CHAPTER IX 



HUNTING ON THE TURIN PLAIN 



After ten days we left the "Antelope Camp" to visit 

 the Turin plain where we had seen much game on the 

 way to Urga. One by one our Mongol neighbors rode 

 up to say "farewell," and each to present us with a silk 

 scarf as a token of friendship and good will. We re- 

 ceived an invitation to stop for tea at the yurt of an old 

 man who had manifested an especial interest in us, but 

 it was a very dirty yurt, and the preparations for tea 

 were so uninviting that we managed to exit gracefully 

 before it was finally served. 



Yvette photographed the entire family including half 

 a dozen dogs, a calf, and two babies, much to their en- 

 joyment. When we rode off, our hands were heaped 

 with cheese and slabs of mutton which were discarded 

 as soon as we had dropped behind a slope. Mongol hos- 

 pitality is whole-souled and generously given, but one 

 must be very hungry to enjoy their food. 



A day and a half of traveling was uneventful, for 

 herds of sheep and horses indicated the presence of yurts 

 among the hills. Game will seldom remain where there 

 are Mongols. Although it was the first of July, we 

 found a heavy coating of ice on the lower sides of a deep 

 well. The water was about fifteen feet below the level 



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