VIII.] THE NORTHERN MONGOLS. 285 



Since their organization in Ainiaks and Koshungs, the Mongols 

 have ceased to be a terror to the surrounding peoples. The in- 

 cessant struggles between these tented warriors and the peaceful 

 Chinese populations, which began long before the dawn of history, 

 were brought to a close with the overthrow of the Zungarian 

 power in the i8th century, when their political cohesion was 

 broken, and the whole nation reduced to a state of abject help- 

 lessness, from which they cannot now hope to recover. The 

 arm of Chinese rule could be replaced only by the firmer grip 

 of the northern autocrat, whose shadow already lies athwart the 

 Gobi wilderness. 



Thus the only escape from the crushing monotony of a 

 purely pastoral life, no longer relieved by intervals of warlike 

 or predatory expeditions, lies in a survival of the old Shamanist 

 superstitions, or a further development of the degrading Tibetan 

 lamaism represented at Urga by the Kutukhtu, an 



Buddhism. 



incarnation of the Buddha only less revered than 

 the Dalai Lama himself 1 . Besides this High Priest at Urga, 

 there are over a hundred smaller incarnations Gigens, as they 

 are called and these saintly beings possess unlimited means of 

 plundering their votaries. The smallest favour, the touch of their 

 garments, a pious ejaculation or blessing, is regarded as a priceless 

 spiritual gift, and must be paid for with costly offerings. Even 

 the dead do not escape these exactions. However disposed of, 

 whether buried or cremated, like the khans and lamas, or exposed 

 to beasts and birds of prey, as is the fate of the common folk, 

 " masses," which also command a high price, have to be said for 

 forty days to relieve their souls from the torments of the Buddhist 

 purgatory. 



It is a singular fact, which, however, may perhaps admit 

 of explanation, that nearly all the true Mongol peoples have 

 been Buddhists since the spread of Sakya Muni's teachings 



1 It is noteworthy that Dalai, " Ocean," is itself a Mongol word, though 

 Lania, "Priest," is Tibetan. The explanation is that in the i3th century a 

 local incarnation of Buddha was raised by the then dominant Mongols to the 

 first rank, and this title of Dalai Lama, the ''Ocean Priest," i.e. the Priest of 

 fathomless wisdom, was bestowed on one of his successors in the i6th century, 

 and still retained by the High Pontiff at Lhasa. 



