Festival of the Loaves of the Moon--Entertainment in a Mongol
tent--_Toolholos_, or Rhapsodists of Tartary--Invocation to
Timour--Tartar Education--Industry of the Women--Mongols in quest of
missing animals--Remains of an abandoned City--Road from Peking to
Kiaktha--Commerce between China and Russia--Russian Convent at Peking--A
Tartar solicits us to cure his Mother from a dangerous Illness--Tartar
Physicians--The intermittent Fever Devil--Various forms of Sepulture in
use among the Mongols--Lamasery of the Five Towers--Obsequies of the
Tartar Kings--Origin of the kingdom of Efe--Gymnastic Exercises of the
Tartars--Encounter with three Wolves--Mongol Carts.
We arrived at Chaborte on the fifteenth day of the eighth moon, the
anniversary of great rejoicings among the Chinese. This festival, known
as the _Yue-Ping_ (Loaves of the Moon), dates from the remotest
antiquity. Its original purpose was to honour the moon with
superstitious rites. On this solemn day, all labour is suspended; the
workmen receive from their employers a present of money; every person
puts on his best clothes; and there is merrymaking in every family.
Relations and friends interchange cakes of various sizes, on which is
stamped the image of the moon; that is to say, a hare crouching amid a
small group of trees.
Since the fourteenth century, this festival has borne a political
character, little understood, apparently, by the Mongols; but the
tradition of which is carefully preserved by the Chinese. About the year
1368, the Chinese were desirous of shaking off the yoke of Tartar
dynasty, founded by Tcheng-Kis-Khan, and which had then swayed the empire
for nearly a hundred years. A vast conspiracy was formed throughout all
the provinces, which was simultaneously to develop itself, on the 15th
day of the eighth moon, by the massacre of the Mongol soldiers, who were
billeted upon each Chinese family, for the double purpose of maintaining
themselves and their conquest. The signal was given by a letter
concealed in the cakes which, as we have stated, are on that day,
mutually interchanged throughout the country. The massacre was effected,
and the Tartar army dispersed in the houses of the Chinese, utterly
annihilated. This catastrophe put an end to the Mongol domination; and
ever since, the Chinese, in celebrating the festival of _Yue-Ping_, have
been less intent upon the superstitious worship of the moon, than upon
the tragic event to which they owed the recovery of their national
independence.
The Mongols seem to have entirely lost all memory of the sanguinary
revolution; for every year they take their full part in the festival of
the Loaves of the Moon, and thus celebrate, without apparently knowing
it, the triumph which their enemies heretofore gained over their
ancestors.
At a gun-shot from the place where we were encamped, we perceived several
Mongol tents, the size and character of which indicated easiness of
circumstances in the proprietors. This indication was confirmed by the
large herds of cattle, sheep, and horses, which were pasturing around.
While we were reciting the Breviary in our tent, Samdadchiemba went to
pay a visit to these Mongols. Soon afterwards, we saw approaching an old
man with a long white beard, and whose features bespoke him a personage
of distinction. He was accompanied by a young Lama, and by a little boy
who held his hand. "Sirs Lamas," said the old man, "all men are
brothers; but they who dwell in tents are united one with another as
flesh with bone. Sirs Lamas, will you come and seat yourselves, for a
while, in my poor abode? The fifteenth of this moon is a solemn epoch;
you are strangers and travellers, and therefore cannot this evening
occupy your places at the hearth of your own noble family. Come and
repose for a few days with us; your presence will bring us peace and
happiness." We told the good old man that we could not wholly accept his
offer, but that, in the evening, after prayers, we would come and take
tea with him, and converse for a while about the Mongol nation. The
venerable Tartar hereupon took his leave; but he had not been gone long,
before the young Lama who had accompanied him returned, and told us that
his people were awaiting our presence. We felt that we could not refuse
at once to comply with an invitation so full of frank cordiality, and
accordingly, having directed our Dchiahour to take good care of the tent,
we followed the young Lama who had come in quest of us.
Upon entering the Mongol tent, we were struck and astonished at finding a
cleanliness one is little accustomed to see in Tartary. There was not
the ordinary coarse fire-place in the centre, and the eye was not
offended with the rude dirty kitchen utensils which generally encumber
Tartar habitations. It was obvious, besides, that every thing had been
prepared for a festival. We seated ourselves upon a large red carpet;
and there was almost immediately brought to us, from the adjacent tent,
which served as a kitchen, some tea with milk, some small loaves fried in
butter; cheese, raisins, and jujubs.
After having been introduced to the numerous Mongols by whom we found
ourselves surrounded, the conversation insensibly turned upon the
festival of the Loaves of the Moon. "In our Western Land," said we,
"this festival is unknown; men there adore only Jehovah, the Creator of
the heavens, and of the earth, of the sun, of the moon, and of all that
exists."--"Oh, what a holy doctrine!" exclaimed the old man, raising his
clasped hands to his forehead; "the Tartars themselves, for that matter,
do not worship the moon; but seeing that the Chinese celebrate this
festival, they follow the custom without very well knowing why."--"You
say truly; you do not, indeed, know why you celebrate this festival.
That is what we heard in the land of the _Kitat_ (Chinese). But do you
know why the Kitat celebrate it?" and thereupon we related to these
Mongols what we knew of the terrible massacre of their ancestors. Upon
the completion of our narrative, we saw the faces of all our audience
full of astonishment. The young men whispered to one another; the old
man preserved a mournful silence; his head bent down, and big tears
flowing from his eyes. "Brother rich in years," said we, "this story
does not seem to surprise you as it does your young men, but it fills
your heart with emotion." "Holy personages," replied the elder, raising
his head, and wiping away the tears with the back of his hand, "the
terrible event which occasions such consternation in the minds of my
young men was not unknown to me, but I would I had never heard of it, and
I always struggle against its recollection, for it brings the hot blood
into the forehead of every Tartar, whose heart is not sold to the Kitat.
A day known to our great Lamas will come, when the blood of our fathers,
so shamefully assassinated, will at length be avenged. When the holy man
who is to lead us to vengeance shall appear, every one of us will rise
and follow in his train; then we shall march, in the face of day, and
require from the Kitat an account of the Tartar blood which they shed in
the silence and dark secrecy of their houses. The Mongols celebrate
every year this festival, most of them seeing in it merely an indifferent
ceremony; but the Loaves of the Moon-day ever recalls, in the hearts of a
few amongst us, the memory of the treachery to which our fathers fell
victims, and the hope of just vengeance."
After a brief silence, the old man went on: "Holy personages, whatever
may be the associations of this day, in other respects it is truly a
festival for us, since you have deigned to enter our poor habitation.
Let us not further occupy our breasts with sad thoughts. Child," said he
to a young man seated on the threshold of the tent, "if the mutton is
boiled enough, clear away these things." This command having been
executed, the eldest son of the family entered, bearing in both hands a
small oblong table, on which was a boiled sheep, cut into four quarters,
heaped one on the other. The family being assembled round the table, the
chief drew a knife from his girdle, severed the sheep's tail, and divided
it into two equal pieces, which he placed before us.
With the Tartars, the tail is considered the most delicious portion of
their sheep, and accordingly the most honourable. These tails of the
Tartarian sheep are of immense size and weight, the fat upon them alone
weighing from six to eight pounds.
The fat and juicy tail having thus been offered a homage to the two
stranger guests, the rest of the company, knife in hand, attacked the
four quarters of the animal, and had speedily, each man, a huge piece
before him. Plate or fork there was none, the knees supplied the absence
of the one, the hands of the other, the flowing grease being wiped off,
from time to time, upon the front of the jacket. Our own embarrassment
was extreme. That great white mass of fat had been given to us with the
best intentions, but, not quite clear of European prejudices, we could
not make up our stomachs to venture, without bread or salt, upon the
lumps of tallow that quivered in our hands. We briefly consulted, in our
native tongue, as to what on earth was to be done under these distressing
circumstances. Furtively, to replace the horrible masses upon the table
would be imprudent; openly to express to our Amphytrion our repugnance to
this _par excellence_ Tartarian delicacy, was impossible, as wholly
opposed to Tartar etiquette. We devised this plan: we cut the villainous
tail into numerous pieces, and insisted, in that day of general
rejoicing, upon the company's partaking with us of this precious dish.
There was infinite reluctance to deprive us of the treat; but we
persisted, and by degrees got entirely clear of the abominable mess,
ourselves rejoicing, instead, in a cut from the leg, the savour of which
was more agreeable to our early training. The Homeric repast completed,
a heap of polished bones alone remaining to recall it, a boy, taking from
the goat's-horn on which it hung a rude three-stringed violin, presented
it to the chief, who, in his turn, handed it to a young man of modest
mien, whose eyes lighted up as he received the instrument. "Noble and
holy travellers," said the chief, "I have invited a Toolholos to
embellish this entertainment with some recitations." The minstrel was
already preluding with his fingers upon the strings of his instrument.
Presently he began to sing, in a strong, emphatic voice, at times
interweaving with his verses recitations full of fire and animation. It
was interesting to see all those Tartar faces bent towards the Minstrel,
and accompanying the meaning of his words with the movements of their
features. The _Toolholos_ selected, for his subjects, national
traditions, which warmly excited the feelings of his audience. As to
ourselves, very slightly acquainted with the history of Tartary, we took
small interest in all those illustrious unknown, whom the Mongol
rhapsodist marshalled over the scene.
When he had sung for some time, the old man presented to him a large cup
of milk-wine. The minstrel placed his instrument upon his knees, and
with evident relish proceeded to moisten his throat, parched with the
infinitude of marvels he had been relating. While, having finished his
draught, he was licking the brim of his cup: "_Toolholos_," said we, "the
songs you have sung were all excellent. But you have as yet said nothing
about the Immortal Tamerlane: the 'Invocation to Timour,' we have heard,
is a famous song, dear to the Mongols." "Yes, yes," exclaimed several
voices at once, "sing us the 'Invocation to Timour.'" There was a
moment's silence, and then the Toolholos, having refreshed his memory,
sang, in a vigorous and warlike tone, the following strophes:--
"When the divine Timour dwelt within our tents, the Mongol nation was
redoubtable and warlike; its least movements made the earth bend; its
mere look froze with fear the ten thousand peoples upon whom the sun
shines.
"O divine Timour, will thy great soul soon revive?
Return! return! we await thee, O Timour!
"We live in our vast plains, tranquil and peaceful as sheep; yet our
hearts are fervent and full of life. The memory of the glorious age
of Timour is ever present to our minds. Where is the chief who is to
place himself at our head, and render us once more great warriors?
"O divine Timour, will thy great soul soon revive?
Return! return! we await thee, O Timour!
"The young Mongol has arms wherewith to quell the wild horse, eyes
wherewith he sees afar off in the desert the traces of the lost
camel. Alas! his arms can no longer bend the bow of his ancestors;
his eye cannot see the wiles of the enemy.
"O divine Timour, will thy great soul soon revive?
Return! return! we await thee, O Timour!
"We have burned the sweet smelling wood at the feet of the divine
Timour, our foreheads bent to the earth; we have offered to him the
green leaf of tea and the milk of our herds. We are ready; the
Mongols are on foot, O Timour! And do thou, O Lama, send down good
fortune upon our arrows and our lances.
"O divine Timour, will thy great soul soon revive?
Return! return! we await thee, O Timour!"
When the Tartar Troubadour had completed this national song, he rose,
made a low bow to the company, and, having suspended his instrument upon
a wooden pin, took his leave. "Our neighbours," said the old man, "are
also keeping the festival, and expect the Toolholos: but, since you seem
to listen with interest to Tartar songs, we will offer some other
melodies to your notice. We have in our own family a brother who has in
his memory a great number of airs, cherished by the Mongols; but he
cannot play; he is not a Toolholos. Come, brother Nymbo, sing; you have
not got Lamas of the West to listen to you every day."
A Mongol, whom, seated as he was in a corner, we had not before noticed,
at once rose, and took the place of the departed _Toolholos_. The
appearance of this personage was truly remarkable; his neck was
completely buried in his enormous shoulders; his great dull staring eyes
contrasted strangely with his dark face, half-calcined as it were by the
sun; his hair, or rather a coarse uncombed mane, straggling down his
back, completed the savageness of his aspect. He began to sing: but his
singing was a mere counterfeit, an absurd parody. His grand quality was
extreme long-windedness, which enabled him to execute roulades,
complicated and continuous enough to throw any rational audience into
fits. We soon became desperately tired of his noise, and watched with
impatience a moment's cessation, that might give us an opportunity of
retiring. But this was no easy matter; the villain divined our thoughts,
and was resolved to spite us. No sooner had he finished one air than he
dovetailed another into it, and so started afresh. In this way he went
on, until it was really quite late in the night. At length he paused for
a moment to drink a cup of tea; he threw the beverage down his throat,
and was just clearing his throat to commence anew, when we started up,
offered to the head of the family a pinch of snuff, and, having saluted
the rest of the company, withdrew.
You often meet in Tartary these Toolholos, or wandering singers, who go
about from tent to tent, celebrating in their melodies national events
and personages. They are generally very poor; a violin and a flute,
suspended from the girdle, are their only property; but they are always
received by the Mongol families with kindness and honour; they often
remain in one tent for several days, and on their departure are supplied
with cheese, wine, tea, and so on, to support them on their way. These
poet-singers, who remind us of the minstrels and rhapsodists of Greece,
are also very numerous in China; but they are, probably, no where so
numerous or so popular as in Thibet.
The day after the festival, the sun had scarcely risen, when a little boy
presented himself at the entrance of our tent, carrying in one hand a
wooden vessel full of milk, and in the other hand a rude rush basket, in
which were some new cheese and some butter. He was followed soon after
by an old Lama, attended by a Tartar who had on his shoulder a large bag
of fuel. We invited them all to be seated. "Brothers of the West," said
the Lama, "accept these trifling presents from my master." We bowed in
token of thanks, and Samdadchiemba hastened to prepare some tea, which we
pressed the Lama to stay and partake of. "I will come and see you this
evening," said he; "but I cannot remain at present; for I have not set my
pupil the prayer he has to learn this morning." The pupil in question
was the little boy who had brought the milk. The old man then took his
pupil by the hand, and they returned together to their tent.
The old Lama was the preceptor of the family, and his function consisted
in directing the little boy in the study of the Thibetian prayers. The
education of the Tartars is very limited. They who shave the head, the
Lamas, are, as a general rule, the only persons who learn to read and
pray. There is no such thing throughout the country as a public school.
With the exception of a few rich Mongols, who have their children taught
at home, all the young Lamas are obliged to resort to the Lamaseries,
wherein is concentrated all that exists in Tartary, of arts, or sciences,
or intellectual industry. The Lama is not merely a priest; he is the
painter, poet, sculptor, architect, physician; the head, heart, and
oracle of the laity. The training of the young Mongols, who do not
resort to the Lamaseries, is limited, with the men, to perfecting the use
of the bow and arrow and matchlock, and to their obtaining a thorough
mastery of equestrianism. When a mere infant the Mongol is weaned, and
as soon as he is strong enough he is stuck upon a horse's back behind a
man, the animal is put to a gallop, and the juvenile rider, in order not
to fall off, has to cling with both hands to his teacher's jacket. The
Tartars thus become accustomed, from a very early age, to the movements
of the horse, and by degrees and the force of habit, they identify
themselves, as it were, with the animal.
There is, perhaps, no spectacle more exciting than that of Mongol riders
in chase of a wild horse. They are armed with a long, heavy pole, at the
end of which is a running knot. They gallop, they fly after the horse
they are pursuing down rugged ravines, and up precipitous hills, in and
out, twisting and twining in their rapid course, until they come up with
their game. They then take the bridle of their own horses in their
teeth, seize with both hands their heavy pole, and bending forward throw,
by a powerful effort, the running knot round the wild horse's neck. In
this exercise the greatest vigour must be combined with the greatest
dexterity, in order to enable them to stop short the powerful untamed
animals with which they have to deal. It sometimes happens that pole and
cord are broken; but as to a horseman being thrown, it is an occurrence
we never saw or heard of.
The Mongol is so accustomed to horseback that he is altogether like a
fish out of water when he sets foot on the ground. His step is heavy and
awkward and his bowed legs, his chest bent forward, his constant looking
around him, all indicate a person who spends the greater portion of his
time on the back of a horse or a camel.
When night overtakes the travelling Tartar, it often happens that he will
not even take the trouble to alight for the purpose of repose. Ask
people whom you meet in the desert where they slept last night, and you
will as frequently as not have for answer, in a melancholy tone, "_Temen
dero_," (on the camel). It is a singular spectacle to see caravans
halting at noon, when they come to a rich pasturage. The camels disperse
in all directions, browsing upon the high grass of the prairie, while the
Tartars, astride between the two humps of the animal, sleep as profoundly
as though they were sheltered in a good bed.
This incessant activity, this constant travelling, contributes to render
the Tartars very vigorous, and capable of supporting the most terrible
cold, without appearing to be in the least affected by it. In the
deserts of Tartary, and especially in the country of the Khalkhas, the
cold is so intense, that for a considerable portion of the winter the
thermometer will not act, on account of the congelation of the mercury.
The whole district is often covered with snow; and if at these times the
south-west wind blows, the plain wears the aspect of a raging sea. The
wind raises the snow in immense waves, and impels the gigantic avalanches
vehemently before it. Then the Tartars hurry courageously to the aid of
their herds and flocks, and you see them dashing in all directions,
exciting the animals by their cries, and driving them to the shelter of
some rock or mountain. Sometimes these intrepid shepherds stop short
amid the tempest, and stand erect for a time, as if defying the cold and
the fury of the elements.
The training of the Tartar women is not more refined than that of the
men. They are not, indeed, taught the use of the bow and the matchlock;
but in equitation they are as expert and as fearless as the men. Yet it
is only on occasions that they mount on horseback; such, for example, as
travelling, or when there is no man at home to go in search of a stray
animal. As a general rule, they have nothing to do with the care of the
herds and flocks.
Their chief occupation is to prepare the family meals, and to make the
family clothes. They are perfect mistresses of the needle; it is they
who fabricate the hats, boots, coats, and other portions of the Mongol
attire. The leather boots, for example, which they make are not indeed
very elegant in form, but, on the other hand, their solidity is
astonishing.
It was quite unintelligible to us how, with implements so rude and coarse
as theirs, they could manufacture articles almost indestructible in their
quality. It is true they take their time about them; and get on very
slowly with their work. The Tartar women excel in embroidery, which, for
taste and variety of pattern and for excellence of manipulation, excited
our astonishment. We think we may venture to say, that no where in
France would you meet with embroidery more beautiful and more perfect in
fabric than that we have seen in Tartary.
The Tartars do not use the needle in the same way as the Chinese. In
China they impel the needle perpendicularly down and up; whereas the
Tartars impel it perpendicularly up and down. In France the manner is
different from both; if we recollect right, the French women impel the
needle horizontally from right to left. We will not attempt to pronounce
as to the respective merit of the three methods; we will leave the point
to the decision of the respectable fraternity of tailors.
On the 17th of the moon, we proceeded very early in the morning to the
Chinese station of _Chaborte_, for the purpose of laying in a store of
meal. _Chaborte_, as its Mongol name intimates, is built upon a slough.
The houses are all made of mud, and surrounded each by an enclosure of
high walls. The streets are irregular, tortuous, and narrow; the aspect
of the whole town is sombre and sinister, and the Chinese who inhabit it
have, if possible, a more knavish look than their countrymen anywhere
else. The trade of the town comprehends all the articles in ordinary use
with the Mongols--oatmeal and millet, cotton manufactures, and brick tea,
which the Tartars receive in exchange for the products of the desert,
salt, mushrooms, and furs. Upon our return, we hastened to prepare for
our departure. While we were packing up our baggage in the tent,
Samdadchiemba went in search of the animals which had been put to pasture
in the vicinity. A moment afterwards he returned with the three camels.
"There are the camels," said we, with gloomy anticipation, "but where are
the horse and the mule; they were both at hand just now, for we tied
their legs to prevent their straying." "They are stolen, in all
probability. It never does to encamp too near the Chinese, whom every
body knows to be arrant horse stealers." These words came upon us like a
clap of thunder. However, it was not a moment for sterile lamentation;
it was necessary to go in search of the thieves. We each mounted a
camel, and made a circuit in search of the animals, leaving our tent
under the charge of Arsalan. Our search being futile, we resolved to
proceed to the Mongol encampment, and inform them that the animals had
been lost near their habitation.
By a law among the Tartars, when animals are lost from a caravan, the
persons occupying the nearest encampment are bound either to find them or
to replace them. It seems, no doubt, very strange to European views,
that because, without their consent or even knowledge, without being in
the smallest degree known to them, you have chosen to pitch your tent
near those of a Mongol party, you and your animals, and your baggage, are
to be under their responsibility; but so it is. If a thing disappears,
the law supposes that your next neighbour is the thief; or at all events
an accomplice. This it is which has contributed to render the Mongols so
skilful in tracking animals. A mere glance at the slight traces left by
an animal upon the grass, suffices to inform the Mongol pursuer how long
since it passed, and whether or not it bore a rider; and the track once
found, they follow it throughout all its meanderings, however
complicated.
We had no sooner explained our loss to the Mongol chief, than he said to
us cheerfully: "Sirs Lamas, do not permit sorrow to invade your hearts.
Your animals cannot be lost; in these plains there are neither robbers
nor associates of robbers. I will send in quest of your horses. If we
do not find them, you may select what others you please in their place,
from our herd. We would have you leave this place as happy as you came
to it." While he was speaking eight of his people mounted on horseback,
and dashed off in as many directions, upon the quest, each man trailing
after him his lasso, attached to the long, flexible pole we have
described. After a while they all collected in one body, and galloped
away, as hard as they could, towards the town. "They are on the track
now, holy sirs," said the chief, who was watching their movements by our
sides, "and you will have your horses back very soon. Meanwhile come
within my tent, and drink some tea."
In about two hours, a boy appeared at the entrance of the tent, and
announced the return of the horsemen. We hastened outside, and in the
track which we had pursued saw something amid a cloud of dust which
seemed horsemen galloping like the wind. We presently discovered the
eight Tartars, dashing along, like so many mad centaurs, our stray
animals, each held by a lasso, in the midst of them. On their arrival,
they alighted, and with an air of satisfaction said: "We told you nothing
was ever lost in our country." We thanked the generous Mongols for the
great service they had rendered us; and, bidding adieu to them, saddled
our horses, and departed on our way to the Blue City.
On the third day we came, in the solitude, upon an imposing and majestic
monument of antiquity,--a large city utterly abandoned. Its turreted
ramparts, its watch towers, its four great gates, facing the four
cardinal points, were all there perfect, in preservation, except that,
besides being three-fourths buried in the soil, they were covered with a
thick coating of turf. Arrived opposite the southern gate, we directed
Samdadchiemba to proceed quietly with the animals, while we paid a visit
to the Old Town, as the Tartars designate it. Our impression, as we
entered the vast enclosure, was one of mingled awe and sadness. There
were no ruins of any sort to be seen, but only the outline of a large and
fine town, becoming absorbed below by gradual accumulations of wind-borne
soil, and above by a winding-sheet of turf. The arrangement of the
streets and the position of the principal edifices, were indicated by the
inequalities of ground. The only living things we found here were a
young Mongol shepherd, silently smoking his pipe, and the flock of goats
he tended. We questioned the former as to when the city was built, by
whom, when abandoned, and why? We might as well have interrogated his
goats; he knew no more than that the place was called the Old Town.
Such remains of ancient cities are of no unfrequent occurrence in the
deserts of Mongolia; but everything connected with their origin and
history is buried in darkness. Oh, with what sadness does such a
spectacle fill the soul! The ruins of Greece, the superb remains of
Egypt,--all these, it is true, tell of death; all belong to the past; yet
when you gaze upon them, you know what they are; you can retrace, in
memory, the revolutions which have occasioned the ruins and the decay of
the country around them. Descend into the tomb, wherein was buried alive
the city of Herculaneum,--you find there, it is true, a gigantic
skeleton, but you have within you historical associations wherewith to
galvanize it. But of these old abandoned cities of Tartary, not a
tradition remains; they are tombs without an epitaph, amid solitude and
silence, uninterrupted except when the wandering Tartars halt, for a
while, within the ruined enclosures, because there the pastures are
richer and more abundant.
Although, however, nothing positive can be stated respecting these
remains, the probabilities are, that they date no earlier back than the
13th century, the period when the Mongols rendered themselves masters of
the Chinese empire, of which they retained possession for more than 100
years. During their domination, say the Chinese annals, they erected in
Northern Tartary many large and powerful cities. Towards the middle of
the 14th century the Mongol dynasty was expelled from China; the Emperor
_Young-Lo_, who desired to exterminate the Tartars, invaded their
country, and burned their towns, making no fewer than three expeditions
against them into the desert, 200 leagues north of the Great Wall.
After leaving behind us the Old Town, we came to a broad road crossing
N.S. that along which we were travelling E.W. This road, the ordinary
route of the Russian embassies to Peking, is called by the Tartars
_Koutcheou-Dcham_ (Road of the Emperor's Daughter), because it was
constructed for the passage of a princess, whom one of the Celestial
Emperors bestowed upon a King of the Khalkhas. After traversing the
_Tchakar_ and _Western Souniot_, it enters the country of the _Khalkhas_
by the kingdom of _Mourguevan_; thence crossing N.S. the great desert of
Gobi, it traverses the river _Toula_, near the _Great Couren_, and
terminates with the Russian factories at _Kiaktha_.
This town, under a treaty of peace in 1688 between the Emperor
_Khang-Hi_, and the _White Khan of the Oros_, i.e. the Czar of Russia,
was established as the entrepot of the trade between the two countries.
Its northern portion is occupied by the Russian factories, its southern
by the Tartaro-Chinese. The intermediate space is a neutral ground,
devoted to the purposes of commerce. The Russians are not permitted to
enter the Chinese quarter, nor the Chinese the Russian. The commerce of
the town is considerable, and apparently very beneficial to both parties.
The Russians bring linen goods, cloths, velvets, soaps, and hardware; the
Chinese tea in bricks, of which the Russians use large quantities; and
these Chinese tea-bricks being taken in payment of the Russian goods at
an easy rate, linen goods are sold in China at a lower rate than even in
Europe itself. It is owing to their ignorance of this commerce of Russia
with China that speculators at Canton so frequently find no market for
their commodities.
Under another treaty of peace between the two powers, signed 14th of
June, 1728, by Count Vladislavitch, Ambassador Extraordinary of Russia,
on the one part, and by the Minister of the Court of Peking on the other,
the Russian government maintains, in the capital of the celestial empire,
a monastery, to which is attached a school, wherein a certain number of
young Russians qualify themselves as Chinese and Tartar-Mantchou
interpreters. Every ten years, the pupils, having completed their
studies, return with their spiritual pastors of the monastery to St.
Petersburg, and are relieved by a new settlement. The little caravan is
commanded by a Russian officer, who has it in charge to conduct the new
disciples to Peking, and bring back the students and the members who have
completed their period. From Kiaktha to Peking the Russians travel at
the expense of the Chinese government, and are escorted from station to
station by Tartar troops.
M. Timkouski, who in 1820 had charge of the Russian caravan to Peking,
tells us, in his account of the journey, that he could never make out why
the Chinese guides led him by a different route from that which the
preceding ambassadors had pursued. The Tartars explained the matter to
us. They said it was a political precaution of the Chinese government,
who conceived that, being taken by all sorts of roundabout paths and
no-paths, the Russians might be kept from a knowledge of the regular
route;--an immensely imbecile precaution, since the Autocrat of all the
Russians would not have the slightest difficulty in leading his armies to
Peking, should he ever take a fancy to go and beard the Son of Heaven in
his celestial seat.
This road to Kiaktha, which we thus came upon unexpectedly amid the
deserts of Tartary, created a deep emotion in our hearts: "Here," said we
to each other, "here is a road which leads to Europe!" Our native land
presented itself before our imagination, and we spontaneously entered
upon the road, which connected us with our beloved France. The
conversation that rose to our lips from our hearts was so pleasing, that
we insensibly advanced. The sight of some Mongol tents, on an adjacent
eminence, recalled us to a sense of our position, and at the same moment
a loud cry came from a Tartar whom we saw gesticulating in front of the
tents. Not understanding the cry to be addressed to us, we turned, and
were proceeding on our route, whet the Tartar, jumping on his horse,
galloped after us; upon reaching us, he alighted and knelt before us:
"Holy sirs," said he, raising his hands before Heaven, "have pity upon
me, and save my mother from death. I know your power is infinite: come
and preserve my mother by your prayers." The parable of the good
Samaritan came before us, and we felt that charity forbade us to pass on
without doing all we could in the matter. We therefore turned once more,
in order to encamp near the Tartars.
While Samdadchiemba arranged our tent, we went, without loss of time, to
tend the sick woman, whom we found in a very deplorable state.
"Inhabitants of the desert," said we to her friends, "we know not the use
of simples, we are unacquainted with the secrets of life, but we will
pray to Jehovah for this sick person. You have not heard of this
Almighty God--your Lamas know him not; but, be assured, Jehovah is the
master of life and of death." Circumstances did not permit us to dwell
on the theme to these poor people, who, absorbed in grief and anxiety,
could pay little attention to our words. We returned to our tent to
pray, the Tartar accompanying us. When he saw our Breviary: "Are these,"
asked he, "the all-powerful prayers to Jehovah, of which you spoke?"
"Yes," said we; "these are the only true prayers; the only prayers that
can save." Thereupon he prostrated himself successively before each of
us, touching the ground with his forehead; then he took the Breviary, and
raised it to his head in token of respect. During our recitation of the
prayers for the sick, the Tartar remained seated at the entrance of the
tent, preserving a profound and religious silence. When we had finished,
"Holy men," said he, again prostrating himself, "how can I make
acknowledgments for your great benefits? I am poor; I can offer you
neither horse nor sheep." "Mongol brother," we replied, "the priests of
Jehovah may not offer up prayers for the sake of enriching themselves;
since thou art not rich, accept from us this trifling gift;" and we
presented to him a fragment of a tea-brick. The Tartar was profoundly
moved with this proceeding; he could not say a word, his only answer to
us was tears of gratitude.
We heard next morning with pleasure that the Tartar woman was much
better. We would fain have remained a few days in the place, in order to
cultivate the germ of the true faith thus planted in the bosom of this
family; but we were compelled to proceed. Some of the Tartars escorted
us a short distance on our way.
Medicine in Tartary, as we have already observed, is exclusively
practised by the Lamas. When illness attacks any one, his friends run to
the nearest monastery for a Lama, whose first proceeding, upon visiting
the patient, is to run his fingers over the pulse of both wrists
simultaneously, as the fingers of a musician run over the strings of an
instrument. The Chinese physicians feel both pulses also, but in
succession. After due deliberation, the Lama pronounces his opinion as
to the particular nature of the malady. According to the religious
belief of the Tartars, all illness is owing to the visitation of a
_Tchutgour_ or demon; but the expulsion of the demon is first a matter of
medicine. The Lama physician next proceeds, as Lama apothecary, to give
the specific befitting the case; the Tartar pharmacopoeia rejecting all
mineral chemistry, the Lama remedies consist entirely of vegetables
pulverised, and either infused in water or made up into pills. If the
Lama doctor happens not to have any medicine with him, he is by no means
disconcerted; he writes the names of the remedies upon little scraps of
paper, moistens the papers with his saliva, and rolls them up into pills,
which the patient tosses down with the same perfect confidence as though
they were genuine medicaments. To swallow the name of a remedy, or the
remedy itself, say the Tartars, comes to precisely the same thing.
The medical assault of the usurping demon being applied, the Lama next
proceeds to spiritual artillery, in the form of prayers, adapted to the
quality of the demon who has to be dislodged. If the patient is poor,
the _Tchutgour_ visiting him can evidently be only an inferior
_Tchutgour_, requiring merely a brief, off-hand prayer, sometimes merely
an interjectional exorcism. If the patient is very poor, the Lama
troubles himself with neither prayer nor pill, but goes away,
recommending the friends to wait with patience until the sick person gets
better or dies, according to the decree of _Hormoustha_. But where the
patient is rich, the possessor of large flocks, the proceedings are
altogether different. First, it is obvious that a devil who presumes to
visit so eminent a personage must be a potent devil, one of the chiefs of
the lower world; and it would not be decent for a great _Tchutgour_ to
travel like a mere sprite; the family, accordingly, are directed to
prepare for him a handsome suit of clothes, a pair of rich boots, a fine
horse, ready saddled and bridled, otherwise the devil will never think of
going, physic or exorcise him how you may. It is even possible, indeed,
that one horse will not suffice, for the demon, in very rich cases, may
turn out, upon inquiry, to be so high and mighty a prince, that he has
with him a number of courtiers and attendants, all of whom have to be
provided with horses.
Everything being arranged, the ceremony commences. The Lama and numerous
co-physicians called in from his own and other adjacent monasteries,
offer up prayers in the rich man's tents for a week or a fortnight, until
they perceive that the devil is gone--that is to say, until they have
exhausted all the disposable tea and sheep. If the patient recovers, it
is a clear proof that the prayers have been efficaciously recited; if he
dies, it is a still greater proof of the efficaciousness of the prayers,
for not only is the devil gone, but the patient has transmigrated to a
state far better than that he has quitted.
The prayers recited by the Lamas for the recovery of the sick are
sometimes accompanied with very dismal and alarming rites. The aunt of
Tokoura, chief of an encampment in the Valley of Dark Waters, visited by
M. Huc, was seized one evening with an intermittent fever. "I would
invite the attendance of the doctor Lama," said Tokoura, "but if he finds
that there is a very big _Tchutgour_ present, the expenses will ruin me."
He waited for some days; but as his aunt grew worse and worse, he at last
sent for a Lama; his anticipations were confirmed. The Lama pronounced
that a demon of considerable rank was present, and that no time must be
lost in expelling him. Eight other Lamas were forthwith called in, who
at once set about the construction, in dried herbs, of a great puppet,
which they entitled the _Demon of Intermittent Fevers_, and which, when
completed, they placed on its legs by means of a stick, in the patient's
tent.
The ceremony began at eleven o'clock at night; the Lamas ranged
themselves in a semicircle round the upper portion of the tent, with
cymbals, sea-shells, bells, tambourines, and other instruments of the
noisy Tartar music. The remainder of the circle was completed by the
members of the family, squatting on the ground close to one another, the
patient kneeling, or rather crouched on her heels, opposite the _Demon of
Intermittent Fevers_. The Lama doctor-in-chief had before him a large
copper basin filled with millet, and some little images made of paste.
The dung-fuel threw, amid much smoke, a fantastic and quivering light
over the strange scene.
Upon a given signal, the clerical orchestra executed an overture harsh
enough to frighten Satan himself, the lay congregation beating time with
their hands to the charivari of clanging instruments and ear-splitting
voices. The diabolical concert over, the Grand Lama opened the Book of
Exorcisms, which he rested on his knees. As he chanted one of the forms,
he took from the basin, from time to time, a handful of millet, which he
threw east, west, north, and south, according to the Rubric. The tones
of his voice, as he prayed, were sometimes mournful and suppressed,
sometimes vehemently loud and energetic. All of a sudden, he would quit
the regular cadence of prayer, and have an outburst of apparently
indomitable rage, abusing the herb puppet with fierce invectives and
furious gestures. The exorcism terminated, he gave a signal by
stretching out his arms, right and left, and the other Lamas struck up a
tremendously noisy chorus, in hurried, dashing tones; all the instruments
were set to work, and meantime the lay congregation, having started up
with one accord, ran out of the tent, one after the other, and tearing
round it like mad people, beat it at their hardest with sticks, yelling
all the while at the pitch of their voices in a manner to make ordinary
hair stand on end. Having thrice performed this demoniac round, they
re-entered the tent as precipitately as they had quitted it, and resumed
their seats. Then, all the others covering their faces with their hands,
the Grand Lama rose and set fire to the herb figure. As soon as the
flames rose, he uttered a loud cry, which was repeated with interest by
the rest of the company. The laity immediately rose, seized the burning
figure, carried it into the plain, away from the tents, and there, as it
consumed, anathematized it with all sorts of imprecations; the Lamas
meantime squatted in the tent, tranquilly chanting their prayers in a
grave, solemn tone.
Upon the return of the family from their valorous expedition, the praying
was exchanged for joyous felicitations. By-and-by, each person provided
with a lighted torch, the whole party rushed simultaneously from the
tent, and formed into a procession, the laymen first, then the patient,
supported on either side by a member of the family, and lastly, the nine
Lamas, making night hideous with their music. In this style the patient
was conducted to another tent, pursuant to the orders of the Lama, who
had declared that she must absent herself from her own habitation for an
entire month.
After this strange treatment, the malady did not return. The probability
is, that the Lamas, having ascertained the precise moment at which the
fever-fit would recur, met it at the exact point of time by this
tremendous counter-excitement, and overcame it.
Though the majority of the Lamas seek to foster the ignorant credulity of
the Tartars, in order to turn it to their own profit, we have met some of
them who frankly avowed that duplicity and imposture played considerable
part in all their ceremonies. The superior of a Lamasery said to us one
day: "When a person is ill, the recitation of prayers is proper, for
Buddha is the master of life and death; it is he who rules the
transmigration of beings. To take remedies is also fitting, for the
great virtue of medicinal herbs also comes to us from Buddha. That the
Evil One may possess a rich person is credible, but that, in order to
repel the Evil One, the way is to give him dress, and a horse, and what
not, this is a fiction invented by ignorant and deceiving Lamas, who
desire to accumulate wealth at the expense of their brothers."
The manner of interring the dead among the Tartars is not uniform. The
Lamas are only called in to assist at extremely grand funerals. Towards
the Great Wall, where the Mongols are mixed up with the Chinese, the
custom of the latter in this particular, as in others, has insensibly
prevailed. There the corpse is placed, after the Chinese fashion, in a
coffin, and the coffin in a grave. In the desert, among the true nomadic
tribes, the entire ceremony consists in conveying the dead to the tops of
hills or the bottoms of ravines, there to be devoured by the birds and
beasts of prey. It is really horrible to travellers through the deserts
of Tartary to see, as they constantly do, human remains, for which the
eagles and the wolves are contending.
The richer Tartars sometimes burn their dead with great solemnity. A
large furnace of earth is constructed in a pyramidical form. Just before
it is completed, the body is placed inside, standing, surrounded with
combustibles. The edifice is then completely covered in, with the
exception of a small hole at the bottom to admit fire, and another at the
top, to give egress to the smoke, and keep up a current of air. During
the combustion, the Lamas stir round the tomb and recite prayers. The
corpse being burnt, they demolish the furnace and remove the bones, which
they carry to the Grand Lama; he reduces them to a very fine powder, and
having added to them an equal quantity of meal, he kneads the whole with
care, and constructs, with his own hands, cakes of different sizes, which
he places one upon the other, in the form of a pyramid. When the bones
have been thus prepared by the Grand Lama, they are transported with
great pomp to a little tower built beforehand, in a place indicated by
the diviner.
They almost always give to the ashes of the Lamas a sepulture of this
description. You meet with a great number of these monumental towers on
the summits of the mountains, and in the neighbourhood of the Lamaseries;
and you may find them in countries whence the Mongols have been driven by
the Chinese. In other respects these countries scarcely retain any trace
of the Tartars: the Lamaseries, the pasturages, the shepherds, with their
tents and flocks, all have disappeared, to make room for new people, new
monuments, new customs. A few small towers raised over graves alone
remain there, as if to assert the rights of the ancient possessors of
these lands, and to protest against the invasion of the Kitat.
The most celebrated seat of Mongol burials is in the province of Chan-Si,
at the famous Lamasery of Five Towers (_Ou-Tay_). According to the
Tartars, the Lamasery of the Five Towers is the best place you can be
buried in. The ground in it is so holy, that those who are so fortunate
as to be interred there are certain of a happy transmigration thence.
The marvellous sanctity of this place is attributed to the presence of
Buddha, who for some centuries past has taken up his abode there in the
interior of a mountain. In 1842 the noble Tokoura, of whom we have
already had occasion to speak, conveying the bones of his father and
mother to the Five Towers, had the infinite happiness to behold there the
venerable Buddha. "Behind the great monastery," he told us, "there is a
very lofty mountain, which you must climb by creeping on your hands and
feet. Just towards the summit you come to a portico cut in the rock; you
lie down on the earth, and look through a small aperture not larger than
the bowl of a pipe. It is some time before you can distinguish anything,
but by degrees your eye gets used to the place, and you have the
happiness of beholding, at length, in the depths of the mountain, the
face of the ancient Buddha. He is seated cross-legged, doing nothing.
There are around him Lamas of all countries, who are continually paying
homage to him."
[Picture: Lamasery of the Five Towers]
Whatever you may think of Tokoura's narrative, it is certain that the
Tartars and the Thibetians have given themselves up to an inconceivable
degree of fanaticism, in reference to the Lamasery of the Five Towers.
You frequently meet, in the deserts of Tartary, Mongols, carrying on
their shoulders the bones of their parents, to the Five Towers, to
purchase, almost at its weight in gold, a few feet of earth, whereon they
may raise a small mausoleum. Even the Mongols of Torgot perform journeys
occupying a whole year, and attended with immense difficulty, to visit
for this purpose the province of Chan-Si.
The Tartar kings sometimes make use of a sepulture which is the height of
extravagance and barbarism. The royal corpse is conveyed to a vast
edifice, constructed of bricks, and adorned with numerous statues
representing men, lions, elephants, tigers, and various subjects of
Buddhic mythology. With the illustrious defunct, they bury in a large
cavern, constructed in the centre of the building, large sums of gold and
silver, royal robes, precious stones, in short, every thing which he may
need in another life. These monstrous interments sometimes cost the
lives of a great number of slaves. They take children of both sexes,
remarkable for their beauty, and make them swallow mercury till they are
suffocated; in this way they preserve, they say, the freshness and
ruddiness of their countenance, so as to make them appear still alive.
These unfortunate victims are placed upright, round the corpse of their
master, continuing, in this fashion, to serve him as during life. They
hold in their hands the pipe, fan, the small phial of snuff, and the
numerous other nick-nacks of the Tartar kings.
To protect these buried treasures, they place in the cavern a kind of
bow, capable of discharging a number of arrows, one after the other.
This bow, or rather these several bows joined together, are all bent, and
the arrows ready to fly. They place this infernal machine in such a
manner that, on opening the door of the cavern, the movement causes the
discharge of the first arrow at the man who enters; the discharge of the
first arrow causes the discharge of the second, and so on to the last--so
that the unlucky person, whom covetousness or curiosity should induce to
open the door, would fall, pierced with many arrows, in the tomb he
sought to profane. They sell these murderous machines ready prepared by
the bow-makers. The Chinese sometimes purchase them, to guard their
houses in their absence.
After a march of two days, we entered the district called the Kingdom of
Efe; it is a portion of the territory of the Eight Banners, which the
Emperor Kien-Long dismembered in favour of a prince of the Khalkhas.
_Sun-Tche_, founder of the Mantchou dynasty, laid down this maxim: "In
the south, establish no kings; in the north, interrupt no alliances."
This policy has ever since been exactly pursued by the court of Peking.
The Emperor Kien-Long, in order to attach to his dynasty the prince in
question, gave him his daughter in marriage, hoping by this means to fix
him at Peking, and thus to weaken the still dreaded power of the Khalkha
sovereigns. He built for him, within the circuit of the Yellow Town
itself, a large and magnificent palace, but the Mongol prince could not
adapt or reconcile himself to the stiff arbitrary etiquette of a court.
Amid the pomp and luxury accumulated for his entertainment, he was
incessantly absorbed with the thought of his tents and his herds: even
the snows and frosts of his country were matters of regret. The
attentions of the court being altogether inadequate to the dissipation of
his ennui, he began to talk about returning to his prairies in the
Khalkhas. On the other hand, his young wife, accustomed to the
refinements of the court of Peking, could not bear the idea of spending
the rest of her days in the desert, amongst milkmaids and shepherds. The
Emperor resorted to a compromise which sufficiently met the wishes of his
son-in-law, without too violently disconcerting the feelings of his
daughter. He dismembered a portion of the _Tchakar_, and assigned it to
the Mongol prince; he built for him, amid these solitudes, a small but
handsome city, and presented to him a hundred families of slaves skilled
in the arts and manufactures of China. In this manner, while the young
Mantchou princess was enabled to dwell in a city and to have a court, the
Mongol prince, on his part, was in a position to enjoy the tranquillity
of the Land of Grass, and to resume at will the pleasures of nomadic
life, in which he had passed his boyhood.
The King of Efe brought with him into his petty dominions a great number
of Mongol Khalkhas, who inhabit, under the tent, the country bestowed
upon their prince. These Tartars fully maintain the reputation for
strength and active vigour which is generally attributed to the men of
their nation. They are considered the most powerful wrestlers in
southern Mongolia. From their infancy, they are trained to gymnastic
exercises, and at the public wrestling matches, celebrated every year at
Peking, a great number of these men attend to compete for the prizes, and
to sustain the reputation of their country. Yet, though far superior in
strength to the Chinese, they are sometimes thrown by the latter,
generally more active, and especially more tricky.
In the great match of 1843, a wrestler of the kingdom of Efe had
overthrown all competitors, Tartars and Chinese. His body, of gigantic
proportions, was fixed upon legs which seemed immovable columns; his
hands, like great grappling irons, seized his antagonists, raised them,
and then hurled them to the ground, almost without effort. No person had
been at all able to stand before his prodigious strength, and they were
about to assign him the prize, when a Chinese stepped into the ring. He
was short, small, meagre, and appeared calculated for no other purpose
than to augment the number of the Efeian's victims. He advanced,
however, with an air of firm confidence; the Goliath of Efe stretched out
his brawny arms to grasp him, when the Chinese, who had his mouth full of
water, suddenly discharged the liquid in the giant's face. The Tartar
mechanically raised his hands to wipe his eyes, and at the instant, the
cunning Chinese rushed in, caught him round the waist, threw him off his
balance, and down he went, amid the convulsive laughter of the
spectators.
This anecdote was told to us by a Tartar horseman who travelled with us a
part of our way through the kingdom of Efe. From time to time he showed
us children engaged in wrestling. "This," said he, "is the favourite
exercise with all the inhabitants of our kingdom of Efe. We esteem in a
man but two things,--his being a good horseman and his being a good
wrestler." There was one group of youthful wrestlers whom, exercising as
they were on the side of our road, we were enabled to watch closely and
at leisure; their ardour redoubled when they saw we were looking at them.
The tallest of the party, who did not seem more than eight or nine years
old, took in his arms one of his companions, nearly his own height, and
very fat, and amused himself with tossing him above his head, and
catching him again, as you would a ball. He repeated this feat seven or
eight times, and at every repetition we trembled for the life of the boy;
but the rest of the children only gambolled about, applauding the success
of the performers.
On the 22nd day of the eighth moon, on quitting the petty kingdom of Efe,
we ascended a mountain, on the sides of which grew thickets of fir and
birch. The sight of these at first gave us great pleasure. The deserts
of Tartary are in general so monotonously bare, that you cannot fail to
experience a pleasurable sensation when you come upon some occasional
trees on your way. Our first feelings of joy were, however, soon
demolished by a sentiment of a very different nature; we were as though
frozen with horror, on perceiving at a turn of the mountain, three
enormous wolves, that seemed awaiting us with calm intrepidity. At sight
of these villainous beasts we stopped suddenly and as it were
instinctively. After a moment of general stupor, Samdadchiemba descended
from his mule, and wrung the noses of our camels. The expedient
succeeded marvellously; the poor beasts sent forth such piercing and
terrible cries, that the scared wolves dashed off with all speed.
Arsalan, who saw them flee, thinking undoubtedly that it was himself they
were afraid of, pursued them at the utmost speed of his legs; soon the
wolves turned round, and our tent-porter would have been infallibly
devoured had not M. Gabet rushed to his aid, uttering loud cries, and
wringing the nose of his camel; the wolves having taken flight a second
time, disappeared without our again thinking of pursuing them.
Although the want of population might seem to abandon the interminable
deserts of Tartary to wild beasts, wolves are rarely met with. This
arises, no doubt, from the incessant and vindictive warfare which the
Mongols wage against them. They pursue them, everywhere, to the death,
regarding them as their capital enemy, on account of the great damage
they may inflict upon their flocks. The announcement that a wolf has
made its appearance in a neighbourhood, is for every one a signal to
mount his horse. As there are always near each tent horses ready
saddled, in an instant the plain is covered with numerous cavalry, all
armed with their long lasso-pole. The wolf in vain flees in every
direction: it meets everywhere horsemen who rush upon it. There is no
mountain so rugged or arduous, up which the Tartar horses, agile as
goats, cannot pursue it. The horseman who is at length successful in
passing round its neck the running knot, gallops off at full speed,
dragging the wolf after him to the nearest tent; there they strongly bind
its muzzle, so that they may torture it securely; and then, by way of
finale, skin it alive, and turn it off. In summer, the wretched brute
lives in this condition several days; but in winter, exposed without a
skin to the rigours of the season, it dies forthwith, frozen with cold.
Some short time after we had lost sight of our three wolves, we had a
singular encounter enough. We saw advancing towards us, on the same
road, two chariots each drawn by three oxen. To each chariot were
fastened, with great iron chains, twelve dogs of a terrible and ferocious
aspect, four on each side, and four behind. These carriages were laden
with square boxes, painted red; the drivers sat on the boxes. We could
not conjecture what was the nature of the load, on account of which they
thought it essential to have this horrible escort of Cerberuses. In
accordance with the customs of the country, we could not question them on
this point. The slightest indiscretion would have made us pass in their
eyes for people actuated by evil intentions. We contented ourselves with
asking if we were still very far from the monastery of Tchortchi, where
we hoped to arrive that day; but the baying of the dogs, and the clanking
of their chains, prevented us from hearing the answer.
As we were going through the hollow of a valley, we remarked on the
summit of an elevated mountain before us a long line of objects without
motion, and of an indefinite form. By-and-by these objects seemed to
resemble a formidable battery of cannons, ranged in line, and the nearer
we advanced, the more were we confirmed in this impression. We felt sure
that we saw distinctly the wheels of the carriages, the sponge-rods, the
mouths of the cannons pointed towards the plain. But how could we bring
ourselves to think that an army, with all its train of artillery could be
there in the desert, amidst this profound solitude? Giving way to a
thousand extravagant conjectures, we hastened our progress, impatient to
examine this strange apparition closely. Our illusion was only
completely dissipated when we arrived quite at the top of the mountain.
What we had taken for a battery of cannons was a long caravan of little
Mongol chariots. We laughed at our mistake, but the illusion was not an
unnatural one. These small two-wheeled chariots were all standing still
on their frames, each laden with a sack of salt, covered with a mat, the
ends of which extended beyond the extremities of the sacks, so as to
resemble exactly the mouths of cannon; the Mongol waggoners were boiling
their tea in the open air, whilst their oxen were feeding on the sides of
the mountain. The transport of merchandise, across the deserts of
Tartary, is ordinarily effected, in default of camels, by these small
two-wheeled chariots. A few bars of rough wood are the only materials
that enter into their construction, and they are so light that a child
may lift them with ease. The oxen that draw them, have all a little iron
ring passed through their nostrils; to this ring is a cord, which
attaches the animal to the preceding chariot; thus all the carriages,
from the first to the last, are connected together, and form a long
uninterrupted line. The Mongol waggoners are generally seated on the
oxen, very rarely on the carriage, and scarcely ever on foot. On all the
chief roads you meet with these long lines of carriages, and long before
you see them, you hear the lugubrious and monotonous sound of the great
iron bells, which the oxen carry suspended from their neck.
After drinking a cup of tea with the Mongols whom we had met in the
mountain, we proceeded on our way; the sun was on the point of setting,
when we set up our tent on the margin of a stream about a hundred yards
from the Lamasery of Tchortchi.
[Picture: Chapter tailpiece]
[Picture: Lamasery of Tchortchi]