THE PEOPLE OF THE WILDERNESS 



517 



to say this species 

 thrives in the cold and 

 even delights to gam- 

 bol in the snow — they 

 are pictures of stately 

 dignity, though in 

 summer, when the 

 long hair falls oft in 

 patches, they become 

 repulsive-looking. 



Winter or summer, 

 however, these camels 

 retain the objection- 

 able character that 

 Kipling has immortal- 

 ized. Their breath is 

 so poisonous that it is 

 said no camel-driver 

 lives long. Their kick 

 will overturn a motor 

 car. Their bite, fol- 

 lowed by a twist of 

 the lower teeth, gen- 

 erally induces blood- 

 poisoning. 



Particularly vicious 

 males are marked with 

 a piece of red cloth 

 tied to the forelock, 

 warning the stranger 

 to beware. The Mon- 

 gols know from ex- 

 perience that even a 

 horseman is not safe 

 from the determined 

 onslaught of a furious 

 camel, who can out- 

 gallop a pony and has 

 a nasty, effective trick 

 of throwing beast and 

 rider and then rolling 

 on them. 



Photograph by Eugene 

 LAMAS POSING FOR THEIR PICTURE 



Lee Stewart 



The tall man is a Tibetan and the smaller a Mongolian. The 

 Tibetan Lama is arrayed in gorgeous yellow silk robes and hat and 

 the Mongolian Lama in red silk with a jacket of yellow silk and red 

 hat. Before posing for his picture the latter repaired to his tent and 

 procured the handsome necklace which he is holding. 



THE MONGOL HALE-SOLES HIS CAMEL 



Though the largest camel will bear only 

 a comparatively small load, lying down 

 and squealing if an extra pound be added, 

 he is the only freight-carrier that can 

 cross the desert, and even he, after some 

 days traveling in the sand, wears his feet 

 to the quick. When this happens the 

 Mongols throw the limping animal on his 

 side, put his foot on a low stool, and 

 cover the tender part with a patch of 

 leather attached by thin thongs drawn 



through the adjacent callosities of the 

 sole, much as a cobbler mends a shoe. 



The camel may be useful, but the horse 

 is much more popular among the Mon- 



gols. 



The native breed, indigenous to the 



country, is seldom over thirteen hands 

 high and rarely beautiful. But for en- 

 durance, cleverness, and originality, the 

 little Mongol pony has few rivals. In the 

 depth of winter his owner neither feeds 

 him nor provides him with shelter. 



An extra growth of hair and thickness 

 of hoof (for he is never shod) protect 



