68 ACROSS MONGOLIAN PLAINS 



at its base, it stands as the only obstacle to the wireless 

 station which is soon to be erected. 



The Hutukhtu has three palaces on the banks of the 

 Tola River. One of them is a hideous thing, built in 

 Russian style. The other two at least have the virtue 

 of native architecture. In the main palace the cen- 

 tral structure is white with gilded cupolas, and smaller 

 pavilions at the side have roofs of green. The whole is 

 surrounded by an eight-foot stockade of white posts 

 trimmed with red. 



The Hutukhtu seldom leaves his palace now, for he 

 is old and sick and almost blind. Many strange stories 

 are told of the mysterious "Living God" which tend to 

 show him "as of the earth earthy." It is said that in 

 former days he sometimes left his "heaven" to revel with 

 convivial foreigners in Urga; but all this is gossip and 

 we are discussing a very saintly person. His passion 

 for Occidental trinkets and inventions is well known, 

 however, and his palace is a veritable storehouse 

 for gramophones, typewriters, microscopes, sewing 

 machines, and a host of other things sold to him by 

 Russian traders and illustrated in picture catalogues 

 sent from the uttermost corners of the world. But like 

 a child he soon tires of his toys and throws them aside. 

 He has a motor car, but he never rides in it. It has been 

 reported that his chief use for the automobile is to attach 

 a wire to its batteries and give his ministers an electric 

 shock; for all Mongols love a practical joke, and the 

 Hutukhtu is no exception. 



Now his palace is wired for electricity, and a great arc 



