THE PEOPLE OF THE WILDERNESS 



533 



A MONGOLIAN OF 



Photogi 



THE OFFICIAL CLASS AND HIS NEPHEW 

 MONGOLIAN PONY 



ph by Eugene Lee Stev 

 MOUNTED ON A 



from the treasury of the monastery. 

 Two choirs of singers in bright robes 

 kneel on either side of the broad entrance 

 and chant a welcome. 



Soon the feast begins. A cup made of 

 the precious "zabia" wood, which will 

 make water boil and has the power to de- 

 tect poison, is placed before each distin- 

 guished visitor, with smaller cups for the 

 "airak" and "koumiss" — liquors made 

 from fermented milk. 



The principal meat dish is mutton. 

 Sheep are served whole on large platters, 

 the four legs arranged around the rump, 

 the skull on top. 



As a kneeling attendant passes each 

 dish to a guest, the Lama host makes a 

 cross on the skull, which is then taken 

 away. A second serving Lama, acting as 

 butler for the occasion, then cuts up the 



meat. The rumps and tails are given to 

 those whom the monks especially delight 

 to honor. 



This curious custom originates from 

 the fact that, a sheep having but one tail. 

 the presentation of this delicacy to a per- 

 son necessitates the slaying of a sheep 

 especially for him, and it must also be a 

 good one, for none but a fat sheep has a 

 tail fit to be seen. 



"TABLE MANNERS" IN MONGOLIA 



To the foreigner a Mongol feast is a 

 doubtful pleasure. He dislikes the idea 

 that the unfortunate sheep have been 

 slaughtered in the barbarous native way 

 (said to preserve the flavor), by ripping 

 open their bellies, after which operation 

 the butcher puts his hand into the viscera 

 and snaps the aorta. It is difficult also 



