CHAPTER XIII 



THE PASSING OF MONGOLIAN MYSTERY 



I know of no other country about which there is so 

 much misinformation as about Mongolia. Because 

 the Gobi Desert stretches through its center the popular 

 conception appears to be that it is a waste of sand and 

 gravel incapable of producing anything. In the pre- 

 ceding chapters I have attempted to give a picture of 

 the country as we found it and, although our interests 

 were purely zoological, I should like to present a few 

 notes regarding its commercial possibilities, for I have 

 never seen a land which is readily accessible and is yet so 

 undeveloped. 



Every year the Far East is becoming increasingly im- 

 portant to the Western World, and especially to the 

 people of the United States, for China and its depend- 

 encies is the logical place for the investment of Ameri- 

 can capital. It is the last great undeveloped field, and 

 I am interested in seeing the American business man 

 appreciate the great opportunities which await him in 

 the Orient. 



It is true that the Gobi Desert is a part of Mongolia, 

 but only in its western half is it a desolate waste; in the 

 eastern section it gradually changes into a rolling plain 



covered with "Gobi sage brush" and short bunch grass. 



175 



