwise have found ourselves, and I re-
ceived out of the Mission fund a loan of the annual
amount payable to me, and, on starting for the second
time, even more.

Silver rubles are exchanged at Peking at the
rate of two for one liang (tael) of Chinese silver
(55. bd.). I should also mention that, with the ex-
ception of the small cash, made of copper alloyed
with zinc, there is no coinage in China. Silver is
always paid and received by weight, and accord-
ing to assay. The unit is the liang^ (tael or ounce),
its tenth part is a kiang (also pronounced tsiang) ;

' Twelve liangs average about a pound in weight. [Col. Prcje-
valski generally writes lan.\

mCONVENIENCES OF COPPER CURRENCY. 97

the tenth of a kiang is 2i /eng; 16 Hangs make a
king (or hing\ The weight of the ounce varies ac-
cording to the three different scales used, viz. govern-
ment, market, and hand-balance. The purest silver
is cast in wedge-shaped ingots, each weighing about
50 ounces and bearing the government mark, or the
stamp of the private firm which has cast them.
There is less alloy in this than in any other. In pay-
ing small sums you cut off bits from the ingot as you
require them, weighing them in a hand-balance ; for
larger dealings a pair of scales and two bowls are
used. In these transactions the experienced China-
man invariably gets the better of you, by inclining
the balance one way or the other, according as he
has to pay or receive ; he will also cheat you, in the
quality, particularly when in small lumps, which are
apt to contain a good deal of bad metal.

I should also mention that petty transactions are
ordinarily settled with cash,^ which are so heavy
that a ruble's worth (about 2s. 8d.) weighs on
an average 8. lbs. Of course you cannot take
enough coins with you,'"^ and are, therefore, obliged
to exchange your silver as you find It necessary ;
your difficulties are further increased by the different
rates of exchange in almost every town and in many
of the villages In China. In some places, 30 cash
count as a hundred, In others 50, у8, 8o, 92, 98 are
worth no more : an absurdity which could only be

^ To facilitate calculations 500 cash are strung on a cord by means
of a square hole in each.

- 15/. worth of copper cash weigh 6h cwts., or about three c.imcl-
loads, whilst the cost of each camel is nearly 35/. !

VOL. I. H

98 PASSPORT. DEPARTURE EROM PEKING.

met with In this country. But these local exchanges
do not exclude the general rate which equalises the
values of the coin. The latter is known to the
Mongols under the name of * 7iianchan^ the former
as ' dzelen! Before buying anything you must
always ask whether the price is according to the
general or local rate ; otherwise, you may find your-
self out in your calculations. If, in addition to all
this, it be considered that weights and measures
differ all over the Empire, you may form an idea
of the fraud and dishonesty to which the traveller
is exposed even in the most trifling purchases. In
order to avoid disputes in weighing silver, and also
for the sake of economy, I bought the medium or
market scales ; but they seldom answered our pur-
pose. We lost heavily by exchanging silver into
copper, as we were often unable to ascertain the
local rate, which varies every ten miles or so.^ In-
deed, from first to last we paid a large premium to
the roguery and rascality of the natives, and were
imposed upon in the most scandalous way.

Throuofh the courteous intervention of our Am-
bassador we received a passport from the Chinese
Government, permitting us to travel in South-eastern
Mongolia and Kan-su ; and having completed our
preparations, we started from Peking on March 9th,

' For instance, at Peking a liang (tael) of silver is worth ,1,500 cash,
at Dolon-nor 1,600, at Kalgan 1,800, at Ta-jing (in Kan-su) 2,900, and
at Tonkir (also in Kan-su) 5,000. The enormous difference between
the two latter towns is probably only temporary, and is caused by
the excessive rise in price of every article of consumption in those
districts after the Пипцап desolation.

PRELIMINARY TOUR TO THE XORTH. 99

accompanied by every good wish for our happiness
and success from our countrymen resident in that
city, amongst whom we had passed our time so agree-
ably. Those pleasant days were now gone by, and
in the bustle and anxiety of present arrangements we
had little time even to think of the future, with all
its hopes and fears.

In addition to the Cossack who had accompanied
us from Kiakhta, another, attached to our embassy
at Peking, was ordered to join our party. Both
these men were only to remain with us temporarily,
and were to be replaced by two others who had not
yet arrived. Under these circumstances we could
not at once enter the heart of Mongolia, and there-
fore determined to explore such parts of it as lie
north of Peking in the direction of the town of
Dolon-nor. Here I wished, in the first place, to
acquaint myself with the nature of the hilly region
which, just as at Kalgan, forms the border-land of
the plateau, and secondly, to observe the spring flight
of birds of passage. For the latter purpose, lake
Dalai-nor was a convenient station, situated on the
table-land itself, 100 miles north of Dolon-nor. From
its shores we purposed again descending to Kalgan,
changing our Cossacks for the newcomers whose
arrival we expected about that time, and then turn-
ing westwards in the direction of the northern bend
of the Hoang-ho. In order to burden ourselves as
little as possible, we despatched part of our effects
direct to Kalgan, only taking with us what was abso-
lutely necessary for two n^ionths. Having been un-

H 2

loo KU-PEH-KAU.

successful in hiring a Mongol or Chinaman, even for
so short a time, we started a party of four.

Our route first lay in the direction of Kii-peh-
kaii, which commands the pass through the Great
Wall,^ and is nearly seventy-seven miles north of the
capital. At first the appearance of the country does
not change ; the level plain watered by the Peiho and
its tributary the Cha-ho is thickly studded with vil-
lages, and small towns and hamlets recur frequently
along the road-side ; but on the second day the moun-
tains, which had been hitherto hardly visible in the
distance, appeared nearer, and thirteen miles from
Ku-peh-kau we entered the outlying hills of this
marginal range. It is somewhat different from that at
Kalgan. The two chains, which we will call the Kal-
gan and Nankau ranges (after the towns at the foot of
the passes by which they are respectively descended),
unite towards Ku-peh-kau in a broad belt, which con-
tinues to form an outer barrier to the high plateau.

Ku-peh-kau is a small place enclosed on three
sides by mud walls, while on the fourth it is shut in
by the Great Wall. A little over a mile from the
town stands a mud fort commanding the road to
Peking through a small narrow defile. The moun-
tains only really begin on the northern side of
Ku-peh-kau.

Although early in March, the weather was warm
and springlike in the plains ; it was even hot during

^ There is one other pass between Kalgan and Ku-pch-kau ; it is
dosed by the fortress if a square mud wall is deserving of that name)
of Tu-shi kail.

MIGRATION OF WILD-FOWL. DOLOX-NOR. loi

the day, and the thermometer registered 59° Fahr.
in the shade. The Peiho was free of ice, and flocks
of wild duck {Anas riitila, A. boschas) and merganser
{Mergns merganser and M. serrator") could be seen.
These birds and other varieties of waterfowl and
wading-birds make their appearance here in numer-
ous flocks in the first half of the month, not only in
the environs of Peking, but even near Kalgan where
the climate is sensibly colder. Not venturing to
continue their flight to the north where the breath of
spring has not yet made itself felt, they keep to the
flooded fields, which at this season are irrigated by
the agricultural Chinese. One fine clear mornino-

о о

the impatient flocks essay a flight over the high
lands, but if met by cold or bad weather they again
return to the warm plains, where day by day their
numbers increase, till at length the expected hour
arrives ; the deserts of Mongolia are slightly warmed,
the ice-bound soil of Siberia has begun to thaw, and
flock after flock hasten to leave their confined
quarters in a foreign land and wing their way to-
wards their haunts in the distant north.

Beyond Ku-peh-kau in the direction of Dolon-
nor the mountains form a belt 100 miles in width,
composed of a number of parallel chains running
east and west, of no great elevation,^ yet often

' There are no very remarkable peaks, and the snowy PeJi-cJia,
mentioned by the missionaries Gerbillon and Verbiest as 15,000 feet
high, and by Ritter following them, is certainly not here. The state-
ment of its existence was, however, contradicted by Л1М. Vassilicff and
Semenoff as early as 1856. See the Russian edition of Ritter's ' Erd-
kundc von Asien,' translated by SemcnolT, i. 292-295.

I02 WOOD OX THE WAV. JEHOL.

alpine in character. The valleys are not wide (about
half a mile) occasionally narrowing into ravines,
hemmed in by lofty rocks of gneiss and granolite.
The road is crossed by several small streams, none
amounting to rivers, with the exception of the
Shandu-gol ^ or Luan-ho, which takes its rise on the
.northern slope of the mountains nearest to the pla-
teau ; and after flowing past the town of Dolon-nor
forces its way through the entire range and debou-
ches in the plains of China Proper. The steep hill-
sides were thickly covered with grass, and as we
penetrated farther into the range, by brush-wood
and trees ; the latter chiefly consisting of oak,
black, or more rarely white birch, ash, pine, and an
occasional spruce.^ Elms and poplars grow in the
valleys. The commonest bushes were the ever-
green oak, rhododendron, wild peach, sweet briar,
and hazel.

Woods are only met with on the northern bank
of the Luan-ho as far east as the town of Jehol,^

' Marked Shangtu-gol or\ D'Anville's map. — M.

* Dwarf limes are even more scarce.

* The name 'Jehol,' also pronounced 'Jehor' or 'Jeh-ho,' means
* hot-water,' after the springs in the neighbourhood. Ritter calls this
place the Chinese ' Sans Souci,' probably on account of its delightful
situation, salubrious climate, and for its being the favourite residence
of the great Emperor Kien-Long. It was here that Lord Macartney's
embassy was received in 1793. The town itself is large and imposing
when you enter it, and contains about a quarter of a million inhabi-
tants. It stands in a fruitful valley surrounded by mountains, on
which arc palaces, temples, and gardens. About a day's ride to the
west are the Imperial hunting-grounds, set aside for the use of his
dynasty by Kia-king, the grandfather of the late Emperor. The in-
scriptions on the gates of the walls and buildings are in four languages
— Chinese, Manchu, Tibetan, and Mongol. ('Krdkunde von Asien,'

RUINS OF KMPKROR'S SliM.MF.R PALACE.

FAUNA OF THE COUNTRY. 103

the summer residence of the Emperor. These
forests used formerly to be strictly preserved for
the Imperial chase, but the death of Kia-king in
1820 while hunting put a stop to this amusement.
Notwithstanding the foresters placed there to protect
it, the timber is undergoing wholesale destruction
and judging from what we saw, hardly a good-sized
tree remained, the number of stumps evidencing
recent and extensive fellings.

The only animal wc found was \}i\^ pygai'g {Ccrvus
pygargiLs) ; the natives, however, asserted that there
were roe-deer and tigers. Pheasants {Phasiamts
torqiLatus), partridges {Perdix barbata, P. cimkar),
and rock-doves {Columba rupestris) were plentiful ;
woodpeckers {Pic us sp.), buntings {Emberiza ciodcs ?)
and Ptei'0}^hiims Davidii more scarce. The ornitho-
logy was not very varied, perhaps because the season
was not far enough advanced for the migratory
birds.

This border district forms part of the circuit of
Chen-tu-fu, and belongs to the province of Chihli.^
Although outside the Great Wall, i.e. beyond the
boundary of China Proper, its inhabitants are exclu-
sively Chinese, not a single Mongol being found
among them. The valleys are covered with villages
or detached farm-houses, '-^ surrounded by cultivated

i. 132-138. See also 'A Month in Mongolia,' 'The Phoenix,' ii. 114,
120.)— M.

^ According to the most recent changes Chihli or Peh-chihli, the
northern province, extends about fifty miles to the north of Dolon-nor,
and ten to the east of Kalgan. See 'A Month in Mongolia,' 'The
Phoenix,' ii. 1 13. — M.

'^ There are no towns here like those in China Proper ; and we only
passed two settlements, J'ic-iuj!i^-s/ia and Uau-dji-Zi/ii.

IP4 GOITRE. THE К RING AN RANGE.

fields. But they are so confined as to be ill adapted
for human habitation, and some of the inhabitants
are dreadfully disfigured by goitres.

We passed numerous trains of carts, asses, and a
few camels on the road, employed in the transport
of rice and millet to Peking ; large droves of swine
were also being driven to the capital, pork being the
favourite food of the Celestials. As we left behind
the plains of China the climate gradually became
colder, the thermometer at sunrise only marked 7°
Fahr., but during the day it was warm, and snow
had entirely disappeared, except on the northern
slopes of the higher mountains.

The ascents are very gradual. Ku-peh-kau on
the southern side of the mountains is only 700 feet
above sea-level ; while Dolon-nor, situated on the
elevated plain, which spread out before us on issuing
from the mountains, is 4,000 feet high. On the
Mongolian side this region is sharply defined by an
alpine chain which, as the inhabitants told us, extends
a long distance to the north, and is probably the
great Khingan range, separating Manchuria from
Mongolia. Where we crossed, only one side of the
range — that towards the mountains, is fully de-
veloped ; on the other the wild scenery is suddenly
transformed into low, rounded hills ; vegetation
undergoes as marked a change in the absence of
trees and bushes. No more bold cliffs and pointed
peaks, but in their stead vast uneven plains surround
the spectator, where the marmot, the antelope, and
the Mongol lark reappear.

DOLON-NOR. 105

On March 2gth, we arrived at the town of Dolon-
nor, which, according to my observations of the Polar
star, Hes in 42° 16' north latitude.' Followed by a
gaping crowd, we marched through the streets for
a long while in search of a night's lodging, but were
refused admittance at every inn on the pretext of
there not being room for us. Exhausted by the
length of our march, and chilled to the bones, we
determined to follow the advice of a Mongol and
seek shelter at a temple. Here they gladly received
us, and placed at our disposal a house where we
could warm ourselves and rest after our fatigues.

Dolon-nor, or, as the Chinese call it, Lama-miau,^
like Kalgan and Kuku-khoto, is an important place
of trade. Hither the Mongols drive their cattle, and
bring wool and skins to barter for brick-tea, tobacco,
cotton, and silk. The town is not walled, but stands
in a barren sandy plain watered by the Urtin-gol, a
tributary of the Shandu-gol. The Chinese quarter
is rather over a mile in length by about half a mile
in width ; its population is large, but the streets are
narrow and dirty. The Mongolian quarter, distant
half-a-mile from the former, contains two large tem-
ples standing close together, surrounded by houses,

^ According to the observations of the Jesuits, Dolon-nor is situated
in 0° 11' 50" longitude, west of Peking, and 42° 25' north latitude.
(See Klaproth's note in ' Timkowski's Travels,' i. 206) ; but Fritsche,
director of the Peking Observatory, has calculated the latitude to be
42° 16' 48". See Dr. Bushell's ' Notes of a Journey outside the
Great Wall of China,' J.R.G.S., vol. xliv. p. 81.— M.

^ The Chinese name, Lama-miau, means 'lama monastery ; ' the
Mongol name, Dolon-nor, signifies ' seven lakes,' which actually existed
at one time near the town, but are now covered with sand-drift.

io6 IDOL FOUNDRY. TSAGAN-BALGAS.

inhabited by about 2,000 lamas, whose numbers in
summer are greatly augmented by the arrival of
pilgrims. Near these temples stands a school for
boys destined to become lamas.

Dolon-nor is remarkable for its foundry of idols
and other religious appurtenances, which are de-
spatched hence all over Mongolia and Tibet. The
images are of cast iron or bronze, of various shapes
and sizes, and are wonderfully executed, considering
that they are all made by artificers working in
separate houses.

We remained here a day and then started for
Lake Dalai-nor, 100 miles to the north. Our road
soon crossed the Shandu-gol, near the ruins of an
ancient town known to the Mongols under the name of
Tsagan-balgas^ signifying * White Walls.' Nothing
remains except a half- ruined quadrilateral brick wall
ten to fourteen feet high, inclosing an area about a
quarter of a mile in length by about 200 yards wide,
which has the appearance of a field without any
visible trace of habitations. The Mongols could tell
us nothing of its past history.

Twenty-seven miles beyond Dolon-nor we en-
tered the aimak (principality) of Keshik-ten ;^ from

' This was a favourite resort of the Mongol emperors ; Marco
Polo relates that Kublai-khan had a summer residence here, which he
used on his hunting excursions to the neighbouring plains and lakes.
Gerbillon mentions that the Emperor Kang-hi, during his campaigns
against the Oliuths in 1696, built a small square fortress here — Tsa-
gan Balgassu — the ruins of which are perhaps those mentioned in the
text. (' Erdkunde von Asien,' i. 1 24-141, and Yule's ' Marco Polo,' i. 260-
269. See also, ' Timkowski,' i. 269.) — M. [See Supplementary Note.]

- Keshik-ten is the Mongol for ' happy,' a name which they told us

SANDHILLS CALLED GUCHIN-GURBU. 107

this point of the road a succession of sandy hillocks,
called by the natives Giichin-giirbtL, i.e. thirty-three,
extends as far as Dalai-nor. This name probably
denoted the countless number of the hills, which vary
in height from thirty to fifty, and in some instances
100 feet, and lie in close proximity to each other
without any regularity. They are chiefly sand, in
some places quite bare, but more frequently cover-
ed with grass or willow bushes, interspersed with
an occasional oak, lime, and black and white birch.
Quantities of hares and partridges are found in the
underwood ; pygargs and wolves in smaller num-
bers. We passed an occasional valley suited to
cultivation, but the Mongol encampments were rare
owing to the scarcity of water, although an occasional
Chinese village might be seen. The numerous cart-
tracks of Chinese, who come here from Dolon-nor to
obtain wood for fuel, cause one easily to lose one's
road without a guide, which happened to us several
times during our first day's journey among the
Guchin-gurbu. There are no landmarks to steer
by, one hill is exactly like another, and as soon as
you have ascended one, dozens more, all as though
cast in the same mould, rise up in front of you. The
Mongols say that these hills begin at the sources of
the Shara-muren and continue for upwards of 150
miles to the west of Dalai-nor.

No sooner had we reached the shores of this
lake than луе witnessed the maonificent sieht of a

о о

was given it because in dividing Eastern Mongolia into the present
aimaks it was the last that remained.

io8 A STEPPE FIRE ON LAKE DALAI-NOR.

Steppe fire. Although we had seen many such con-
flagrations in the mountains on the border, purposely
lighted by the inhabitants to consume last year's
withered grass, this spectacle far surpassed any we
had yet beheld.

Towards eveninof a small lio^ht was visible on

о о

the horizon, which in the course of two or three hours
became a long line of fire advancing rapidly across
the open plain. A solitary hill in the centre was
soon enveloped in flames, and appeared like a great
building burning above the rest. The heavens
were cloaked with clouds refulgent with a purple
glow, which threw a lurid glare far and wide over
the steppe ; columns of smoke rose in fantastic
shapes till they were lost to the eye in a confused,
indistinct mass. In the foreground lay the vast
plain lighted up by the burning belt ; behind, the
darkness of night, which seemed blacker and more
impenetrable than ever ; the lake resounded with the
loud cries of startled birds, while all was still and
quiet on the plain.

Dalai-nor^ lies to the north of the hills of Guchin-
gurbu, and is the largest of the lakes of South-east
Mongolia. In shape it is a flattened ellipse with an
axis elongated from north-east to south-west. Its
western shore is indented by several bays, but the
remainder of its coast-line is almost unbroken. Its
water is salt, and, according to the natives, very
deep ; but we could hardly believe this statement,

^ The translation of its Mongol name is 'lake-sea.'

LAKE DALAI-NOR. 109

because at a distance of several hundred paces from
the shore its depth is not more than two or three
feet. It is about forty miles in circumference, and
is joined by four small streams : the Shara-gol^
and Gtmgir-gol on the east ; the Holch-gol and
Shurga-gol on the west. The lake abounds in fish,
of which we caught three kinds, Diplophysa sp.,
Squalius sp., and Gasterostcits sp.^ In summer the
fish enter the mouths of the streams in large num-
bers ; and in early spring several hundred Chinese,
mostly houseless vagrants, make their appearance
on its shores for the purpose of fishing, and remain
till late in the autumn.

On the north and east it is bordered by saline
plains, and on the west by rolling steppes ; the hills
of Guchin-gurbu closely approach its southern shore.
Here stands a small group of hills, at the foot of
which is the temple of Darhan-ula and a Chinese
village. The inhabitants of the latter trade with the
Mongols, who come here in large numbers during
the summer for religious worship, and sometimes
buy live fish from the fishermen, returning them to
the lake in order to atone for their sins.

Dalai-nor lies at an elevation of 4,200 feet above
the sea, its climate is, therefore, as rigorous as the
rest of Mongolia. In the middle of April its shores
were still frozen, and the ice on the lake itself is

^ According to the Mongols this river flows out of lake Hanga-nor,
about thirteen miles to the east of Dalai-nor ; at its mouth there is a
good-sized marsh, the only one at Dalai-nor.

'^ We could not catch more because the lake was still frozen, and
there were very few fish in tlie rivulets.

no BIRDS OF DA LA I- NOR.

three feet thick. It does not entirely thaw till the
first half of May.

Situated in the midst of the arid plains of Mon-
golia, Lake Dalai- nor serves as a great rendezvous
for migratory birds belonging to the orders Natatores
and Grallatoi'es. In the beginning of April we found
large numbers of ducks/ geese, ^ and swans^ here;
divers,* gulls,^ cormorants,^ less numerous, as were
also cranes,*^ herons,^ spoonbills'' and avosets}^ The
two latter kinds and others belonging to the same
order {Waders) first appeared in the second week of
April ; birds of prey and small birds were very
scarce.^^

For a detailed description of the flight and habits
of these birds I must refer the reader to the second
volume of this work,^^ which will be especially de-
voted to the Ornithology ; for the present I will only
add that all birds of passage hasten their flight across

^ The most numerous of the ducks were Anas boschas, A. crecca,
A. glocitans, A. acuta, A.falcafax less numerous were -^«й^ rutila,
A. tadorna, A. clypeata, A. p(TciIo7-]iy)icha, A. strcpera, and Fiiligiila
clangula.

^ Anser segetum was most common ; A. chierens, in sufficient
numbers ; A. cygnoides and A. grandis, rare.

' Cygiuis musiais and C. color. The former were the most nume-
rous, although the latter were also seen in considerable numbers.

* Mergus merganser, M. albellus, M. sej'rator — not many.

^ Lams ridibutidus and L. occidentalis ?

® Plialacrocorax carbo.

'' Grits monachiis and G. IciicaiicJicn, the latter rare.

^ Ardea cinerea.

^ Platalea leiicorodia.

'° Reciirvirostra avocetta.

" The most numerous of the birds of prey wcro. Mih'ns Go'innda
and Circus rufus.

•^ This will not form part of the present translation. — M.

MOCKING-BIRD. SURVEYING DIFFICULTIES, iii

the deserts of Mongolia, for on cold, stormy days
the lake was crammed with ducks and geese, but no
sooner did the weather improve than it proceeded
rapidly to empty, until a fresh flight took place.

The violent and cold winds prevalent on Dalai-
nor луеге a great hindrance to our shooting excur-
sions ; however, we killed duck and geese enough to
provide ourselves with food, sometimes more than
sufficient for our wants, but we shot for the mere
love of sport ; for the swans, which were very shy,
we almost always used the rifle.

After passing thirteen days on the shores of the
lake, we retraced our road to Dolon-nor, in order to
proceed thence to Kalgan. The hills of Guchin-
gurbu appeared as uninteresting as ever, but their
stillness was occasionally enlivened by the beautiful
notes of the flesh-coloured stonechat {Saxicola Isa-
bellina), met with throughout the whole of Central
Asia ; it not only utters its own notes, but borrows
those of other birds, imitating them very sweetly.
We have heard it mock the cry of the kite, chatter
like a magpie, scream like a curlew, sing like a lark,
and even try to mimic the neighing of a horse.

Surveying in a country where there are so few
landmarks was most difficult. Indeed, it was always
very troublesome work to combine the accuracy and
secresy which were alike Indispensable. Had the
natives, particularly the Chinese, discovered that I
was mapping their country, our difticulties would
have been doubled, and луе should have found it next
to Impossible to pass through the populous districts.

112 MODE OF SURVEVLXG.

Fortunately I was never surprised with the map,
and no one ever knew that I was sketching my
route. ^ My surveying instrument was a Schmalkalder
compass, which is usually fixed on a tripod stand ;
but as this would have excited suspicion and inter-
fered with the success of the expedition, I deter-
mined to do without it, and steadied the compass
in my hands. If the needle continued in motion
for more time than I could conveniently spare, I read
off the mean degrees between the extreme points
of oscillation. In measuring distances I reckoned
by the number of hours of travel and our rate of
progress.^ The scale of my map was lo versts to
the inch. I carried a small field-book for notine all
conspicuous objects, as it is never safe to trust to
one's memory in such work, where accuracy is of the
highest importance. At the end of every day's
journey I transferred the field survey to my diary,
keeping the map on ruled sheets carefully stowed
away in one of the boxes.

My plan was this : After taking bearings in the
direction we were going and noting the time by my
watch, I drew a line in my pocket-book correspond-
ing as nearly as possible with that of our march ; at
the end of it I entered the degrees and marked off
the intersections with figures in their regular order.

' The scale of the map accompanying this translation is reduced
to one-eighth of the scale of the original sketch map. — M.

^ A pack animal averages two and a-half to three miles per hour,
according to the nature of the ground. The rate of travel varies so
much in a mountainous country that one has often to measure dis-
tances by the eye.

SUSPICIONS OF THE NATIVES. 113

Then as we advanced I sketched in the country
on either side, taking bearings of the more important
objects only. When we altered our course, I calcu-
lated the distance we had come, made an entry of it
in my note-book, and took fresh bearings for the new
direction. This was sometimes difficult to deter-
mine when we had no guide ; in such case I took
several bearingrs, and afterwards underlined the bear-
ing that proved to be the one followed. It often
happened that I was prevented making an entry at
any given place owing to our being watched by
Chinese or Mongfols : in such case I deferred it
to a more suitable opportunity, reckoning the dis-
tance we had come backwards to the point of devia-
tion. When travelling in a thickly populated district,
some one or other of the inhabitants would be
constantly with us. To avoid observation I would
then ride in advance or remain behind the caravan ;
if a guide ' were with us, we had figuratively to
' throw dust in his eyes,' which we usually managed
in the following way. On first making the ac-
quaintance of the new travelling companion I would
show him my field-glass, explaining to him that I
was in the habit of looking for game with it. The
unsophisticated Mongol did not distinguish between
the field-glass and the compass, and as we often
shot antelope and birds he was fully convinced
that I could discover their presence by looking into
' the artful machine.' In this way, time after time, I

^ Every guide we had was of course a spy, with whom we had to
be more on our guard than with the local population.

VOL. I. I

114 THE ROUTE PLOTTED DAILY.

succeeded in deceiving the officials. When they
pestered me with questions and were curious to
know why I carried a compass, I would speedily
substitute the field-glass and place it before them, as
I always had it with me during the march.

Sometimes it would be necessary to take com-
pass bearings when a number of these inquisitive
fellows were watching. My companion would then
try and divert their attention whilst I was thus
occupied. Numerous were the stratagems and arti-
fices to which we were obliged to have recourse in
fulfilling our task in the midst of a people who (in
the case of the Chinese, at all events), were hostile
to us.

On arriving at the halting place, after unloading
the camels, pitching the tent, collecting argols, and
doing other necessary work which we shared with
the Cossacks, I would transfer to the ruled sheets of
paper the survey of that day, taking the precaution
of shutting myself in the tent and stationing a guard
at its entrance to avoid interruption. But even then
visitors would arrive and interfere with my work,
which could not be resumed till they were got rid of,
when I would finish and put It by till the follow-
ing day.

I drew on the map the line of our march, mark-
ing all the settled habitations (towns, villages, houses,
temples, but never nomad encampments), wells,
lakes, rivers, and streams, however small, and lastly,
mountains, hills, and the general outline of the
country on both sides of our road. Important data

ROAD БАСК TO KALGAN. 115

obtained by hearsay only were entered with an
asterisk, to denote that they had not been verified by
actual observation. To ensure accuracy in the map,
I determined by means of a small universal instru-
ment the latitude of eighteen important places.^ The
work of surveying, simple though it may seem, was
one of our most arduous labours ; for, independent of
every device to escape notice, the frequent necessity
for dismounting added greatly to our fatigues, espe-
cially in the heat of summer. Even in the hottest
weather, instead of takino^ advantage of the cool
nights, we often had to travel by day for the sake
of our survey, in this way exhausting our own
strength as well as that of our camels.

We continued our journey from Dolon-nor, where
I only stopped to make a few necessary purchases,
to Kalgan, a distance of 150 miles by a good road
all the way. The traffic is very large, and numerous
Chinese two-wheeled bullock carts passed us laden
with all kinds of merchandise ; salt is also trans-
ported by this road to Kalgan, from a salt lake (so
the natives told us) 130 miles north of Lake Dalai-
nor. Caravanserais stand by the road-side for the
convenience of travellers ; but we never made use of
them, preferring a clean tent and pure air to the dirt
and smells of Chinese inns, besides avoiding the
impertinent curiosity of the Mongols or Chinese,
who invariably crowded round us whenever we
stopped near their habitations.

' Unfortunately, I could not fix the longitudes of the same points,
even by means of chronometers, for we had none.

ii6 QUALITY OF WATER. STEPPE HORSES.

There are Chinese villages and numerous Mon-
gol yurtas on the Dolon-nor road, and countless
herds of sheep, cows, and horses in every part of the
steppe.

Topographically, this region may be described as
a series of vast uneven plains with a sandy, and, in
some places, saline soil, but covered everywhere with
rich excellent orrass. There is an utter absence of
trees or bushes, but streams and small lakes are
more numerous here than in other parts of Mongolia.
The water, however, in the latter is filthy ; to have
an idea of it, take a tumbler of water mixed with a
tea-spoonful of dirt, flavour with a pinch of salt, add
a little lime for colour and goose droppings for
smell, and you will then obtain a liquid similar to
that in most of the Mongolian lakes. The natives,
however, far from showing any repugnance to this
nectar, boil their tea in it the whole year round, and
even we were fain to drink it for want of better.
The great steppe country through which we passed
on our way from Dolon-nor is the pasture land of
the Imperial horses. Every herd (called dargu by
the Mongols) of these animals numbers 500, and is
under the charge of an officer, a superior functionary
being placed over all. They supply the cavalry
remounts in time of war.

Let us now say a few words about the Mongol
horses. They are rather under the average height,
their legs and neck thick, their head large, and their
coat long and shaggy. They possess wonderful
powers of endurance, remaining out in the open

IMPERIAL PASTURE LANDS. 117

in the extreme cold, and contenting themselves with
the scanty herbage, or, if there be none, with budar-
hana and bushes, the food of camels. In winter the
snow serves them for water ; in fact, they will live
where other horses would perish in a month's time.
They roam almost at liberty over the pasture lands
of Northern Khalka and the country of the Chak-
hars. The larger herds are usually broken up into
smaller troops of ten to thirty mares, led by a stallion
who guards them with the greatest jealousy, and
never lets them out of his sight. The leaders often
have pitched battles with one another in spring.

Mongols are passionately fond of horses, and
will tell you their good points at a glance ; their
favourite amusement is horse-racing, and every sum-
mer they meet at some of the principal temples to
indulge in this sport. The great race-meeting is
held at Urga, attracting competitors for many hun-
dreds of miles. The prizes are distributed by the
Kutukhtu in person ; the winner of the first prize
receiving a quantity of cattle, clothes, or money.

The Imperial pasture lands are mostly in the
principality (aimak) of the Chakhars,^ whose ter-
ritory extends upwards of 330 miles to the Avest of
Keshik-ten till it touches that of the Durbutes. The
Chakhars or Chlnese-Mongfols are divided into eieht
take If In turn to do military service.
We have already remarked how completely they
have lost the character and appearance of the true
Mongfols.

' These pabture lands extend almost as far as Kuku-khoto.

ii8 CLIMATE OF SOUTH-EASTERN MONGOLIA.

It was fortunate for us that we had no need of
their services, for a greater set of knaves and rogues
does not exist. Our tent was our house, and we
lived on what we shot. Antelope were plentiful, we
had no lack of meat, and were never constrained to
buy a sheep, for which we had to pay through the
nose, if it were not, as often happened, absolutely
refused. The fear inspired by our guns and re-
volvers was a protection against thieves ; our skill in
shooting birds on the wing, or bringing down ante-
lope with the rifle at long distances, instilled into
them a wholesome dread, and every robber knew
that he would pay the penalty of his life if caught
in the act of stealing.

The temperature in spring in South-eastern
Mongolia was cold, with constant winds and a dry
atmosphere.

The night frosts continued as late as the early
part of May. On the 2nd of that month the surface
of a small lake near which we were encamped was
covered at sunrise with ice an inch thick, strong
enough to bear a man's weight. Sudden changes in
temperature occur even later, as we shall have occa-
sion presently to remark.

North-westerly gales prevailed almost without
Intermission during spring. It was seldom, and only
for a few hours, calm. The violence of the wind,
generally accompanied by cold, was very trying,
and we now fully realised the true nature of these
steppes. Clouds of sand and dust, mixed with fine
particles of salt from the marshes, filled the air, dark-

DUST-STORMS ; LATE UNPLEASING SPRING. 119

ening the sun's rays, which shone dimly as if through
smoke ; sometimes they were entirely obscured, and
it was twilight at noon. Hills half a mile off were
invisible ; and large particles of sand were driven
with such force by the wind, that even the camels
accustomed to the desert would turn their backs to
the storm and wait till its fury had abated. We
could not keep our eyes open when facing it ; our
heads ached, and there was a singing in our ears as
though we were in the throes of suffocation. Every-
thing in the tent was thickly covered with dust ; and
when it had been blowing hard all night we could
hardly open our eyes in the morning for the layer
of dirt which covered them. Now and then, in the
intervals between the squalls, hail and rain would
come in buckets-full, driven into the finest sleet by
the force of the crale. After a few minutes of this,
there would be a lull for a quarter of an hour, suc-
ceeded by another hurricane and another downpour
of rain. Although our tent was fastened to the
ground with twelve iron pegs, each more than a foot
long, it seemed about to be torn up every minute,
and we were obliged to secure it to the packs with
all the ropes we had.

The total quantity of rain and snowfall is, how-
ever, small ; very little, if any, occurring in March
and April.

The constant frosts and winds on these hicrh
plains during the spring delay the flight of birds and
retard vegetation. Towards the end of April the
young grass certainly begins to shoot up under the

120 THE TWO-HUMPED CAMEL.

influence of the sun's warmth, and an occasional
Httle flower bursts forth, but nature is in general still
inanimate at this season. The appearance of the
steppe is but slightly changed from what it was in
winter, except that the withered grass is transformed
by the spring conflagrations into a sable shroud.
Spring in these regions is unaccompanied by any of
those delights which herald its approach in more
temperate climates. Birds of passage shun these
cheerless plains, where they can find neither food,
nor drink, nor shelter. If a flock now and then rest
in its flight on the shore of some lake, it is only for
a while, soon to depart on its way to more favoured
haunts in the north.

I will conclude this chapter with a description of
the Camel, the most characteristic and remarkable
animal of Mongolia. The constant companion of
the nomad, and often the source of his prosperity,
it is invaluable to the traveller who crosses the
desert. For three years we were never separated
from our camels, watching them under all circum-
stances ; we had therefore ample opportunity of
studying their nature and habits.

The two-humped or Bactrian camel is charac-
teristic of Mongolia, where the one-humped species
common in Turkestan is unknown. The general
Mongol name for it is Timeh ; the entire camel is
called Buriin ; tlie gelding A tan ; and the female
Inga. Its good points are — a well-ribbed body,
wide feet, and high upright humps ^ far apart. The

^ A camel's hump is sometimes broken ; in such case it will not
stand erect but that docs not matter, provided it be hard and large.

DISTINCT BREEDS; HABITS. 121

first two qualities denote strength ; the last, i.e. the
upright humps, show that the animal is fat, and can
withstand a long journey in the desert. A very tall
beast is not necessarily a good one ; moderate size,
\vith all the above points well developed, is better
than great height. However, if it be well propor-
tioned, the larger it is the better.

The largest and best camels, endowed with great
powers of endurance, are bred among the Khalkas.
Those of Ala-shan and Koko-nor are much smaller
and weaker ; the latter are also distinguished by their
shorter and thicker muzzles, and the former by the
darkness of their hair ; peculiarities so marked as
almost to form a distinct breed of the camels of
Southern Mongolia.

The boundless steppe or desert is the home of
the camel ; here, like its master, the Mongol, it can be
perfectly happy. Both the man and the beast shun
fixed abodes. Confined in an enclosure, although
supplied with an abundance of the best food, the
camel will pine and die ; excepting, perhaps, a few
kept by the Chinese to transport coal, corn, or other
loads. But they are poor, miserable creatures, com-
pared with their fellows of the steppe ; and even
they will not bear confinement all the year round,
and must be let loose in summer to pasture on the
neighbouring plains and recruit their strength.

The habits of the camel are very peculiar. It is
anything but dainty in its food, and may serve as a
model of moderation ; but this is only true on the
desert : take it to pasturage such as we have at

122 FOOD OF THE CAMEL.

home, and instead of becoming fat it grows leaner
every day. We experienced this with ours in the
rich meadows of Kan-su ; and the merchants at
Kiakhta, who had tried keeping them for the trans-
port of tea, told us the same thing. In either case
they deteriorated for want of the food to which they
had been accustomed. The lavourite food of the
camel here consists of onions and budarhana {Ka-
lidium gracile) ; in Ala-shan, dirisun, scrub worm-
wood, zak or saxaul {Haloxylon sp.) and kharmik
{Nitraria Scoderi) — particularly when the sweet,
brackish berries are ripe. It cannot thrive without
salt, and eats with avidity the white saline efflor-
escence called g7(djir, which covers all the marshes,
and often exudes from the soil on the grass steppes
of Mongolia. If there be none of this, it will eat
pure salt, which, however, is not so beneficial, and
should only be given twice or thrice a month. If
kept without salt for any length of time camels Avill
get out of condition, however plentiful food may be,
and they have been known to take white stones
in their mouths mistaking them for lumps of salt.
The latter acts on them as an aperient, especially if
they have been long without it. The absence of
gudjir and saline plants probably explains the reason
why they cannot live in good pasture lands in a
hilly country, to say nothing of the want of a desert
to roam over in summer.

We ought also to mention that some camels
are omnivorous, and will cat almost anything ; old
bleached bones, their own pack saddles stuffed with

ITS ENDURANCE; ITS TIMIDITY. 123

Straw, straps, leather, &c., &c. Ours once ate up
some gloves and a leathern saddle belonging to our
Cossacks ; and the Mongols told me of camels
which had been without food for a long while, and
which devoured an old tent of their master's in the
coolest manner possible. They will even eat meat
and fish ; ours stole meat we had hung up to dry ;
one voracious brute actually made off with the
birdskins ready for stuffing, and relished dried fish
and the remains of the dogs' food ; but this was
a singular instance, and his eccentric tastes were not
shared by the others.

Camels at pasture appease their hunger in two
or three hours, after which they lie down and rest,
or wander about the steppe. They cannot go with-
out food for more than eight or ten days, nor can
they go without water in spring and autumn for more
than seven, requiring it in the height of summer
every third or fourth day. Much, however, depends
on the powers of endurance of the particular animal ;
the younger and fatter it is, the longer can it exist
without nourishment. It only happened to us once
during the whole course of the expedition, viz. in
November 1870, to keep our camels without water
for six consecutive days, notwithstanding which they
went well ; in summer they were never more than
forty-eight hours without it. At this season they
should be watered daily, but in spring and autumn
every second or third day is quite sufficient, and in
winter snow answers the same purpose.

The intelligence of camels is of a very low order ;

124 BREEDING AND TRAINING.

they are stupid and timid. A hare starting from
beneath their feet has been known to throw a whole
caravan into confusion ; and a large stone or heap of
bones to cause them *to bolt altogether. If the saddle
or load roll off its back the camel is terrified, and runs
in any direction, followed by its companions ; and
when attacked by a wolf it never attempts to defend
itself, although one blow from its powerful foot would
kill its enemy ; it only cries and spits, expectorating
the chewed food with the saliva, a proof of the terror
which takes possession of it. When angry it will
also strike the ground with its hoof, and curl up its
unsightly tail. Malice indeed is not in its nature,
probably on account of its apathetic temperament ;
but the males become vicious during the rutting
season, which is in February, and they will then fight
with one another, and sometimes attack mankind.
The interference of man is needed to bring the
sexes together. The period of gestation is thirteen
months, at the expiration of which the dam gives
birth to one, or as an exception two, foals.•^ Human
assistance is also required at the time of parturition.
The newborn camel is the most helpless creature
imaginable ; it must be lifted by hand and placed
under the mother's teats ; but as soon as it can walk,
it follows her about everywhere, and the latter is so
attached to her offspring that she cannot bear to be
separated from it.

The young camel enjoys but a short period of

' The female camel is granted its lilrcrty for a w hole year after
parturition, so that it only foals evcr_\ other \ear.

MODES OF LOADING. 125

liberty. When a few months old it is tied near the
yurta to separate it from the mother, which is then
regularly milked by the Mongols. In the second
year of its existence, its nostrils are slit and a short
wooden stick inserted, to which a rope {biir2ind2ik) is
afterwards fastened which serves as a halter. It is
then taught to lie down at the word of command, by
being pulled by the burunduk while the word ' sok,
sok, sok' is repeated. In its third year it is taken
with the caravan to accustom it to travel in the
desert ; at the age of three it may be ridden ; at
four it is strong enough to carry a small load ; and
at five it is quite fit for work.

A camel can bear a load till old aee, i.e. to
twenty-five and upwards ; between five and fifteen
it is considered in its prime. It will live upwards of
thirty years, and under favourable circumstances to
forty.

In loading it, the saddle is first fastened on its
back, and afterwards the pack placed upon it. In
the Khalka country six or eight pieces of felt are
used to wrap round the back and humps underneath
the saddle, a light wooden framework is then laid
over these to take off the pressure of the packs. ^
In Northern Mongolia bags filled with straw {bam-
bai) are used instead of felt, the woodwork being
the same. Great care must always be taken in loading
camels, otherwise they are apt to get sore backs and

^ The pack is always securely fastened to the saddle with ropes ;
except in the case of tea chests, which are simply slung over the
saddle.

12б CAMELS LOAD AND RATE OF TRAVEL.

become unfit for work. The Monofols wash the
wounds with brine or the like, and sometimes let
their dogs lick them. In summer when flies lay
their eggs in the sore, the healing process becomes
very tedious.

Before the departure of the caravan in autumn
the camels which have been at grass all summer,
and have put on too much flesh, are prepared for
work by being fastened by their halters to a long
rope stretched along the ground and secured at the
ends to two poles driven firmly into the ground. In
this way they are kept standing without any food for
ten days, or even more,^ only receiving a little water
every third or fourth day : this hardens them and
takes down their spare flesh.

The average load of a camel is about 4 cwts.,
or four chests of tea each weighing i cwt. Entire
camels [buruni) can bear 5 cwts., and have to carry an
additional fifth chest ; but they are not numerous, and
are mostly reserved for the stud, as they are less
tractable, and therefore not so serviceable for trans-
port, as either geldings or mares.

The size of the load is not less important than
its weight. A large unwieldy pack offers too much
resistance to the wind and retards the progress of the
animal ; while, on the other hand, a small heavy one
injures its back, the pressure being too great in one
part of the saddle ; thus more than 2\ cwts. of silver

' One of our Kalgan merchants assured me that he has kept his
camels in this way without food (only watering them every other day),
for seventeen days.

SHEDDING OF THE COAT. 127

is never put on a beast which carries with ease 4 cwts.
of tea. Laden camels average twenty-eight miles
a day, a rate of progress which can be kept up
for a month. After ten days or a fortnight's rest
the caravan is ready for another journey ; working
in this way all through the winter, i.e. for six or
seven months. At the end of that period the camels
grow very thin, and are given their liberty for the
whole summer ; this holiday and the run of the
steppe restores their strength, but without it they
would not last more than a year. The reason 01
our losing so many was the necessity for driving
them continuously without ever resting them.

In March they begin shedding their coats, and
at the end of June the hair has entirely disappeared,
leaving the skin quite bare ; at such times they are
susceptible to cold, rain, and every change ot
weather ; they are weak, and a small load soon galls
their backs ; but before long a fine, short, mouse-like
hair begins to cover their whole bodies, and by the
end of September the new coat is fully grown. The
males, especially the stallions, then look their best,
with long manes and tufts of hair underneath the
neck, and below the knees of the fore legs.

On a winter journey the camels are hardly ever
unsaddled ; but on arriving at the halting place are
at once let loose to graze. In summer and hot
weather the saddles must be removed every day,
yet with every care and precaution sore backs can-
not be always avoided. Nothing will induce an
experienced Mongol to undertake a journey on

128 MISCELLANEOUS PARTICULARS OF CAMELS;

camels in the hot season ; our objects were of course
different, and we consequently inj'ured many of our
animals.

The camel is a sociable beast, and will not forsake
a-caravan as long as it has strength to keep up. If
from exhaustion it stop and lie down no blows will
make it rise again, and it is generally left to its
fate. The Mongols, however, sometimes ride to
the nearest yurta and give their tired-out animal in
charge of its inhabitants ; when, if supplied with
food and drink, it will in a few months regain suffi-
cient strength to move about.

A camel which has fallen into a swamp is injured
for life and soon grows thin ; but accidents of this
kind are rare in Mongolia where there are so few
marshes. After rain camels cannot keep their foot-
ing in clayey soil, slipping on the flat soles of their
feet and sometimes falling ; but they are invaluable
in a mountainous country, as we ourselves experi-
enced in the highlands of Kan-su, where we accom-
plished 330 miles each way, including eight passes,
all upwards of 1 2,000 feet above sea level ; the camels
certainly suffered a great deal, but what we have
said proves at least that they may be taken over any
alps. The road to Lhassa across Northern Tibet
ascends and descends passes 16,000 feet high, and
even upwards, yet these beasts accomplish the jour-
ney, although they frequently perish from the rare-
faction of the atmosphere. Camels which have been
at such heights are considered spoilt for ever, and
the Mongols say never recover on the lower pasture

THEIR VARIOUS USES AND AILMENTS. 129

lands of the Khalkas. On the other hand, the camels
from the latter country thrive perfectly at Koko-nor,
which is twice the elevation, and soon eat their fill
on the saline meadows near the lake. In summer
camels roam over the steppe unguarded, only coming
once a day to their master's well for water. On a
journey they are picketed for the night in a row
near the tent ; in winter when frost is very severe
the drivers sleep with them to keep themselves
warm ; on the road they are tied to one another by
their burunduks, and these must never be knotted,
lest the animal should tear its nostrils by a sudden
movement to one side, or by a step backwards.

Camels are also ridden or driven in carts. In
riding the same kind of saddle as that used for
horses is put on their backs ; the rider mounts, and
orders the animal to rise. In dismounting the camel
is in general made to kneel down, but the rider may
jump from the stirrup when in a hurry. Its paces
are a walk or a trot, never a gallop or a canter ;
some will trot as fast as a good horse can gallop,
and you may ride a camel seventy miles a day for a
week.

Besides serving as a beast of burden and for
riding, the camel supplies the Mongol with wool and
milk ; the latter is as thick as cream, but sweet and
disagreeable ; the butter made from it is far inferior
to ordinary butter, and is more like boiled fat. The
hair is spun into rope, which is mostly sold to the
Chinese. The wool is obtained by shearing the
animal when it begins to shed its coat, i.e. in March.
vol.. I. к

I30 VETERINARY PRACTICE.

With a constitution as strong as iron, the camel
is so accustomed to a dry atmosphere that it fears
damp. After ours had lain a few nights on the
moist ground in the Kan-su highlands, they caught
cold and began coughing ; their bodies too were
covered with nasty boils ; and if we had not gone on
to Koko-nor, in a few months they would all have
died, a misfortune that actually befell a lama who
arrived in Kan-su with his camels at the same time as
we did. The commonest form of illness to which
they are subject is the mange, ho7nu7i in Mongol.
The sick beast is gradually covered with festering
sores, loses its coat, and at length dies. Glanders is
another malady from which they occasionally suffer.
The treatment adopted by the Mongols in the former
case is to pour a soup made from goats' flesh down the
animal's throat, and to rub its sores with burnt vitriol,
snuff, or gunpowder. At Koko-nor rhubarb is the
universal remedy for camels as well as for all do-
mestic animals, but the Mongols like to make a
mystery of their medicines. In damp weather
camels are very liable to coughs : the best remedy
in such cases is to give them tamarisk bushes to eat,
which grow abundantly in the valley of the Hoang-
ho, and in other parts of Southern Mongolia.

On long journeys, particularly in those parts of
the Gobi where there is a quantity of small shingle,
they often become footsore, and in a little while quite
unable to walk ; the Mongols then cast the lame
animal, and sew a piece of thick leather under the
worn sole ; a painful operation for the poor brute,

ARRIVAL A7 KALGAN.

131

because holes must be bored right through its foot
with a thick awl in order to sew the leather on
firmly ; but when once this has been done, it soon
recovers from its lameness and is fit for use.

On May 6th we again stood on that point of the
marginal range of Mongolia where the descent to
Kalgan commences. Again the grand panorama of
mountain scenery lay at our feet, the bright green
plains of China sparkling like emeralds in the dis-
tance. There it was warm and springlike, here on
the plateau Nature was only just waking from her
long winter's sleep. At every step in the descent
we became more sensible of the warmth of the
plains ; at Kalgan itself trees were in full leaf, and we
gathered thirty kinds of flowering plants in the
neighbouring hills.

132 REORGANISATION OF THE Г ARTY.

CHAPTER IV.

ТЫЕ SOUTH-EASTERN BORDER OF THE PLATEAU

OF MONGOLIA — (continued).

Reorganisation of the Party — Fresh start from Kalgan — R. C. Missions
— Samdadchiemba, Hue's companion — Dishonest convert — Vigi-
lance needed against thieves — Shara-hada Range— Suma-hada
Range — The Argali ; its habits and incidents of chase — Late
spring — Lifeless aspects — The Urute country and Western Tumites
— Tedious purchase of sheep — Dumb bargaining — Difficuhies in
purchase of milk — Our traffic with the Mongols — Throw off the
trading character with advantage — Rude treatment from Chinese —
The strong hand necessary — Difficulties about change — The Inshan
mountain system — First sight of Hoang-ho — Tent flooded — Bathar
Sheilun temple — The mountain antelope— Its extraordinary jumps
—Chinese soldiers — Munni-ula mountains — Their flora, fauna, and
avi-fauna — Legends regarding them — Ascent of the range — Chinese
demand for stags' horns — Vicissitudes of mountain sport— Impres-
sive scenery — Pass across range — Valley of the Hoang-ho — City
of Bautu — Interview with commandant — Search for lodging — Mob
rudeness — We are made a show of — Departure from Bautu — Pas-
sage of the Hoang-ho — Military opium smokers.

Our two months' journey in South-eastern Mon-
goHa accustomed us to the style of travel, and in
some measure to the conditions, under which our
future wanderings would be prosecuted. The hos-
tility shown by the population towards us on more
than one occasion precluded the hope of our finding
friends, and taught us to rely entirely on ourselves.
The magic effect which even the name of a European
produced on the cowardly natives, hopes of ultimate
success, and confidence inspired by courage, these

START FROM KALGAN. 133

were the motives which impelled us onwards at all
hazards, regardless of probabilities or possibilities.

At Kalgan we reformed our caravan. Two new
Cossacks appointed to our expedition joined us here,
and our former companions returned home. One of the
new Cossacks was a Buriat, the other a Russian ; the
former was to act as interpreter, the latter as steward.
They had also to assist us in loading and pasturing
the camels, saddling the horses, pitching the tent, col-
lecting argols for fuel, &c. &c.,all which formed part
of every day's work, and became the more burden-
some as it encroached on the time available for
scientific pursuits. However, it was impossible to
arrange differently, because, as I have already ex-
plained, I could not afford to take more than two
Cossacks, and the services of a Chinese or Mongol
were unobtainable at any price.

The number of our pack-camels was increased
by the purchase of a new one, making altogether
eight camels, and two horses. Mr. Pyltseff and I rode
the latter, the Cossacks bestrode two camels, and the
remaining six carried our baggage, which, I should
think, weighed about 16^ cwts. ; the setter dog,
' Faust,' completed our small caravan.

When all our preparations were concluded, my
friend and I despatched our last letters home, and on
the 15th May once more mounted the plateau of
Mongolia. The following day we turned off the
Kiakhta road to the left, taking a westerly direction
by the post road to Kuku-khoto. For three days we
travelled over an uneven plain occupied by encamp-

134 ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONS.

ments of Mono^ols, and further on by Chinese, who
are scattered all over the south-eastern border of
Mongolia. These settlers buy or hire arable land
from the Mongols, and their numbers increase year
by year in proportion as the cultivated soil encroaches
more and more on the ancient domain of the inha-
bitants of the steppe, — the Mongol, his herds, and
the swift-footed antelope.

At the Chinese village of Siyinza, where the
Roman Catholics have established a missionary
station,' we unexpectedly met one of the priests in
charge, who gave us a warm reception, and by his
invitation we accompanied him the following day to
visit his colleagues residing at El-shi-siang-fu, twenty-
seven miles to the south, who were equally cour-
teous. In some conversation we had with them,
they complained that Christianity made very slow
progress among the Mongols, who are fanatical Bud-
dhists ; they told us that they were more successful
with the Chinese, although even among the latter,
proselytes were mainly attracted by material advant-
ages. The corruption and immorality of the people
exceeded all description. These missionaries had
built a school to train Chinese lads to assist them in
their work, maintaining them at their own cost, as
they found this to be the only way of inducing the
parents to entrust their children to them. They had
recently established themselves here, and intended

' There were three missionaries at this station — two Belgians and
a Dutcliman — at the time of our visit ; a fourth was added to their
number in the end of 1871.

SAMDADCHIEMBA, HUC'S COMPANION. 135

building a church and house for themselves ; ten
months later, on our return, we actually found that a
good-sized two-storied dwelling had been completed
in our absence, and was inhabited by all three priests.
There are four stations in South-eastern Mongolia,
besides Siyinza, occupied by Roman Catholic Jesuit
missionaries ; one at the village of Sivanzi,^ about
thirty miles north-east of Kalgan, another at Jehol,
a third to the north of Newchwang, and a fourth at
the sources of the Shara-muren, near the ' Black
Waters,' ^ whence Hue and Gabet started in 1844 on
their journey to Tibet.

At El-shi-siang-fu we saw Samdadchiemba, the
former companion of Hue. His real name is Sen^-
teng-chimta, and he is of mixed Mongol and Tan-
gutan race. He is fifty-five years of age, and enjoys
excellent health ; he related some of his adventures
to us, and described the different places on the road,
but he declined our invitation to accompany us to
Tibet, excusing himself on the score of old age.

By the advice of the missionaries we hired at
Siyinza, at five lans {p."]s. 6d.) a month, a Mongol
Christian convert to attend to our camels and to
help our Cossacks with their work ; we also anti-
cipated benefit from his services as interpreter of
Chinese, with which language he was well ac-
quainted. Our expectations regarding him, however,
soon proved illusory, for after the first day's march

1 This is probably the small village of Si-Wang mentioned by Hue
as a Christian Chinese station, north of the Great Wall, one day's
journey from Siuen-hwa-fu, i. 3. — M.

' In Chinese He-shui, i.e. Black Waters {Ibid.).

13б VIGILANCE NEEDED AGAINST THIEVES.

he deserted, carrying' off one of our knives and a
revolver. This happened during the night, and he
had probably laid his plans beforehand, as he did
not take his clothes off when he turned in to sleep
with the Cossacks.

I determined to give the missionaries warnino" of
their convert's behaviour, and accordingly rode back
to Siyinza and related the whole affair to them. They
promised to exert their utmost to catch the thief,
whose mother served them as cowkeeper ; indeed,
before we had gone much further, a Chinaman over-
took us, bearing the revolver which had been found
on the delinquent ; who, reckoning upon our depar-
ture, had returned to his yurta a few days after-
wards.

This was a salutary lesson and caused us to be
more than ever distrustful of the inhabitants. Hence-
forward to guard against nocturnal robbers we re-
solved to keep watch in turns, my companion and I
relieving one another every two hours till midnight,
when the Cossacks took their turn till dawn. This
was harassing work after the fatigues of the day, but
it was necessary, at all events during the early part
of our journey, surrounded as we often were by a
hostile population. Our strength lay in watchful-
ness, for we knew that these cowards would never
attack openly four well-armed ' foreign devils.'

We continued to post night-sentries for a fort-
night longer, after which we contented ourselves
with sleeping with our guns and amniunition ready
to hand.

SHARA-HADA MOCXTAINS. 137

111 consequence of the information derived from
the missionaries at Siyinza, we determined, instead of
passing through Kuku-khoto, to take a direction north
of this town to the great wooded mountains over-
looking the Hoang-ho. This change in our plans
was the more agreeable as it enabled us to proceed
at once to a country abounding in objects of the
greatest value to the scientific observer, and to avoid
visiting a Chinese town, where the rudeness of the
people always caused us great annoyance.

After passing the small temple of Chorehi ^ men-
tioned by Hue, we skirted lake Kiri-nor,^ and
leaving the Kuku-khoto post-road,^ turned to the
right. On the opposite side of a vast plain which
now lay before us, we could distinguish a range of
mountains known to the Mongols under the name
of Shara-hada, i.e. Yellow range, probably from the
quantity of limestone rock of which their outer cliffs
are formed. Their elevation above the adjacent
valley of the Kiri-nor is not more than 1,000 feet,
but their steep ascents on this side are in striking
contrast with the table-land of the remainder of the
range, which abounds in rich pasturage, where even
the dzeren is found. The opposite (western) side is
less precipitous, though some of its slopes are very
steep. The breadth of the range in the part we

' Hue, i. 125.

* Lake Kiri-nor dries up in summer. Seven miles to the north-
east of it the remains of some ancient walls may be seen ; in the same
valley nearer the Shara-hada mountains we saw another wall, probably
once forming a boundary.

' The post stations are kept by Mongols.

138 - THE SUMA-HADA RANGE.

crossed is about seventeen miles, and its general
direction south-west and north-east.

In a narrow rocky belt extending along the south-
eastern border of the Shara-hada mountains, bushes
are plentiful ; the prevailing kinds being the hazel
[Ostryopsis Davidiana), the yellow briar [Rosa pim-
pmellifolia\ the wild peach [Prunus sp.^), and the
spircea ; the barberry [Berberis sp.), currant {Rides
pulcJiellum\ cotoneaster, honeysuckle (Хб7;гг^^гл sp.),
and juniper {jfimipcriis communis), are more rare.
Here we found, for the first time in Mongolia, a
number of insects, and my companion made some
important additions to his entomological collection.

The Suma-hada,^ another and a wilder range,
about thirty miles distant, lies parallel with that
j'ust mentioned. But even here the precipitous cliffs
and deep valleys are only developed on the margin
of the range ; the inner slopes being of softer and
more gradual outline, with rich pasture and arable
land partly cultivated by Chinese.

The height of the Suma-hada^ above sea-level
is greater than that of the Shara-hada, but their ele-
vation above the plain is nearly the same. Their
cliffs, exclusively composed of granite, are rounded
and worn down by glacial action, of which there are
unmistakable evidences on the surface. The wilder

1 There must be some mistake here ; the author probably means
plum. — M.

* The Shara-hada and Suma-hada are probably spurs of the mar-
ginal range of the Mongolian plateau, and do not extend far to the
north.

' The height above sea-level, of the foot of the Suma-hada, at its
south-eastern extremity, is 5,600 feet.

THE ARC A LI. . 139

parts are covered with the same kinds of bushes as
those we had seen on the Shara-hada. We also
found trees erowinQf here, amonof Avhich were the
elm [Uhmis sp.), the alder {Al?itcs sp.), and the
maple {Acer Ginnahmi) ; the last-mentioned is, how-
ever, very rare. It is worthy of note that here, as in
every other part of Mongolia without exception, the
trees and bushes grow exclusively on the northern
slopes of the mountains and valleys ; even on all the
insiofnificant hills of the Guchin-o;urbu veo;-etation
thrives better on the northern side.

It was in the Suma-hada mountains that we first
saw the most remarkable animal of the highlands of
Central Asia, — the mountain sheep or Argali {Ovis
Argali^). This animal, which stands about as high
as a hind, prefers the most rocky parts, but in spring,
attracted by the fresh herbage, it descends to the
valleys and may be seen grazing Avith antelopes.

The argali is peculiar in its habits ; once having
selected its ground, there it will remain ; and a herd
of them has been known to frequent one mountain
for a succession of years, provided, of course, that
they are undisturbed ; as they are in the Suma-
hada mountains, where the Mongol and Chinese
inhabitants have very few guns, and are so little of
sportsmen that they never kill one of these animals,
— not from any feeling of compassion, but from
sheer want of skill.

The argali have become so accustomed to the

' Argali is the Mongol name for this sheep ; the Chinese call it
Han-ya»g.

1 40 A RGA LI-STALK INC.

neighbourhood of man that they may be often seen
browsing with the Mongol cattle, and drinking out
of the same troughs with them. We eould hardly
believe our eyes when we saw, not half a mile from
our tent, a herd of these handsome beasts quietly
grazing on the side of a hill. They evidently have
not yet learned to recognise our race as . their
enemy, and are ignorant of the terrible weapons of
the European.

A violent storm, which lasted several days, pre-
vented us from at once starting in pursuit, and
obliged us to restrain our impatience for a while.
The first day we went after them we killed nothing,
owing to our ignorance of their habits, and our over-
eagerness causing" us to miss several shots at short
distances. But on the following day we succeeded
in bagging two fine full-grown males.

The argali is so keen-sighted, quick of hearing,
and has such a delicate sense of smell, that were it
less confiding, it would be very difficult to get within
range of it in the Suma-hada mountains ; but so
tame is it that it will quietly gaze at the sportsman
when only 500 paces off

The best time for sport is the early morning and
the evening. At dawn the argali seek the grassy
hollows in the mountains, generally at a considerable
elevation, or some spot sheltered from the wind.
They are mostly seen in herds of ten to fifteen, rarely
single. While feeding one of them mounts on the
nearest rock to reconnoitre, but after remaining
stationary for a short time it rejoins Its companions

HABITS OF THE AiXIMAL. 141

and begins grazing with them ; in the Suma-hada
mountains, however, they are so confident of security
as not always to observe the precaution of posting
sentinels, and they may be very easily stalked. After
their morning meal they usually lie down among the
rocks, where they remain till evening.

The report of a gun startles a herd, and they go
off at full speed in an opposite direction, but after
running a little way they stop to see where the
danger lies, giving the sportsman ample time to
reload. The Mongols told us that if they placed
some conspicuous object, such as a piece of clothing,
to attract their attention, they would remain motion-
less while the hunter stalked them without difficulty.
I myself successfully tried the experiment by sus-
pending a red shirt on the top of a ramrod, which I
stuck into the ground, and in this way arrested the
attention of a frightened herd for more than a quarter
of an hour.

They are very tenacious of life, and I have known
them run, with a bullet through the chest and pro-
truding entrails, for several hundred yards, and then
only drop down dead. If one of a herd fall lifeless,
its companions remain beside it, regardless of the
hunter's approach. I never heard them utter a
sound. The Mongols told us that the coupling season
began in August, but I do not know how long it
continues. While it lasts the males fio^ht furioush',
making terrible use of their long horns, a pair of
which weigh 36 lbs. and upwards. The period of
gestation is about seven months, at the end of which

142 THE ARGALI. SPRING CLIMATE.

time the female bears one, or, as an exception, two
young ones ; they soon follow the mother about
everywhere, skipping from rock to rock after her,
and if she be killed, hide close by, not stirring
from their place of concealment until compelled.
When accompanied by their young the females are
generally seen in pairs, or in small herds guarded by
males, which at all other times except the breeding
season live in peace and harmony with one another.
They are preyed on by wolves, which pursue them,
and occasionally catch an inexperienced youngster ;
but this rarely happens with the full-grown argali,
because they are swift runners even on level ground,
and once among the rocks they will distance their
enemy in a few bounds.

I have seen the males jump from heights of
twenty or thirty feet, always alighting on their feet,
and even trying to lessen the shock by sliding down
the rocks ; but the stories told of argali throwing
themselves down steep precipices, and alighting on
their horns, are pure fiction.

Besides the Suma-hada range the argali is distri-
buted over the mountains bordering the northern
bend of the Hoang-ho and those of Ala-shan ; in
Kan-su and Tibet it is replaced by another closely
allied species.

The month of May, the best of the spring
months in other regions, is far from agreeable here.
The incessant gales from the north-west and south-
west continued with the same violence as in April ;
the morning frosts lasted till the end of the month,

LIFELESS ASPECTS. THE URUTE COUNTRY. 143

and on the 5th and 6th June there were heavy hail-
storms. But now and then the cold weather would
give place to intense heat, reminding us that we
were in 41° north latitude. Although the sky was
often cloudy very little rain fell ; a circumstance which,
combined with the cold, checked vegetation. Even
in the beginning of June the grass was barely above
the ground, and hardly concealed the dirty yellowish
mud and clay soil of the plain. The few bushes
growing on the mountains were by this time mostly
in flower, but they were so low and of such stunted
growth, so choked with thorns and hidden by rocks,
that they contributed very little towards enlivening
the general aspect of the landscape. Neither were
the fields cultivated by the Chinese as yet green, for
in consequence of the late frosts the corn is not sown
till the early part of June. In fact the face of Nature
was lifeless and mournful ; every thing was in a
dull and dismal unison. Even singing birds were
rare, and so incessant were the storms that such
as there were had no chance to sing. Now and
again, as you made your way through some valley
or over some hill, you might hear the voice of the
stonechat or the carol of a lark, the croak of a
raven, the whistle of the marmot, or a chatterino-

О

jackdaw ; all else was silent, sad, and inanimate.

Near the eastern border of the Suma-hada moun-
tains the country of the Chakhars terminates, and the
aimak (principality) of the Urutes begins, extendincr
a long way to the west of Ala-shan, and bordering
on the south with the Tumites of Kuku-khoto and

144 THE URUTES AND THE WESTERN TU MITES.

Ordos, and on the north with the Sunites and
Khalkas. For administrative purposes this aimak
is divided into six koshungs, viz. Durbute, Nimgan,
Barun-kung, Dundu-kung, Tsun-kung, and Darhan-
bil. The chief seat of government, and the head-
quarters of the prince, is at Ulan-sabo in the ko-
shung of the Durbutes.

The Urutes are very distinct from the Chakhars
in external appearance, resembhng more closely the
thoroughbred Mongols ; but they also are demoralised
by Chinese influence. Their nearest neighbours, the
Western Tumites of Kuku-khoto, like the Chakhars,
have become assimilated with the Chinese, and are
intermixed with them, living either in yurtas or
more rarely in houses. Here and there they culti-
vate the soil in imitation of the latter, but agricul-
ture is in general very backward. A striking trait
in their character, as in that of all the nomads, is an
extraordinary thirst after money ; in this respect they
are not even surpassed by the Chinese ; they will do
anything for a lump of silver, and travellers who
have sufficient means at their command can profit by
their venality. But in dealing with them you must
have the patience of an angel ; in the most ordinar)'
transactions the difficulties are innumerable. For
instance, you want to buy a sheep, a thing one would
suppose to be simple enough, but in reality quite the
reverse. If you go straight to a Mongol and ask
him to sell you a sheep, offering to pay him his own
price, nine times out of ten you will be unsuccessful,
rinding a ready compliance on your part, he immc-

PURCHASE OF A SHEEP ; DUMB BARGAINING. 145

diately suspects that you are trying to cheat him,
and will frequently flatly refuse. You must on these
occasions conform to a certain etiquette. First, sit
down by the side of the vendor, drink tea with him,
enquire after the health of his cattle, and listen to
some long-winded story about the dearness of things
in general and sheep in particular. The next stage
in the proceedings is the inspection, or, literally, the
feeling of the animal to be sold, which commands a
higher value, according to Mongol ideas, in propor-
tion to its fat. Act 3 : buyer and seller return to the
yurta, sit down again, drink tea, and begin negotiat-
ing about the price. Of course, your offer must be
much less than he asks ; in the meanwhile expres-
sions of mutual regard and friendship are freely
interchanged ; the owner extols the good qualities
of his animal, which the buyer naturally depre-
ciates.

Finally, the price is never fixed by word of
mouth but by a pressure of the fingers, — one of the
parties allowing the sleeve of his coat to hang down,
whereupon the other thrusts his band into it, so that
the whole transaction is secret. This mode of con-
cluding a bargain is also common in certain parts
of China in ordinary commercial transactions. At
length, after endless hand-shaking j.nd interchano-e
of compliments, the sheep is bought. The silver
and the scales must then be scrutinised ; the vendor
usually finding fault \vith the latter, and offerino- the
use of his own, which are anything but irreproach-
able. A discussion ensues, which is settled somehow

VOL. I. L

14б DIFFICULTIES IN OTHER PURCHASES.

or Other, and the silver is weighed out. But even
now the master of the sheep tries to make something
more out of it, and asks for the entrails, which are
usually peremptorily refused.

The whole process as we have described it occu-
pies about two hours, and we always had to go
through it whenever we had occasion to purchase a
sheep during our three years' wanderings. The
average price of one of these animals in South-eastern
Mongolia is from two to three lans (lis. to 165-. 6d.) ;
but their quality is excellent, especially in the Khalka
country, where a full-grown fat sheep yields from
fifty-five to seventy pounds of meat or even more,
the rump fat [ktcrdiuk) alone weighing from eight to
twelve pounds. The difficulties in buying milk are
also very considerable, and nothing will induce them
to sell it in cloudy weather. We were sometimes suc-
cessful in overcoming the scruples of one of the fair
sex by a present of needles or red beads, but in such
case she always begged us to cover the vessel over
when removing it from the yurta, in order that the
heavens should not witness the wicked deed. I may
add that Mongols keep milk in the dirtiest way ima-
ginable. It frequently happened that one of them
would ride up to our tent with a jugful for sale, the
lid and spout of the vessel having been smeared with
fresh cowdung to prevent the liquid splashing out
on the road. Cows' teats are never washed before
milking, nor are the vessels into which the milk is
poured. The price is high ; and we usually paid i].d.
or зл'. a bottle for it ; butter averaged i^. 6d. a pound.

OUR TRAFFIC WITH THE MONGOLS. 147

Our troubles with the Mongols were not limited
to the purchase of their sheep, which happened
rarely, in the first place, because we had to econo-
mise our slender resources, and in the second, that
they would be refused when we stood in need ; but
this last usually happened with the Chinese, who
wished to starve out of their country such unwelcome
guests. We lived too on what we could shoot, and
hares and partridges were so plentiful that we killed
more than enough for our wants. Unfortunately meat
would not keep at all in hot weather, and we some-
times fasted when game was not very abundant.

While we adhered to our resolution to keep aloof
as much as possible from the inhabitants, we were
generally obliged to pitch our tent near them in order
to procure water, always preferring the neighbour-
hood of the Mongols. These people would come to
our tent and ask who we were, whither we were
going, and what we were selling. In my assumed
character of merchant I was obliged to receive them
whether I liked it or not, and to show them our wares,
which they would examine and then begin bargain-
ing. There was no end to their absurd questions.
For instance, one would ask if we had a mao-net for
sale, another wanted bears' gall, a third children's
toys, a fourth brass idols, and so on. Very often,
after about an hour's chat our visitors would tak^,
their departure without having bought anything,
declaring that it was all too dear. The Buriat Cos-
sack, who was clever at this sort of thing, had charge
of the trading ; but the trade did not advance ver)'

L 2

148 CHARACTER OF TRADERS THROWN OFF

briskly/ although it took up a good deal of our Inter-
preter's time ; besides which those experienced In
commercial affairs at once perceived that a retail
trade was not the real object of our journey, as
under the most favourable circumstances it would
not defray the cost of our pack-animals ; and lastly,
we could not rid ourselves of the constant visitors
who, under the pretence of coming to buy, Invaded
our privacy and interfered with our scientific labours.
Taking all this Into consideration, I resolved one fine
day to put an end to my profession of merchant.
The goods were all packed up, the buyers driven
away, and the shop closed.^ I announced that I was
an official (noyoii), travelling without any special
object except that of seeing new countries. The
natives certainly put very little faith In this explana-
tion, but v/e told them that It was no business of
theirs, that their Emperor knew all about it, and had
given us a passport to enable us to travel without let
or hindrance In his country. We now felt much
more at our ease, there was no longer any necessity
for prevarication, and everything was straightfor-
ward. Henceforward all superfluous visitors were
summarily ejected, and only those admitted who
might be of use. Their visits always began with
tea-drinking, and conversation followed ; the princi-
pal topics, taking them in their proper order, were
cattle, medicine, and religion.

' These goods were subsequently all sold in one lot in Ala-shan,
^ We only charged a profit of 25 or 30 per cent, on the prices we
paid at Peking.

то THE ADVANTAGE OF OUR INTERCOURSE. 149

The first of these, cattle, is the most important
of the three, because it is so intimately connected
with their well-being; and on this account, when
meeting one another the first enquiries are always
after the health of the flocks and herds, that of the
master and his family coming next.

Medicine is another everyday subject of conver-
sation with them, and they delight in hearing of
cures performed. At the sight of a European, who
is regarded in the light of a demigod, or at least as
a great magician, the Mongol at once endeavours to
derive some benefit from so extraordinary a person,
and to learn from him some secret cure for his ail-
ments. My collection of plants and herbs persuaded
the inhabitants still further that I was a doctor, and
I afterwards actually established a reputation as
such from some cures I made in bad cases of fever,
by administering doses of quinine.

The religious persuasions which underlie the
whole current of the nomad's life, but are quite
incomprehensible in themselves, rank next in the
order of his intellectual ideas. He will never lose
an opportunity of talking about the ceremonies of
his religion, the miracles performed by the gigens,
&c. &c. ; his fanaticism is apparent in all these dis-
cussions, and he never for a moment wavers in his
faith.

My transformation from a merchant to an official
was of great advantage to us, for we Avere now inde-
pendent of the natives, whereas in our assumed
character of traders this was impossible. With such

ISO RUDE TREATMENT FROM CHINESE.

people as the Chinese or Mongols who only respect
force, kindness and politeness are wasted or mistaken
for weakness and cowardice. On the other hand,
boldness sometimes produces a magic effect, and the
traveller armed with this weapon will in the end be
more successful. It must be understood that I am
no advocate for bullying, but what I wish to say is
that when a traveller makes his way into remote
parts of Asia, he must discard many of his former
opinions for .others more adapted to the sphere in
which he finds himself.

We now took the direction of the Yellow River,
and, having no guide, trusted to our enquiries to
direct us. We met with great difficulties from our
ignorance of the language, and from the suspicion and
hostility of the inhabitants, of the Chinese in par-
ticular, who would often refuse to show us the road
or purposely mislead us. We lost our way nearly
every march, and sometimes went a dozen of miles
or more before discovering our mistake.

Occasionally we passed through a populous Chi-
nese settlement, where our difficulties were always
aggravated. A large crowd would assemble ; all the
inhabitants, young and old, ran out into the streets,
or climbed up on the palisades or roofs of their
houses, to stare at us with unmeaning curiosity ; the
dogs howled in concert and snapped at poor * Faust ;'
startled horses neighed, cows lowed, pigs squeaked,
fowls flew hither and thither ; in short, all was noise
and confusion. We would generally let the caravan
advance, while one of us remained behind to ask the

THE STRONG HAND NECESSARY. 151

way. The Chinese would then approach, but instead
of answering our questions, they would handle and
examine our saddles and boots, look with awe at
our guns, enquire whither we were bound, whence
and wherefore had we come, &c. As for the direc-
tions about our road, they were entirely omitted, and
only as an exceptional piece of good luck would a
Chinaman point in the direction we had to go.
From the number of cross roads leadino- from village
to village such directions as these were an insuf-
ficient guide, and we therefore went at hap-hazard
till we came to another village, when the same ex-
periences were repeated.

Once the Chinese took it into their heads to let
loose one of their chained dogs at us, with the inten-
tion of killing ' Faust' Fortunately he happened to
be close to me at the time, and no sooner had the
mastiff attacked him than I drew one of my revolvers
from the holster and shot it dead on the spot. Upon
this the Chinese at once dispersed to their homes,
and we continued our journey without any further
molestation. One must act promptly in these coun-
tries, for if you let them kill your dog one day, they
may try and kill you the next, and then it becomes a
much more serious affair ; but if you make them feel
that you will not put up with insults, they will treat
you much better, although, of course, the hatred to
foreigners always remains, and Europeans must
endure it.

At Tsagan-chulutai,^ one of the Chinese settle-

^ Properly Tsagan-chulu, i.e. ' Wliite Stones,' in Mongolian.

152 DIFFICULTIES IN CHANGING SILVER.

ments, we wanted to change some lans (taels) o£
silver into copper coin, in order to make a few pur-
chases, and knowing by experience the obstacles
we should encounter, increased by ignorance of the
Chinese language, I engaged a Mongol to help me.
We were certainly beset by difficulties. On entering
Tsagan-chulutai we were met by the usual uproar
and tumult ; I waited till the caravan had passed
out of the place, and then directed my steps to a shop
where they pronounced my silver (of the finest qua-
lity) to bo bad ; at another, we were told that it
contained bits of iron ; at a third, they flatly refused
to change it, and it was not till we tried a fourth
that we were successful. Here the shopman exa-
mined the metal for some time, sounded it, smelt it,
and at last, as a favour, offered i ,400 cash for a tael
of it. which was exactly 400 less than its local value.
Bargaining then commenced ; my Mongol argued
with the shopman with great spirit, pressed his
fingers inside the other's sleeve, and finally concluded
the transaction for 1,500 cash, which we received as
an equivalent for a tael of our silver at the manchan
rate of exchange, i.e. counting^^ each copper coin as
worth its intrinsic value, the dzelen or local reckon-
ing being at the rate of sixty for a hundred — this
being the fourth difference in the value of money we
had experienced since our departure from Dolon-nor.
The splendid pasturage we had noticed through-
out the country of the Chakhars terminated at the
Suma-hada mountains, and the further we went the
more scanty the fodder, and the thinner grew our

THE IN-SHAN MOUNTAIN SYSTEM. 153

horses and camels. The latter suffered too from the
want of salt, as we had not passed any saline marshes
since we left the Kiakhta road, and we were there-
fore well pleased at the sight of the small salt lake
of Tabasun-nor, where our animals could indulge in
their favourite brine.

The elevation of the country west of the Suma-
hada mountains continues to be very considerable,
but the supply of water is very deficient, especially
near those mountains which rise from the bank of
the Yellow River, and are known to geographers
under the name of In-shaii}

This range begins on the plateau of Mongolia
near the town of Kuku-khoto,^ and forms a lofty
precipitous barrier along the northern bend of the
Hoang-ho, terminating in the valley of the river
170 miles from its commencement with the rocky
belt of Munni-ula. The wild alpine character of
these mountains is preserved throughout their ex-
tent, and they are distinguished from the other
mountains of South-eastern Mongolia by an abund-
ance of wood and water. Two ranges constitute
a further extension x^f the system to the westward,
still parallel to the ngrthern elbow of the river : the
Sheiten-ula nearest to the In-shan, and beyond this,
the Kara-narin-ula, from the river Haliutai to the
confines of Northern Ala-shan. Both these groups

^ The natives do not know this name, and haA-e their own names
for different parts of the range.

* In a wider sense, the term In-shan applies to all the mountains
from the northern bend of the Hoang-ho through the Chakhar country
to the sources of the Shara-murcn and the confines of Manchuria.

154 IN-SHAN MOUNTAINS; SIGHT OF IIOANG-HO.

of mountains are physically distinct from the In-shan
proper, of which they are not, strictly speaking, a
continuation, other and much smaller mountains sup-
plying the connecting links of the chain ; this inter-
ruption is particularly marked between the Sheiten-
ula and Kara-narln-ula.^ Moreover, the former is
a much lower range than the In-shan, besides being
less thickly wooded and not so plentifully watered.
Again, the mountains which lie beyond the Haliutai
river, although of considerable elevation and com-
pletely alpine in character, are also unwooded and
form a marginal range, having on one side the
valley of the Hoang-ho, on the other a lofty table-
land.

We entered the In-shan by that part called by
the Mongols Sirun-bulik, and I cannot describe the
pleasure we felt, after marching for so long a time
over bleak, cheerless plains, to see wooded moun-
tains, and to rest under the shade of green trees.
We started that day for the chase, and climbing
to the summit of a high peak we caught our first
glimpse of the Yellow River winding through the
great plains of Ordos.

^ In my letter (see Proc. Imp. Russ. Geog. Soc, viii. 5. 174), I
said that the range on the left bank of the Hoang-ho from the Haliutai
river to the borders of Ala-shan, ' was neither connected with the In-
shan nor with the Ala-shan moimtain systems.' On a closer investiga-
tion of these localities in the spring of 1872, I found that there actually
is a connection between the Kara-narin-ula and the Sheiten-ula by
means of a row of hillocks. The Sheiten-ula are in their turn united
with the In-shan proper by the Shohoin-daban (i.e. limestone range).
But there cannot be the slightest doubt of the independence of all
these groups of mountains from the Ala-shan system.

TENT INUNDATED. BATHAR SHEILUN TEMPLE. 155

The next day our intention of penetrating still
deeper into these mountains was thwarted by an
accident which detained us unexpectedly in the
same place. At ten in the morning a thunderstorm
accompanied by heavy rain burst over our heads,
and having carelessly pitched our tent in the dry
bed of a mountain torrent fed by two ravines, in a
few minutes streams of water were pouring straight
down upon our humble dwelling. We were inun-
dated by the torrent, and in a few moments some
of our lighter articles might be seen floating down
stream. By good luck half the tent stood on higher
ground, to which the water did not immediately rise.
Hither we carried some of our soaking things, dam-
ming the water out of the tent with felt to protect
our baggage. Fortunately our disagreeable situation
only lasted half an hour ; as soon as the storm had
passed and the rain ceased, the torrent speedily
subsided and dried up, and the only traces left of
the catastrophe were our damp things hung up to
dry. The day after this occurrence we marched a
short distance (ten miles) to the temple of Bathar
Sheilun, called Udan-chau by the Chinese, pic-
turesquely situated in the midst of wild, rocky
scenery^ and regarded as one of the most important
in South-eastern Mongolia. The gorgeous shrine
is four stories high, and surrounded by a cluster of
houses inhabited by 2,000 lamas, whose numbers
are increased in summer by the numerous pilgrims
who visit the temple to 7,000, many coming from
great distances. We ourselves saw, near Lake

15б THE MOUNTAIN ANTELOPE.

Da!ai-nor, a Mongol prince on his way to pray
here. He had a large quantity of goods and chattels,
and was followed by a train of several hundred
sheep, to supply him with provisions on the road ;
they told us that he only ate the fat hirdiuk,
leaving the remainder of the sheep to his suite.

The entire staff of lamas at Bathar Sheilun is
supported by the voluntary contributions of devotees ;
an extensive tract of land is also reserved for the
pasturage of the herds of cattle ^ which supply the
monks with milk and butter. The lamas manu-
facture clay idols which are sold to the pilgrims, and
there is a school for training boys for the religious
profession.

The lofty cliffs which surround this temple are
the favourite haunts of the mountain antelope {Anti-
lope caitdata ?) ; but it is forbidden to hunt them, it
being considered wrong to destroy life within so
short a distance of the sacred edifice.^ However,
the temptation of procuring a skin of one of these
animals was too great to be resisted, and on the
evening of the second day after our arrival, I went
into the mountains, where I passed the night in the
open air, and shot a young buck early the following
morning. As we found this little animal nowhere
else except in the In-shan, I will say a few words
on its habits and mode of life.

Like other kinds of mountain antelopes, this

' ли the large temples of Mongolia own such lands.
* We met with similar prohibitions to hunt near the temples i
other parts of Mongolia.

ITS EXTRAORDINARY JUMPS. 15?

species selects the wildest and most inaccessible crags
of the alpine zones for its habitation. Here they
may be found single or in pairs ; during the whole
of the day they hide in the most secluded spots,
from which they will not stir till the hunter is close
to them.

Towards evening they emerge from their retreats
and feed during the whole of the night and for an
hour or two after sunrise, when they again repair to
their coverts. Their favourite and almost exclusive
grazing-places are the alpine meadows, especially
the small grassy plots among the rocks. Before
entering them and during the feeding time they
will often climb to the summit of a hill or ledge of
rock, and remain there for a long while to assure
themselves of safety.

They return to the same place over and over
again, as we could tell by the large heaps of their
droppings collected in these spots. When stationary,
as well as when on the move, they swing their long
black tails from side to side, and while grazing utter
a low, short cry. The mountain antelope is a most
timid animal ; when alarmed it seeks safety in rapid
flight, and will leap down deep ravines when hard
pressed. I once saw one, on suddenly perceiving
me, jump from a rock 100 feet high, and go away
apparently unharmed. It was curious to see the
swifts, which build their nests in the sides of the
cliffs, pursue the animal in its descent. The sound
of its hoofs as it alighted was like a dull heavy blow
on the rocks. Its legs are thick in comparison with

158 MEETING WITH CHINESE SOLDIERS.

the small size of the body : the inhabitants make
warm clothing of its winter coat, each skin fetching
about 2^. 6d.

The third day after we had pitched our camp in
the vicinity of Bathar Sheilun, a small detachment
of Chinese soldiers, commanded by an officer, sud-
denly presented themselves before us, and demanded
our passports. It appeared that the lamas of the
temple, apprehending that we were Dungan spies,
had given notice of our arrival at the neighbouring
Chinese town of Bautu, whence the soldiers had
been sent. They approached us in order of battle,
with lighted fuses and drawn swords. But this
farce was soon played out. We invited the officer
to our tent, and showed him our Peking passport,
which at once produced an impression. While a
copy was being taken of this document, I entertained
the officer with tea and Russian sugar, and presented
him with a penknife, and we parted the best of good
friends. We only discovered after their departure
that the soldiers had carried away with them some
of our smaller articles. From Bathar Sheilun we
marched towards the mountains of Munni-ula which,
as we have stated, form the westernmost termination
of the proper In-shan. As the latter range is in all
probability of one character throughout, a more
detailed description of its western ridge may suffice
for the whole.

Extending for nearly seventy miles between two
valleys, one on the north and the other on the south
(towards the Hoang-ho), the Munni-ula rises as a

MUNNl-ULA MOUNTAINS. 159

bold belt of mountains about seventeen miles wide.
The highest peaks are upwards of 8,000/ perhaps
as much as 9,000 feet, above sea-level, but nowhere
attain the limit of perpetual snow. The main axis
runs almost through the centre of the width, the des-
cents on either side being steep, and indented with
rugged gorges and narrow valleys. The whole
range is rocky and of a bold alpine character, espe-
cially on its southern side. The rocks ^ are for the
most part syenitic granite, common gneiss, horn-
blende, granolite, porphyry, and the later volcanic
formations. The borders are devoid of trees, and
only dotted with occasional clumps of wild peach,
hazel, and yellow honeysuckle, the same as those
we found in the Shara-hada and Suma-hada ranges.
As we ascended, however, the bushes grew thicker,
and single trees began to appear, as for instance
the Scotch pine {Pinus sylvest74s), and a low kind
of elm {Ulmus sp.). About six miles from the
outer edge of the range on the northern side (but
not more than a mile-and-a-half on the southern
side), at an elevation of nearly 5,300 feet, the forests
begin,^ increasing in size and density as you ascend.
Here too the trees grow mostly in valleys having a

^ The highest peak of the Munni-ula is considered to be Mount
Shara-oroi, near the western extremity of the range ; we could not
measure its height, not having been in that part of the mountains. The
peaks I measured in the centre of the Munni-ula were 7,400 feet
above sea-level. Mount Shara-oroi is certainly 1,000 feet higher than
any of them. It should be mentioned that there are two peaks of that
name, — one not far from our route, but that also I could not measure.

^ Of the Munni-ula as well as of the Sirun-bulik.

^ Probably lower on the southern slopes.

i6o FLORA OF THE

northerly aspect, and the slopes facing the south are
more often bare than wooded, and the same remark
applies to the southern parts of the range where
arboreal vegetation is most abundant.

The chief kinds of trees are the aspen {Popuhis
tremula ?), black birch {Betula dattrica),^ and willow
(Salix sp.), the last-named growing in bushes and
trees twenty feet high ; the aspen attains a somewhat
greater height, while the black birch is in general of
lesser size. Among other trees we noticed in these
forests the white birch {Betula alba), poplar {Popiihis
laurifolia), alder [Almis sp.), mountain ash (Sorhis
Aucuparia), and apricot^ {Prunus sp.) ; an occasional
dwarf oak {Qiiercus Moiigolica) may be seen with a
trunk seven feet high, limes [Tilia sp.) of the same
dimensions, j'uniper {jf tiniperus commwiis), and thujas
{Biota orientalis), the last-named growing only in the
lowest tree-belt on the southern slopes of the moun-
tains. The absence of the spruce fir is a notable
circumstance. The commonest of the bushes is the
hazel {Ostryopsis Davidiana), attaining a height of
three or four feet and frequently covering the ex-
posed mountain sides with dense brushwood. We
also noticed the wild rose {Rosa aciciilaris), wild
raspberry {Ritbus IdcEUs), wild currant {Ribcs pul-
скеИгшг), guelder rose ( Vibiir7ium Opulus), dogwood
{Cornus sp.), buckthorn {Rhammis argiitd), Spircea
and Lespcdcza bicolor, so common in the woods of
the Southern Amur.

" According to Loudon, Betula lenta is the lilack liirch. — 1\I.
^ The apricot mostly grows on the bare mountiiin sides.

MUNNI-ULA. i6r

The dry beds of the mountain torrents nearer the
borders of the range were fringed with the yellow
honeysuckle, wild peach, hawthorn {Cratagiis san-
guined), and barberry [Berberis sp,). A climbing
clematis might now and again be seen crowning the
top of a bush with a garland of yellow flowers, and
the open meadows were thickly covered with mother-
wort (Icomiriis Sibiricus), and two varieties of wild
onion [Alliiun odorum^ A. anisopodiuni). The va-
riety of herbaceous plants exceeds that of either
trees or bushes. Here, as in Europe, the woods are
adorned with the lily of the valley {Convalla^da
majalis), the Smilacina [UTaiantkemum bi/oimm), and
anemone {Anemone sylvestris, A. barbnlatd) ; the
familiar stone-bramble [Rtcbus saxatilis) and wild
strawberry {Fragaria sp.) are also not uncommon ;
close beside them blossomed the spear-leaved Cacalia
{Cacalia hastatd), echinospermum {^Echinospermtmt
sp.), several kinds of peas ( Vicid), Polygonatum offici-
nale, PJilomis unibrosa, Agrimonia sp. ; the spleen-
wort [Asplciiium sp.), thickly covered patches of the
forest ground.

In the woodland glades grow peonies [Pcronia
albijlora), the yellow Hemei'ocallis and red lily
Lilium tenuifolitim, geraniums {Geraninm sp.), the
rose-bay willow herb {Epilohitmt angustifoliiini), &c.
Valerians [Valcriajia officinalis), and wild tansey or
silver weed {Potentilla anserind).

In the swampy places and round the mountain
springs, the herbaceous plants are still more varied.
Here may be seen in profusion the Ligularia, the

VOL. I. M

1б2 FLORA OF THE MUNNI-ULA.

lousewort (Pedicularis resupinatd), the columbine
{Aqttilegia vij'idiflord), the nonsuch {Medicago liipu-
lind), the speedwells [Veronica Sibirica and another),
the elecampane {Imila Britannicd), three or four
varieties of Ranunculi, the avens {Gciim strictuni), the
iris iyAdenophora sp.), the milfoil {^Achillea Mongolicd),
and in dry places the nightshade {Solanum sp.) and
nettle {Urtica angustifolid).

Lastly, blossoming on the unwooded hillsides
were the carnation [Diant/ms Seguieri), the rocket
{Hesperis trichocephald), the poppy [Papaver Alpi-
mwi), the yellow stonecrop {Scdum aisooii), the
wolf's bane, or globe thistle i^Echinops Datcricus),
the onion [Allumi sp.), Koeleria cristata^ Statice sp.
Paradanthus, and others.

In general the flora of the Munni-ula reminded
me a good deal of that of Siberia, although these
forests are very different to ours in the north. Here
there is none of that luxuriant vegetation which
excites the admiration of the traveller on the banks
of the Amur and Ussuri. The trees are not high,
and their trunks are slender, the bushes are low and
stunted, and the withered branches of the willows
protruding from the living trees are unsightly objects
amid the prevailing verdure. The mountain brooks,
which are almost all full of running water in the
wooded ravines, no sooner enter the more open
valleys, or issue from the margin of the range, than
they entirely disappear beneath the soil, leaving dry
beds in which the water only collects after heavy
rain ; the forests too have been ruthlessly destroyed

FLOWERY MEADOWS. WILD ANIMALS. 163

by the neighbouring Chinese, in spite of the forest
guard ; the larger trees have all been felled and
only stumps remain to show that good-sized timber
once grew here.

Above the tree-belt the highest parts of the
mountains are occupied by the zone of alpine mea-
dows. It is a refreshing sight, after the monotonous
vegetation of the lower belts, consisting chiefly of a
few crooked bushes, and after the damp under-
growth of deciduous trees, to feast one's eyes on the
bright green variegated flowers which cover the
rich meadow-land of the mountains ; the slopes and
hollows are clad with short thick grass, leaving bare
only the crags and solitary rocks, the yellowish-grey
tints of which contrast with the enchantinof verdure
and delightful variety of flowers. Shrubs of spiraea
and cinquefoil {Potentilla fruticosa), the globe-flower
{Trolliiis sp.), the great-burnet {Sanguisorba alpina),
the corn-flower {Polejnonmm ccEindeimt), ranunculi,
and many others mentioned in our description of
the flora of the woods, flood these meadows with
their yellow, white, red, and blue hues, now inter-
mingled in pleasing variety, now grouped in masses
of colour.

But the sight is still more brilliant in the early
morning when the first rays of the sun sparkle on
the dew drops hanging on every petal, the surround-
ing stillness only broken by the notes of the stone-
chat or the pipit, and a splendid view disclosed of
the Hoang-ho and the plains of Ordos stretching
away far beyond it.

M 2

1б4 ANIMALS AND BIRDS OF

The wild animals of the Munni-ula are less
plentiful than one would have expected. Of the
larger mammalia the only representatives are the
stag {Ce7'V2is elaplms), the pygarg {Cervus pygargus),
the mountain antelope {Antilope cmidatd), the wolf
{Canis lupus), and the fox [Canis inilpcs), but not one
of the feline race, although, as we heard from the
inhabitants, there used to be panthers and even
tigers.■^ Of the class of Rodents there are probably
mice and weasels in the forest, hares [Leptis Toiai),
common throughout Mongolia and marmots [Sper-
mophihis sp.) in the valleys on the outskirts of the
mountains. The last-mentioned animal is about the
size of a rat, and at the sight of man, or merely
from fright, it sits up on its hind legs near its burrow
and \vhistles.

Birds are more plentiful, yet the ornithology of
the Munni-ula is poor in comparison with the extent
of its woods. The sudden changes of temperature,
from calms to storms, from excessive dryness to
great moisture, probably prevent many of the Chi-
nese birds from penetrating to even the best parts of
the plateau of Mongolia, In the wildest and most
inaccessible cliffs of the alpine zone the vulture ( Viil-
Ыг monacJms) and lammergeier {Gypdetos barbatus)
build their nests, two enormous birds with a nine-
feet stroke of wing. Side by side with them live
the swifts {Cypselus Icitcopyga), the noisy red-legged
crow {Fregihis gracuhis), and the rock dove {Co-

1 The Mongols assured us that there were panthers in the In-shan
even now, but nearer Kuku-khoto, and not in the Munni-ula.

MUNNI-ULA. MONGOL TRADITION. 165

lumba rupestris) ; the mountain pipit {Anthus ro-
sacais) inhabits the alpine meadows. In the tree
belt several of the small warblers make their appear-
ance ; the redstart {Ruticilla aztrorea), the bunting-
{Emberiza sp.), the nut-hatch [Siita sinensis), the
л\теп {Ti'oglodytcs s"^,) the greater titmouse {Pcecile
cincta^), Phyllopneuste siipei'ciliosns, Phyllopncuste
sp., Pterorhimis Davidii, Drymceca extensicaiida ;
woodpeckers {Picus sp., Picas martitis rare) tap the
trees, pheasants {PJiasianns torqimhcs) call morning
and evening, and at sunset the monotonous hooting
of the Japanese owl [Caprimulgus yotacd), called
in Siberia ' the blacksmith,' resounds on all sides.
Below the tree-belt in the dry ravines and among
the rocks are found the stone thrush {Petrocincla
saxaiilis), the stonechat {Saxicola Isabelliiid), the
hoopoe {Upiipa epops), the grey and rock partridge
[Perdix darbata, P. cJmkor), the latter also inhabiting
the alpine zone, and attracting attention by its noisy
and almost incessant clucking.

The strikinof contrast between the Munni-ula and
the other ranges of South-eastern Mongolia has
o;iven rise to a Mono^ol tradition concerninQf their
origin, according to which in times long past, a thou-
sand years ago or more, there lived a Kutukhtu at
Peking, who in spite of his divine origin led such an
ungodly life that he was arrested and put into prison
by order of the Emperor. Indignant at such harsh
treatment, the holy man caused an enormous bird to

' This is the Siberian tit. : the Latin name for the greater tit-
mouse is Par us major, — M.

i66 LEGENDARY ORIGIN OF MUNNI-ULA

appear, ordering it to overturn the capital of his sove-
reign. Whereupon the Emperor in his fright set
the Kutukhtu at Hberty, and the latter countermanded
his order to the bird, which had only time to raise
one end of the city, accounting for the slightly in-
clined plane on which Peking is situated at the
present day.

The miracle-working saint then resolved to quit
the inhospitable city and settle in Tibet. Setting
out on his journey, he arrived safely on the banks of
the Hoang-ho ; but the Chinese here refused to ferry
him across to the other side : his wrath was now
rekindled, and he determined to revenge himself in
good earnest this time. He forthwith started for
Northern Mongolia and selected a large chain of
mountains from the Altai range, which he fastened
to his stirrups and dragged behind him on horseback
to the bank of the Hoang-ho, intending to throw
them into the river and by damming its current to
inundate the surrounding country. Buddha now
appeared in person to protect the unfortunate inha-
bitants, and entreated the Kutukhtu to abate his
anger and show mercy to the innocent. The saint
obeyed the voice of the god, and left the mountains
on the bank of the river as a monument of his might ;
he then unfastened h:s belt and flung it across the
Hoang-ho to serve as a bridge, over which he
passed to the opposite bank and continued his jour-
ney to Tibet.

In depositing the Munni-ula on the banks of the
Hoang-ho the Kutukhtu reversed its position ; con-

AND OTHER LEGENDS. 167

sequently the side previously facing north was now
turned towards the south, and vice vei^sd. The
Mongols declare that on this account more trees
grow on the southern than on the northern slopes,
unlike the other ranges in Mongolia, where it is just
the contrary. These peculiarities they attribute to
their strange northern origin.

According to another tradition Chinp-hiz-Khan
once lived in the Munni-ula while waging war with
China. He took up his abode on Mount Shara-oroi/
where the iron saucepan in which he cooked his
food still exists, though hitherto no one has been
able to discover it. During the summer religious
services are performed here by the lamas of the
neighbouring temple of Mirgin. The very name
Munni-ula is said to have been given by Chinghiz-
Khan, who liked the place on account of the quantity
of game he found here.

The Mongols assert that on Mount Shara-oroi
there is a fossil elephant, and that a quantity of ingot
silver has been buried in some other part of the
range, but that evil spirits guard the treasure and
will not allow it to be removed. They say that the
silver lies near the summit of a mountain in a ereat

о

pit, the mouth of which is covered by an iron shutter,
through an orifice in which the treasure may be
espied, and that some daring fellows once tried to
get hold of it by lowering into the pit in winter some
pieces of raw meat and freezing the ingots to it ; in

' The mountain of that name situated in the centre of the rano-e,
not that one at its western extremity.

1 68 A SCENT OF MUNNI- ULA . NA TIVES A STONISHED.

this way they contrived to raise some nearly to the
top, but before they could grasp the precious metal
in their hands it fell back again, and no human power
could extract it from the enchanted spot.

We spent three days in endeavouring to find a
pass over the Munni-ula mountains (for neither
Chinese nor Mongols would show us the road), first
trying one valley, then another, without success ; the
valleys always narrowed into gorges, and perpendi-
cular cliffs soon barred our further progress. At
length on the third day we found a stream, the Ara-
mirgin-gol, which we ascended almost to its source
in the chief axis of the range, and here we pitched
our tent in a small clearing in the forest.

Our appearance and stay in these mountains cre-
ated a panic among the Chinese and Mongol inhab-
itants, who now saw Europeans for the first time,^ and
could not imagine what kind of people we were.
The reports and conjectures on our arrival were
endless. The lamas actually consulted the auguries,
and prohibited the Mongols from selling us provi-
sions ; this order emanated from the superior of the
temple of H imping, and caused us some inconveni-
ence, for our supplies were nearly exhausted at that
time. We hoped to have been able to provide
ourselves with food by the chase, but in our ig-
norance of the localities we did not bag any game
for some days, and consequently were obliged to

' Four years before our visit to these mountains the French mis-
sionary and naturahst Armand David was here on his way from
Peking to Ordos.

MONO TO NO US A SPECT OF THE MONGOL PLAINS. 1 69

live exclusively on millet porridge. At length I
shot a pygarg, and when the Mongols saw they
could not starve us out, they began selling us butter
and milk.

We obtained very few specimens of birds ; in-
deed since we left Kalgan, this branch of our re-
searches had not made great progress, for besides
the scarcity of the feathered tribe, it was their moult-
ing time, and most of those we shot were unfit for
preserving. With the insects, however, we were
more fortunate, and still more so with the plants,
many herbaceous varieties being in flower. The
rains, usually accompanied by thunder, were incessant
during the month of June, and the dryness of the
previous month was succeeded by great moisture.
But the violent storms which prevailed in May
were now replaced by calm, sultry weather. Under
such favourable conditions as these vegetation
rapidly developed ; early in June the plains and
mountain sides were becoming green, and flowers
appeared in great profusion and variety, although
the steppes of South-east Mongolia^ bear no compari-
son with our meadow-land in Europe. Here you
never see that uninterrupted carpet of flowers, or
that delicate green turf ; these plains under the most
favourable conditions have a melancholy aspect, and
everything is as monotonous as though made to
measure. The grass grows in clumps of even
height, and not of a bright green, the flowers lack

^ I refer to those plains due west of the Suma-hada, where we
passed the summer : in the Chakhar country the meadow-land proba-
bly presents a more cheerful aspect at this season.

I70 CHINESE DEMAND FOR STAGS' HORNS.

brilliancy of colouring, and it is only close to a spring
that you see vegetation at its best.

During our fortnight's sojourn in the Munni-ula
we went on several shooting excursions, often pass-
ing our nights in the mountains to take advantage
of the early morning for sport. We were unsuccess-
ful, however, in killing a stag, although they abound
here, but just at this season they are eagerly sought
after by the native hunters for the sake of their
young antlers, which are highly esteemed in China.
The most valuable are those with a third branch,
containing the largest quantity of blood ; they are
worth from fifty to seventy lans each (14/. to 18/.) ;
old horns of course are valueless.

The demand for deers' antlers is so great that
thousands are annually imported from Siberia via
Kiakhta, to which place they are sent by post from
the most remote parts ; a great many are also
bought by the Chinese on the Amur, and sent to
Peking through Manchuria.

During my residence on the Amur as well as on
the present expedition I often enquired what use
these young horns were put to, but never received
any satisfactory answer. The Chinese keep it a
profound secret ; if report is to be believed, they
undergo some preparation, and are used as a strong
stimulant by the Celestials. I will not vouch for the
veracity of this statement, but in any case young
antlers take an important place in the Chinese phar-
macopoeia, or they would not be so extensively
used or fetch such high prices.

VICISSITUDES OF MOUNTAIN SPORT. 171

We now for the first time in our lives experi-
enced the difficulties of hunting in the mountains. I
can confidently affirm that a man should have an
iron constitution and a robust frame for such work.
The dangers are often imminent, the hardships such
as are unknown to the native of a plain country.
You must climb over almost precipitous crags, stop-
ping every ten minutes to recover your breath, and
cling to narrow and sometimes treacherous ledges,
now feeling your way along the brink of a deep
gorge, now clambering over the loose detritus ap-
propriately termed in Siberia * the devil's stones.' A
false footstep, a stone giving way under you, and
you may be precipitated down some deep abyss, and
your career as a sportsman brought to a sudden
and untimely end.

Sport in these mountains hardly repays the
trouble, and depends a good deal more on luck than
skill. How often your quarry, bird or beast, escapes
you, giving time only for a snap shot as it vanishes
in the thick wood, scales the rocks, or, if a bird, dis-
appears behind the projecting crags of yonder cliff.

The animals, too, are very wary and difficult to
stalk ; they generally see or scent you before you
have caught sight of them. One occasionally gets
up under your feet, but the forest is so dense that
before you see it, it has disappeared like a flash
behind a rock, and you hear nothing but the sound
of its hoofs and the noise of rolling stones disturbed
in its flight. Even when a fair shot presents itself,
your hand is so unsteady from hard climbing that

172 IMPRESSIVE SCENERY. PASS ACROSS RANGE.

you are liable to miss, or the game, mortally wounded,
falls down some inaccessible chasm and is lost. But
one fortunate shot rewards you for all the troubles
and difficulties you have undergone.

Then, too, what happy moments the mountains
bring with them, as after climbing a lofty peak you
obtain a distant view, as you linger for an hour in
the exhilarating air, and admire the panorama spread
out at your feet ! The great cliffs, which close the
gloomy defiles or tower towards the sky, have a wild
beauty all their own ; many a time have I paused on
such a spot, and sat down on a rock to enjoy the
impressive stillness of the scene, unbroken by the
voice of man or the ordinary bustle of life. Now
and then you may hear the cooing of the rock doves,
the shrill cry of the kite, or the noisy descent of the
vulture from the clouds to its nest, and then all is
again still.

Towards the end of our stay in the Munni-
ula we hired the services of a Mongol, by name
Dj'uldjig, and accompanied by him set out for the
Chinese town of Bautu,^ to replenish our supplies
of rice and millet, and then to cross the Hoang-ho
and continue our journey to Ordos.

In order to reach the other side of the Munni-
ula we followed the pass near our encampment, over
which the natives ride on mules and asses. The
road is not difficult, and the gradients only become
steeper on the southern side, descending by the

* Properly Si-Bantu, in contradistinction to Ara-Bautu, a small
village not far from it.

VALLEY OF THE HOANG-HO. 173

valley of the Ubir-mirgin-gol,^ a rivulet which
flows for ten miles through the mountains before
issuing into the valley of the Hoang-ho.

Here the scenery suddenly changes. The moun-
tains descend precipitously into the valley ; forests,
streams, and flowery meadows suddenly terminate,
and in their stead appears a sandy waterless plain
as level as a floor. The birds and animals of the
mountains disappear ; the call of the deer, the cluck
of the partridge, the woodpecker's noisy hammer,
and the music of singing birds are no longer heard ;
the antelope and larks reappear, and myriads of
grasshoppers fill the sultry noonday air with their
incessant chirruping.

After leaving the mountains, we took an easterly
direction along the valley between the river and the
In-shan range. The Chinese population is very
dense, and their villages are nestled at the foot of
the mountains, probably to escape the heavy floods
of the Hoang-ho. The fields are large, well culti-
vated, and sown with millet, wheat, barley, buck-
wheat, oats, rice, maize, potatoes, hemp, peas and
beans, and in some places with pumpkins, water-
melons, common melons, and poppy. Owing to the
lower level of the land and the shelter afforded by
the mountains on the north, vegetation was very
forward ; some of the corn was ripening, and the
barley was ready to carry.

Our next day's march of twenty-seven miles

^ This stream, as well as the Ara-mirgin-gol, on issuing out of the
mountains disappears under ground.

174 BAUTU. INTERVIEW WITH COMMANDANT.

brought us in the afternoon to Bautu, five miles
from the bank of the river, and about thirty-four
miles to the west of the town of Chagan-Kuren,^
described by Hue. Bautu is a large town sur-
rounded by a square wall measuring two miles each
way. It has a large population, and maintains an
important trade with the nearest parts of Mongolia,
i.e. with the country of the Urutes, Ordos, and
Ala-shan. It contains an iron foundry for the
manufacture of the large saucepans in such universal
use, but its streets, as in all Chinese towns, are dis-
gustingly dirty.

Hardly had we entered one of the gates, at which
there was a guard-house, when our passport was
demanded. On delivering it, one of the soldiers led
us to the yamen^ or pubhc court, where we were
detained for the space of twenty minutes, a large
crowd assemblinof to stare at the strano-e ' foreio'n
devils.' At length some officers of police came out
of the yamen and told us that the Commander-in-
chief desired to see us. We turned down another
street and soon stopped at the gate of the residence
of the Chinese general, where they invited us to
dismount and enter the court-yard on foot. Our
guns were taken from us, and we were then led into
the presence of the great Mandarin, who awaited us
at the door of his house attired in a crimson robe.
Our Mono^ol attendant at the si^rht of such an
important functionary fell down on his knees ; we
bowed in t1ie European fashion. The Mandarin

' Hue, i. 214.

SEARCH FOR LODGING. 175

invited us in, and motioning to my companion and
myself to be seated {the Mongol and Cossack re-
mained standing), ordered tea to be handed, and
began questioning us on the object of our journey,
Avhence we had come, and Avhither we were going.
On my telling him of my Avish to travel through
Ordos into Ala-shan, he assured me that it was very
dangerous, for the country was infested with robbers.
Knowincr that nothinof can be done in China without

о о

a bribe, I turned the subject from our future journey,
and told the Cossack to interpret to the Mandarin
that I wished to give him a good Russian watch as
a keepsake. This at once produced an impression.
He pretended at first to decline the proffered gift,
but afterwards thanked me, and offered to give us
a safe conduct through Ordos. Overjoyed at this
turn of affairs, we made our adieux to the genera],
and begged him to order assistance to be given us
in finding a lodging.

Escorted by several policemen, and followed by
a huge crowd which waited in front of the Man-
darin's house for us, we started in search of accom-
modation.

The policemen entered one house after another,
and on being refused admittance, or, more correctly
speaking, on receiving a bribe from the owner, led
us further. At length we reached the house of a
merchant, where soldiers were billeted, and here after
a long altercation we were shown into a small and
inconceivably dirty apartment. In vain we offered
double payment for better rooms ; none were obtain-

17б CURIOSITY AND RUDENESS OF MOB.

able, and we were obliged to content ourselves with
the den assigned for our use.

We unloaded our camels, dragged everything
into the house, and hoped to get some rest ; but the
crowd of people who filled the court-yard and street
would not give us a moment's peace. We tried to
close the doors and windows, but they were broken,
and we were beset by an impertinent mob, some
ruffianly-looking soldiers making themselves particu-
larly offensive ; they actually began feeling our per-
sons, until a few kicks caused them to desist and
retire a few paces, when they began abusing us.
The policemen, incited by the offer of a liberal
reward, exerted their utmost to keep the crowd
back, and several fights ensued ; at last they suc-
ceeded in closing the gates, but the inquisitive
rascals climbed on the roof and let themselves down
into the yard. This continued till evening, when
they dispersed ; and we lay down to rest, w^rn out
with the fatigues of the day. But the heat was so
suffocating, and the soldiers lodging in the house
kept so continually and unceremoniously entering
our apartment, that we could not sleep, and we rose
at daybreak with violent headaches, determined to
purchase whatever we needed and take our departure
as quickly as possible.

But no sooner did we venture into the streets
than the experiences of the previous day were
renewed. The mob surrounded us like a dense
wall, despite the energy of the same policemen, who
plied their long pig-tails like whips on either side to

IVE ARE MADE A SHOW OF. 177

clear a passage. We had hardly entered a shop
before it was crammed with people, and its owner,
frightened at the invasion of his premises, implored
us to leave as soon as possible. At length with the
assistance of our escort, we made our way into the
yard of a merchant's house, and bought what we
required in one of his back buildings.

On returning to our quarters we had the pro-
spect of undergoing the same ordeal as on the pre-
vious day, but our police guard shut the gates and
charged so much a head for admission. I must
confess that it was not altogether pleasant to one's
feelings to be made a public show of in this way,
just as if we were some new kind of wild beasts ;
however, of two evils it was the lesser ; at all events,
sightseers now appeared in smaller numbers, and
behaved in a more orderly way.

About mid-day the Mandarin sent a messenger
to ask us to go and see him again. We accordingly
started for his house, taking the watch with us.
While awaiting our interview, we were shown into
the soldiers' barracks, where we remained half-an-
hour, and had an opportunity of inspecting the
domestic arrangements of the Chinese soldiers.
Five thousand military are quartered at Bautu, most
of whom are from the south of China, the so-called
' Khotcns' besides Manchus and a few Solones.
All these men are armed with matchlocks, a few
European muskets, swords, and long bamboo spears,
with great red flags attached to the end of the
shafts.

VOL. 1. N

178 DEPARTURE FROM BAUTU.

The demoralised and degraded state of the
soldiery defies all description. They are the terror
of the peaceable inhabitants, and are almost all
opium-smokers. Lighted lamps are kept constantly
burning in all the barracks, the smokers sit round in
a circle, while others who have finished their pipes
lie about the floor buried in lethargic sleep. The
general, unable to cure his men of this vile practice,
entreated us, on the occasion of our first interview,
to "tell him if there were not some antidote for
opium, and offered a handsome reward if such could
be found.

At this second visit we were ushered into the
same apartment as before. After accepting the
watch, the Mandarin asked us a great deal about
Russia. ' Where was our capital ? ' ' What our
system of agriculture?' and so on. He then ex-
amined our uniforms, down to the shirts and boots
we wore. Tea was then handed round, and presents
given us in exchange for those we brought, consist-
ing of small silken bags in which Mongols carry
their snuff-boxes attached to their belts. We
thanked our host, and told him of our desire to
depart immediately, requesting him to give orders
that we should not be detained at the ferry across
the Hoang-ho. The promise was duly given; we
took our leave, and soon afterwards they brought
us a pass ticket and our Peking passport, and we
were then at liberty to continue our journey. We
loaded our camels, and in the midst of a great crowd
at length turned our backs on the town, and soon

FERRY ACROSS THE HOANG-HO. 179

arrived at the ferry of Lang-hwaisa, where we in-
tended crossing the river.

Flat-bottomed barges, 28 feet long by 14 broad,
serve to transport man and beast to the opposite
bank. Their sides are three feet high, so that in
the absence of a landing-stage all animals, including
camels, have to climb over as best they may.

We had first to settle with the ferrymen about
payment, and after a long dispute the price of 4,000
cash (about I2J-.) was agreed upon. The camels
w^ere first unloaded, and all the baggage placed in
the boat, the horses were then led on, and lastly the
camels, but these brutes orave us orreat trouble from

о о

their timidity and natural aversion to water. Ten
Chinese pushed from behind, while others pulled
tackle attached to the fore-legs of the animals, and
working through pulleys. At last, despite their
resistance, they were forced on board, made to lie
down, and tied to prevent their moving during the
crossinof.

After two hours' hard work our caravan was
packed into the barge, and we were towed about a
mile up the river with ropes, and then allowed to
drift down with the current, as the rowers plied
their oars towards the opposite bank. Here every-
thing was very soon unloaded, and луе entered
Ordos.

i8o NAME AND POSITION OF THE ORDOS COUNTRY.

CHAPTER V.

ORDOS.

Detinition of Ordos — Nomads contrasted with settlers — Historical
sketch — Divisions — The Hoang-ho and its floods — Route up the
valley — Depth, width, and navigation of river — Old channels ;
deviation of its course — Disputes about boundaries — Flora of the
valley — Scanty vegetation — Liquorice root — Aspect of valley
changes — Kuzupchi sands— Terrors of the desert — Legends — Oases
and their vegetation — Sterility of the valley — Birds and animals^
Traces of Dungan insurrection — A stray camel — Intense heat —
Lake Tsaideming-nor — Opium cultivation — Bathing — Superstition
about the tortoise — Flight of Chinghiz-Khan's wife — Tradition of
Chinghiz-Khan — The white Banner — Tomb of Chinghiz-Khan —
The Kara-sulta, or lilack-tailed antelope — Shooting these antelope
— Their haunts in the desert — Ruined temple of Shara-tsu — Scarce
population — Wild cattle — Their origin and habits — Two bulls
shot — Fishing ; Mosquitoes — Salt lake ; Ruins of city — Order of
march ; sweltering heat — Water ! the halt — Wolfish appetites ;
evening — Loss of a horse ; Djuldjig — Arbus-ula range ; Ding-hu —
Crossing Hoang-ho — Interview with Mandarin — Showing our guns
— Baggage examined — Mandarin robs us — Embarrassing situation
— Under arrest — Explanations — We take our departure.

Of-iDOS is the country lying" within the northern bend
of the Yellow River, and bounded on the three
sides, north, east, and west, by that river, while on
the south it is bordered by the provinces of Shensi
and Kansu.' Its southern boundary is defined by

' The country of the Ordus or Ordos, here called (as in the Russian)
for brevity simply ' Ordos,' the position of which is sufficiently defined
in the text, has received that name only in modern times. In ancient
days it was called ' Ho-nan,' viz. the land soi/f/i of the Ho or (Yellow)
River ; and by this name it is mentioned in the history of the Hiong-
nu, the Huns of Deguignes, who in the first or second century of the

CONTRAST BETWEEN CHINESE AND NOMADS. i8i

the same Great Wall which we saw at Kalgan.
Here as well as there this wall separates the culture
and settled life of China Proper from the deserts of
the high plateaus which are habitable only by a
nomad pastoral people. This contrast between two
physically distinct parts of the surface of the globe
— on the one side the warm, fruitful, well-watered
Chinese lowlands intersected by mountain chains,
on the other, the lofty, cold, and desert plateau —
has influenced the fortunes of the nations inhabiting
them.^ As they differed in their mode of life and
character, so they hated and lived apart from each
other. Just as the dull, hard life of the nomad, with
its many privations, was foreign and hateful to the
Chinese, so the nomad on his side looked Avith con-
tempt at the tiresome industry of his agricultural
neighbour, and valued his wild liberty far higher than
all the blessings of the universe. Hence arose a
marked contrast between the characters of both
nations. The painstaking Chinese, who in long-for-
gotten ages attained a comparatively high although

Christian era established themselves here, in order to have ready
access to the fertile lands of Shensi. In the middle ages (tenth to
thirteenth century), it formed part of the kingdom of Tangut, the
capital of which was at Ninghia, on the Yellow River ; and when
Chinghiz-Khan conquered that kingdom it became a part of the
Mongol Empire. It is obscure ho\v the tribes occupying this territory
got the name of Ordos. That title was specifically applied to the
body of Mongols established in eight white ordus or' encampments
beside the sepulchre of Chinghiz, and a migration of their descendants
is supposed by Ritter to have caused the transfer of the name to the
territory, now so called. (Ritter, Asien, i. 505 ; Timk. ii. 266,
Schmidt^ — Y.

1 This idea is fully developed in Ritter's classical work, 'Erdkunde
von Asien,' translated into Russian by Semenoff.

l82

MONGOL CAVALRY.

peculiar stage of civilisation, held warfare in ab-
horrence and regarded it as the greatest curse. On
the other hand, the restless, wild inhabitant of the
cold plains of what is now called Mongolia, inured
to hardship, Avas ever ready for the foray and the
raid. He had little to lose in case of misfortune,
but if successful he carried off the accumulated
labour of many generations.

Such were the conditions which impelled the

MoNcui, Сл\А1.к\ (hum a ПкЯи^гарЬ IciiL !•> liciiuii (Jsteii Sackeii).

nomads towards China, and the border of their plateau
served as an admirable vantage-ground for their
aggressions. Here v/hole hordes would assemble, and
hence they would suddenly pour into the enemy's
country. History has recorded several irruptions
of tliis kind, from the Mongolian side as well as

PHYSICAL ASPECT OF ORDOS. 183

from that of Manchuria. The Great Wall was no
protection against these floods of barbarians, who
in their turn were incapable of founding an empire
on a sound basis of internal development. After a
certain period of dominion, the barbarians, who had
come into contact with a civilisation so entirely
foreign to them, lost their луагНке strength, the only
foundation of their power, were driven on to the
plateau, and even temporarily subj'ugated by China.
In this way the latter, by an artful policy rather than
by strength, often warded off the misfortunes with
which the nomads from time to time threatened
her.

Ordos, in its physical aspect, is a level steppe,
partly bordered by low hills. The soil is altogether
sandy, or a mixture of clay and sand, ill adapted for
agriculture. The valley of the Hoang-ho is the
only exception, where the Chinese population lead a
settled life. The absolute height of this country is
bet\veen three thousand and three thousand five
hundred feet,^ so that Ordos forms an intermediate
step in the descent to China from the Gobi, sepa-
rated from the latter by the mountain ranges lying
on the north and east of the Hoang-ho or Yellow
River.^

1 The valley of the Hoang-ho, not far from Bautu (Si-pau-to), is
3,200 ft. abs. height, and 18 miles west of the town of Ding-hu
(Chagan-subar-kan) by boiling water the elevation was found to be
3,500 feet.

* The Jesuit Pore Gerbillon travelled through nearly the whole of
the Ordos in 1697, and has left us an account of that country which
agrees very nearly with that given by Col. Prejevalsky. He mentions
that the Emperor Kang-hi, who seems to have combined in his person

184 HISTORICAL NOTICE OF ORDOS.

In ancient times Ordos became the prey of dif-
ferent conquerors, who seized it in turn. In the
middle of the fifteenth century a.d. the Mongols
made their first appearance here, and afterwards,
towards the end of the sixteenth and begfinnino- of

о о

the seventeenth century, it fell under the power of
the Chakhars,^ who soon afterwards acknowledged
the supremacy of the Manchu dynasty, which had
usurped the throne of China. Ordos was afterwards
organised on the same footing as the other nomad
districts ; and at the present day it is divided into
seven banners, which are situated as follows : on
the north, Talde and Hangin ; on the west, Otok
and Zasak ; on the south, Ushin ; on the easl,
Djungar, and in the centre, Van (Wang). There
are no towns in this country.

As we have stated, Ordos forms a peninsula in
the elbow made by the winding of the Hoang-ho.
This river, one of the greatest of Eastern Asia,
flows from an alpine country south of Lake Koko-
nor, winds for a long way between gigantic chains of
mountains, and at last at Ho-chau enters the confines
of China Proper. From this point, or to speak more
correctly from Lang-chau, the course of the Hoang-
ho is north by a little east, which direction it pre-
serves through five degrees of latitude. Then its

the qualities of a sagacious and energetic ruler with those of an intrepid
sportsman, rode through the country from one end to the other, bow
in hand, and killed many thousand head of game. {Gerbillon in
Duhalde, iv. 463 ; Ritter, Asien, i. 155; Deguignes, hist. gen. des Huns. i.
142.)— M.

' At that time Ordos received its present name ; in ancient times
this country was called Ho-nati, and still earlier, Ho-tau.

THE HOANG-HO; ITS VARIATIONS. 185

tendency to flow to the north being checked by the
obstructing Gobi and the In-shan mountains, the
river makes another bend to the east, and near
the town of Kai-fong-fu the principal channel dis-
embogues in the Gulf of Pechihli, whilst another
lesser branch flows into the Yellow Sea. The chano-e

О

in the lower course of the Hoan^-ho occurred as re-
cently as 1855, when, after forcing a passage through
the embankments near Kai-fong-fu, the river took a
new course towards the Gulf of Pechihli, where it
now discharges at a distance of 270 miles to the
north of its former mouth. ^

The capricious windings of the Hoang-ho, and
the heavy rainfall in summer in the hilly districts on
its upper course, occasion frequent and extensive
inundations which sometimes cause disastrous losses
to the inhabitants.

After crossing into Ordos, instead of taking the
shortest diagonal route, followed by Hue and Gabet,

' In all our ordinary maps the Hoang-ho enters the sea in lat.
34°, south of the great peninsula of Shan-tung. This was its true
course down to some twenty years ago, and for six centuries before
that. But in the earliest times of which the Chinese have record the
Hoang-ho discharged into the Gulf of Pechihli, i.e. north of Shan-tung
and its mountains, and it continued to do so, though with sundry va-
riations of precise course, till the thirteenth century a.d. Before the
latter period the river had occasionally thrown off minor branches to
the south of Shan-tung, but it then changed its course boldly to the
latter direction, and so continued till our time. The tendency to
break towards the old northern discharge had long existed, and was
resisted by a vast and elaborate series of embankments. These gave
way partially in 1851 : following floods enlarged the breach, and in
1853 the river resumed its ancient course across the plains of Pechihli,
and now enters the gulf of that name in lat. 38° {circa). A sketch
map of these variations is given in ' Marco Polo,' 2nd ed., ii. 126, where
references to the chief authorities will also be found. — Y.

i86 ROUTE UP THE HOANG-HO VALLEY.

and the former missionaries (Martini and Gerbillon),
we determined to keep in the valley of the River.
This route afforded greater interest for zoological
and botanical researches than could be found in the
sandy wastes in the interior of Ordos ; besides
which we wished to settle the question of the bifur-
cation of the Hoang-ho in its northern bend.

We marched along the River for 290 miles
from the ferry opposite Bautu to the town of Ding-
hu,^ and the conclusion we arrived at was that the
river does not divide Into separate channels in its
northern bend, as is usually represented on the maps,
and that this part of its course has undergone a
change. For the sake of clearness, I will first give
a general sketch of the character of that part of the
River and its valley which we surveyed, and then
continue the narrative of our journey in Ordos.

Winding considerably for so large a river, the
Hoang-ho flows at the rate of 300 feet a minute '^
through a valley bounded on the north by the In-
shan and its western continuations, and on the south
by a belt of drift sands known to the Mongols under
the name of Kuzupchi. The banks of the river and
its bed are composed of slimy clay ; the water is
very thick, and when standing for a short time
deposits I '3 per cent, of mud. However, the thick

'^ Marked CJiagan-subar-kan on Klaproth's and Kiepcrt's maps.

^ [Nearly 3^ miles an hour.] We observed this velocity of current
near the shore during our crossing near the town of Bautu ; in mid-
stream the river was more rapid, but the velocity of the current de-
pends on the high or low state of the water ; when we crossed it was
about the average level.

THE HOANG-HO. 187

solution of clay suspended in the water does no
harm, if the water be allowed to settle a little before
use.

The depth of the Hoang-ho is nearly uniform
throughout, varying according to the high or low
level of the river. I measured the лvidth opposite
the town of Ding-hu with a compass, and found it to
be 1,421 feet. Opposite Bautu I had no opportunity
of measuring it, owing to the strict watch which the
Chinese kept on us during the crossing. But, when
the waters are at an average height, its width there
is much the same, perhaps a little broader. The
depth of the river is considerable, and it is unford-
able in any part ; it could be easily navigated by
river steamers. At all events, large boats constantly
pass backwards and forwards with supplies for the
Chinese garrisons on its left bank. The voyage
from Bautu to Ning-hia-fu is said to take forty days,
whereas only seven days are required to float down
stream between these points.

In that part of its course which we surveyed, the
Hoang-ho is not subject to inundations, but flows
between low level banks ; the clayey soil and rapid
current accounting for the constant abrasion and
falling in of its banks.

From the meridian of the westernmost end of the
Munni-ula mountains several channels, 170 to 290
feet Avide, separate on either bank from the main
river, soon uniting again with the parent stream ;
only one, the Baga-khatun, continues to flow in an
independent stream for some distance to the east.

1 88 CHANGES OF BED IN NORTHERN BEND.

The channels marked in the map on the right
bank of the northern bend of the River (west of
the Munni-ula) have ceased to exist, owing to the
change in its course, which has deviated 33 miles to
the south of the former channel. The old channel,
called Ulan-khatun by the Mongols, is well pre-
served, as we saw on our return journey from
Ala-shan to Pekinof. The Mono^ols told us most

о о

positively that there were two channels between
the old bed and present channel of the River,
Avhich continue to the western extremity of the
Munni-ula, where some other branches again divide
from the River. In all probability these two channels
are those which some maps show as on the south
side of the Hoangf-ho. But in fact the main stream
now flows in the third, i.e. the southernmost of the
three.

This important change in the course of the River
probably occurred at no very remote period. In
support of this presumption I should mention that
the Ordos country is reckoned to extend, beyond
the present course of the River, as far as the old
channel. There is a tradition among the inhabi-
tants that one year the Hoang-ho, after unusually
heavy summer rains, changed its former for a more
southerly direction, when a dispute arose between
the Urutes^ and the Ordos about the boundaries of
their respective territories. A commission was sent

* The Uri'tt or Orat form a tribe of three banners on the north of
the Hoang-ho, about 120 miles west of Kuku-khoto. (See Timk. ii.
263.)-Y.

THE VALLEY. 189

from Peking to examine into the affair, and this
finally decided that the territory of the Ordos must
be considered to be the same as before, i.e. to
extend to the desiccated river bed. Even at the pre-
sent day parts of the same koshungs (banners) of
Ordos lie on both banks of the Hoang-ho, another
proof that the River entered its new channel after
the subdivision of the Ordos country into the present
koshungs.

The valley of the Hoang-ho, in that part of its
course which we are describing, is from twenty to
forty miles broad, and of an alluvial clayey soil.^
On the northern side of the river the valley widens
considerably to the west of the Munni-ula mountains,
while its southern shore is narrowed by the sands of
Kuzupchi, which approach close to the river.

The northern side of the valley, with the excep-
tion of a narrow strip of land near the hills, where
the soil is sandy and stony, is well adapted for culti-
vation, and is thickly covered with Chinese villages.
The same remark applies to the southern bank of the
River, from the place '-^ where we crossed almost to
the meridian of the western corner of the Munni-ula.
This part of the valley is everywhere covered with
grass land, intersected by a few streams, and in

^ We sometimes aruived at pure sand beneath a surface stratum of
clay not exceeding two or three feet in thickness. But the alkivial de-
posit near the river must be considerably more, because the above
result was obtained near the sands of Kuzupchi, therefore quite at the
verge of the valley of the Hoang-ho.

^ It should be mentioned that the fruitful cultivated valley on the
southern shore of the Hoang-ho e.xtends much further eastwards than
the point of our crossing that river.

iQo THE MEADOW FLORA.

places further removed from the River small marshes
and lakes are formed. On the flooded meadoAv land
the following flora appears : Odontites rubra, Aster
Tataincus, Panicum Mands/minaim, Calystegia aceto-
safolia, EcJiinops Tiwczaninovii, SoncJms brachy-
otis, Statice тьгса, Sophora fiavescens, Cynanchum
acutiim, Vincetoxiciun Sibiriciim, Vincetoxiaun sp. ;
varieties of Rammculus, Taiiacetiun, Oxytropis,
Piantago, S tacky s, Spei^gularia, Adenophora, &c.
It may be seen from the above list that parts of
these meadows closely resemble our fields in
Europe. Nearer the River grow the thick worm
wood {Artemisia sp.), lyme-grass {Biymus sp.), and
willow iSalix sp.), which further westward com-
pletely covers large areas. The marshes and their
borders are thickly overgrown with reeds {Phrag-
mites commtmis) ; in the uncovered spots appear the
water plantain {Alisma Plantagd), the water aspara-
gus {Hippuris vulgaris\ some kinds of Scirpus,
Elceocharis, Cyperus, ytmctts, Utriailaria, Ciciita,
Biitomus, MonocJwria, Pediciclaris, Lactuca.

The sands of Kuzupchi do not come quite close
up to this part of the valley of the Hoang-ho, but
are separated from it by a border of sand mixed with
clay which terminates in a precipitous bank, 50 feet
and in some places 100 feet high, in all probability
once forminof the river shore.

This border is covered with small mounds (seven
to ten feet high), mostly overgrown with worm-
wood {Artemisia campcstris) and Siberian pea-
tree {Caragana sp.). Here we found one of the

THE COLLECTION OF LIQUORICE. 191

characteristic plants of Ordos, the Hquorlce root
{Glycyrrhiza Uralensis), called Cki/nr btirja by the
Mongols, and so or soho by the Chinese. This plant,
which belongs to the leguminous order, has a root four
feet long and upwards, with a thickness of two inches
near the stem. These are, however, the dimensions
of the full-grown plant ; the roots of the young speci-
mens are about the thickness of a finger, although
their length is from three to four feet ; iron spades
with wooden handles are used to dig up this root.
The labour of extracting it from the ground is very
heavy, because it grows downwards almost vertically
into a hard clayey soil, and is found in waterless
districts where the workmen are exposed to a
burning sun.

A party of labourers, generally Mongols, men
and women, hired by the Chinese, on first arriving
at the place, establish a depot for storing the roots
obtained every day. Here they are laid in a pit to
preserve them from the sun ; the next process is to
cut off the thin end and the lateral offshoots. Then
the roots are tied in bundles like sticks, each bundle
weighing 100 hings (about 130 lbs.), loaded on boats,
and despatched down the Hoang-ho. The Chinese
told us that the liquorice root was sent to Southern
China, where a particular kind of cooling drink is
prepared from it.^

' Liquorice root is much used in China, and is largely produced in
some of the northern provinces ; in 1870 6,954 peculs ( = 927,200 lbs.),
were shipped from Chefoo, and 1,304 peculs ( = 173,866 lbs.), from
Ningpo. (^Reports on Trade at the Treaty-Ports, &^c:, Shanghai, 1871,
from Hanbury and Fliickiger^s Pharmacographia, p. 156.) — Y.

192 CHANGE OF SOIL AND VEGETATION.

From the meridian of the western extremity of
the Munni-ula, the character of the valley on the
southern shore of the Hoanof-ho as we ascend the
River changes a good deal. The soil, which was
heretofore dense and fertile, is now mixed with salt,
so thick in some places as to cover the ground with
a white layer ; there are none of those marshes or
rivulets which are occasionally seen in the preced-
ing section, and, except in the great river itself, not
a drop of water can be found.

As the soil changes so does the vegetation. The
flowery fields ' disappear, and in their stead the reed
grass {Calmnagrostis sp.), and Lasiagrostis splendens
cover the valley. The latter grows in tufts as high
as seven feet, and is so tough and wiry as to make it
difficult to pluck a single stalk. Clumps of bushes
become more frequent, often covering extensive areas
along the banks of the Hoang-ho.^ The prevailing
kind of shrub is a species of tamarisk, which is some-
times as high as twenty feet, with a stem three or
four inches thick.

The sand-drift which in the former section was
12 to 15 miles from the bank of the Hoang-ho, now
approaches nearer and throws out occasional arms to
the River itself. These sands, as we have said, are
called by the Mongols KiiziipcJii — a name which

^ In the valley of the Hoang-ho and the oases in the sands of
Kuzupchi, we gathered, between the middle of July and end of August,
1 37 kinds of flowering plants ; in the mountains of Munni-ula, between
the end of June and beginning of July, 163 kinds ; but some of the
latter were also found in the valley of the Yellow River.

'^ These bushes also grow on the opposite shore of the Hoang-ho.

THE KUZUPCHI SAND-DRIFTS. 193

signifies collar, and is very appropriate on account of
the distinct fringe which they form along the valley,
from the meridian of Bautu for 200 miles up its
course, where they cross to the left bank and cover
the whole of Ala-shan. The sands of Kuzupchi are
a succession of hillocks (40, 50, rarely 100 feet
high) lying side by side and composed of yellow
sand. The upper stratum of this sand, when dis-
turbed by the wind blowing on either side of the
hills, forms loose drifts which have the appearance
of snow-drifts.^

The effect of these bare yellow hillocks is most
dreary and depressing when you are among them,
and can see nothing but the sky and the sand ; not
a plant, not an animal, is visible, with the single
exception of the yellowish grey lizards [Phryiwce-
phalus sp.) which trail their bodies over the loose soil
and mark it with the patterns of their tracks. A dull
heaviness oppresses the senses in this inanimate sea of
sand. No sounds are heard, not even the chirping of
the grasshopper ; the silence of the tomb surrounds
you. No wonder that the local Mongols relate some
marvellous stories about these frightful deserts.
They tell you that this was the scene of the principal

' The subsoil of the sands of Kuzupchi is hard clay, the same as
the л'аИеу of the Hoang-ho. This phenomenon remarkably confirms
the hypothesis of Ordos having once been the bed of a lake which
forced a passage for itself to the ocean by the present channel of the
Hoang-ho ; the former shallows of this lake are now sand-drift. The
probability of this conjecture being true is further confirmed by the
historical documents of the Chinese which make mention of great in-
undations in the region of the modern Hoang-ho, 3,100 and 2,300
years B.C. — Ritter's Erdkicnde von Asten. [See Supplementary Note.]

VOL. I. О

194 TERRORS OF THE DESERT.

exploits of two heroes — Gissar-Khan ^ and Chinghiz-
Khan : here these warriors fought against the Chi-
nese, and slew countless numbers of people whose
bodies God caused the winds to cover with sand from
the desert. To this day the Mongols relate with
superstitious awe how groans and cries may be
heard in the sands of Kuzupchi, which proceed from
the spirits of the departed, and that every now and
then the winds which stir up the sand expose to view
different treasures such as silver dishes, which,
although conspicuous above the surface, may not be
taken away, because death immediately overtakes
the bold man who would venture to touch them.^
According to another tradition, Chinghiz-Khan, when
hard pressed by his enemies, placed the sands of
Kuzupchi as a barrier on one side and turned the
Hoang-ho from its former channel to the north as a
protection against attack on the other.

^ Gissar or Khassar, the next brother of Temujin (i.e. Chinghiz-
Khan), called in Kalmuk s lories Khabutu Khassar, i.e. Khassar the
Archer, was renowned for his great strength and skill with the bow,
and is the subject of many Mongol legends, of which examples will be
found in Sanang Setzen, in Bergmann (^Nomadische Streifereieii, iii.
233), and in Pallas, Samtnhmgiin Histor. Nachricht. i. 24). There is
also a Tibetan version of the legends. The group of Mongol tribes
called the Korchin claim descent from Khassar-Khan. — Y.

' A long note on the superstitious terrors of Deserts, and of the
Gobi in particular, will be found in ' Marco Polo' (Book I. ch. xxxix.,
and see also beginning ofch. Ivii.). The stories of treasure in the
same desert are probably connected with the general belief (apparently
founded on facts), of the former existence of cities in various parts of
the borders of the Gobi, which have been overwhelmed with sand.
' That treasure is reputed to be found in these is a matter of course,
but that tea is found in one of them at least, is a more uncommon cir-
cumstance, and appears to be a matter of fact.' See Quarterly Review
for April 1873. p. 526. — Y.

PLANTS OF THE DESERT. 195

However, the sands of Kuzupchi, which the
Mongols say are from 10 to 50 miles wide, are not
in all parts the land of death and desolation. Nearer
the extreme edge, small oases may be seen covered
with a variety of plants, amongst which we noticed
the pretty shrub Hcdysarwn sp., completely covered
in the month of August with pink blossoms ; a few
small trees also grow here — Calligonum sp., Tragopy-
ru77i sp., and the remarkable cross-shaped Pugionium
cornutum. Only two specimens of this rare plant
have as yet been brought to Europe, viz., in the last
century by the naturalist Gmelin ; they are preserved
in the museums of London and Stuttgardt. To
my great regret I лvas unaware of the rarity of
the Pugionium, and therefore only gathered a few
specimens which I placed in my herbarium with
other kinds. This plant is often met with in the
sands of Kuzupchi, where it grows like a shrub to
the height of seven feet, with a stem i to ij inch
thick near the root.

Two hundred miles to the west of the meridian
of Bautu, the sands of Kuzupchi cross to the left
bank of the Hoang-ho, whilst the valley of the river
(on its right bank) again changes its character
and becomes quite sterile. Coarse sand is mixed
with the clayey saline soil, and the valley itself,
especially nearer the bank of the River, is seamed
with the beds of dry watercourses which drain off
the rainwater. Vegetation becomes very scanty, so
much so that the soil is for the most part bare and
studded with little mounds (3 to 6 feet high), on

о 2

196 STERILITY OF THE VALLEY.

which grow the low stunted Nitraria Schoberi,
Zygophyllum sp., and another shrub of the legu-
minous order with a leathery leaf which is not de-
ciduous.

These hillocks are formed by the wind which
raises the sand and dust. Both one and the other
are caught by the low brushwood, and as they gra-
dually collect they form small mounds which are
bound together by the roots of the bushes ; the rains
wash the sides down, giving them the appearance
of having been dug with a spade.

Instead of the sands of Kuzupchi, undulating
hills now border the valley, gradually becoming
higher and higher till at length they culminate in a
lofty rocky ridge opposite the town of Ding-hu,
whence they run parallel with the course of the River
for some distance to the south. These hills, as
far as we could see, bear the same desolate aspect
as the valley. In all probability the interior of
the whole of Ordos is of the same character, and
fully bears out its name of Boro-toJioi, i.e. grey (not
green) plain.

The absolute height of the valley of the Hoang-
ho in that part which we visited changes very little.
By boiling water on Lake Tsaideming-nor we obtained
3,200 feet; 18 miles west of Ding-hu,^ 3>500 feet;
and nearly half way between these points, at the foot
of the hills bordering the left bank of the river,
again 3,500 feet.

Animal life is not very abundant in the valley of

' Thib place properly belongs to the plain of Ala-shan.

BIRDS AND ANIMALS. 197

the Hoang-ho. Of the mammals there are the
black-tailed antelope {Antilope subgutturosa), hares
{Lep2is Tolai), foxes, wolves, and small rodents. Of
birds those we saw were mostly pheasants {Phasiamts
to7^quahLs), larks {Alauda arveiisis, A. pispoletta ?
Galeria cristata ?) Wheat-ears {Saxicola deserti ; S.
cenanthe), and hoopoes {Upupa Epops). On the
marshes and lakes were geese {A user cygnoides, A.
cinereus), ducks {Anas bosckas, A. acuta, A. riitila,
and others), marsh harriers {Circus riifus, С spilo-
notiis), terns {Sterna leiccoptera, Sterna sp.), stilts
{Hypsibates himantopus), avosets {Recicruirostra
Avocetta), snipe {Scolopax gallinago, S.megala}) and
small sand-pipers {Totanus ochropus, T. glareola,
Tringa submimUd). On the River itself there were
gulls {bar us ridibundus, L. occidentalis ?) and a
fishing-eagle [Halza^tos Macei) may often be seen
seated motionless on the precipitous banks. Ordos,
like the whole of Mongolia, is so poor in birds that
we only found 104 kinds in the valley of Hoang-ho
and among the oases in the sands of Kuzupchi. It
is probable that there are not many kinds of fish in
the River. At all events we only caught six species
in our small net — the Silurus {S. asotus), carp {Cy-
primis carpid), the crucian carp {Curassicus vulgaris^,
dog-fish {Sqtialms Chine^isis), and two new kinds,
perhaps two new genera, of the family of Cyprinidce.
We also procured some specimens of tortoises
( Trionyx sp.), which are found in great numbers in
the Hoang-ho.

As regards population in Ordos since the de-
vastation caused by the Dungan insurrection in

198 TRACES OF DUNG AN INSURRECTION.

1869, the valley of the Hoang-ho is inhabited only
for sixty miles to the west of the ferry of Lang-
haisa ; beyond that point there is no one, and even
the footpaths are so overgrown with grass that not
a trace of former inhabitants remains. You may
occasionally see a ruined village or the skeleton of a
Mongol killed by Dungans half devoured by wolves.
We were reminded of the words of Humboldt, who
remarked that the historian who traces back past
ages, and the geographer who travels over the earthy
find everywhere the monotonous desolate picture of
warring humanity.

We will now return to the narrative of our jour-
ney. The day following our crossing the Hoang-
ho we were also obliged to cross its arm the Baga-
khatun, which is 350 feet wide and 6^ miles distant
from the main river. The ferry, called Li-vang-ti,
is kept by Chinese, who extorted a good sum for
taking us over. We pitched our tent on the
other side with the intention of continuing our
journey early the following morning. We were,
however, quite unexpectedly detained here four days.
The reason of this was first a heavy rain, which
poured in torrents the whole day, soaking the clayey
soil of the valley of the Hoang-ho to such an
extent that our camels were quite unable to pro-
ceed ; then one of our camels recently bought at
Bautu strayed, and the Cossack and Mongol were
two whole days looking for it.

In the meanwhile we were obliged to wait at the
ferry of Li-vang-ti, where our tent was constantly

INTENSE HEAT. 199

beset by all the Chinese and Mongols who passed
by, and well nigh exhausted our patience with their
impudence. Once some Chinese soldiers actually
demanded one of our guns or a revolver, and
threatened, in case of our refusing to give them, to
come in a body and take them from us.

At last the strayed camel was recaptured, and we
set out for Lake Tsaideming-nor, about which we
had heard from the Mongols. On the shores of that
lake, which were reported to abound in game and
good pasturage, we hoped to pass a fortnight, in
order to rest our exhausted camels. We ourselves
also required rest, besides that by staying in one
place for a time we could study the flora and fauna
of the Hoanof-ho better. Durinof the month of

о о

July, too, the heat every day is so intense that it is
almost impossible to march even short distances
with pack animals. The thermometer certainly did
not mark over 2)7° Cent. (98° Fahr.) in the shade, but
the sun burnt fiercely and sometimes heated both
sand and clay to 70° Cent. (158° Fahr.) ; the camels
could not set the bare soles of their feet on the burn-
ing soil, and their legs trembled with the pain. The
water in the River became warmed to 24'5° Cent.
(75° Fahr.) ; but in the lakes and marshes the
temperature increased to 32*3'' Cent. (90° Fahr.).
The rains, which fell frequently and were usually
accompanied by thunder, only temporarily refreshed
the atmosphere. As soon as the clouds cleared
away the sun's rays came down as hot as ever, and
the heat became the more unbearable owing- to

200 LAKE TSAIDEMING-NOR.

the dead calm of the atmosphere, only occasionally
stirred by a light south-westerly breeze.

Our expectations with regard to Lake Tsaide-
ming-nor ^ were realised. This marshy lake literally
swarmed with ducks and geese which supplied us
with food ; the camels pastured unmolested on the
neighbouring meadows ; and we procured as much
butter and milk as we required from the Mongols
encamped near the lake. To add to our comforts,
we were encamped by the side of the Tahilga, a
clear stream flowing into the lake, in which we
could bathe as often as we liked. In fact, never
before or afterwards were we so well off in Mon-
golia.

On the road to Tsaideming-nor we passed
another lake, Urgun-nor, on the banks of which,
and in the adjoining valley of the Hoang-ho, there
is a tolerably thick Chinese population mixed with
Mongols, who live partly in yurtas and partly in
houses. Some of the latter cultivate the soil, but
they dislike labour, and their fields may be at
once distinguished from those of the Chinese. In
one respect only are the Mongols not behind the
Chinese, viz. in smoking opium. This frightful vice
is terribly prevalent in China, into which opium is
imported by Englishmen from India. The Chinese
also prepare it for themselves, and plant whole fields
with the poppy. But its cultivation being forbidden
by law, those fields of poppy which we saw in the

' Lake Tsaideming-nor is actually a marsh, thickly covered with
reeds and different kinds of marshy grasses.

OPIUM. CULTIVATION. BATHING. 201

valley of the Hoang-ho were planted in the midst of
thick cane brake and tall rushes to hide them from
official scrutiny. Not that the officials destroy the
foHDidden crop, they only extort a large bribe from
its owner as a penalty for his contraband cultivation.

The custom of smoking opium has spread
rapidly from the Chinese to the neighbouring Mon-
gols, but has not yet penetrated into the remoter
parts of Mongolia. Opium-smokers have such a
passion for their poison that they cannot exist with-
out it even for a few days. It inj'uriously affects
the whole organism. Every opium-smoker may be
at once known by his pale, prematurely old face and
attenuated body. I myself once tried smoking a
little opium : it produced no effect whatever on me,
and its taste reminded me of burnt feathers.

From our camp on the bank of the little river
Tahilga we daily sallied forth on scientific and
shooting excursions, and in the hottest weather
rested and often bathed. Our Cossacks were afraid
of indulging in the last-named pleasure for fear of
the river-tortoises. ^ The Mongols attribute peculiar
magic powers to these creatures, and in proof of
their assertion show you some Tibetan letters which
they say are marked underneath the body. They
frightened our Cossacks by telling them that the
tortoise fixes on to the bodies of persons bathing
with such a firm grip that it is impossible to make
it let go. The only remedy in such case is to

^ The same kind of tortoise as we had seen in the Hoang-ho,
Trionyx, sp.

202 SUPERSTITION ABOUT THE TORTOISE.

fetch a white camel or goat, which on seeing the
adhering tortoise utters a cry, and then the creature
drops its victim of its own accord.

The Mongols told us that there were no tortoises
formerly in the Tahilga, but all of a sudden these
strange creatures appeared. The astonished inhabi-
tants did not know what to do, and in their dilemma
asked the advice of the gigen [or living Buddha] of
the nearest temple, who told them that the newly-
arrived tortoise would make itself master of the
River and that it was a sacred animal. Ever since
then, once a month, a religious service is held at
the source of the Tahilga by the lamas of the neigh-
bouring temple.

In order to fix the latitude of Lake Tsaideming-
nor I made an astronomical observation. The
Mongols did not know what to make of my occupa-
tion, and began to suspect me to be a conj'uror.
Fortunately I remembered that in the end of July,^
exactly at the time I was making my observation,' a
number of falling stars would appear in the heavens ;
accordingly, after finishing my work, I told the
assembled crowd that stars would shoot across the
heavens that night. At any other time the Mongols
would have paid no attention to such a phenomenon,
but now they all wished to test the accuracy of my
prophecy, and having satisfied themselves of its
correctness that night, they no longer looked on me
with suspicion. This shows how a little presence

' i.e. Old Style, correspondinp^ to N. S. August 9—1 1, one of tlie
periods of meteoric showers.^\'.

TRADITION OF CHINGHIZ-KHAN. 203

of mind will assist the traveller in the most trifling
circumstances. For instance, we boiled water for
fixing altitudes openly, often in the presence of
Mongols, to whom we used to explain that this was
our manner of praying to God.

A little more than seven miles to the north-east
of Lake Tsaideming-nor, not far from the shore of
the Hoang-ho, stands a tolerably high conical hill,
called by the Mongols Tumyr-alhu, and by the
Chinese Dju-djing-fu. Here, the Mongols say, the
wife of Chinehiz-Khan is buried. The tradition runs
as follows. One of the Mongol princes, by name
Gichin-Khan, had a beautiful wife who pleased the
great warrior so much that he threatened to make
war if her lawful husband did not resign this woman
to him. The terrified prince agreed to this demand,
and Chinghiz-Khan set off for Peking accompanied
by his bride. In passing through the country of
the present Chakhars, the beautiful captive escaped
from her lord and fled in the direction of the
Hoang-ho ; on the opposite bank of this river she
piled up a mound of earth with her own hands and
hid in it. When the pursuers sent by Chinghiz-Khan
approached her hiding place, the unfortunate woman,
despairing of safety, threw herself into the River,
whence the Mongols call it to the present day
the Khatun-gol, i.e. Lady's River.^ The body of

^ This would seem to be a variation of the legend related by Sa-
nang Setzen the Mongol poetical chronicler. According to this it was
on the final conquest of Tangut by Chinghiz (1227), that Kurbelyin Goa
Khatun, the beautiful wife of the king of that country, was transferred
to the tent of the conqueror. She did him some bodily mischief (it is
not said what), and then went and drowned herself in the Kara-muren

204 THE WHITE BANNER.

the drowned woman was recovered, and by com-
mand of Chinghiz-Khan buried in an iron coffin in
the very mound which she had made to hide in ;
this hillock is called Tumyr-alhu.

Chinghiz-Khan's memory is better preserved in
Ordos than in any part of Mongolia ; at all events,
we heard more tales here about the conqueror than
anywhere else. The most interesting of these
legends are those relating to the white banner and
the future resurrection of Chinghiz-Khan.

The first tells how Chinghiz-Khan was a great
hunter, and while following the chase one day in the
mountains of Munni-ula he met there a Russian en-
gaged in the same pursuit. Chinghiz-Khan enquired
of him how long he had been hunting, and how
many beasts he had killed ? ' For some years,'
answered the stranger ; ' but I have only killed one
wolf.' * How is that?' said the conqueror; * I have
killed several hundred animals in the same time.'
' But my wolf was a wonderful beast,' replied the
Russian ; ' he was fourteen feet long, and every day
devoured ten other animals ; by slaying him I have
done more good than you.' ' If that be the case,'
exclaimed Chinghiz-Khan, 'thou art a brave fellow;
come with me to my yurta, and I will give thee
whatsoever thou desirest'

The Russian hunter, at the invitation of Chinghiz-
Khan, accompanied him to his yurta. Here, what
pleased him most was one of the concubines of the

(or Hoang-ho), which thenceforth was called by the Mongols the Kha-
tun-gol (Schmidt's Saiiajia; Sctzen, p. 103). — Y.

TOMB OF CHINGHIZ-KHAN. 205

great warrior, who, to keep his word, was obliged to
give his guest the woman he asked for. But as
she was one of Chinghiz- Khan's favourites, on
parting with her he gave her a white banner. With
this present the Russian and his bride departed
for Russia. Where they settled is not known ; ' but,'
say the Mongols, ' the white banner of our great
sovereign is still in your country.'

Another and even more interesting tradition
about Chinghiz-Khan runs as follows. The ashes of
this hero, the Mongols assert, rest in a temple in
Southern Ordos in the koshung (banner) of Vang,
1 30 miles to the south of Lake Tabasun-nor.^ Here
the body of the great warrior is laid in two coffins,
one of silver, the other of wood, placed in a yellow
silken tent in the centre of the temple ; here too,
beside the coffin, lie the arms of Chinghiz-Khan,
Some 6 miles from the chief temple another smaller
shrine has been built, in which are buried twenty of
his nearest relatives. On his death-bed he told
them that he would rise again after the lapse of not
more than a thousand years, and not less than 800.
In Chinghiz- Khan's tomb lies the figure of a man
apparently asleep, although no mortal can account
for this phenomenon. Every evening a roasted

' This tradition, however, does not agree with history, according to
which the body of Chinghiz-Khan, after his death in 1227 A.D., near the
town of Ning-hia, was carried to the north and buried not far from the
sources of the Tola and Kerulen. — Ritter's Erdkiinde von Asien.

Sanang Setzen agrees with the Mahommedan writers in represent-
ing that the body of Chinghiz was carried to his native country. It
would seem that his tomb was on or beside the Khanola mountain near
Urga.— Y.

2об VALLEY OF THE HOANG-HO.

sheep or horse is placed near the dead man, and by
the morning it is all devoured.

The Mongols reckon that 650 years have elapsed
since his death, leaving 150 to 350 years more before
his coming resurrection. The same people assert
that on the very day of the accomplishment of this
miracle, some hero will be born in China with whom
Chinghiz-Khan will do battle, subdue him, and lead
his people from Ordos to what is now called the
land of the Khalkas, the native country of the
Mongols.

We could not discover the name of the temple
where Chinghiz-Khan is said to be buried. The
Mongols, for some reason or other, would not
divulge it. Great numbers of pilgrims annually
visit it.

After ten days' halt near Lake Tsaideming-nor
we ascended the valley of the Hoang-ho. Our
first march was to the Kurei-hundu, and the second
to the Kurai-hundu, the last rivulet we saw in Ordos.
Both these streams flow from the interior of that
country ; they are neither wide nor deep, but their
current is very rapid and muddy ; after a fall of rain
the water is almost as thick as treacle. The Mon-
gols have also invented an explanation of this.
They say that owing to the muddiness of the Hoang-
ho, it will not receive any clear streams as tribu-
taries, and therefore the Tahilga flows into Lake
Tsaideming-nor instead of into the main river, which
rejects its transparent waters.

We remained three days on the river Kurai-

THE BLACK-TAILED ANTELOPE. 207

hundu, devoting the whole time to the chase of the
black-tailed antelope, which we first saw here.

The black-tailed antelope, or, as the Mongols
call it, the kara-sulta^ [Ant Hope stcbgutiicrosa), in
size and appearance closely resembles the dzeren,
but differs from the latter in its black tail (seven
to eight inches long), which it holds up and often
switches from side to side. This antelope inhabits
Ordos and the desert of Gobi, being distributed as
far north as about 45° N. lat. On the south it is
met with throughout Ala-shan as far as Kan-su, and
then, omitting this province and the basin of Lake
Koko-nor, it is again found in the saline marshy-
plains of Tsaidam.

It selects for its habitation the wildest and most
barren parts of the desert, or small oases in the
midst of sand-drifts. Unlike the dzeren, it avoids
the rich pasturage and is satisfied with the scantiest
food in its endeavours to shun mankind. We were
always at a loss to know what it could find to drink
in such spots. Certainly, judging from its tracks, it
will visit by night a spring or even a well, but we
have found it in a barren desert where not a
drop of water could be found for 60 or 70 miles
round. It can probably exist for a long time with
out water, feeding on a few juicy plants of the kali
family.

The kara-sultas are generally found single, in
pairs, or in small detachments of three to seven ;
it very rarely happens, and that only in winter, that

• Kara-sulta siirnifies ' black-tailed.'

2o8 SHOOTING THESE ANTELOPES.

fifteen or twenty head are seen together, but we
never once saw more than this. The herd never
mixes with the dzerens even if it graze on the same
pastures, which seldom occurs.

It is much shyer than the dzeren, and owing to
its excellent sight, hearing, and smell, easily escapes
the snares of the hunter, being in common with
other antelopes, very hard to kill, which increases
the difficulty of the chase.

They feed in the evening and early morning,
lying down, during the day under the lee of a hillock
where they are sheltered from the wind. It is ex-
tremely difficult to mark one of these animals when
reposing, on account of their colour so closely re-
sembling that of the sand or the yellow clay. They
are better discernible whilst grazing, or if they
happen to be standing on the summit of a hill, where
they will sometimes remain stationary for an hour
at a time. This is the best and only opportunity
the sportsman can have of stalking them.

If startled the kara-sulta bounds off for several
hundred paces, then stops and looks at its pursuer
for a few minutes, before resuming its flight. It is
useless attempting to follow on its tracks ; the
animal will probably go a long distance and will be
more cautious than ever.

My companion and I wasted a good deal of time
and labour before we shot our first kara-sulta. The
first and second days we were unsuccessful, and only
on the morning of the third I succeeded in bagging
a fine buck after a good stalk. One ought really

UNCERTAINTY OF THE SPORT. 209

not to fire at a singfle kara-sulta or at a dzeren
above 200 yards ; for nine out of ten shots you fire
beyond that range will to a certainty be wasted.
In practice, however, this rule is difficult to ob-
serve. Assuming that you have been walking for
an hour or two, climbing from the top of one
hillock to another, sinking knee-deep in the loose
sands with the perspiration pouring from your face,
and that all of a sudden you see the coveted animal
before you, but above 200 yards off. You are well
aware that you cannot approach any closer ; that if
you are not very careful you may never see it again ;
that every minute is of value ; and lastly, that you
hold a rifle in your hands which will carry a long
distance and hit the smallest object ; with all this,
can you resist the temptation of a shot ? You raise
the sight on your rifle, lie down, take a steady aim ;
the gunpowder flashes fire, and the bullet buries
itself in the sand, having either fallen short of or
gone beyond the antelope, which is out of sight the
next moment. Provoked and disgusted with your
ill luck, you examine the spot where it stood, and
on measuring the distance, you find that you are
forty paces or more out of your reckoning. This is
a great mistake to make, but it is unavoidable when
you have to estimate your distance suddenly, often
in a recumbent position, with your head only j'ust
raised above the hillock and when it is impossible
to see any intermediate objects. Doubtless a rifle
with a long point-blank range in this instance is the

VOL. I. p

2IO SALT LAKE OF TABASUN-NOR.

best of all ; but we had none with us during the first
year of the expedition.

I have stated that the kara-sulta frequents the
wildest part of the desert; but on one occasion,
whilst returning from Ala-shan to Peking, in No-
vember 1870, we saw a number of these antelope
in the valley of the Hoang-ho near the Sheiten-ula
range, where they kept near the Chinese population
and the cultivated fields. Here, contrary to their
habits, they were the reverse of shy, of course be-
cause they had become accustomed to man, and had
never been hunted. Their rutting season is in No-
vember ; the young ones being born in May. These
creatures are far less numerous in Mongolia than the
dzeren.

Soon after leaving the Kurai-hundu, we arrived
at the Mongol temple of Karganti, whence there
is a road across the sands of Kuzupchi to the
salt lake of Tabasun-nor. This lake, described by
Huc,^ is about 66 miles from the shore of the
Hoang-ho, and according to the Mongols about 20
to 25 miles in circumference. The salt obtained
here is taken to the neighbouring provinces of China.

Leaving the Tabasun-nor road on one side, we
continued our journey up the valley of the Hoang-
ho, and after a day's march came to another temple
demolished by the Dungans, called Shara-tsu. At
this temple, one of the most important in the whole
of Ordos, as many as 2,000 lamas and two or three

' Hue, Souvenirs d'un Voyage dans la Tartaric et Ic Thibet, t. i.
PP- 330-334-

RUINED TEMPLE. 211

gigens [or living Buddhas] formerly resided ; but not
a soul remains there now. Only some flocks of
rock doves, jackdaws, and swallows build their nests
in the ruined shrines and houses. The latter, i.e.
the houses, which surround the temple, are for the
most part uninjured ; but the chief shrine, with its
outbuildings within the enclosure, is burnt down ;
the clay idols smashed or hacked to pieces, littering
the ground ; a few still on their pedestals, but cut
and disfigured by swords and pikes ; the great
statue of Buddha in the principal temple with a
large hole in its chest, made by the Dungans in
their search for treasure often hidden by the lamas
in such places ; and leaves of the sacred book
Gandjur ^ strewn over the floor, together with other
broken fragments ; all covered with a thick layer of
dust.

And yet not very long ago many thousands
assembled here to worship the image of their saint.
Here, as in other temples, everything was done to
attract and arrest the childish imagination of the
Mongols ; many of the gods are represented with
stern and hideous faces ; some seated on lions,
elephants, oxen, or horses ; others slaying serpents,
devils, cSic, and the walls of the temple that remain
standing are also decorated with pictures of the
same s^enre.

' How can you put faith in gods of clay ?' I re-
marked to the Mongol who accompanied me over the
ruins of the temple. ' Our gods,' he answered, ' only

' Sec Supplementary Note.
V 2

212 RAVAGES OF nUAGANS.

lived in these idols, but they have now flown to the
skies.'

Beyond the temple of Karganti, ascending the
southern shore of the Hoang-ho, we met no more
inhabitants, and only passed two or three small
Mongol stations whose occupants were engaged
in obtaining liquorice-root. The reason this country
is so deserted is, as we have said, owing to the Dun-
gan insurrection, which laid waste Ordos two years
before our visit. The settled Chinese population on
the southern shore of the Hoang-ho, west of the
meridian of Munni-ula, was insignificant, however,
even before that time on account of the narrowness
of this part of the valley, and also because of the
poverty of the soil, which is saline and thickly
covered with shrubs of willow or tamarisk. Here
we saw ivild cattle — a very remarkable thing; about
which we had previously heard from the Mongols,
who accounted for their existence in the following
way :

Before the Dungan disturbances, the Mongols of
Ordos kept large herds, and it sometimes hap-
pened that bulls or cows would stray, wander away
in the steppe, and become so wild that it was ex-
ceedingly difficult to capture them. These cattle
which had run wild were scattered over different
parts of Ordos. When the Dungans broke into
this country from the south-west and began des-
troying everything they met in their progress, many
of the inhabitants, panic-stricken, left all their
goods and chattels behind them and fled, only think-
ing (jf their own safet)'. The herds left unguarded

WILD CATTLE. 213

soon became so wild that even the robbers could
not capture them for their own use. After the de-
parture of the Dungans the wild animals remained
at liberty, and they now chiefly frequent the bushes
in the valley of the Hoang-ho, where there is abun-
dance of water and good pasturage for them.

Wild cattle are generally met in small herds of
five to fifteen, only the old bulls going single. It is
strange how soon they return to all their wild habits
notwithstanding their long domestication. The cows
lie in the thickets all day, apparently hiding from
man, but at twilight they come out to graze. On
seeinof- or scentinof a man, bulls and cows take to
flight and never stop till they have gone a long way.
The wildest and most intractable among them are,
of course, the young ones, born and reared in a
state of nature.

The chase of wild cattle is so difificult that during
the whole of our stay at Ordos we only shot four
bulls. The Mongols never take part in this chase,
owing to their fear of entering Ordos, and also be-
cause these powerful animals do not feel the wound
inflicted by the shot from an old flint-and-steel mus-
ket, which usually consists of a piece of cast-iron or a
stone covered with lead. By beating the bushes,
especially in winter, great numbers of these animals
might be slain ; the Mongols reckon their numbers
in Ordos to be upwards of 2,000 head. Doubtless
these cattle will all be exterminated in the course of
time, or recaptured by the same Mongols who are
now returning to Ordos. It might be otherwise

214 SUCCESSFUL STALK.

were there the same extent or luxuriance of grass
plains (prairies) here that there is in South America,
where a few stray individuals have been known to
multiply into enormous herds.

The Mongols said that soon after the devasta-
tion of Ordos, wild sheep also appeared in these
steppes, but they have all been destroyed by
wolves. A few camels still wander about, one of
which we succeeded in capturing, but it was a
young one.

The first spot where we saw the wild cattle was
twenty miles west of the temple of Shara-tsu. Our
supply of meat being exhausted, we determined to
take advantage of so favourable an opportunity to
replenish it. We were, however, unsuccessful at
first, entirely owing to our misplaced confidence in
the stupidity of cows ; at length, on the third day,
early in the morning, I crept up to two bulls which
were fighting among the bushes, and brought them
both down with a right and left shot from my short
rifle.

This success was most welcome to us, as we
were now able to dry a supply of meat for the road.
We dragged the best part of the slain animals to
our tent, and cut up the meat into thin slices to be
dried in the sun. This bait attracted numbers of
kites, and we were obliged, gun in hand, to mount
guard over the suspended pieces of meat. Eagles
{HalicEtos Macei) also appeared and paid the penalty
of their temerity by enriching our collections.

While the meat was drying we fished in a desic-

JERKING MEAT. M0S(2UIT0ES. 215

cated arm of the Hoang-ho, near our camp. Some
holes in the river-bed held water, and were full of
fish, so that with our small net we caught in a short
time upwards of 100 lbs. of carp and sihirus ; the
latter of these is very common in the Hoang-ho. We
kept the best of the fish we caught, and returned the
remainder to the water.

The sport with the wild oxen and jerking the
meat detained us eight days. But we had now
enouMi to last a lono- while, and could advance more
quickly ; the more so as the poor vegetation and
fauna of the valley of the river no longer presented
objects of any particular interest.

On August 31st we resumed our march. The
sands of Kuzupchi were on our left, as before, and
on the right of our road lay the course of the
Hoang-ho. Thick underwood impeded our pro-
gress in places, and the number of mosquitoes and
small flies tormented us as well as our camels. The
latter have a particular dislike to these insects, which
are nowhere to be found in the deserts of the Mon-
golian plateau.

At the end of the first day's march we passed
the night near the ferry of Gurbunduti,^ not far
from which, on the border of the sands of Kuzup-
chi, lies a small salt basin of the same name. We
ourselves did not see it, but we heard from the
Mongols that it was 2\ miles in circumference.
The layer of salt deposited is six inches to two feet

' Between the towns of Bautu and Ding-hu there are three ferries
across the Hoang-ho : Dju-jing-fu, Gurbunduti, and Manting.

2i6 ANCIENT RUINS.

in thickness. Chinese and Mongol labourers are
hired to dig it out ; when it is loaded into boats
which descend the Hoancj-ho.

Another remarkable object which we had seen a
few days ago was the remains of an ancient town,
dating from the time of Chinghiz-Khan. These
historical ruins are situated amidst the sands of
Kuzupchi, twenty miles from the bank of the
River, whence they can be seen very well. Accord-
ing to the Mongols, this was a fortified and large
city. Each side of its quadrangular walls measured
1 5 li (about 5 miles), with a height and thickness of
some 50 feet. The wells inside are 350 feet deep.
The whole is now covered with sand-drift, nothing
but the walls remaining. We heard no legends
about the place ; all the Mongols could tell us was
that it was built by the orders of Chinghiz-Khan.

The summer heats, which about the middle
of August had diminished, were renewed with
their former intensity in the latter part of that
month, and were terribly exhausting to us on the
march. Although we always rose with the dawn,
the packing of our things and loading the camels,
together with tea-drinking, without which neither
Cossack nor Mongol will begin a march for any-
thing in the world, occupied more than two hours,
and by the time we had started the sun was al-
ready high above the horizon. At such times a
perfectly clear sky and breathless atmosphere often
prepared us for the unwelcome advent of a hot day.

The order of our caravan was always the same.

нот MARCH. 217

My companion and I rode ahead of the caravan,
surveying, collecting plants, or shooting any birds
we might see ; then followed the pack-camels, at-
tached to one another by the halter, and guided by
the Cossacks, one of whom rode in front holding
the end of the halter of the first camel, while the
other Cossack, with the Mongol guide, when there
was one, brought up the rear,

Thus we would travel for two or three hours in
the cool of the morning. By this time the sun was
high in the heavens, and began to scorch us merci-
lessly. The baked soil of the desert smoked with
heat, like a brick stove. Marching became very
difficult ; the head ached and swam, perspiration
poured from the face and whole body, and a feeling
of weakness and lassitude supervened. The suffer-
ings of the animals were not less than those of the
men. The camels toiled along with open mouth
covered with sweat, which stood like drops of water
on their coats ; even our untiring Faust followed at
foot-pace with head drooping and tail between his
legs. The Cossacks, who generally sang songs,
were now silent, and the whole caravan moved
noiselessly onwards at measured pace, as though
each person were afraid to communicate to his
neighbour the heavy thoughts which oppressed his
brain.

If by some good fortune a Mongol yurta or a
Chinese house stood by the roadside, we hurried
along at the top of our speed, to moisten our heads
and caps, drink some water, and give a little to the

2i8 WATER : THE HALT.

horses and the dog — the heated camels must not
have any. But the refreshing effect of this was not
lasting ; in half an hour, or less, everything became
as dry as before, and again we endured the scorching
heat.

It is near midday, and soon time to halt. How
far is it to the water ? is the question we put to the
first Mongol we meet on the road, and we learn to
our sorrow that nearly four miles more remain before
we can reach it. At length, having arrived at the
well and selected our camping ground, we make the
camels lie down,^ and take their packs off. The
disciplined animals know directly what is coming,
and lie down of their own accord. Then the tent
is pitched, and all the necessary articles dragged
into it and laid along the sides ; in the centre is laid
a piece of felting which supplies us with a bed.
Then we have to collect the argols, and boil the
brick tea, which is our ordinary drink winter and
summer, especially whenever the water is bad.
After tea, while waiting for dinner, I and my com-
panion press the plants we have collected on the
road, skin the birds and dress them for preserving,
or seize a favourable minute for transferring to the
map the survey of the day. This work in the in-
habited country was frequently interrupted by the
arrival of Mongols from the neighbouring yurtas :
these visitors would annoy us with all kinds of tire-

' In summer camels cannot be watered or pastured directly after
unloading them, but they must be kept two hours quiet to give them
time to get cool.

DINNER; CRAVINGS OF HUNGER. 219

some questions or requests, till at length we would
have literally to turn them out of the tent.

In the meanwhile the cravings of hunger re-
mind one that it is time to dine ; but луе must wait
till the soup made from hares or partridges killed on
the road is ready, or the mutton bought from the
Mongols cooked. The latter, however, we rarely
ate, owing to the difficulty of buying sheep, or the
necessity for paying double their value ; hence we
mainly depended on our guns for a supply of fresh
meat.

Two hours after arriving at the halting-place
dinner is ready, and we fall to with wolfish appetites.
Our plates and dishes, knives and forks, are of the
simplest, and harmonise well W4th the other sur-
roundings : the lid of the saucepan in which the
soup is boiled serves for a dish, the wooden cups out
of which we drink tea are our plates, and our fingers
the forks ; table-cloths and napkins are dispensed
with. Dinner is soon over — we again drink brick
tea ; then we start off on some excursion, or after
eame. while our Cossacks and Monofol Qfuide take
it in turn to pasture the camels.

Evening approaches ; the dying embers of the
fire are rekindled, and we boil our porridge and tea.
The horses and camels are driven to the tent ; the
former are tethered, and the latter, besides being
tethered, are made to lie down near our baggage, or
at a short distance to one side. Night descends —
the heat of the day is succeeded by the agreeable
coolness of the evening. We inhale a fresher air,

220 DJULDJIG LOSES A HORSE.

and, wearied with the fatigues of the day, we enjoy
the rest of tired warriors. At one of the halts on
the shore of the Hoang-ho, my companion's horse
broke loose, fell down the steep river bank and was
drowned. This was a serious loss, as we could not
buy another horse anywhere, and M. Pyltself was
obliged to ride a camel. The author of this misfor-
tune proved to be Dj'uldj'Ig, who had charge of the
animals, and instead of minding his business went to
sleep in the bushes. This half-bred Mongol caused
us a good deal of unpleasantness from first to last.
We hired his services in the mountains of Munni-
ula, at the rate of five lans (about 25 shillings) a
month, with food found ; at first he behaved re-
spectably, but no sooner had we crossed into Ordos
than Dj'uldjig became worse than useless. To say
nothing of his incorrigible laziness, and disinclina-
tion to do any extra work, such as bringing water,
collecting argols, and tending camels, &c., he was
constantly quarrelling with the Cossacks, and was
even saucy to my companion and myself. After
a salutary chastisement for his insolence, Djuldjig
began to amend his ways, although he continued to
be disgracefully idle. We at length got rid of him
on arrival at the town of Ding-hu.

Eighty-three miles above this town the sands
of Kuzupchi cross to the opposite bank of the
Hoang-ho, and its valley (on the eastward side) be-
comes quite barren. The steep ridge of sand which
borders the valley up to this point is now replaced
by sandy slopes, which gradually rise till opposite

ARBUS-ULA RANGE. DING-HU. 221

the town of Ding-hu they culminate in a lofty rocky
ridge called the Arbus-ula. This range runs almost
parallel with the Hoang-ho, continually approaching
it till at length it closes in upon the very bank of
the river at a place opposite to which on the other
side of the Yellow River rises the ereat ranee of
the Ala-shan mountains. According to a Mongol
tradition, one of the rocky peaks of the Arbus-ula,
which has the shape of a table, served as a forge
for Chinghiz- Khan's smithy. His blacksmith is re
presented to be a man of such gigantic stature, that
although seated on the ground he was much higher
than the hill, and forged different arms and accoutre-
ments on it for the o-reat warrior. ^

о

On the 14th of September we arrived at the town
of Ding-hu, situated on the western bank of the
Hoang-ho, to which we were obliged to cross in
order to continue our journey in Ala-shan. Our
adventures at Ding-hu were even more unpleasant
than those at Bautu.

While we were still a few miles from the town
the Chinese noticed our caravan, and climbed on to
the town wall in crowds to get a better view of us in
the distance. Hardly had we arrived opposite to
the town, than a boat with twenty-five soldiers put
off from it, and these as soon as they had landed on
our side demanded our passports.

Our tent was pitched on the bank of the

' Chinghiz himself was represented in traditions which found their
way even to Europe as a blacksmith. This seems to have originated
in a connection (whether real or imaginary) between his name Tonit-
jm, and the Turkish Tcmiirji, an ' iron-smith.' — V.

222 ENTRANCE INTO DING-HU.

Hoang-ho exactly opposite the town, and I sent
the Mongol Djuldjig over with the soldiers to take
my passport to the Chinese commander. Half-an-
hour later, the Mongol returned in company with an
official, who informed us that the mandarin desired
to see us and asked to be shown our gun and dog,
about which he had probably heard from Djuldjig.
As soon as I had changed my dress, I stepped into
the boat, taking with me the Buriat Cossack and
the Mongol ; the latter to act as interpreter of the
Chinese language, with which he was well acquainted.

Hardly had w^e reached the opposite shore than
a great crowd collected round us of all the inhabitants
of Ding-hu. This small town had been entirely des-
troyed by the Dungans ; the only thing left standing-
was a mud wall with a circuit of less than half a
mile, and so rotten that a good blow with a stout
oaken stick would almost suffice to make a breach in
any part of it. The only inhabitants of Ding-hu
are the garrison, numbering at one time a thousand
men, but now, owing to desertions, reduced by one
half.

Accompanied by the whole crowd, we passed in-
side the wall, where we were met by some officers who
motioned to us to enter a house, where we were told
to wait till we could be ushered into the presence of
the mandarin commanding the garrison. The house
which we now entered served as a lodging for one
of the officers, but outside and in it \vas hardly
better than an ordinary shed. By way of ornament
long strings of garlic hung round the Avails, which

INTERVIEW WITH COMMANDANT. 223

gave out an aroma quite in keeping with the other
domestic arrangements.

After an interval of ten minutes the mandarin
sent to say that he would receive us, and we accord-
ingly proceeded to his house. He sat at a table in
a yellow robe, and asked, with a consequential air,
who I was, and what was my object in visiting the
country ? To this I answered, that I travelled for
amusement, collecting herbs for medicinal purposes
and shooting birds as specimens to show to my
people at home ; that I had also goods to sell to the
Mongols ; and, lastly, that both my companion and
I were officials as stated in our passports. ' But
your passport is evidently a forgery because the seal
and signature are unknown to me,' interrupted the
mandarin, maintaining his pompous attitude. I re-
plied that I hardly knew more than a feAv dozen
words of Chinese, and therefore could not Avrite a
passport for myself, and that I was unacquainted
with any Chinese who could manufacture such
articles. ' What goods have you ? ' continued the
official. ' Mostly Peking ware for the common
Mongols ; we have already sold all our Russian
articles,' was my reply. ' But you have some
guns ? ' ' Yes, but not for sale,' I answered, ' be-
cause we are forbidden by treaty to trade in such
articles in China. Our guns and revolvers are for
protection against robbers.' ' Show me them, and
let me see you fire at a mark.' ' Very well,' I
rejoined ; '■ let us go outside.' I had my double-
barrelled Lancaster rifle, and the Cossack carried a

224 EXHIBITION OF GUNS.

small-shot gun ; with the latter I killed a swallow on
the wing, and with the former smashed a brick
placed as a mark. After observing these results, the
Chinese commander tried himself, but shot wide of
the mark.

In the meanwhile they brought some old English
military guns and double-barrelled pistols to show us.
The mandarin loaded a о^ип, but could not hit a
mark at twenty paces ; then he fired a few more
shots, and about the fifth shot broke the brick.
Gratified with his success, he re-entered the house ;
whilst we were taken to the lodging of an officer,
who entertained us with water-melon, tea, and a
kind of soup.

Half-an-hour afterwards we were again conducted
to the Chinese Commander-in-chief. ' I must look
at your things and make a list of them,' said he.
' Tell me how many, and лvhat guns you have.' To
this I assented, and a clerk wrote down at my dic-
tation a detailed description of our rifles, smooth
bores, revolvers, gunpowder, balls, &c. &c. It had
now become dark, and a tallow candle and sesamum-
oil lamp were lighted in the mandarin's house.

The audience, however, did not last much longer.
The mandarin only asked us to sell him a rifle, and
on being refused, ordered his men to ferry us back
across the Hoang-ho. On returning to our tent, we
were greatly delighted to find Faust, who had
acconipanicd us from camp, but had been lost in the
town ; it appeared that, tired with waiting and
friHitened at the noise made b^• the crowd, he swam

CUR BOXES INSPECTED J 225

back again across the river in sight of my com-
panion.

The following morning an official made his ap-
pearance accompanied by ten soldiers in full-dress
red blouses, and announced that he had been sent
to examine our things. The inspection began, but

Mongol Soldier.
(From a Photograph lent by Baron Osten Sacken.)

Avas so carelessly conducted that the surveying work,
which I had concealed at the bottom of one of my
boxes, safely escaped the ordeal. One circumstance
certainly favoured us, and that was the preparation
of our soup, out of which the soldiers kept con-
tinually stealing bits of meat to eat, an occupation

VOL. I. Q

32б RANSACKED, AND ROBBED.

which interested them a good deal more than ex-
amining- the things.

After concluding the inspection, the official an-
nounced that his superior wished to look at the
rifle and revolver we had practised with the day
before. At first I declined to give up these articles,
but upon his declaring he had orders not to return
without them, I surrendered them on condition that
a boat should be sent to take us across the river.
After an hour the boat appeared, into which we
placed all our baggage and crossed the river, leaving
my companion and a Cossack in charge of the
camels, for which the boat was to be sent a second
time.

After storing all our baggage in the yard of a
house standing on the bank of the River and used
as a warehouse for salt, I applied to the mandarin
for an order to have our camels brought over and
for a pass to enable us to pursue our journey
through Ala-shan. To this he replied, that he must
personally inspect our things, and accompanied me
to the place where they were stored. Turning
them over he selected and gave to his servant what-
ever pleased him most, on the plea of wishing to
examine them more carefully at home and promising
to return them to me afterwards. He took two
single-barrelled rifled pistols, a revolver in case,
a dagger, two powder-flasks, a lamp, and a quire of
writing paper. When I perceived that the ex-
amination was nothing less than robbery, I told my
interpreter to inform him that we had not come

TOWING CAMELS ACROSS RIVER. 227

there to be robbed ; upon this the Chinese general
contented himself лvith what he had taken and ab-
stained from any further inspection.

In the meanwhile the camels had not been
brought across the River, the excuse being that the
wind was too high and would endanger their being
drowned. At last, after renewed remonstrances, the
mandarin gave orders to ferry them over ; but as
they could not be placed on the boat owing to its
high sides, ropes were tied to their heads, and in
this way they were towed through the river, which
is 1,400 feet Avide, and has a rapid current. This
bath certainly did not improve them, as these
creatures have a strong aversion to water.

As soon as the camels had been brouo^ht over, I
asked for my passport, but was told that the man-
darin was asleep and that I might wait till next
day. Out of all patience at this delay, I sent a mes-
senger to say that if my passport were not returned
we would go without it, but should prefer our com-
plaints at Peking at such treatment.

I do not know in what words the message was
delivered to the mandarin ; but a quarter of an hour
later an official appeared, escorted by ten soldiers,
with orders from the mandarin to write another list
of all our articles, and not to suffer us to depart with-
out a passport. This time they only wrote down
the number of our boxes, leathern trunks, and bags ;
the soldiers remained under the pretence of preserv-
ing these articles from the thieves, but really to
guard us.

03

228 DETENTION AND ANNOYANCE.

Our situation was most embarrassing ; we were
surrounded by a crowd of impudent soldiers, who
took all sorts of liberties with us ; and to add
to our difficulties, one of our Cossacks was taken
ill and was unable to move. Towards evening it
began to rain; but we could not find shelter any-
where and were obliged to pass the night under the
open sky, there being no room to pitch our tent in
the narrow yard, already inconveniently crowded
with our ten camels. We therefore submitted to
circumstances, and after clearing a small space we
lay down on some felting. Fortunately the rain
soon ceased and the night was clear ; the soldiers
took it in turns to keep watch at the gates of the
yard.

The next day we waited till midday, and were
told that the mandarin was still asleep. I wished to
satisfy myself on this point, but the soldiers would
not let me pass into the town. In the meanwhile the
mandarin kept sending envoys asking me to present
him with all the articles he had taken from me, my
Lancaster rifle among the number. I peremptorily
declined, saying that I was not rich enough to give
every Chinese general I saw, a gun which cost
several hundred rubles.

In the afternoon they sent to tell me that the
general had risen, and they brought the box with
the rifle, but the powder-flask and box of caps were
gone. ' Your commander has stolen two articles
from this case,' I remarked to the official who brought
it. and I sent my interpreter to explain this. I did

ROGUERY OF MANDARIN. 229

not wish to go to him any more myself, as I con-
sidered it beneath my dignity to have any dealings
with such a rogue. In an hour's time the Cossack
returned, bringing the powder-flask empty, but in-
forming me that the mandarin would not surrender
the caps, which he wished to keep for himself.
The Cossack also told me that he had repeatedly
asked him to persuade me to give him the other
things. The servant who accompanied the Cossack
waited for an answer, and was sent back to the
mandarin with another refusal. He soon returned,
however, and explained that the mandarin wished
to buy the articles which had been taken. At first
I thought of refusing to sell them, but afterwards,
acting on the advice of a Mongol zanghin} with
whom we were on good terms, consented to the
arrangement, on condition that a passport and guide
should be at once given us. Both one and the other
were soon supplied ; but instead of sixty-seven lans
(about 17/,), which was the price fixed on for the
articles, the mandarin only sent fifty lans (12/. loi",),
informing me that he would pay me the remainder
of the money at my next visit. I was reluctant to
re-open negotiations for such a trifle, and giving
orders to pack the camels notwithstanding the ap-
proach of evening, we started from Ding-hu.

The Mongol zanghin joined us on the road, and
related how on hearing that I wished to go without
his leave, the mandarin had exclaimed angrily, ' I

' A subaltern officer of the rank of cornet. Timkowski's ' Travels,'
i. 1 1.

230 'FOREIGN devils:

' will cut off his head/ and ordered us to be put
under a guard. Such is the civility shown to Euro-
peans in China, where the only name applied to us
is that of 'foreign devils ! '

THE ELEUTHS. 231

CHAPTER VI.

ALA-SHAN.

The Eleuths — Extent and character of Ala-shan — Sandy tracts of
Ala-shan — Flour of the Sulhir grass — Flora and Fauna of Ala-
shan — Birds of Ala-shan — Population of Ala-shan — Mongols of
Ala-shan — Lake Tsagan-nor — Route to Din-yuan-ing — Arrival
there^Din-yuan-ing and the Prince — The Prince of Ala-shan and
his family — The Gigen — Lama Baldin-Sordji — Curiosity of the
people — Intercourse with the younger Princes — Questions abou.
Europe — Openings for trade — Stories about the Dalai Lama —
' Shambaling/ the Promised Land — The Promised Land of * Sham-
baling' — State visit to the Prince — Interview with Prince of Ala-shan
— Views of the Anglo-French луаг — We proceed to the mountains —
Mountains of Ala-shan — Birds of Ala-shan mountains — Birds and
Mammals of Ala-shan — The kuku-yamans or mountain sheep —
Shooting them in the mountains — A frightened herd — Desperate
leap — Return to Din-yuan-ing — Obliged to retrace our steps.

The southern part of the high plateau of the Gobi,
to the west of the middle course of the Hoang-ho,
is a wild and barren desert, inhabited by Oliut
(Eleuth) Mongols,^ and known by the name of Ala-

1 The Oliut, Eleuth, or Oloth Mongols are sometimes alleged to
have derived their name from Oliutai, one of the princes of the Yuen
or Chinghizid dynasty after its expulsion from China, and this луоиИ
be quite consistent with Tartar practice (e.g. the Chagatais and the
Uzbeks). But a more probable signification seems to be * the Sepa-
rated.' The title has been applied for some centuries to the western
hordes, extending from the sources of the Selenga and the Orkhon, to
the Thian-Shan and the Upper Irtish. They were divided into four
great bodies or clans, Dzungar, Turgut, Khoshod, and Turbet (whence
also called Durban-oirad or the Four Allies) ; and connected with
them are also those further west, known to the Mahommedans as Kal-

232 EXTENT AND CHARACTER OF ALA-SHAN

shan or Trans-Ordos.^ This region is covered with
bare sand-drift, extending on the west to the River
Etsina,^ on the south to the lofty mountains of the
province of Kan-su, and on the north disappearing
altogether in the unfruitful clay flats of the central
Gobi desert. These are the natural as well as the
political boundaries of Ala-shan, which is bordered
by the Khalka^ and Urute countries on the north,
and by the province of Kan-su and a small part of
Ordos on the other sides.

Topographically Ala-shan is a perfectly level
plain, which, like Ordos, in all probability once formed
the bed of a huge lake or inland sea. This fact is
evidenced by the level area of the Avhole region, its
hard saline clay and sand-covered soil, and lastly
the salt lakes, which are formed in the lowest parts

maks. The Turgut branch of the Eleuths, early in the eighteenth
century, carried their conquests and migrations westward to the
Volga ; and it was this horde which in 1771 made that extraordinary
re-migration in mass to the Chinese territory of which T. de Quincey
has given such an extraordinary description. The Eleuths of Ala-shan
were, according to Timkowski, settled there by the emperor Kang-hi
in 1686, having been driven from their own seats by Galdan Khan, of
Uzungaria. — Y.

' Trans-Ordos is, I presume, a name given by the traveller himself,
but it is a very inconvenient style of nomenclature. The trans in
this case is not even from the Russian, but from the Peking stand-
point.— Y.

"^ The Etsina river runs northward into the desert from the \qcinity
of Kanchau, and on its banks no doubt stood the city of E/zina, ' on
the verge of the Sandy Desert,' of which Marco Polo makes mention
in the route to Kara-Korum. — Y.

^ The Khalkas form another and the most important of the
modern great divisions of the Mongol tribes. The name was given
apparently in the latter days of the Ming dynasty {circa 1600), to the
tribes on the north of the Gobi, then independent of China ; and those
bearing it extend over 30 degrees of longitude, from the Manchu
country westward to the Hi.— Y.

SANDY TRACTS OF ALA-SHAN. 233

where the last remnant of its ancient \vaters are
collected.

The desert of Ala-shan for many dozens, aye,
hundreds of miles presents nothing but naked
sands, ever ready to overpower the traveller with
their burnine heat or smother him beneath their
sandstorms. Some of these sands are so extensive
as to be called by the Mongols Tingeri, i.e. ' sky.'
Not a drop of water is to be found in them ; no
birds, no animals are visible ; and their deathlike
solitude fills with involuntary dread the soul of the
man who has wandered here.

The Kuzupchi or sandy tracts of Ordos appear
small in comparison with those of Ala-shan. Amid
the former oases may occasionally be seen covered
with vegetation ; whilst here no such spots relieve
the boundless expanse of yellow sand, alternating Avith
vast areas of saline clay, and nearer the mountains
with bare shingle. Such vegetation as may be seen
is of the poorest description, comprising only a few
stunted bushes and some dozens of kinds of grasses.
In both one and the other category the saxaicl, called
by the Mongols zak {Haloxylon sp.), and the grass
sulhir [Agj^iophylltim Gobictmi), are most prominent.

In Ala-shan the saxaiil ox zak has an arborescent
"Towth of 10 to 12 feet in heio'ht, with a thickness of
half-a-foot,^ and is generally found on the bare sand.
Its wood is too knotty and porous to be of any

use in handicraft, but it makes excellent fuel, and

«

* Occasional trees may be seen, 18 feet high, with a stem a foot
tliick.

234 FLOUR OF THE SULHIR CRASS.

its leafless but juicy and prickly branches are the
chief food of the camels of Ala-shan. The Mongols
pitch their yurtas beneath the shelter of these trees,
which protect them in some degree from the wintry
blasts on the bleak steppe ; it is said, too, that you
can obtain water sooner by sinking wells in places
where the zak grows than elsewhere.

The range of the zak is very limited in Ala-shan,
being only found in the northern part of this country.
In the Gobi, however, it grows sporadically on the
sand as far as the 42nd parallel N. lat.^

The grass sulkir is of even greater importance
to the inhabitants of Ala-shan than the zak, and
may be called, without exaggeration, the ' gift of the
desert.' It attains a height of two (rarely three) feet,
growing on the bare sand, generally near the borders
of sandy wastes devoid of vegetation. This prickly
saline plant blossoms in August, and its small seeds,
yielding an agreeable and nutritious food, ripen in the
end of September. The crop of sulhir is best after
a rainy summer ; in a drought it withers, and then
the Mongols of Ala-shan fare badly the whole year
round.

To obtain the seeds of the sulhir the Mongols
gather the grass and thrash it on the bare clay,
patches of which often occur in the midst of the

'^ The zak also grows in Ordos and Tsaidam, and is distributed
over the whole of Central Asia to Turkestan.

Mr. Macgahan describes the saxaul of Western Turkestan as ' a
low, scraggy, gnarly bush, varying from a foot to six feet high. The
wood is very hard and brittle, so that it is more easily broken than cut,
and it is so hardy that it flourishes even in the bleakest and most de-
solate places.' [Campaigning on the Oxus, p. 45.) — Y.

FLORA AND FAUNA OF ALA-SHAN. 235

sands. The seeds are first roasted over a slow fire,
then pounded in a mortar, when they produce a very-
palatable flour which is boiled in tea. We tasted
the sulhir flour in Ala-shan, and took a supply of it
with us for the return journey. The sulhir also
serves as excellent food for the domestic animals :
horses, camels, and sheep are all very fond of it. This
plant also grows in Ordos and the central Gobi
on the bare sand, and we found it in Tsaidam. The
other kinds of plants in Ala-shan are mostly the
same as those we had seen in Ordos. On the
clay the budarhana, the kai^myk often forming
hillocky mounds, the prickly convolvulus {Convol-
vulus tragacanthoides),^ the field wormwood, and an
occasional acacia are most common ; among the
grasses Intda mnopJiila, Sophora fiavescens, Convol-
vulus Ammani, Pegamifn sp., Astragahts sp., and
others are met with. But the scanty, crooked, and
stunted vegetation of the desert generally leaves an
unfavourable impression. There is no energy in
the life of this region, the stamp of apathy and
decay is upon it ; everything seems to grow un-
willingly as if under compulsion, receiving only
sufficient nourishment from the poor soil to prevent
it from withering altogether.

The poverty of Ala-shan in flora is equalled by
that of its fauna. None of the larger mammals
except the kara-siilta inhabit the desert ; wolves,
foxes, hares, and hedgehogs {Erinaceus aiiritus ?) are

' This low and very prickly shrub, which generally grows in clumps,
is called by the Mongols, Dzara, i.e. hedgehog.

2зб BIRDS OF ALA-SHAN.

found. Of the smaller rodents there are two khids
of sand martens ; one of them lives entirely among
the bushes of zak, and honeycombs the earth with its
burrows so that it is often quite impossible to ride
over such spots on horseback. All day long you can
hear the squeak of these little animals — a sound as
dull and monotonous as everything else in Ala-
shan.

Among birds the most remarkable is the koio-
djoro {Podoces Hendersont), about the size of our
starling, and resembling the hoopoe in its flight.
This bird is in every respect the bird of the desert,
and is only to be seen in its wildest parts. Wherever
the soil becomes more productive the kolo-djoro
disappears ; hence this bird, like the kara-sulta, is
always an unwelcome sight to the traveller. We
found it in Kan-su, and th^i again in Tsaidam ; its
range northwards in the Gobi extends to 44 J° N. lat.^

Of other birds in Ala-shan the most common
are the sandgrottse {Syrrhaptcs paradoxus), which
visit this region in great flocks during winter, larks
{A lauda pispoletta ? Otocoris albigula, Gabrita cris-
tata T), stonechats (Saxicola deserti) and among the
zak bushes sparrows {Passer sp.). In summer small
cranes {Grus virgd) also visit this country, Avhere
they feed on the innumerable lizards which appear
in the desert. If there are no marshes in the vicinity,
the cranes come to drink at the wells, and being
unmolested by man become very tame.

• But this bird is met with in the far west, where it was discovered
by Forsyth's expedition, in 1870, from Lahore to Yarkand.

POPULATION OF ALA-SHAN. 237

These are nearly all the birds of the desert of
Ala-shan. Migratory birds fly at a great height
without stopping. At all events we only saw
towards evening flocks of cranes sitting on the sand
to pass the night in order to resume their flight early
the next morning. Even magpies and crows are
not seen in the plains of Ala-shan ; and it is but now
and then that a solitary kite sails along over the tent
of the traveller, in the expectation of devouring the
remnants of his meal.

Of the class of reptiles, lizards {Phrynocephakis
sp., in smaller numbers Bremzas sp.) are innumerable.
These lizards are almost the exclusive food of the
cranes, buzzards, and kites ; even gulls fly hither
from the Hoang-ho to seek this prey ; wolves, foxes,
and Mongol dogs also feed on these reptiles for want
of something better to eat.

The population of Ala-shan is composed of Oliut
(Eleuth) Mongols, to Avhich race some of the inhabi-
tants of Koko-nor, the Turguts,^ and our Kalmucks
belong. The Mongols of Ala-shan are very differ-
ent in external appearance from the Khalkas, and
appear to be a mixed race between the latter and
the Chinese. Under the influence of the Celestials
they have undergone a considerable change in charac-
ter, and are not even surpassed by their neighbours
in opium-smoking. Chinese industry, hoAvever, is
unknown here, and Mongol laziness is preserved in
all its original ugliness. Such is the influence
everywhere exercised by the Chinese over the

^ Vide supra, p. 231.

2з8 MONGOLS OF ALA-SHAN.

Mongols, tending rather to degrade than to civilise
them. Here we have another example of the de-
grading tendency of Chinese civilisation on the
nomads. No more contemptible creature exists, in
my opinion, on the face of this earth than a Mongol
who has fallen under Chinese influence and has lost
the fine qualities which distinguish his race, only
adopting instead new, vicious habits most congenial
to the idle side of the nomad character. This non-
descript possesses neither the frankness of the Mon-
gol nor the industry of the Chinese, although he sets
himself above his former fellows.

The lano^uare of the Monsfols of Ala-shan is in

о о о

many respects different from that of the Khalkas,
from which it is also distinguished by its softer
accent and more rapid pronunciation.

The Mongols of Ala-shan are very poor. Their
chief occupation is breeding camels, which are used
to transport salt and different Chinese merchandise.
Sheep, horses, and horned cattle are not numerous,
owing to the absence of pasturage ; goats are more
abundant, and herds of yaks, belonging to the sove-
reign prince and his sons, graze in the mountains.

Ala-shan is divided into three banners, for ad-
ministrative purposes ; but the population is small.
The inhabitants were still further reduced in num-
bers by the Dungans, who devastated Ala-shan
simultaneously with Ordos.^ The town of Din-

^ According to information we received from the natives, the
number of yurtas remaining in Ala-shan after the Dungan invasion
was about one thousand. Taking the average of 5 to 6 per yurta, we
should have 5 to 6 thousand inhabitants for the whole country.

\h

LAKE TSAGAN-NOR. 239

yuan-ing (Wei-tching-pu) alone escaped this fate ; it
is the residence of the ruling prince, and lies to the
west of the Ala-shan mountains.

To this place we proceeded after leaving Ding-hu.
However, after one day's march we halted for three
days at the yurta of our friend the Mongol zanghin.
Of him луе purchased a camel and exchanged two
of our own which had sore backs ; we were also
obliged to halt to rest the sick Cossack who fortu-
nately soon recovered. Our former guide, Djuldjig,
was left behind at Ding-hu, and in his stead, with
the assistance of the same zanghin, we hired an-
other one, who, although a Mongol, was a Mahom-
medan and an excellent fellow. He accompanied us
to Din-yuan-ing, which is 125 miles from Bautu.
The road is a mere track almost obliterated in places,
and one must know the country well not to lose
oneself. We saw no inhabitants, but Avells are dug
at intervals of 16 or 20 miles, and postal yurtas are
stationed near them.

On the second day's march we passed a small
lake, Tsagan-nor, and close beside it a spring of
pure cold water — a rare sight in these countries.
Two large willows sheltered the spot, which the
Mongols held sacred. We луеге greatly rejoiced at
this discovery, not having tasted good water for more
than a month, and therefore determined to halt.

The limpid streams from the well only flow for
a few dozen paces, but the plot of ground which
they water is bright green covered with such grass
as can be found nowhere in the desert.

240 ROUTE TO DIN-YUAN-ING.

The immigration of birds which beoran in AuQust
increased in September, as many as eighteen kinds
having made their appearance in the early part of
this month. But the birds of passage mostly keep
to the valley of the Hoang-ho, and only visit the
desert of Ala-shan in small numbers. Here they
fare badly, for many of them perish from hunger or
thirst in the wilderness, and I found numbers of
dead thrushes, which dissection proved to have
evidently died from starvation. My companion
once picked up in a dry ravine near the axis of the
lofty Ala-shan mountains, a mallard so exhausted
as to allow itself to be caught in the hand.

The summer heats were now over, and we could
march without CTeat fatio^ue. The loose sands,
ranged in small mounds like those in Ordos, sur-
rounded us with a boundless yellow plain which was
lost in the horizon. The road led through bushes
of zak, frequently crossing the ridges of sand. The
fate of the traveller who loses himself in these track-
less wastes would indeed be terrible, especially in
summer, when the desert becomes as hot as an
oven.

Fifty miles before arriving at Din-yuan-ing the
bare sands recede to the right of the road, which
now continues through a plain of clay and sand for
the most part, covered with rare clumps of the field
wormwood, called by the Mongols sharaldja, and
used by them for fuel. This plain extends as far as
the Ala-shan mountains, which rise like a huge ram-
part, and may be seen 60 miles off; snow lay on

ARRIVAL THERE. 241

some of the summits of the mountahis at this season,
although none of them attain the level of perpetual
snow.

On September 26th we arrived at the town of
Din-yuan-ing, and for the first time during the expe-
dition received a hospitable welcome from its prince,
by whose order three officials came to meet us, and
led us to a house previously prepared for our use.
I should mention, however, that while we were still
a whole day's march from the town, three other
officials met us, sent by the prince to know who we
were. One of their first questions was, ' Were we
missionaries?' and only after receiving an answer
in the negative would they shake hands with us.
They said that if we had been missionaries the
prince would not have allowed us to enter the town.
Indeed, one of the chief elements of our success was
the resolution we formed not to trouble anyone with
our religious opinions.

The town of Din-yuan-ing, as we have stated, is
the place of residence of the ruling prince of Ala-
shan. It is 10 miles from the central part of the
Ala-shan mountains, and 53 miles to the north-west
of the large Chinese town of Ning-hia-fu/ in the pro-

' The Mongols call this town Irgai. [This is an interesting fact,
and shows (what I have questioned in ' Marco Polo,' 2nd ed., i. 273),
that Klaproth was right in deducing from a statement of Rashiduddin,
in his Persian History of the Mongols, that Irghai was identical with
Ning-hia-fu, the capital of the king whose wife Chinghiz appropriated
{supra, p. 203). There remains some difficulty in identifying topogra-
phically Ninghia with either the Egrigaya of Marco Polo (Book I.
ch. Iviii.), or his Ergui-ul (ch. Ivii.), though Ave can hardly doubt that
the natne Irghai lies hid in one or other of these. And there seems
little doubt that in the principality of Ala-shan we have substantially

VOL. I. R

242 DIN-YUAN-ING, AND THE PRINCE.

vince of Kan-su. The Chinese call this town Wa-
yang-pu, and the Mongols Alasha-yamen, i.e. place
of government of Ala-shan.

Din-yuan-ing consists of a fortress with a mud
wall a mile in circumference. At the time of our
visit this wall was prepared to withstand a- siege, and
we could see stones and beams laid on the battle-
ments in readiness for the enemy's attack. In front
of the principal wall on the northern side three small
mud forts were built surrounded with a palisade.

The prince himself lives within the fortress,
where some Chinese shops and the barracks of the
Mongol soldiery are situated. Outside the principal
barrier several hundred houses formerly stood, but
they were all destroyed by the Dungans, who were,
however, unable to take the fortress. Everything
outside the wall was destroyed, including the
suburban palace of the prince, two-thirds of a mile
from the town, standing in a small park. This park,
which formerly contained ponds with water, looks
like enchanted ground in comparison with the sur-
rounding wilderness.

Such is the external appearance of the town of
Din-yuan-ing. Let us now describe its inhabitants.

The most remarkable personage among them is
of course the ruling prince, or, as he is called here,
the ' Amban.'^ He ranks in the second class of

Polo's district of Tangut called Egrigaya, of which the capital was
called Calachan. This place is also mentioned by Rashiduddin as
Khalajdti, one of the cities of Tangut. — Y.]

' We could not ascertain the name of this prince because the
Mongols consider it wrong to mention the names of their chiefs, and
still worse to tell them to any stranger.

THE PRINCE OF ALA-SHAN AND HIS FAMILY. 243

princes, and g-overns Ala-shan on the principles of
mediaeval feudalism. By origin a Mongol, this
prince has become quite a Chinese, the more so on
account of his family ties with the Imperial house,
having received in marriage one of the princesses,
A few years ago his wife died, and he now lives
with concubines.

The prince himself is a man of forty, with a good-
looking face, but rather pale, owing to his being
addicted to smoking opium. In character he is
corrupt and despotic to the last degree. The grati-
fication of a whim, a sudden outburst of passion, or
the desire for revenge, override the dictates of calm
j"udgment and discretion ; in fact his own sweet will
replaces every law and is implicitly obeyed without
the slightest opposition from anybody. But the
same system prevails throughout the whole of Mon-
golia and China. Nothing but the ignorance of the
masses could allow such a state of society to continue,
which under other circumstances would inevitably
lead to the dismemberment of the empire.

The prince of Ala-shan passes all his time in the
seclusion of his house, smoking opium, and never
appears in the streets ; formerly he used occasionally
to visit Peking, but the insurrection of the Dungans
put an end to these journeys.

The Amban has three full-grown sons, the eldest
of whom will be his heir ; the second has entered
the monastic order ; and the youngest, by name
Siya^ has no fixed profession.

' The name and title of this prince, as he wrote it himself in my

R 2

244 THE GIGEN.

The Gigen is a handsome youth of twenty-one,
with a bright impetuous disposition, quite spoilt,
however, by his training : he cannot bear the
slightest contradiction, and considers his opinion
infallible. Owingf to his want of intellect and cul-
ture he gets quite confused with all the silly stuff
which the lamas are constantly talking to him, about
his transmigration, miracles, and sanctity. Without
troubling himself to reason for himself, the Gigen
takes everything for granted in the most uncon-
cerned way, and looks upon his profession as the
source of great power, and of emolument arising from
the offerings of zealous believers. Nevertheless his
youthful spirit seeks for something better, and frets
at the narrow routine of daily prayers, prophecies,
and dispensation of blessings. To satisfy his craving
for liberty the youth devotes himself to the chase,
and for days together, accompanied by a posse of
lamas, hunts the fox in the environs of the town.
Subsequently he bought one of our guns and amused
himself by shooting birds in his suburban garden.
But his numerous devotees will not allow the poor
Gigen to enjoy even this sport in peace. Once
Avhile on a shooting excursion with my companion he
requested the latter to drive these suppliants away
because they crowded round him and frightened
the birds. Of course it is contrary to etiquette
for a Buddhist saint to go a hunting, but the lamas

note-book, was Olos-on Tushige-giin-dzyrgeh Nehmefiseti Balchin-
bandzarguchan. The title and name of the Gigen : Alasha-ing Tsin-
-wang koshung uyon Sayeng Batargiilokchi sumch Nomon khan
djamtsuvnndjil.

LAMA BALDIN-SORDJI. 245,

of his suite dare not hint at such a thing to their
master, who keeps them under strict discipline. In
consequence of the Dungan insurrection the Gigen
organised a force of lamas 200 strong, armed with
English smooth-bore guns sent from Peking, to beat
off the marauders, v/ho still make frequent raids into
Ala-shan.

The youngest son of the prince of Ala-shan —
Siya, bears some resemblance in character to the
Gigen, and is a decidedly wild youth. He himself
told us that he hated books and science, but liked
war, sport, and riding horses. He is certainly an
excellent rider ; on the occasion of a foxhunt which
the two brothers arranged for us he distanced all his
companions in the chase.

The eldest son we only saw once, and therefore
I have nothing to say about him. His intimate
friends described this prince to be unlike his brothers
in character, but rather reserved in manner and
dignified, as a future ruler should be.

Besides these personages we must mention a
lama named Baldin-Sordji, who is a confidential ad-
viser of the prince and his sons. This very Sordji
in early life ran away to Tibet, in the company of
a caravan of pilgrims ; after passing eight years at
Lhassa he learned the Buddhist mysteries and re-
turned to Ala-shan a lama. Cunnincr and sao-acious

о о

by nature, Sordji soon gained the confidence of the
Amban, and Avas promoted to a high office. By
command of the prince, he travels every year to
Peking to make different purchases ; he has even

24б CURIOSITY OF THE PEOPLE.

visited Kiakhta, where he became acquainted with
the Russians.

Sordj'i was very useful to us, owing to his willing-
ness to serve us and the important position he held
in the town. Without him we might not have been
so well received by the prince and his sons. He
was one of the three persons sent out to meet us and
to enquire who we were, and he explained to the
prince of Ala-shan that we really were Russians and
no other kind of foreigners. Russian, however, is the
generic name applied to all Europeans by the Mon-
gols, with the affix French or English according
as they wish to designate either Frenchmen or Eng-
lishmen ; the nomads believe that the two last-
named nations are vassals of the Tsagan-Khan, i.e.
White Tsar.

On entering Din-yuan-ing we were met outside
the town by an immense crowd of people who
followed us and filled every corner of the courtyard
in the Chinese inn where we were located. The
landlord of this inn was evidently displeased at our
lodging with him, and he was a long time in finding
the key of the house assigned for our use. At last
the key was found ; we unloaded the camels, carried
everything into the house, and soon after our meal
lay down to sleep, as it was late, and we were very
tired with our long march. The following day from
the early morning our rest was ciisturbed by the
inquisitive rascals, who invaded the yard, climbed on
to our house, and tore slits in the paper windows
through which to look at us. Our military guard

INTERCOURSE WITH THE YOUNGER PRINCES. 247

tried in vain to keep back the mob ; no sooner had
they driven out one set than ten minutes afterwards
another collected ; this continued all day during the
whole of our stay at Din-yuan-ing, especially during
the earlier part of the time. We could do nothing,
for no sooner did we show ourselves than we at-
tracted general attention. It was provoking to have
to sit with folded hands in a dirty house j'ust at a
time when the migration of birds was at its height,
and with the great wooded mountains of Ala-shan
near us. But the traveller, more than anyone, must
submit to circumstances, and we accordingly re-
signed ourselves.

Two days after our arrival at the town of Ala-
shan we had an interview with the two younger sons
of the prince, the Gigen and Siya, five days later
with the eldest brother, and not till the eighth day
with the Amban himself. We had to give presents
to all of them, in accordance with the intimation we
had received beforehand from the three officials who
met us on our arrival. Having nothing with me
specially adapted for the purpose, I gave to the
prince a watch and aneroid unfit for use ; to his
eldest son a binocular glass, and to the Gigen and
Siya sundry small articles, such as hunting accoutre-
ments and gunpowder. In return for these, we re-
ceived from the prince and his sons some valuable
presents : a pair of horses, a bag of rhubarb, and a
loaf of Russian sugar, imported into Ala-shan by
way of Kiakhta. Besides which our friends the
Gigen and Siya gave me a sih^er bracelet, and a

248 QUESTIONS ABOUT EUROPE.

gold ring to my companion, as keepsakes. Alto-
gether the Amban and his sons, especially the
two younger, were very well disposed towards us,
and were constantly giving us proofs of their good-
will. Every day they sent us baskets of water-
melons, apples and pears, from their garden, which
were the more appreciated after our long privations
in the desert ; the old prince once sent us a dinner
composed of numerous Chinese dishes of different
kinds. The Gigen and Siya accompanied us on
several shooting excursions, and we often passed
the evening with them, sometimes chatting till late
at night. Although it was difficult to keep up a
conversation through the medium of an interpreter,
we managed to pass our time pleasantly, and en-
joyed it the more because we escaped for a time, at
all events, the restraint imposed on us at our own
house. The young princes appeared quite at their
ease in our society, laughed and joked, and some-
times even played games or performed gymnastic
exercises. In the course of conversation Siya asked
many questions about Europe, and the life there ;
its people, machinery, railroads, telegraphs, &c. &c.
The accounts луе gave seemed fabulous to them,
and excited their desire to see with their own eyes
all the wonders we described ; they entreated to be
allowed to return with us to Russia. Sometimes
they showed us different European articles bought at
Peking and Kiakhta, such as revolvers, swordsticks,
musical boxes, watches, and even bottles of eau-de-
Cologne.

OPENINGS FOR TRADE. 249

In the meanwhile our proposed interview with
the old prince was postponed on various pretexts,
and before that event had taken place we could not
proceed to the mountains. The Lama Sordji and
other officials visited us every day, and we sold them
all our Peking ware at a profit of thirty or forty per
cent. The Russian articles (needles, soap, pocket-
knives, beads, snuff-boxes, looking glasses) realised a
far higher profit ; we certainly had not many of them,
but the few dozen rubles' worth remaining- of our
stock of these goods realised 700 per cent, more
than their cost price. Of course this is an excep-
tional case, but I think that if a regular trade were
established, not only here but throughout Mongolia,
it might become very profitable. Of course some
knowledge and experience are requisite to ascertain
what kinds of goods are in greatest demand. I
think the most important articles of export from
Russia would be woollen stuffs, cloth, and Russia
leather, which are even now exported to China in
considerable quantities. But perhaps the demand
for hardware, such as scissors, knives, razors, copper
vessels, iron saucepans, &c. would be even greater.
All these articles are indispensable for the domestic
life of the nomads, who now receive them, but of
very inferior quality, from China. Another article
of export might be yellow and red silk stuffs, such
as are worn by the lamas ; also coral, which is
highly prized in Mongolia, brocade, red beads,
needles, watches, snuff-boxes, looking-glasses, stereo-
scopes, pencils, and other small articles. One of

2SO STORIES ABOUT THE DALAI LAMA.

our most constant visitors was the Lama Sordj'i,
who came several times a day, and told us a great
deal about Tibet. He related, amongst other
things, that the pilgrims arriving at Lhassa were not
allowed to see the Dalai Lama before having paid
from three to five lans the first time, and one Ian the
second and every succeeding occasion of their seeing
the incarnate deity. But this scale of charges refers
only to the poorer people, who are provided with
lodging and food at the cost of the sovereign of
Tibet. The wealthier classes and the princes who
come to make their devotions bring large and some-
times very rich presents to the Dalai Lama,

The present Dalai Lama is a boy of eighteen,
and, as we heard the Buddhists relate, obtained his
seat on the throne in the following manner. A
short time before the death of his predecessor, a
Tibetan woman came to pray at the temple.
Hardly had the saint set eyes on her than he pro-
phesied that she would become the mother of his suc-
cessor. He then gave her bread and some kind of
fruit, after partaking of which the woman conceived.
Soon afterwards the Dalai Lama died, having named
this woman as the mother of his successor. It is
certain that the very moment the infant was born
a miraculous stream of milk flowed from the post
which supported the yurta, in proof of the holy call-
ing and great sanctity of the new-born babe.

Another very interesting tale related by Sordji
was the prophecy about Shambaling, the promised
land of the Buddhists, to which at some future time

^ SHAM BALING,' THE PROMISED LAND. 251

all the followers of this religion will migrate from
Tibet.

This country is an island lying far away in the
northern sea. Gold abounds in it ; corn grows to
an enormous height there. Poverty is unknown in
that country ; in fact, Shambaling flows with milk
and honey. The migration of the Buddhists to this,
promised land should take place 2,500 years after
the date of the prophecy; since that time 2,050
years have elapsed, and comparatively not many
remain.

The mode of accomplishment of the prophecy
will be as follows. In Western Tibet there lives a
Gigen (living Buddha), who as the living incarnation
of the Divinity never dies, but only passes from one
body to another. Not long before the time appointed
for the fulfilment of the prophecy, this saint will be
born in the person of the son of the King of Sham-
baling. In the meanwhile the Dungans will have
become more troublesome than ever, and will have
laid waste the whole of Tibet. Then the people
of the latter country, under the leadership of the
Dalai Lama, will abandon their fatherland and set
off for Shambaling, where they will be received
and colonised on good lands by their saint, who
will have succeeded his father on the throne.

Meanwhile the Dungans, emboldened by their
successes in Tibet, will subj'ugate the whole of Asia,
Europe, and lastly invade Shambaling. Then the
holy monarch will assemble his forces, defeat the
Dungans, and drive them back to their country, and

252 THE PROMISED LAND OF ^ SHAMBALING.'

make the Buddhist faith supreme in all countries
submitted to his rule.

This Gigen even now pays secret visits to Sham-
baling. For this purpose he has a wonderful horse,
who is always saddled, and ready to take his rider
in one night from Tibet to the promised land and
back again. These journeys became known to the
common people quite by accident.

The Gigen had a servant who one night wishing
to visit his home clandestinely took his master's
sacred steed. The miraculous animal sped like an
arrow from the bow into the distance. After a few
hours' ride trees began to appear, then lakes and
rivers, which do not exist in the servant's country ;
at length the frightened rider turned his horse's head
back. In doing this he broke off a branch of a tree
to whip the horse in case he should tire ; but this
never happened, and towards dawn the servant
again returned to the temple, wiped the horse down,
and led him back to his stable.

Meanwhile the saint awoke, and at once knew
what had occurred. Summoning his servant, he
asked him whither he had ridden that night.
Thus unexpectedly detected, the servant did not
attempt to deny what he had done, but declared
that he himself did not know where he had been.
Then said the saint, ' Thou hast ridden nearly as
far as the happy land of Shambaling, whither my
horse knows the road, and no other. Show me the
branch thou hast brought back with thee ; behold,
there are no such trees as this in Tibet, they grow
not far from Shambaling.'

STATE VISIT TO THE PRINCE. 253

At the conclusion of his tale Sordji asked if I
did not know where Shambaling was. In that
country, added the lama, there is an enormous city
wherein lives a queen, who since the death of her
husband has ruled her people. I suggested Eng-
land. ' Well, that must be Shambaling,' exclaimed
the delighted Sordji, and begged me to show him
the country on the map.

At last, on the eighth day of our stay at Din-
yuan-ing, we received an invitation from the Amban
to visit him. The lama Sordji first asked us, pro-
bably at the instigation of the prince himself, how
we should salute their sovereig^n — according to our

о о

own custom, or in the Mongolian way, i.e. by falling
on our knees. On being told that we should of
course bow in the European fashion, Sordji begged
us to prostrate ourselves before the Amban, or at
all events that our Cossack interpreter should do so;
but we peremptorily refused.

The visit took place at eight in the evening, in
the reception chamber of the Amban. This apart-
ment was very nicely furnished ; it actually con-
tained a large European mirror, purchased at
Peking for 150 lans (about Zl^^- Lighted stearine
candles in plated candlesticks stood on the tables,
on which was spread an entertainment, consisting
of nuts, cakes, Russian sweetmeats with mottoes,
apples, pears, &c.

When we entered and bowed to the prince, he
invited us to sit down in the places prepared for us ;
the Cossack stood near the door. Besides the Am-
ban, some rich Chinese merchant, as I afterwards

254 INTERVIEW WITH PRINCE OF ALA-SHAN.

learned, was in the house. At the doors of the
house, and in the entrance-hall, stood the aides-de-
camp of the prince and his sons, who were also
obliged to be present during our reception.

After the usual enquiries about our health and
safe journey, the Amban said that no Russian had
ever before visited Ala-shan ; that he now for the

Rmxs OF Chai'kl of Sistfrs of Mkrcv at Tikxtsix, dhstroved nv Chinese
RiOTFRS (from a Photograph by J. Thomson, Esq., F.R.G.S.).

first time saw these foreigners, and was very glad of
our visit.

He then began asking us about Russia. What
was our religion ; how did we cultivate the soil ;

VIEWS OF THE ANGLO-FRENCH WAR. 255

how were stearine candles manufactured ; how did
people travel on railways ; and how were likenesses
taken by photography ? 4s it true,' asked the prince,
' that the liquid matter from human eyes is used in
photography ? It is reported,' continued he, ' that
the missionaries at Tientsin put out the eyes of the
children whom they had taken to educate for this
purpose, which so enraged the people that they put
all the missionaries to death.' ^ On my answering
him in the negative, the prince begged me to bring
him a machine for taking portraits, and I could
hardly excuse myself by assuring him that the
glasses would infallibly be broken on the road.

The prince then asked what tribute the French
and English paid as vassals of Russia. When I
answered the Amban that I had never heard of
such a thing, he urged me to tell him whether the
above-mentioned nations made war with China with
our consent or of their own free will. ' In any case,'
continued the prince, ' it was only the exceeding kind-
ness of our Emperor that allowed these barbarians
to depart from beneath the walls of his capital with-
out being destroyed to a man ; as a punishment for
their savagery they had to pay a large contribution.' '^

^ At Tientsin, in July 1870, the common people rebelled, killed
twenty Frenchmen and three Russians ; the latter were accidentally
among the number. The instigators of this tumult assured the people
that the French Sisters of Mercy, who undertake the education of
children, afterwards put out their eyes to obtain the liquid necessary
for the preparation of photographic likenesses. This report circulated
all through China, and was credulously believed.

'^ The opinion that during the last Anglo-French war with China
the Europeans, and not the Chinese, were the vanquished, is universal
throughout the whole of inner Asia, wherever we travelled. Sertainly

25б JVE PROCEED TO THE MOUNTAINS.

All this time our friends, the sons of the prince,
the Gigen and Siya, who were in the reception
chamber, made signs to us on their fingers, laughed,
and played all sorts of childish tricks whenever their
father's attention was turned another way. The
relations of the young princes to their father ap-
peared to be of the most servile character ; they
were terribly afraid of him, and obeyed all his
wishes unhesitatingly. The princes also kept up
an espionage, and were not ashamed even in our
presence to whisper to the lamas in attendance all
kinds of tittle-tattle and gossip about their father
and brother ; towards their inferiors they behaved
in the most despotic manner.

Our audience lasted about an hour. On taking
leave the prince gave the Cossack interpreter twenty
lans (5/.), and permitted us to hunt in the neighbour-
ing mountains. Thither we proceeded the following
day, pitching our tent at the summit of a pass near
the axis of the main rano-e. Our camels remained

о

in the town, in the charge of Sordji and the Cossack,
who was again taken ill more seriously than before ;
the chief cause of his malady was home-sickness.
The prince sent us some guides and another lama,
probably to act as a spy on our movements.

The mountains to which we now removed are,

to the Asiatic mind an enemy who appears beneath the walls of a
hostile city and does not destroy it, is no victor, but rather the con-
quered party. The Chinese Government took advantage of this cir-
cumstance to spread the report among their faithful subjects of their
victory over the Europeans. [Yet they can scarcely have suppressed
the knowledge of the destruction of the emperor's summer-palace ;
and thaf'just act of the English chiefs, which raised so unreasonable a
clamour, finds in the circumstances here stated a new justification. — Y.]

MOUNTAINS OF ALA-SHAN.

257

as we have said, about ten miles from the town
of Din-yuan-ing, and form the boundary between
Ala-shan and the province of Kan-su. The whole
range is known under the name of Ala-shan. It
rises from the very shore of the Hoang-ho, opposite
to where the Arbus-ula mountains in Ordos abut
on the river, i.e. about fifty-five miles south of the
town of Ding-hu. From this point the range
we are describing extends, from north to south,
along the left bank of the River, from which it
gradually diverges. The total length of the whole
range, according to the Mongols, is about 150 miles,
but its width is very inconsiderable, and about the
centre does not exceed seventeen miles. These
mountains, however, rise abruptly from the valley,
and are wild and alpine in character, especially on
their eastern slopes, which are girt with enormous
perpendicular cliffs, 700 to 800 feet in height, and
seamed with deep valleys, in fact are marked with
all the features of wild alpine scenery. No solitary
peaks tower above the chief axis of the rano-e the
highest points of which are Bayan Tsiimdin- and
Biigutiii, about its centre. The former of these
mountains is 10,600 feet high, the latter about 1,000
feet higher. But between these two mountains the
range subsides sufficiently to allow of a pass, the
only one across it, by which the road leads to the
large Chinese town of Ning-hia-fu.

Notwithstanding their height, the mountains of
Ala-shan nowhere attain the limit of perpetual snow.^

^ In September, when we saw the Ala-shan mountains for the first
VOL. I. S

258 MOUNTAINS OF ALA-SHAN;

Even on the highest summits the snow all melts in
spring, although it sometimes falls in May and June,
when it is raining on the neighbouring plains. The
rain and snowfall on these mountains is very large,
although running water is remarkably scanty ; even
springs are rare, and according to the Mongols only
two running streams of any size occur in the whole
range.^ This phenomenon is attributable to the
wall-like steepness of these mountains, which do
not retain the moisture for sufficient time to allow
of the formation of rivers. The torrents, which
owe their short-lived existence to the heavy rains,
descend headlong to the neighbouring desert, and
are lost in the sands or form temporary lakes on
the clay flats ; but as soon as the rain ceases they
disappear as suddenly as they were created.

The narrow, but at the same time lofty and
rocky, chain of the Ala-shan mountains has been
elevated by subterranean agency, and stands like a
rampart in the midst of surrounding plains, exhibit-
ing a peculiar formation, and forming quite a distinct
group, as far as we could learn, unconnected with
the ranges of the Upper Hoang-ho ; it terminates
in the sandy deserts in the south-eastern corner of
Ala-shan. The chief rocks in these mountains are l
slates, limestone, felspar, felspathic porphyry, granu-

time, snow lay on some of the peaks on the northern side ; from the
end of that month snow, accompanied by rain, ahvays fell in the upper
and central zone of the mountains.

' Both these streams have their sources in Mount Bugutui. One
of them, the Bugutui-gol, flows to the west, and the other, the
Keshiklch-Murren, to the eastern slope of the mountains. On leaving
tlie mountains both these streams are lost in the desert.

THEIR TREES AND BIRDS. 259

lite, gneiss, micaceous sandstone, and, the later vol-
canic formations ; on the summit of Mount Bugutui
the rocks are partly of quartzose conglomerate.
Excellent coal-beds have been opened in the Ala-
shan range. ^

The borders of the mountains of Ala-shan near-
est to the plains are only covered with grass and
small rare underwood, but at a height of about 7,500
feet on the western slopes there are forests consist-
ing of spruce interspersed with poplar and willow.
On the eastern side the forests probably begin lower
down, but the prevailing trees even here are small
poplars, Avith a sprinkling of white birch, pine, and
arborescent juniper. The thick underwood of these
forests is chiefly composed of spiraea and hazel, and
in the upper zone of prickly Ca7^agana jtibata, called
by the Mongols ' camel's tail ; ' the highest parts of
the mountains are covered with alpine pastures.^

Formerly a good number of Mongols lived in
these mountains, and three temples were erected
there, but these have been destroyed by the Dungans.

The ornithological fauna of the Ala-shan range,
contrary to our expectations, was very poor, chiefly
owing, in my opinion, to the want of water. On the
occasion of our first visit the season was the middle
of autumn, and a large number of birds had flown
south, but in the summer of 1873 we found a similar
scarcity of birds here.

^ Before the Dungan ravages the coal was worked in small
quantities by the Chinese.

^ A more detailed description of the flora of the Ala-shan
mountains will be given in Volume II. Chapter VIII.

S 2

2бо BIRDS OF ALA-SHAN MOUNTAINS.

The most remarkable of the native birds of the
Ala-shan mountains is the long-eared pheasant {Cross-
optilon aitriiwn), called by the Mongols kara-takia,
i.e. black hen. It belongs to a peculiar species, dis-
tinguished from other pheasants by a bunch of long
feathers in the back of the head, like the ears of an
owl ; the kara-takia is much larger than the common
pheasant, has strong legs, and a large roof-shaped
tail, the four central feathers of which are long and
pennated. The general colour of the plumage is
leaden blue ; the feathers of the tail are white near
the root, turning to steel colour at the ends. The
long ear feathers and throat are white ; the bare skin
on the cheeks and the legs red. The plumage of
the hen bird is exactly similar to that of the male.
The long-eared pheasants keep in small coveys in
autumn, of about four to ten birds in each, in
coniferous and deciduous forests. The Mongols
said that formerly there were many more of these
birds in the Ala-shan mountains ; but in the snowy
winter of 1869-70 a large number died from star-
vation and cold ; however, the kara-takia are still
sufficiently numerous.

We also saw the vulture ( ViiltiLr monachus)^ the
lammergeier {Gypactos barbahis), the wall-creeper
{ TicJiodroma mitrarid), the Siberian tit [Pcecile cinda), |!
the nut-hatch [Sida villosa), the greenfinch {Hesperi-
phona specnligej'd), Pterorhiims Davidii, jackdaws, :i
and two kinds of partridges {Pcrdix barbata and P. j |
cJuikor). Of migratory birds in llic end of September l|
we only saw the red-throated tln'usli [lltrdiis ri(Jl-\[

I

MAMMALS OF ALA-SIIAN. 261

CO His), RiUicilla erytlwogastra, Accentor montanellus,
Nemiira cyahura. The flight of birds of passage
was nearly over by this time, the grass was withered,
the leaves on the trees and bushes turned yellow or
fallen off ; snow fell instead of rain ; frosts set in
every night, and the depth of autumn had settled
on the mountains.

The Mammalia are even less varied than the
birds ; but their want of variety is compensated for
by their numbers, especially of the larger animals.
During the whole of our stay in these mountains
on both occasions we only found eight kinds of
mammals, viz. the deer [Cervus sp.), chiefly inhabit-
ing the pine forests on the western slopes, musk-
deer {bloschus moschiferiLs), mountain sheep {Ovis
Biirrhcl), called by the Mongols hikiiyaman, i.e.
blue goat, in great numbers on the eastern and
more rocky side of the range. Among animals of
prey are wolves, foxes, and polecats {M2istelci sp.) ;
among Rodentia a species of Lagomys and mouse
{]\Ius sp.) ; and the Mongols assured us that in the
northern unwooded parts of the range there are
also argali.

Deer are plentiful in the Ala-shan mountains,
where they are strictly preserved by order of the
prince. They are nevertheless killed secretly, es-
pecially in summer, at the season of the growth
of the young horns, so valuable in China. While
we were in the mountains it was the rutting season
of the deer, and the loud call-note of the males
resounded in the forests day and night. I need

2б2 THE KJJKU-YAMAN, OR

not dwell on the impression these sounds produced
on my companion and myself. From early morning
till late at night we climbed the mountains in pursuit
of the wary animals, and at length shot an old buck,
whose skin we prepared for our collection. Still
more excitinof was the chase after the mountain
sheep inhabiting the Ala-shan range in great
numbers, especially the wildest parts of the upper
belt of the mountains. This animal is not much
larger than the ordinary sheep. The colour of its
Avool is a tawny grey or tawny crimson ; the upper
part of the face, the chest, fore part of the legs, the
line marking the division of the sides from the
stomach, and the tip of the tail, black ; the belly
white, the hinder part of the legs yellowish white.
The horns are large in proportion to their size, and
curve upwards from the base with points twisted
back. The ewes are smaller than the rams ; the
black marks on their bodies not so dark, and the
horns small and almost upright.

The kuku-yamans live singly, in pairs, or in
small herds of five to fifteen. As an exception
they sometimes collect in large numbers, and my
companion once saw a herd of a hundred. One or
more of the males act as sentinels and protectors
to the rest. On the approach of danger they at
once give the alarm with a loud short whistle, so
like a man's that at first I mistook it for the signal
of a hunter.

A startled sheep rushes headlong up the rocks,
wliicli are often quite preci])itous. and it is astonish-

MOUXTAIN SHEEP. 263

ing to see the activity with which so large an animal
climbs the most inaccessible places. The smallest
ledge serves as a foothold for the kukii-yaman on
which he can balance his body on his thick legs.
Sometimes when a stone gives way under the weight
of the animal, and rolls down the precipice with a
loud noise, you expect the sheep to go down after
it, but the next minute it leaps over the rocks as if
nothing had happened. On seeing the hunter the
kuku-yaman whistles two or three times, and after
a few bounds stops to see луЬепсе the danger pro-
ceeds. He then offers a fair mark for the bullet ;
only you must not delay, otherwise, after remaining
stationary a few seconds, he will continue his flight.
When undisturbed the kuku-yaman generally moves
at a footpace or slow canter, sometimes holding his
head down.

The kuku-yaman is generally very wary and
never allows anything suspicious to approach it. Its
organs of scent, hearing, and sight are admirably
developed ; it is impossible to come лvithin 200
paces of it downwind. Before evening it seeks its
favourite alpine meadows to graze, and in the morn-
ing when the sun is high again returns to its native
rocks. Here it will take up a position on some
ledee and remain as motionless as a statue, now and
then turning its head from side to side. I have seen
the animal at such moments of repose on a shelving
ledge of rock with its hind quarters reared above its
head, and yet apparently perfectly at its ease. About
mid-day these sheep generally rest on the ledges of

2б4 MOUNTAIN SHEEP.

rock, in summer more often on the northern side,
probably for the sake of coolness ; here they will lie
on their side, stretch out their legs like a dog, and
doze.

The pairing season of these animals, according
to the Monofols, is in November, and lasts about a
month. At such times the call-note of the males is
very similar to the bleating of goats, and may be
heard day and night ; at this season they fight
furiously with one another. But they often fight
at other times, and the ends of the horns of full-
grown males are constantly broken owing to their
pugnacious disposition. The young mountain sheep
are born in May and remain with the mother till
the next rutting season.

The chase after the kuku-yaman is exceedingly
difficult, but some of the Ala-shan Mongols are
expert hunters, and kill them with their match-
locks. The inferiority of their guns is compen-
sated for by a perfect knowledge of the country
and habits of the animal. A full-grown ram yields
about seventy-two pounds of meat ; in autumn they
are very fat and their flesh good to eat. The skins
are sewn into bags and articles of clothing by the
Mongols.

During our excursion in these mountains my
friend and I passed days together in the chase.
Ignorant of the locality, I provided myself with a
Mongol hunter as a guide who was thoroughly
acquainted with the mountains and tlie habits of
the kuku-yamans. At early dawn we would leave

FINE VIEW. LOOKING FOR GAME. 265

our tent and ascend to the summit of the moun-
tain ridge by the time the sun showed itself above
the horizon. On a clear still morning the panorama
which lay beneath us on both sides of the mountains
was enchanting. On the east glistened the riband-
like stream of Hoang-ho, and the numerous lakes
round the town of Ning-hia-fu sparkled like bril-
liants ; on the west the sands of the desert faded
from view in a broad yellow band dotted with
verdant oases of clay-soil like islands in the sea of
sand. The surrounding stillness was unbroken save
by the occasional bleat of the deer callinor hjg mate.

J О

After a short rest we would make our way
cautiously towards the nearest crags of the eastern
slope of the mountains, where the mountain sheep
are most abundant. On comincj to the edofe of a

О о

cliff my guide and I would stretch out our heads
and peer down below. After carefully scanning all
the ledges and clumps of bushes we would drag
ourselves forward on hands and knees and then
take another brief survey. This would be repeated
at each cliff or rather at each precipitous bluff of
rock. Often not satisfied with only looking we
would listen attentively for the noise made by the
footsteps of the animal or a loose stone detached
from its place by his hoof. Now and then we our-
selves would roll large stones down to the Avooded
ravines to startle our quarry from his covert. It
was a fine sight to watch the downward flight of one
of these pieces of rock. Barely clinging to the side
of the cliff the mass yielded to a slight effort. Slowly

2бб DANGEROUS STALKING.

severing itself from the parent rock it would begin
rolling gradually, but every second its impetus in-
creased until at last the rock entered the ravine with
the noise and speed of a thunderbolt, breaking great
trees in its passage, and followed by a debris of
smaller stones which poured into the ravine with a
dull jarring noise. The valley re-echoed with the
sound, startled animals and birds left their haunts,
but in a few minutes all was still and quiet as before.

We passed many an hour in looking for moun-
tain sheep, without, however, finding them. You
must have the eye of a hawk to distinguish the grey
skin of the kuku-yaman from the rocks which are of
the same colour, or to detect the animal lying in the
bushes. My guide had wonderful sight ; he often
saw the horns of the animal at a distance of several
hundred paces, when I could not distinguish them
with a field-glass.

Then we would begin stalking. For this pur-
pose we had sometimes to make long circuits,
descending almost sheer precipices, now jumping
from rock to rock or across wide chasms, and now
clinging to the ledges of cliffs ; in fact, we were
on the brink of danger at every step. Hands were
often bleeding from cuts and scratches, boots and
clothes torn, but all was soon forgotten in the
hope of bagging the coveted animal. But, alas ! how
often these expectations were cruelly disappointed,
when as we were stalking our quarry another kuku-
yaman chanced to see us and gave warning to his
mate, or a stone giving way under our feet warned

TROUBLE REWARDED. 267

the wary animal of impending danger, and in a
moment he was out of sight. How can I de-
scribe our disappointment ! all our labour was spent
in vain, and we had to recommence our work, i.e.
look and listen for other kuku-yamans.

But then when everything went smoothly, and
we were fortunate enough to get within 200 or 1 50
paces of the sheep, with Avhat a beating heart would
I lean my rifle on a projecting ledge and aim ! In a
moment the report of the discharge rolled through
the ravines of the wild mountains, and the kuku-
yaman, pierced with the shot, fell on a rock, or
rolled down into the valley below, leaving a bloody
trail behind it. Sometimes, if only wounded, the
wild sheep would start off, then a second bullet from
my rifle laid it low on the spot. This animal is,
however, difficult to kill, and will often escape
though mortally wounded.

■ As soon as we had descended to the slaughtered
sheep we cut it up, the Mongol taking as his share
the entrails, &2. ; then tying the legs of the animal
together, he would throw it over his shoulder, and
we would start for camp heavily laden. When
the droughts in spring parch up all the grass on the
mountains, the kuku-yamans feed on the leaves of
the trees, and will even spring on to the trees for
this purpose. Of course this may be an exceptional
case; but I myself, in May 1871, saw two of these
animals on a wide-spreading elm fourteen feet from
the ground, on a spur of the mountains bordering
the left bank of the Hoang-ho.

2б8 '• EXCITING INCIDENT.

The kuku-yamans are, as we have stated, active
dimbers, but they sometimes find themselves in an
awkward position. Thus in the mountains round
Lake Koko-nor I once surprised a herd of twelve
on a gigantic cliff. How they got there I cannot to
this day explain, because the rock was perfectly pre-
cipitous on three sides, and on the fourth covered
with loose detritus, which could have borne nothing
larger than a mouse. Parallel with this rock, and
lOO paces distant from it, was another one more
accessible, whence I suddenlv cauo-ht siorht of the
game. An old ram stood exactly facing me, on a
narrow ledge just wide enough for his feet to rest
on. I fired, and my shot struck him behind the
chest. He stood for a few moments tottering on the
verge of the precipice. At length his strength failed
him ; first one foot, then another, gave way, and the
handsome beast fell headlong down a chasm 400
feet deep. Sullen echoes resounded as he fell. The
frightened herd did not know what to do, and after
making a few bounds along the edge of the cliff,
stopped. Another shot was fired, and a ewe this
time fell into the same chasm into which the ram
had preceded her.

It was an extraordinary sight. I myself could
not help feeling moved at seeing two of these large
animals fall headlong into the depths below. But
the excitement of the chase prevailed. Again I
loaded my rifle, and again sent two shots into the
herd, now more than ever alarmed. In tliis way I
fired seven times, till the animals were driven to

RETURN TO DIN-YUAN-IXG. 269

their last desperate extremity. They sHpped down
the side of the chff, and jumped from a ledge eighty
feet high.

Besides the Ala-shan mountains, the mountain
sheep are found in great numbers in the range
bounding the valley on the left bank of the northern
bend of the Hoang-ho, but they do not inhabit
the Munni-ula, or the other more northerly moun-
tains of Mongolia. Towards the south this animal
is very often met with in the mountains round Lake
Koko-nor and in Northern Tibet, but here it as-
sumes a different shape, and may be a separate
species.

After a fortnight's stay in the Ala-shan moun-
tains, we returned to Din-yuan-ing ; here we deter-
mined to retrace our steps to Peking, in order to
obtain fresh supplies of money, and other necessaries
for a new journey. Unpleasant as it was, we were
obliged to give up our intended journey to Lake
Koko-nor, which was only 400 miles distant, i.e.
less than a month's journey. Notwithstanding all
our care, amounting almost to stinginess, луе had
less than a hundred lans (20/.) left in money on
entering Ala-shan, and it was only by selling our
merchandise and two guns that we could get enough
money for the return journey ; our Cossacks, too,
proved untrustworthy and lazy, and Avith such a
staff we could not undertake a new journey more
difficult and dangerous than the one we had accom-
plished. Lastly, my passport from Peking only
allowed me to <^о as far as Kan-sii, and we mioht.
therefore, be refused admittance to that province.

270 COMPELLED TO TURN BACK.

With deep feelings of regret, which can only be
understood by the man who has reached the thresh-
hold of his desires, without having the means of
crossing it, I was compelled to submit to necessity
and turn back.

NOTES.

[All iVoles signed V. arc by Colo7iel Ytile, the remainder are by Mr. Morgan. ]

GREAT FLOODS IN CHINA.
Page 193.

The Chinese annalists in the Shuking of Confucius re-
late, that in the sixty-first year of the great Emperor Yao
{B.C. 2297), a contemporary of Abraham, a disastrous flood
occurred, the waters of the Hoang-ho uniting with those of
the Yang-tse-kiang, submerging the whole of the inter-
vening country and putting a stop to agriculture and
industry. The efforts of the Emperor and his great officers
of state were directed to find some means of checking the
floods and alleviating the wide-spread distress of the popu-
lation ; and Pere Mailla, who visited these localities and
compared them with the Chinese maps, was astonished at
the gigantic nature of the works for draining the inundated
districts, of which traces remained even in his time. How
this great flood originated and what was the cause of it,
history gives no clue; and few scientific travellers have,
hitherto, visited the vast deserts lying to the north-west of
the Hoang-ho. Is it not possible that the great migration
of people, alluded to in the writings of Confucius, may in
some way be connected with these early traditions } At
all events, taking into consideration the sudden and des-
tructive inundations in the lower course of the Hoang-ho in
more recent times, and the terrible earthquakes to which
China was subject in A.D. 1037, we cannot regard the great
flood of China as an absolute impossibility, although
science may throw more light on the subject hereafter.

The earlier inundation, referred to in the note, is of
purely legendary origin. The time assigned for its occur-

272 NOTES.

rcncc, by Chinese writers, is about coincident with the
Great Deluge. It is related that during the Fu-shi
dynasty (3100 B.C.), a rebel of the name of Kung-kung
caused a great inundation. This is an allegorical imper-
sonation of the Evil spirit in the following legend, quoted
by Klaproth : — Kung-kung proceeded with Chuan-shu to
conquer the world ; in his rage he struck a tremendous
blow at Mount Pu-shan, Avhich broke the pillars supporting
the heavens and tore asunder the bands confining the
earth. The heavens fell on the north-west, and part of the
earth split off in a south-east direction, causing a great
inundation, and this devastated the north-west of Central
Asia and swept away the south-eastern part of the conti-
nent ; the remains of which are the Australian islands of
the present day.'

THE GANDJUR OR KANJUR. THE SACRED

LITERATURE OF ТП5ЕТ.

P. 211.

The collection of sacred books — the Tibetan Bible, is
entitled Kanjnr, i.e. Translation of the Word (of Buddha).
It was translated entirely from Sanskrit originals in the
eighth and ninth centuries, w^hen the canon was closed.
It consists of 100 volumes, in some editions extending to
108 vols. — oblong folios of separate leaves, 400-700 in each
volume, unbound, placed between two rough boards, and
fastened with a rude strap and buckle. The Kanjur con-
tains not less than 1083 distinct works, which relate to the
teachings of Buddha, and which were set down by three of
his disciples, and after certain revisions formed into the
present codex. It is divided into seven parts, each con-'
taining several volumes.

In addition to this great compilation — the Bible of the
Lama JiicrarcJiy, — the Tibetans possess a still greater col-
lection, called the Taiijuv, i.e. Translation of Doctrine, in
225 folio volumes. This, however, is not included in the

' See Ritter's ' Erclkunde von Asian,' i. 158-160. — Deguignes' 'Hist,
des Huns,' t. i. p. 7.

NOTES. 273

canon. It may be looked upon as a body of divinity,
ethics, philosophy, grammar, logic, rhetoric, poetry, prosody,
medicine, and alchemy, for the information of the Lamas.
It probably corresponds to the Atthakathas of the Southern
Buddhists, the Singhalese, Burmese, and Siamese — but the
Tanjur is much more extensive. It consists of two
divisions, printed in the rudest manner in some editions, but
some beautiful manuscripts exist of parts of each. The
value differs according to the ink with which the manu-
script is produced ; a copy in red is 108 times more
precious and efficacious than one in black ; in silver, 108
times more availing than one in red ; in gold, 108 times
more effectual than in silver.

The Kanjur is found in many editions not only issued
from Peking, Lhassa, Teshu Lumpo, Kunbum, and other
sacred cities, but also from the presses in various monas-
teries.

The Tanjur is very rarely met with. It appears to
have been printed for the first time in 1 728-1 746. Foucaux
says that the collection was in existence in the beginning of
the seventeenth century.

An ordinary copy of the Kanjur cost a few years ago,
in Peking, 150/. The edition of the Emperor, Kien-long,
was valued at 2,000 ounces of silver (600/.). M. Vassiliefif
paid for a copy of the Tanjur at Peking only 700 silver
roubles (100/.). The Buriat tribe obtained a copy of the
Kanjur for 7,000 oxen, and copies of the Kanjur and
Tanjur together for 12,000 silver roubles. Complete copies
of both these works are deposited in the Library of the
India Office, having been given to the late Hon. East India
Company by their agent, the resident in Nepaul, Mr. Brian
H. Hodgson, to whom the Grand Lama presented them in
appreciation of Mr. Hodgson's tolerant spirit and manner
of treating with the Tibetan Buddhists.'

* See 'The Phcenix,' vol. i. p. 10, <яп article by the editor, the
Rev. J. Summers ; from which I have summarised the above par-
ticulars.—I\I.

VOL. I. T

274

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.

Volume I. Page 6.

Colonel Prejevalsky here, and I think elsewhere, gives
Daban as the Mongol equivalent for ' mountain range.'
In this I cannot but think he is mistaken. Ddbdn in
oriental Turki (and presumably in Mongol, if it be a Mongol
word also) means, not a 7'ange, but a pass, or what is in
Savoy called a col. Thus, on one of the routes from India
to Yarkand there is a pass called the YangJii Ddbdn,
' the New Pass.' ' New Range ' would be nonsense ; but
' Yanghi-daban-Range,' as some maps have it, is lawful
nomenclature.

The Pass is that feature in a mountain range which
most interests travellers, and which they hear most fre-
quently named ; passes always have names ; ranges,
among people who have no books of geography, are apt to
have none. Hence, with imperfect knowledge of the
language, it gets assumed that the name of a Pass is the
name of a Range.

This occurs in various languages. In maps of China
we find mountain ranges called by such names as Pe-ling
and Tsin-ling, as if /i//g were ' mountain range.' But /ing
is * a pass.' Tsin-ling-j-Z/^;/, ' the mountain of the Tsin
Pass,' would be right. Hue, again, in spite of all the
monstrous Tibetan passes that he traversed, never dis-
covered that La in Tibetan meant a Pass and not a moun-
tain. And this leads him to his preposterous derivation
of Potala, or as he chooses to call it BonddJia-La, the
Vatican of the Dalai-Lama, from Buddha-La, ' mountain of
Buddha ' (the words would really mean ' Buddha Pass '), with
which it has as much to do as Ben Nevis with the hill-

к

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES. 275

country of Benjamin, or cream of tartar with Crim Tar-
tary.'

Somewhat in hke manner we have come to call various
chains of mountains in India the Western Ghats, Eastern
Ghats, and so forth ; and I have seen it stated in a geo-
graphy-book that Ghat means mountain. But Ghat really
means a Pass. The plateau above and the plain below
those passes луеге respectively known to the Mahommedan
rulers as Bald-ghat and PAyiii-ghdt, ' Above the passes '
and ' Below the passes.' Hence the Portuguese, and after
them the English, attached the idea of moiintain range to
the word Ghat. — [Y.]

GIGEN.
P. 12.

This is the word used by our author for those ordinary
' incarnate ' Lamas whom Hue calls CJiaberons. The word
is Mongol, and we find it thus explained in Kovalefsky's
Dictionary : ' GhegJicn . . . eclat, splendeur ; . . . brillant
. . . personne venerable ; titrc honorairc dim grave per-
sonnage' Gegen KJiutnktu is one of the formal titles of the
Great Lama at Urga spoken of in the text.^ — [Y.]

^ Buddhala is however older than Hue, for I see it is alluded to
by I. J. Schmidt in his Forschungen, &c., 1824, p. 209.

The origin of the application of the name Potala, or Potaraka,
to the palace of the Grand Lama seems a little obscure. The name
is the same as that of the city in Sindh (Haidarabad), which the
Greeks called Pattala. Koeppen says that, according to legend, the
Sakya family, i.e. the family of Buddha, originally sprang thence.
According to Buddhist stories there were two other sacred hills of this
name. The first rose out of the Western Sea, and bore on its summit
a celestial palace which served as a rest-house to the Bodhisatvas on
their errands to earth. This is the true and heavenly Potala. Another
lay in the China Sea opposite Chekiang, and is in fact the famous
ecclesiastical island of Puto near Chusan.

'^ See Koeppen, Lamaismus, yjb.

27б SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.

PEHLING AND FANQUI.
P. 41.

«

The footnote here, which says * Pehling is the Chinese
for EngHshmen, Fan-qui for Frenchmen,' needs correction.
Fan-Kivci is simply the term usually rendered ' foreign
devils/ and is applied to Europeans generally. Pe-ling
appears to be a corruption of the Western Asiatic Firingi,
i.e. ' a Frank,' a term which in some older Chinese notices
appears in the form Fn-lang. Pe-ling; or pJiilmg, we know
from Huc,^ Hodgson, and Edgar ^ is the name which the
Chinese at Lhassa give to the English in India, and it per-
haps came to them through the Kashmiris and other
Mahommedan traders to Lhassa.

' PcJi-ling Fan-q2ii^ in the comprador's utterance quoted,
means, I imagine, ' the Frank foreigners ' who come by
sea, in contradistinction to the Russ foreigners who come
by land, and Avith whom the Chinese perhaps recognise
something more of affinity. — [Y.]

KUMIZ AND DARASUN.

P. 54.

Col. Prejevalsky makes these two drinks identical, but
he is surely wrong. Dardsnn is the Chinese rice-wine,
or something analogous. Kovalefsky gives ' Darasonn,
Chinese hoang-tsieou . . . des boisson fortes ; vin
ordinaire fait avec des grains ; vin jaune.' William de
Rubruk gives a catalogue of Mongol drinks in the following
words : — ' Tunc ipse fecit a nobis queri quid vellemus
bibere, utrum vinum vel terraciiiam \_dards//;i], hoc est cer-
visiam de risio, vel caracosmos \kara-kiimiz\ hoc est clarum
lac jumenti, vel bal, hoc est medonem de melle. Istis enim
quatuor potibus utuntur in hyeme ' (p. 305-6). — [Y.]

* ' Pc'lins de Calcutta ' (ii. 265).

^ Hodgso7i's Essays, p. 68 ; Rep. on Sikhim and Thibtian Frontier,
Calcutta, 1874, p. 17.

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES. 277

TARTAR MANNERS AT FOOD.

P. 56.

The uncleanly modes of Tartar eating impressed me-
dieval travellers as much as the moderns : ' And after
they have eaten, or even whilst in the middle of their
eating, they lick their fingers with tongue and lips, and
wipe them on their sleeves, and afterwards, if any grease
still remains upon their hands, they wipe them on their
shoes. And thus do the folk over all those countries,
including western and eastern Tartars, except the Hindus,
who eat decently enough, though they, too, eat with their
hands.' '— [Y.]

MONGOL ORIENTATION.
P. 64.

It seems likely that Colonel Prejevalsky has made
some mistake about this right-hand and left-hand matter,
from the want of good interpreters. Even if the fact were,
as he says, that the Mongols never say * to the right ' or
* to the left,' but only ' to the east * or 'to the west,' this
would be exactly what used to be alleged of North Britons,
among whom, in former days, Avhen a bench in church was
crowded, you might have heard a request for a neighbour
' to sit zvast a bit.'

If Colonel Prejevalsky will try to define the points of
the compass to himself, he will find that rigJit and left, with
respect either to the rising or to the midday sun, are the
ideas on which the meaning of those points ultimately
depends.

Hence, in various languages we can trace that the words
implying either North and South or East and West, are
actually words properly meaning rigJit and left. E.g. in
Sanskrit we have Dakshina = * dexter,' but applied to the
south (whence Dcecan), though the corresponding sinister

' Friar yordaitKs, p. 10.

278 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.

Avith the meaning of ' north ' is lost. Klaproth {Asia Poly-
glotta) quotes the following explanation from a Mongol
vocabulary : — ' Dcdgnn {Dziin) ; the quarter in which the
sun rises is called Dziin, i.e. the Left hand. It is also
called Doroiia! And it is easy to understand how the
Mongols, whose tents always faced the south,^ should make
the east left and the west right. Tibet Proper was called
by the Mongols Baron-tala, the Right, i.e. West quarter,
whilst Mongolia was Dznn-tala, the Left, i.e. East quarter.^
It is not so easy to understand how Dzungaria (Dzun-
gar = Left-hand) got its name, for that region is the most
westerly part of Mongolia.^

The foregoing remarks indicate a probability that the
Mongols of whom our author speaks were using the words
right SiVidi left in their proper sense when he supposed them
to be using the words east and zvest.

What Colonel Prejevalsky means by the Mongol north
being our south I do not understand. In Chinese maps,
as in our own medieval maps, I believe the south is gene-
rally at the top ; and in the Chinese compass the needle is
regarded as pointing south. To these circumstances per-
haps he refers. — [Y.]

THE CHINESE YEAR.
P. 6s.

The author's account of this matter is far from exact.

There are 1 2 ' moons ' or months in the ordinary year.
These are some of 29 and some of 30 days, not alternat-
ing, but regulated by certain fixed rules, and the common

'^ Marco Polo, bk. i. ch. lii.

^ Ibid., 2nd ed., i. 216.

' The fact stated in the following extract of a letter from Mr. Ney
Elias may be involved in the explanation : * throughout the Altai I
noticed that Khalkas, Kirghis, and Kalmucks all pitched their tents
facing East. The prevailing wind there, in winter, is from the west-
ward.' {Dated Aug. 2, 1873.) In such a region left would mean
north, and Kovalefsky does give Baron as signifying cote droitc, midi,
ou Occident.

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES. 279

year consists of 354 or 355 days. This, to keep the year in
accordance \vith the sun, demands the frequent intercala-
tion of an extra ' moon ; ' and of such intercalary moons
there are 7 in 19 years. Thus, in 7 years out of 19 the
year has 13 months. The year of 13 months consists of
384 or 385 days. This system of intercalation is believed
to date from more than 2000 years B.C.

The first day of the year is not, as with us, a fixed day,
but is a kind of movable feast, never the same two years
running. It is the first day of that lunation during which
the sun enters our sign Pisces. It may, therefore, be
any day between January 22 and February 20, inclusive.
Hence the first day of the year must be determined, before
the correspondence of the moons with our calendar can be
rightly assigned.

There originally was in all probability a year-cycle of
twelve years, but the cycle in use for ages is one of sixty
years. The years of the cycle are named by the combina-
tion of two series of characters, the one series being ten in
number, and the other twelve. I do not know the mean-
ing of the series of ten, which runs (i) Kea, (2) Yih, (3)
Ping, (4) Ting, &c. The series of twelve consists of the
names of animals, (i) Rat, (2) Ox, (3) Tiger, &c. If we
call the first series i, 2, 3, . . . 10, and the second series
a, b, c, . . . k, in naming the years of the cycle they begin
by combining the two series thus : — •

1st year ......... \a

2nd „ гЬ

3rd » у

and so on to . . . . . \oj

then

nth year . . . \h

1 2th „ zk

13th „ ъл

I4th „ \b

Thus after sixty combinations you arrive again at i л, which
is the first year of a new cycle.

This system is employed to express not only the years
of the cycle, but also months, days, and hours. It is applied

28o SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.

also to the points of the compass, and to any other expres-
sion of numbers in a series of ten or twelve.

And the Chinese days are not grouped into weeks of
seven days, with definite names, but by cycles of sixty
days.i— [Y.]

THE MONGOL ALPHABET.
P. 67.

So far as we know the earliest character employed by
the Mongols for writing their own language was that
which they borrowed from the Uighur Turks of the Kash-
gar country. This was the character commonly used in
the chancery of Chinghiz-Khan and his immediate succes-
sors. This Uighur character had been borrowed from the
old Syriac ; and as we find names in Syriac upon the
famous Christian monument of Singanfu (A.D. 781), there
can be little doubt that it had been introduced into Eastern
Turkestan by the Nestorian clergy.

A Lama, Saja Pandita by name, was employed at the
court of Kublai Khan (latter part of thirteenth century) in
modifying this Syro-Uighur alphabet so as to fit it better to
the Mongol language. He is said to have introduced the
system of connecting the letters by continuous lines from
top to bottom, ' like the marks cut on tally-sticks.' Some
have alleged that even the old Syriac was written vertically ;
but in any case the language of William de Rubruk (1253),
in speaking of the Uighur writing, most precisely describes
the vertical direction of the modern Mongol script. Saja
died before he had completed his alphabetic system.

His successor, Bashpa Lama, threw aside the Uighur
model, and invented a square character founded on a
Tibetan modification of the Dcvanagari. Kublai himself
persistently patronised this alphabet, and tried to force it
into use, but it took no root.

Kubla'i's successor, Temur or Oljaitu Khan, commis-

^ Substantially from Williams's Obscrvalioiis 0/ Comets . . . /rom
Chinese Atinals, \^j I.

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES. 281

sioned a relation of Saja, called Tsorji Osir, to translate
the Tibetan sacred books into Mongol, with the use of
Bashpa's alphabet. Finding this unmanageable, he reverted
to the Uighuresque characters of his kinsman Saja, with
some additions, but even so found it necessary to write
many whole words in Tibetan characters. Some years
later, in the reign of Khaishan or Jenezek Khan, the suc-
cessor of Temur (1307-13 11), who was a man of education,
the task was resumed ; and under his direction Tsorji
brought the Syro-Uighur alphabet to perfection. This is
substantially the character still in use among the Mongols,
though some additions have been since made to it. The
Manchu alphabet, again, was modelled upon this Mongol
one.i— [Y.]

THE KHATA {KHADAK), OR CEREMONIAL SCARF.

P- 73-

The fullest notice of this curious usage in polite inter-
course is given by Hue (ii. 85 scqq.) : —

' There are kJiatas of all sizes and prices ; for it is an
article that the poor can dispense with no more than the
rich. No one moves about without a little store of them.
If you go to pay a visit of ceremony, or to ask a favour of
anyone, or to return thanks for one received, you begin by
displaying the kJiata ; you take it in both hands and pre-
sent it to the person whom you wish to honour. If two
friends who have not met for a long time chance to for-
gather, their first care is the reciprocal offer of the khata ;
. . . also when a letter is written it is customary to fold up
along with it a small kJiata. The finest phrases, the hand-
somest presents, all are of no esteem without the khata ;
with it, the most ordinary objects acquire an immense
value . . . These khatas form an important branch of
commerce for the Chinese of Tang-keu-eur (Tonkir). The
Tibetan embassies never pass without carrying алуау a pro-
digious stock of them.' Bogle and Turner often mention
the thing, but not the name of khata. — [Y.]

' See Abel-Rc'musat, Langucs Tartarcs.

282 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.

ОМ MANE PADME HUM !
P. 76.

The following passages on this mystic formula are
partly from Koeppen's Lamaismiis (p. 5 9-60), and partly
from an excellent article on Tibet in the ' Calcutta Review/
by Mr. Wilfrid Heeley, of the Bengal Civil Service, in
which some paragraphs of Koeppen are condensed :

' Om mane padme hum ! — the primeval six syllables, as
the Lamas say, among all prayers on earth form that
which is most abundantly recited, written, printed, and
even spun by machines, for the good of the Faithful. These
syllables form the only prayer known to the ordinary
Tibetans and Mongols ; they are the first words that the
child learns to stammer, and the last gasping utterance of
the dying. The wanderer murmurs them on his way, the
herdsman beside his cattle, the matron at her household
tasks, the monk in all the stages of contemplation (i.e. of
far nientc) ; they form at once a cry of battle and a shout
of victory ! They are to be read wherever the Lama
Church hath spread, upon banners, upon rocks, upon trees,
upon walls, upon monuments of stone, upon household
utensils, upon strips of paper, upon human skulls and
skeletons ! They form, according to the idea of the be-
lievers, the utmost conception of all religion, of all wisdom,
of all revelation, the path of rescue and the gate of sal-
vation ! . . .

* Properly and literally these four words, a single utter-
ance of which is sufficient of itself to purchase an inestim-
able salvation, signify nothing more than : " О the Jewel in
the Lotus ! Amen !" In this interpretation, most probably,
the Jewel stands for the Bodhisatva Avalokite^vara, so
often born from the bud of a lotus flower. According to
this the whole formula is simply a salutation to the mighty
saint who has taken under his especial charge the conver-
sion of the North, and with him who fir.st employed it the
mystic formula meant no плохо. \hz.\\ Ave Avalokite(^vara !

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES. 283

But this simple explanation of course does not satisfy the
Lama schoolmen, who revel in glorifications and multitu-
dinous glossifications of this formula. The six syllables
are the heart of hearts, the root of all knowledge, the
ladder to re-birth in higher forms of being, the conquerors
of the five evils, the flame that burns up sin, the hammer
that breaks up torment, and so on. От saves the gods,
ma the Asuras, ni the men, pad the animals, me the spectre
world o{ prctds, Jnun the inhabitants of hell ! От is ' the
blessing of self-renunciation, ma of mercy, ni of chastity,
&c.' ' Truly monstrous,' says Koeppen, ' is the num-
ber of padmes which in the great festivals hum and buzz
through the air like flies.' In some places each worshipper
reports to the highest lama how many от manis he has
uttered, and the total number emitted by the congregation
is counted by the billion.

Grueber and Dorville describe Manipe as an idol, be-
fore which stulta gens insolitis gcsticnlationibiis sacra sua
facit., identidem verba hcec repetens : ' О Manipe, mi hum,
О Manipe, mi hum ; id est Manipe, salva nos ! ' — [Y.]

THE OBO.
P. 76.

Of the Obo, or sacred cairn of the Lamas, probably a
relic of their primeval superstitions, a representation is
given in Kircher's account of the journey of Grueber and
Dorville, who characterise it thus : ' Trophaea quae in sum-
mis montium cum adoratione magno Lamae diriguntur,
pro conservatione hominum et equorum.''

Turner describes such a trophmim on the boundary be-
tween Bhotan and Tibet. — [Y.]

^ China Illustrata, p. 70,

284 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.

TSAGAN BALGAS.
P. io6.

The Tsagan Balgassii, noticed in Mr. Morgan's footnote,
is a different place, being the CJiagan-iior of Marco Polo,
some 45 miles NVV. of Kalgan. CJiagJiaii BalgJiassiin, or
' White Town,' is a term applied by the Mongols to all
royal residences.'

The place mentioned in the text was on the banks of
the Shandu- (or Shangtu-) gol, immediately north of the
town of Dolon-nor ; and one at first supposes that it must
have been Kublai's famous summer palace of * Xanadu ' or
Shangtu, which almost occupies such a position, but is
nearer NW. than N. of Dolon-nor. Moreover, the place
stands on the left bank of the river, whereas we find
Prejevalsky's Tsagan Baigas by his map to be on the
right bank. I have little doubt that the site seen by
Prejevalsky was that of another of Kublai's foundations,
called in his day Langting, of which Dr. Bushell Avrote to
me : ' The ruins of the city are marked on a Chinese map
in my possession, Pai-dzeng-tzu,\.&. "White City," implying
that it was formerly an Imperial Residence. The remains
of the wall are seven or eight li in diameter (qy. circumfe-
rence ?), of stone, and situated about forty // NNW. from
Dolon-nor.' All the points named do not correspond, but
the name and position do seem to answer. — [Y.]

DUMB BARGAINING.
Г. 145.

This kind of dumb higgling by finger pressure inside a
sleeve or under a shawl, is found over all the longitude of
Asia, from Peking certainly to Bombay, and possibly to
Constantinople. I have suggested elsewhere ^ that a
rumour of the use of such a system among the Chinese

' See Marco Polo, 2ncl cd., vol. i. p. 287, and vol. ii. p. 9.
^ Marco Polo, 2nd ed., ii. 486.

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES. 285

might hav^e been confounded by Pliny with another system
of dumb bargaining, related of many uncivilised nations,
and have given rise to that strange statement of his about
the Seres.— \y:?[

SHAMBALING.
P. 253.

ShambJiala \ called in Tibetan hde-hbyung, vulgo de-
JHUg {' origin of happiness '), is a fabulous country in the
north, the capital of which was Kcilapa, a very splendid
city, and the residence of many illustrious kings of Sham-
bhala. It was situated beyond the Sita River, and the
augmentation of the length of the days from the vernal
equinox to midsummer amounted to twelve Indian hours
{gharis), or four hours forty-eight minutes.

The Sita is one of the four mighty rivers of the Hindu
mythological geography, into which the Ganges breaks
after falling upon earth. It is regarded in the Vishnu
Purana as flowing eastward, and would find its actual
representative in the Tarim, continued to the ocean in the
Hoang-ho ; and the Chinese traveller Hwen-thsang does
identify it thus. Csoma de Koros, however, interprets it in
the Tibetan legend as the Jaxartes, and calculates the lati-
tude of Kalapa as between 45° and 50".

According to some of the Tibetan books, Dazung, a
king of Shambhala, visited Sakya Muni, and the latter
foretold to him a great series of the kings to succeed him,
followed by the rise of Mahommedanism, and then by
the general re-establishment and diiifusion of Buddhism, —
a prophecy which one is sometimes tempted to think is
receiving its accomplishment in modern Europe. Some of
the Tantrika doctrines were said in Tibet to have come
from Shambhala.'

Sambhala is in Plindu mythology the place where

' See Csoma Kdriisi, in y. As. Soc. Bengal, ii. 57 &c. ; As. Rc-
si'anhes, чх. 488.

286 SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES.

Kalki, the final incarnation of Vishnu, is to appear. It is
identified by some with Sambhal, a very ancient Hindu
town in Rohilkhand, which occurs in Ptolemy's Tables.
We learn from Ibn Batuta that the last of the Mongol
emperors of China sent an embassy to Sultan Mahommed
Tughlak of Dehli, to obtain permission to rebuild a temple
at SamJial, near the foot of Himalya, whither his (Bud-
dhist) subjects used to go on pilgrimage. So it is pro-
bable that Sambhal may have been associated with these
Tibetan legends, though lying in a wrong direction from
Tibet.

When Mr. Bogle was at Tashi-lunpo the Teshu-Lama
desired him particularly to inquire from the Bengal pundits
about ' the situation of a town called Shambul ' {MarkJiam,
p. 1 68).

In reference to the apparent identification that had
been made between this mystic land of Shambaling and
our own Isle of the West, I am tempted to introduce here
(somewhat a propos dc bottcs, I confess) an anecdote ex-
tracted, once more, from the valuable letters of Mr. Ney
Elias, to whom I have been so much indebted in the com-
pilation of the Introductory Remarks to these volumes.
After speaking of a wide-spread belief among the Mongols,
and Chinese of Mongolia, in the existence of a race of
people in the Alatau range who have the bills of ducks,
my correspondent goes on : —

' What would a modern Japanese traveller, for in-
stance, say, if he were to hear from the natives of Northern
Mongolia that in unknown lands far to the westward, be-
yond the Aros (Russians) there existed a race called ///^//j',
who had but one leg of flesh whilst the other was of wood .-*
He would doubtless regard the story as of a piece with
that of the duck-headed mountaineers. . . . There has
lived at X for many years past one solitary English-
man in the person of Mr. Z Z , who has had the

misfortune to lose one of his legs, and who is well known
to the Mongols frequenting that border as an Inglis, or a
western man who is not a Russian. . . . On my late

SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES. 287

journey I met with a lama, a native of the neighbourhood

of X , who said he knew Mr. Z , the Inglis ; but

when told that I was a countryman of his, was disinclined
to believe it, on account of neither of my legs being of
wood ! '— [Y.]

END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.

LONDON : PRINTED СУ

SPOTTIS.VOODE AND CO., NEW-STREET SQUARE

AND PARLIAMENT STREET

I

UNIVERSITY of CALIFORNIA

AT

LOS ANGELES

UBRARY

(

uook is DUE on the last date stamped below.

^/

z^

\^

NON

MAR ii 0 1992
'^0UE2 WKS ГKG^1 D/ut RECEIVED

i " J.

!/

Form L9-Series 4939

^/„

^VlOSANCEL£X;

3 1158 00411 4822

UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY

AA 001 051 352 1

MAR

DUE 2 WKS FRO

APR

Form L9-Series 4939

^Л

^lOSANCEif г

3 1158 00411 4822

UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY

AA 001 051 352 i