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.^ 



