ENTERING THE LAND OF MYSTERY 11 



There was no lack of birds. In the ponds which we 

 passed earlier in the day we saw hundreds of mallard 

 ducks and teal. The car often frightened golden plover 

 from their dust baths in the road, and crested lapwings 

 flashed across the prairie like sudden storms of autumn 

 leaves. Huge, golden eagles and enormous ravens made 

 tempting targets on the telegraph poles, and in the 

 morning before we left the cultivated area we saw 

 demoiselle cranes in thousg^nds. 



In this land where wood is absent and everything 

 that will make a fire is of value, I wondered how it hap- 

 pened that the telegraph poles remained untouched,' for 

 every one was smooth and round without a splinter gone. 

 The method of protection is simple and entirely Orien- 

 tal. When the line was first erected, the Mongolian 

 government stated in an edict that any man who touched 

 a pole with knife or ax would lose his head. Even on 

 the plains the enforcement of such a law is not so difii- 

 cult as it might seem, and after a few heads had been 

 taken by way of example the safety of the line was as- 

 sured. 



Our camp the first night was on a hill slope about one 

 hundred miles from Hei-ma-hou. As soon as the cars 

 had stopped, one man was left to untie the sleeping bags 

 while the rest of us scattered over the plain to hunt ma- 

 terial for a fire. Argul (dried dung) forms the only 

 desert fuel and, although it does not blaze like wood, it 

 will "boil a pot" almost as quickly as charcoal. I was 

 elected to be the cook — a position with distinct advan- 



