Introduction
Early conquests of the Mongols—Why their power was lost—Independence of Outer Mongolia—China’s opportunity to obtain her former power in Mongolia—General Hsu Shu-tseng—Memorial to President of China—Cancellation of Outer Mongolia’s autonomy
Arrival in Kalgan—The Hutukhtu’s motor car—Start for the great plateau—Camel caravans—The pass—A motor car on the Mongolian plains—Start from Hei-ma-hou—Chinese cultivation—The Mongol not a farmer—The grasslands of Inner Mongolia—The first Mongol village—Construction of a yurt—Bird life—The telegraph line
CHAPTER II
SPEED MARVELS OF THE GOBI DESERT
Wells in the desert—Panj-kiang—A lama monastery—A great herd of antelope—A wild chase—Long range shooting—Amazing speed—An exhibition of high-class running—Difficulties in traveling—Description of the northern Mongols—Love of sport—Ude—Bustards—Great monastery at Turin—The rolling plains of Outer Mongolia—Urga during the World War
CHAPTER III
A CHAPTER OF ACCIDENTS
Return trip—The “agony box”—The first accident—My Czech and Cossack passengers—The “agony box” breaks a wheel—A dry camp—More motor trouble—Meeting with Langdon Warner—Our game of hide-and-seek in the Orient—An accident near Panj-kiang—We use mutton fat for oil—Arrival at Hei-ma-hou—A wet ride to Kalgan—Trouble at the gate
CHAPTER IV
NEW TRAVELS ON AN OLD TRAIL
Winter in Peking—We leave for Mongolia—Inner Mongolia in spring—Race with a camel—Geese and cranes—Gophers—An electric light in the desert—Chinese motor companies—An antelope buck—A great herd—Brilliant atmosphere of Mongolia—Notes on antelope speed
CHAPTER V
ANTELOPE MOVIE STARS
Moving pictures under difficulties—A lost opportunity—A zoölogical garden in the desert—Killing a wolf—Speed of a wolf—Antelope steak and parfum de chameau—A caravan—A wild wolf-hunt—Sulphuric acid—The Turin Plains
CHAPTER VI
THE SACRED CITY OF THE LIVING BUDDHA
A city of contrasts—The Chinese quarter like frontier America—A hamlet of modern Russia—An indescribable mixture of Mongolia, Russia and China in West Urga—Description of a Mongol woman—Urga like a pageant on the stage of a theater—The sacred mountain—The palace of the “Living God”—Love for western inventions—A strange scene at the Hutukhtu’s palace—A bed for the Living Buddha—Lamaism—The Lama City—Ceremony in the temple—Prayer wheels—Burial customs—Corpses eaten by dogs—The dogs of Mongolia—Cleanliness—Food—Morality—“H. C. L.” in Urga—A horrible prison—Mr. F. A. Larsen
CHAPTER VII
THE LONG TRAIL TO SAIN NOIN KHAN
Beginning work—Carts—Ponies—Our interpreter—Mongol tent—Native clothes best for work—Supplies—How to keep “fit” in the field—Accidents—Sain Noin Khan—The first day—A night in a yurt—Cranes—We trade horses—Horse stealing—No mammals—Birds—Breaking a cart horse—Mongol ponies
CHAPTER VIII
THE LURE OF THE PLAINS
Trapping marmots—Skins valuable as furs—Native methods of hunting—A marmot dance—Habits—The first hunting-camp—Our Mongol neighbors—After antelope on horseback—The first buck—A polecat—The second day’s hunt—The vastness of the plains—Development of a “land sense”
—Another antelope
CHAPTER IX
HUNTING ON THE TURIN PLAINS
Mongol hospitality—Camping on the Turin Plains—An enormous herd of antelope—A wonderful ride—Three gazelle—A dry camp—My pony, Kublai Khan—Plains life about a well—Antelope babies—A wonderful provision of nature—Habits—Species in Mongolia—The “goitre”—Speed—Work in camp—Small mammals
An unexpected meeting with a river—Our new camp in Urga—“God’s Brother’s House”—Photographing in the Lama City—A critical moment—Help from Mr. Olufsen—The motion picture camera an instrument of magic—Floods in Urga—Duke Loobitsan Yangsen—The Duchess—Vegetables in Urga
The forests of Mongolia—A bad day’s work—The Terelche River—Tserin Dorchy’s family—A wild-wood romance—Evening in the valley—Doctoring the natives—A clever lama—A popular magazine—Return of Tserin Dorchy—Independence—His hunt on the Sacred Mountain—Punishment—Hunting with the Mongols—Tsamba and “buttered tea”—A splendid roebuck—The fortune of a naturalist—Eating the deer’s viscera—The field meet of the Terelche Valley—Horse races—Wrestling
An ideal camp—The first wapiti—A roebuck—Currants and berries—Catching fish—Enormous trout—A rainy day in camp—A wapiti seen from camp—Mongolian weather—Flowers—Beautiful country—A musk deer—Habits and commercial value—A wild boar—Success and failure in hunting—We kill two wapiti—Return to Urga—Mr. and Mrs. MacCallie—Packing the collections—Across the plains to Peking
Importance of Far East—Desert, plain, and water in Mongolia—The Gobi Desert—Agriculture—Pastoral products—Treatment of wool and camel hair—Marmots as a valuable asset—Urga a growing fur market—Chinese merchants—Labor—Gold mines—Transportation—Motor trucks—Passenger motor service—Forests—Aëroplanes—Wireless telegraph
Brigands, Chinese soldiers and “battles”—The Mongolian sheep—Harry Caldwell—Difference between North and South China—The “dust age” in China—Inns—Brigand scouts—The Tai Hai Lake—Splendid shooting—The sheep mountains—An awe-inspiring gorge—An introduction to the argali—Caldwell’s big ram—A herd of sheep—My first ram—A second sheep—The end of a perfect day
A long climb—Roebuck—An unsuspecting ram—My Mongol hunter—Donkeys instead of sheep—Two fine rams—The big one lost—A lecture on hunting—A night walk in the cañon—Commander Hutchins and Major Barker—Tom and I get a ram—The end of the sheep hunt
Wu-Tai-Hai—The “American Legation”—Interior of a North Shansi house—North China villages—The people—“Horse-deer”—The names “wapiti” and “elk”—A great gorge—A rock temple—The hunting grounds furnish a surprise—A huge bull wapiti
Our camp in a new village—Game at our door—Concentration of animal life—Chinese roebuck—A splendid hunt—Goral—Difficult climbing—“Hide and seek” with a goral—The second wapiti—A happy ending to a cold day
Shansi Province famous for wild boar—Flesh delicious—When to hunt—Where to go—Inns and coal gas—Kao-chia-chuang—A long shot—Our camp at Tziloa—Native hunters—A young pig—A hard chase—Pheasants—Another pig—Smith runs down a big sow—Chinese steal our game—A wounded boar
A visit to Duke Tsai Tse—A “personality”—The Tung Ling—The road to the tombs—A country inn—The front view of the Tung Ling—The tombs of the Empress Dowager and Ch’ien Lung—The “hinterland”—An area of desolation—Our camp in the forest—Reeves’s pheasant—The most beautiful Chinese deer—“Blood horns” as medicine—Goral—Animals and birds of the Tung Ling—A new method of catching trout—A forest fire—Native stupidity—Wanton destruction—China’s great opportunity
Notes
xix CHAPTER I
ENTERING THE LAND OF MYSTERY
116 CHAPTER X
AN ADVENTURE IN THE LAMA CITY
133 CHAPTER XI
MONGOLS AT HOME
143 CHAPTER XII
NOMADS OF THE FOREST
161 CHAPTER XIII
THE PASSING OF MONGOLIAN MYSTERY
175 CHAPTER XIV
THE GREAT RAM OF THE SHANSI MOUNTAINS
184 CHAPTER XV
MONGOLIAN “ARGALI”
205 CHAPTER XVI
THE HORSE-DEER OF SHANSI
219 CHAPTER XVII
WAPITI, ROEBUCK AND GORAL
230 CHAPTER XVIII
WILD PIGS ANIMAL AND HUMAN
241 CHAPTER XIX
THE HUNTING PARK OF THE EASTERN TOMBS
256 Index