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Photo Ijy Ktiian C. I.t- Munyon 

 PASSING A GROUP OF WILD HORSES, CU.MMU.XLV CAI.I.KD MOXGOUIAX PONIKS 



trol of jMongolia, time alone will tell ; but 

 for a long time Russia has cast a covet- 

 ous eye on it. 



The houses and business places in 

 Urga are surrounded with stockades of 

 large logs set on end and sharpened at 

 the tops in some cases, while in others 

 they are left square at the top. These 

 stockades are 15 to 20 feet in height and 

 afford effective protection against in- 

 truders and thieves. 



A common sight in the streets of Urga 

 is the Russian tarantass, a clumsy four- 

 wheeled cart without springs, to which 

 are hitched three horses abreast ; they 

 are extensively used to carry passengers 

 between Urga and towns on the northern 

 border. 



Urga is surrounded by high mountains 

 on all sides. One of these, Bodga Ol 

 (Buddha's Mountain), is heavily wooded 

 with forests of larch and no hunting is 

 allowed. In the districts between Urga 

 and Kiachta are extensive pine forests. 



Urga is without doubt one of the very 

 few cities seldom visited by the for- 

 eigner, as it is no holiday trying to reach 

 it even from the Transiberian Railway. 

 It means five or six days of continuous 

 traveling in a tarantass and by boat, 

 while to reach it from the China side it 

 is necessary to cross the Gobi Desert, a 

 distance of about 700 miles. 



The street scenes are many and varied. 

 The women ride past on swift-footed 

 Mongol ponies. Long lines of bullock 

 carts go by, in most cases loaded with 

 w'ood from the near-by mountains. Here 

 is also seen the Tibetan yak. used as a 

 beast of burden. The trade of the place 

 is in the hands of the Chinese, although 



there are a few Russian stores. The 

 Russian government has a consulate here 

 and a large garrison of soldiers. The 

 offices of a large gold mining company 

 are also located here, the mine being be- 

 tween Urga and Kiachta. 



WHAT THE LIVING BUDDHA IS LIKE 



About a week after our arrival the car 

 was delivered to the god, who enter- 

 tained us at lunch, if such it might be 

 called. We drove the car inside the 

 compound of the palace, which was a 

 sort of stockade built of logs set on end 

 (see page 668), and took some of his 

 chief officials for a drive outside, which 

 pleased them very much. 



After the business of turning over the 

 car had been completed, the god, through 

 his head lama, presented the writer with 

 a bolt of imperial yellow brocaded silk, 

 wrapped in a blue silk scarf. 



The god is about 40 years of age. His 

 appearance is not prepossessing. lie has 

 a bull neck and a hard-looking face and 

 seems more like a cut-throat than a holy 

 pontiff. He is almost blind. It may be 

 remarked here that blindness is a com- 

 mon complaint among the Mongols, and 

 while it is usually caused by a lack of 

 personal cleanliness, there are other 

 causes. The fuel burned in Mongol tents 

 is argol. or dried camel dung ; it is burned 

 in an open grate in the middle of the 

 tent, and the fumes cause an irritation 

 of the eyes as well as the lungs. This is 

 the only fuel on the Gobi ; even in Urga 

 it is burned in place of wood, as it is 

 cheaper. 



Some years ago the lUiddha was a gay 

 young spark, and although his morals 



663 



