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.^\'. 



