THE NOMAD HERDSMEN AND HERDS OF THE STEPPES. 465 



biggish boy, rides on an ox beside his flock, but he understands so 

 well how to manage his steed and make it trot, that he can over- 

 take the fleetest goat. Once as we were returning from a hunting 

 expedition, we met a shepherd who, by way of amusement, rode 

 along for quite a quarter of an hour beside our briskly-trotting 

 horses, yet his singular steed showed no signs of fatigue. Only 

 the shepherds belonging to the Tartar sheep-owners ride on horses. 

 In hazardous parts of their journeys, such as crossing a rapid 

 stream, or climbing among the mountains, the goats take the lead, 

 and here, as everywhere else, the sheep follow them blindly. 



As hay can only be gathered and stacked in the most favoured 

 spots, the birth of lambs and kids in autumn is prevented; it there- 

 fore always takes place in spring, and the young ones have thus 

 every chance to thrive well and grow rapidly. New-born lambs 

 and kids are taken into the yurt at once, and they soon become so 

 well accustomed to it that they only quit the comfortable tent with 

 piteous bleatings when circumstances render it necessary. Later 

 on they are put into a shelter near the winter-dwelling. In the 

 open steppe this shelter is a simple hollow in the ground, over 

 which the cold wind blows almost unfelt; finally they are secured 

 to the rope called a kogon, which is stretched between strong poles 

 in front of every yurt. As soon as they begin to graze they are 

 driven out in flocks by themselves to the open steppe, and brought 

 back to the yurt towards evening. Thus they become accustomed 

 from their earliest youth to the free life of the steppes, to wind 

 and tempest, storm and rain. 



In comparison with horses, sheep, and goats, cattle play a very 

 subordinate part. Herds of them are certainly to be seen in the 

 neighbourhood of every aul, but they are quite out of proportion to 

 the numbers of sheep and goats. The ox is larger and better built 

 than that of the Russian and Siberian peasants, but it is far behind 

 the Chinese ox, and cannot for a moment be compared with any 

 noteworthy breed of Western Europe. It is of medium size and 

 fleshy, its coat is short and smooth -haired, its horns long and 

 curved, its prevailing colour a beautiful, warm red -brown. The 

 cattle are sent out to graze in rather large herds, with no super- 



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