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.] 



