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 



