322 UNKNOWN MONGOLIA 



and geese " flighted " out on to the boggy grass-land. 

 Owing to the laws of Buddhism, which prohibit the 

 unnecessary taking of life, and, no doubt, partly through 

 laziness, the natives on no account molest these wild- 

 fowl. The birds therefore show a marked indiffer- 

 ence to the presence of man, allowing a horseman to 

 ride within 50 yards of them, or less, without doing 

 more than raise their heads. But, as we soon discovered, 

 an attempt to approach them on foot was courting 

 failure, for they would not allow us within 200 yards. 

 The reason for this is that a Mongol hardly ever walks. 

 Even to go from one yurt to another, a distance of 

 perhaps not more than a few hundred yards, he will 

 always mount a horse, which is kept ready saddled 

 and tied to his yurt for the purpose. 



We devised a scheme at length, by which we were 

 able to secure several fine fat geese with a rook-rifle. 

 One would ride and lead the other's horse, taking a 

 line which would bring us within 50 yards of the flock. 

 Then the second, who had been walking concealed behind 

 the led horse, would fall to the ground behind some 

 slight cover, and get a steady shot, while the eyes of the 

 birds were on the retreating horses and man. 



In this district we came across an encampment of 

 Russians and Tartars. They had been travelling about 

 during the summer, trading with the natives, and had 

 collected large quantities of wool, hides, and marmot- 

 skins, in exchange for cloth, tobacco, cooking utensils, 

 etc., and sometimes for money. They were working 

 for one of the large merchants at Biisk. The profits 

 must have been very great. Take the marmot-skins, 

 for instance. They are purchased in thousands at an 

 absurdly low price (10 to 20 kopeks each), and sent 



