34 Prof. Milne — Across Europe and Asia. 



I left this religious Mongolian centre, whicli is the residence of 

 a living Budda, on Thursday the 16th of December. The valley by 

 which I made my exit was to the left, and at right angles to the 

 one by which I had entered. It was about three-quarters of a mile 

 broad, and was covered with large boulders and rounded stones. 

 Some of these were granite, others sandstones, and others, I think, 

 were limestone. There were also some chloritic crystalline rocks 

 like greenstone. Not long after leaving Urga, we led our camels 

 over the frozen waters of the Eiver Tola, which was apparently 

 made up of two streams, each about twenty yards in breadth. On 

 some of the hills, where steep scarps prevented an accumulation of 

 snow, red-coloured stratified rocks dipping towards the south were 

 visible. Before the end of the next day the trees, which had been 

 gradually becoming scarcer, entii'ely disappeared. With this dis- 

 appearance, the magpies, which had thus far accompanied us, also 

 disappeared, and all that we had left as companions were large 

 black ravens. The country was hilly, but smooth in outline, until 

 the morning of the 19th, when we entered a large plain, which was 

 brown with grass cropping up through a thin covering of snow. 

 The hills surrounding this plain, which was typical of the country 

 for several succeeding days, although not high, were very rugged. 

 On examination I found them to be made up of black, and in some 

 few cases reddish rocks of volcanic origin, which were apparently 

 basaltic. Where the snow had been blown away by the wind, 

 or worn away by trafiic, I often saw large quantities of agate, 

 jasper, and chalcedony, resulting from the decomposition of the 

 amygdaloidal portions of this rock. On the 22nd we reached a 

 village called l^eck-sha-buinta, where I narrowly escaped hostilities. 

 The country beyond this was very similar to that which I had just 

 been traversing. Most of the hills were low and undulating, but 

 some few rose to heights of about 400 feet, and had ragged 

 summits. In addition to the black basaltic rocks, there were now 

 some pinkish porphyritic felsites. Some of these were phonolitic, 

 giving out a clear ringing sound when struck. The ground was 

 everywhere perforated by the burrows of small marmots (Lagomys 

 Ogotono). There were also a few hares {Lejpus Tolai), a few large 

 kites, and ravens, and two or three finches to be seen. These, with 

 a few antelopes (Antilope gutturosa), and an occasional partridge 

 (Ferdix barbata), constituted the desert life. 



Through some of our camels suffering with sore feet, I was 

 delayed for two days at a place called Kooistilroi, where there were 

 two or three felt tents or yourts, the head-quarters of a Mongolian 

 Mandarin. I left this place on the 25th December. On the evening 

 of the same day, near our first camping place, I saw some large 

 boulders of granite. These were lying on the surface of the ground, 

 and, I think, must have been produced by disintegration from the 

 rocks on which they rested. All next day the country through 

 which we passed was granite, and there were so many boulders 

 lying about, that during the night it was necessary to have a lantern 

 in order to steer safely through them. On the 2bth these boulders 



