INTRODUCTION 



rights over Mongolia are only such as she may 

 maintain by force — Mongolia having been tri- 

 butary to the Manchu and never to the Chinese — 

 is naturally resented by the Mongolians. Thus 

 we see armed bands of both nations lining the 

 present frontier, in many places far beyond the 

 Great Wall, while we hear of depredations and 

 incursions made by wild undisciplined horsemen, 

 who swoop down from the grassy plain or sandy 

 desert to burn, plunder and kill, returning 

 whence they came before the slow-moving Chinese 

 troops can offer resistance, or strike an effective 

 blow in return. 



The most recent political boundary between 

 Mongolia and China, that is the one extant before 

 the declaration of Mongolian Independence in 

 September 1911 and the present ensuing complica- 

 tions, extended from the border of Manchuria 

 near Liao-chou in the province of Feng-t'ien in a 

 west-south-westerly direction north of Lama Miao 

 (Dolon Nor) to the north-eastern corner of Shansi 

 province. Thence bearing more to the south, 

 it kept north and west of K'uei-hua-ch'eng, till 

 it reached the Yellow River near He-k'ou. From 

 here it followed the course of that river, running 

 due south as far as the north-eastern corner of 

 Shensi province. From this point on it coincided 

 with the course of the Great Wall, extending into 

 the heart of Asia, and terminating only with the 

 western boundary of Chinese Turkestan. 



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