2об VALLEY OF THE HOANG-HO. 



sheep or horse is placed near the dead man, and by 

 the morning it is all devoured. 



The Mongols reckon that 650 years have elapsed 

 since his death, leaving 150 to 350 years more before 

 his coming resurrection. The same people assert 

 that on the very day of the accomplishment of this 

 miracle, some hero will be born in China with whom 

 Chinghiz-Khan will do battle, subdue him, and lead 

 his people from Ordos to what is now called the 

 land of the Khalkas, the native country of the 

 Mongols. 



We could not discover the name of the temple 

 where Chinghiz-Khan is said to be buried. The 

 Mongols, for some reason or other, would not 

 divulge it. Great numbers of pilgrims annually 

 visit it. 



After ten days' halt near Lake Tsaideming-nor 

 we ascended the valley of the Hoang-ho. Our 

 first march was to the Kurei-hundu, and the second 

 to the Kurai-hundu, the last rivulet we saw in Ordos. 

 Both these streams flow from the interior of that 

 country ; they are neither wide nor deep, but their 

 current is very rapid and muddy ; after a fall of rain 

 the water is almost as thick as treacle. The Mon- 

 gols have also invented an explanation of this. 

 They say that owing to the muddiness of the Hoang- 

 ho, it will not receive any clear streams as tribu- 

 taries, and therefore the Tahilga flows into Lake 

 Tsaideming-nor instead of into the main river, which 

 rejects its transparent waters. 



We remained three days on the river Kurai- 



