76 ACROSS MONGOLIAN PLAINS 



dogs were in the midst of their feast and the sight was 

 most unpleasant. 



The dogs of Mongolia are savage almost beyond be- 

 lief. They are huge black fellows like the Tibetan mas- 

 tiff, and their diet of dead human flesh seems to have 

 given them a contempt for living men. Every Mongol 

 family has one or more, and it is exceedingly dangerous 

 for a man to approach a ywrt or caravan unless he is on 

 horseback or has a pistol ready. In Urga itself you will 

 probably be attacked if you walk unarmed through the 

 meat market at night. I have never visited Constanti- 

 nople, but if the Turkish city can boast of more dogs 

 than Urga, it must be an exceedingly disagreeable place 

 in which to dwell. Although the dogs live to a large ex- 

 tent upon human remains, they are also fed by the 

 lamas. Every day about four o'clock in the afternoon 

 you can see a cart being driven through the main street, 

 followed by scores of yelping dogs. On it are two or 

 more dirty lamas with a great barrel from which they 

 ladle out refuse for the dogs, for according to their 

 religious beliefs they accumulate great merit for them- 

 selves if they prolong the life of anything, be it bird, 

 beast, or insect. 



In the river valley, just below the Lama City, num- 

 bers of dogs can always be found, for the dead priests 

 usually are thrown there to be devoured. Dozens of 

 white skulls lie about in the grass, but it is a serious 

 matter even to touch one. I very nearly got into trouble 

 one day by targeting my rifle upon a skull which lay 

 two or three hundred yards away from our tent. 



