iltljaca. fa fork CHARLES WILLIAM WASON COLLECTION CHINA AND THE CHINESE THE GIFT OF CHARLES WILLIAM WASON CLASS OF 1876 1918 Date Due «r>P <"> o 1950 " APR* * 1 1 ]iM * iniii — w— JUflfc J LM/'f- —^ — » ti\y v ^90*|? in-" - /w»i x » Cornell University Library DS 793.M7S54 My life in Mongolia and Siberia, from th 3 1924 023 499 498 Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924023499498 MY LIFE IN MONGOLIA AND SIBERIA MY LIFE IN MONGOLIA AND SIBERIA FROM THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA TO THE URAL MOUNTAINS BY JOHN, BISHOP OF NORWICH SKtth Illustration© PUBLISHED UNDER THE .DIRECTION OF THE TRACT COMMITTEE LONDON : SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE, NORTHUMBERLAND AVENUE;, W.C. ", 43i QUEEN VICTORIA STREET, E.C. Brighton : 129, North Street. 1963 L PREFACE Seeing that the incidents of which this little work is a record took place somewhat more than thirty years ago, there are, I think, two questions which those who casually pick it up may naturally be disposed to ask. First, why was it that these notes were not published years ago ? and secondly, if they were not published then, why has it been thought worth while to publish them now ? With regard to the former ^question I hardly know whether to allege indolence, or the almost incessant occupation of a busy life, which left me but little time and still less inclination to take up the work of weaving the notes of my journal into a connected narrative. Between these two reasons the benevo- lent reader must make his choice. And with regard to the second question I would reply that I have been partly influenced by the opinions of friends learned in the very important and profoundly in- teresting subject of " comparative religions," such as the late Bishop Westcott, who, having read my notes on " Lamaism " and " Shamanism," have kindly thought that they were worth being put VI PREFACE forth in a permanent form. And partly, shall I own it, by the personal, but I trust pardonable, object of gratifying my own children. For many years, when little children, they have been accus- tomed at odd times to inveigle me into taking a country walk ; and when once free of the town, putting their hands in mine, the invariable demand has been made, " Now, father, tell us some of your adventures." And thus many a happy hour has been passed. When, however, in process of time the little ones have become no longer little, the demand has taken another form, and become the persistent question, " Father, why don't you write the story of your life ? " Under this stimulus, at odd times and under various circumstances, at home and abroad, I have written out the notes of my life in foreign countries, of which the present little volume forms only a small portion. Did my ship ever come in, I should like to publish notes of my life among the North American Indians, the Mormons, the Kanakas, and the Chinaman ; but I must wait until she is signalled, or at least has started upon her voyage. Tt may naturally be asked what was my object in taking the journey, some account of which is given in the following pages. Well, I had been engaged in colonial and missionary work on Frazer River for more than six years, when I was sum- moned home by the declining health of my parents. News, however, arriving just before I sailed from Vancouver Island, which told me that danger was past and there was no need for hurry, I resolved PREFACE Vll to return to England by the Pacific Ocean, and then across China and the continent of Asia to Russia. My motive in taking this overland journey was a twofold one. Having an enthusiasm for missions, I was anxious to see and form my own judgment upon the Anglican and Congregationa Missions in some of the Pacific Islands ; the Roman, Anglican, and American Missions in China ; and, above all, the missions of the Russo-Greek Church in Siberia. It is, or used to be, a common-place in the " religious world " that the Greek Church is in a lethargic and moribund condition because it has neglected its duty of preaching the Gospel to the heathen. But I knew something of the noble work of Bishop Innocent in Alaska, then a part of the Russian Empire ; and I had heard accounts of greatly blessed missions to the heathen in Siberia, which kindled in me a great desire to visit them personally, and ascertain upon what principles they were conducted. For missionary work among the heathen is not to be taken up in a rough-and-ready way, irrespective of the customs, ideas, superstitions and traditions of the various heathen nations or tribes, nor with a slavish adherence to the methods which have usually been followed. But it is indeed a science needing experience, investigation, anxious thought, and balancing of various considerations. And I quite hoped that new light would be cast upon my own mind with regard to several interest- ing problems by my visit to the Siberian Missions, an account of which will be found in the following viii PREFACE pages. And in this expectation I was not mis- taken. 1 My other motive for this long journey in regions almost quite unknown to Englishmen was this. I had for some years been a deeply-interested student of many of the various religions or super- stitions of the non-Christian world. I had learned something of the average Chinese mind on this subject from Chinamen whom I had endeavoured to teach on Frazer River. I desired to know more from further personal experience, to witness the worship of Fo in the splendid Chinese temples, and to stand sub Jove sereno upon, that wonderful altar of heaven, which is assuredly the embodiment of the most sublime idea to be found in heathendom. I was anxious to see somewhat of the strange re- ligion of the Lamas — an object in which I was singularly successful ; for, as far as I am aware, I am the only Englishman who has witnessed the adoration, at the sacred city, of the Great Lama 1 By the kind courtesy of the Rev. Archpriest Smirnoff, Chaplain of the Russian Embassy in London, I have just received statistics of the number of baptisms in five only of the Russian Missions during the years 1896-99. 1896. Z897. 1898. 1899 A.D. Irkutsk (Bouriats) founded in 1861 — Converts 1400 1582 1199 1153 Transbaikal „ „ ,, 1862 „ 152 302 311 388 Altai (Tomsk) ,, ,, 1830 „ 310 287 449 338 Jakutsk „ ,, 1870 ,, 48 113 — — Kamschatka „ „ 1840 „ 251 262 178 626 The word " founded " is to be interpreted as meaning only that at the date specified the Mission was organized on its present footing. In some instances much good work had previously been done. Individual priests had worked in Kamschatka as early as the time of Peter the Great. M. Smirnoff is, I am glad to say, shortly about to publish a work on "the history and present condition of the Russian-Orthodox Missions.'' PREFACE IX of Mongolia. Certainly if any account of this has been published, it has not come under my cognizance. More than all was I anxious to study in its oldest haunts that ancient superstition, held only by barbarous tribes, which I have designated by the name of " Shamanism." 1 had become thoroughly well acquainted with it as held by the tribes of North-West America. I had studied it as held by the Kanakas of the Sandwich Islands. I wished to complete my knowledge by learning what I could of it in the land whence it spread to North America, and where it has never been dispossessed, as in Hindostan, by more thoughtful and more cultivated forms of misbelief. Some of the con- clusions which I have arrived at on these subjects will be found in this little volume. I should mention that the illustrations of my Mongolian life and experiences are from rough sketches made by myself on the spot, and artistic- ally worked up by my friend the Rev. R. G. Roe, Vicar of St. Margaret's, King's Lynn, to whose kindness I am much indebted. k When pleasant recollections have come into my mind of past years spent in savage lands, and kindly thoughts of simple untaught friends, such as honest Bara and Geluga of this my story, I have longed — as what Christian would not ? — that there were a present hope that the light of the Gospel would irradiate the darkness of heathendom, and that such simple souls as these nomads of the steppes might be brought to Him who is the Light X PREFACE of the world. Of this there appears no immediate prospect. But God knows. Of this I am certain, that among nations hitherto heathen, the darkness of ignorance and hopelessness is constantly be- coming less dark ; and we believe in the coming of Him who is a "light to lighten the Gentiles." O bright prophetic vision of the glory of the New Jerusalem ! " The forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee. The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah : all they from Sheba shall come : they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall show forth the praises of the Lord." Norwich, Septuagesima 1903. CONTENTS CHAPTER I "KARA USU" From the Great Wall of China through the Hiugan mountains — Dirty Nomads — My two Mongols — A leaky cart — Mon- golian huts — The "Narine Gol" — Primitive butchering — The women of the steppes — Celibacy of the Lamas — Rosaries and prayer- wheels — " Om Mani-padme Urn" — Camels and camel-riding— The brewing of tea — Mongolian etiquette — "The shadow of a great Rock" — An offended shepherd — A Lama at his prayers — Bashful ladies — The torrid desert — The mirage — Difficulties of bathing — Crossing the Tola — Arrival at Ourga 13 CHAPTER II THE SACRED CITY OF THE MONGOLS Elasticity of Buddhism — Its assimilating power — The great Lama, the Khutuktu, the incarnate god — How the god always dies — The religious clan — The Khanates of Khalka — Description of the sacred city and the Lamaistic temples — Books of magic — The revolving prayer-wheels — Adora- tion of the Great Lama — The procession — Curious and painful scene 66 CHAPTER III VENERATION OF THE FIRE Description of various temples — Finery and ornaments of a Mongolian woman — Customs of marriage and burial — Status of women — Temple of Maidra — The huge idol — The internal government of the Mongolian tribes — Their army — Fierce dogs — Curious service of the Veneration of the Fire — Mending a god — Departure from the city . 82 CHAPTER IV FROM OURGA TO SIBERIA Kiachta and its miracle-working icon — A predicament — The Selenga — Rowing over the inundations — Posolsky monas- tery and the Missionary Bishop — Missionary methods of the Russian Church — The question of baptism — The mission stations in Siberia . . . . . . . 115 Xll CONTENTS CHAPTER V "shamanism" The old heathen superstition — Nature-worship and demonol- atry — "Heaven" — "Earth" — Their theory of disease — Genii — Ongons — " Obo " — Fire-worship—" Mother Out "—The Shamans— Sorcerer-priests — The witch-doctor — His dance and frenzy — Shamanism in India and the Polynesian Islands — The cursing priest — "Taboo" — How the islands of the Pacific were peopled — The " Medicine-man " of North- West America — Cannibals . -131 CHAPTER VI FROM LAKE BAIKAL TO THE URAL MOUNTAINS Mgr. Benjamin — The Anglican and Orthodox Churches — The " Puseyites " — Bishops celibates — A strange rencontre — The Archbishop of Irkutsk — The " filioque " — Conservatism of the Orthodox Church — The Liturgy and Ordination of a priest — Racing across Siberia — Siberian post-houses — The exiles — We win the race — Home . ... 160 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Adoration of the Great Lama of Mongolia . . Frontispiece Dolmen-memorial of a Buddhist Saint (Kuren) . To face p. 66 79 The Khutuktu bestowing his Benediction A Pavilion of the Khutuktu 1 Plan of Lamaistic Temple (Kuren) I Mongolian Woman in her Ornaments Back of Mongolian Woman . The Temple of Maidra (Kuren) Colossal Image of Maidra (Kuren) . 93 94 99 100 FROM THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA TO THE URAL MOUNTAINS CHAPTER I ' KARA USU ' It was on the 3rd of August that I arrived at Chang-kia-keu, the frontier town between China and Mongolia where I was to make preparations for my journey across the steppes. I was hospitably enter- tained by the missionaries stationed there, who were able to engage for me the services of two Mongols who, having brought goods from Ourga, the sacred city of the Mongols, were about to return thither with their train of camels. I spent the greater part of two days in adding to my stock of provisions and making a vocabulary of Mongolian words, and late in the evening of the second day (August 5), I passed through the outermost lines, the oldest, the most substantial, and most important of the great wall. And now I was looking upon it for the last time, and turned round and bade farewell probably for ever to the " middle kingdom." The scene was a striking one. In a dry, sterile, sandy valley in the midst of the Hiugan mountains the camels which had started before ' me from Chang-kia-keu were waiting for me. The sun 14 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK which was then shining upon lovely Warwickshire lanes, golden harvest-fields, and orchards shining with rosy fruit, was then sinking below the horizon, leaving a trail of glory behind him, the Eastern sky was golden with the reflection of the sunset light. The covered cart, my temporary house, was being dragged up the steep ascent by a train of mules under the care of a stalwart Chinaman. The camel upon which my Mongol servant was to ride was uttering his strange harsh shriek as his master forced him upon his knees preparatory to mounting ; and along the precipitous cliffs and rocks that hid the fertile plains of China ran the crumbling defences and towers of the outer line of the famous wall. In some respects I was glad to be leaving behind me the land of the Chinamen. One's heart had been oppressed by the fearful, dominant idolatry. It was a relief to have no more to do with the crafty, lying, tricky people. A continual contest with roguery, though occasionally amusing, is yet irritating. I was looking forward to a long journey in a terra incognita. The people among whom my life was to be spent for the next few weeks bore the character of being honest, trustworthy and brave. New scenes lay before me ; and the notion of plung- ing alone into a country whose language I did not know, and of whose customs I was almost wholly ignorant, gave me a pleasurable degree of excite- ment. But yet I had much enjoyed my brief life in China ; I had made many friends, had become acquainted with perhaps the most interesting of all heathen nations, and had witnessed many scenes IN MONGOLIA 1 5 that I never could forget, so that it was with mixed feelings that I said farewell to that marvellous land, and yet more marvellous people. We journeyed up the pass all that night. The road was very bad, and I made the march on foot, for the jolting of the cart was so great that there was no resting in it. We stopped but once at a wayside inn for refreshments, and it was evident that we were now out of China, for the landlord's charge for the ever-refreshing tea was so moderate that I gave him more than his demand, a thing which I had never once done during my sojourn among the rapacious Celestials. As the light was dawning we arrived at the summit of the pass. Here the Chinaman, who had been employed to take the cart up the steep ascent, which a camel would not do, was to leave us, and here we were to be joined by another Mongol with the remainder of the camel train. For some time old Bara had been shouting as we went along, lest we should pass his companion in the darkness ; at length he appeared ; John Chinaman returned with his train, a camel was yoked to the cart, and we proceeded on our way. My route was to lie in an almost due N.W. direc- tion from Peking. So that if the reader will take down his map and draw a straight line between Peking and the south end of Lake Baikal in Siberia he will know with sufficient accuracy my line of travel. As preparations for my journey, I had obtained a cart, and had hired the services of the two Mongols with their train of camels at Chang-kia-keu (or Kalgan). The cart was to be I ■' 1 6 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK my temporary home, my rest by day, my bed by night. It was a stout, rough, wooden vehicle, of course without springs of any kind, and covered over entirely with a wooden frame roofed with leather. It had no aperture either in front or behind ; the bitter north winds that we were to meet on our journey would have rendered an opening in front very undesirable, but there was a little door on one side, and two small windows. Within, the width was three feet, and the length must have been a trifle less than six, for lying at Ml length my feet touched one end and my head knocked against the other. I had placed straw to the thickness of four or five inches upon the bottom, and upon the straw my blankets which I had taken with me over half the world, and had so often protected me from bitter winds and damp ground. A flour sack and some linen was my pillow, and the corners of the cart were so stuffed with different articles — oatmeal, biscuits, preserved peaches, tobacco, baking-powder, tea, tea-kettle and cup, matches, rice, clothes, linen, books, etc. — that there was scarce room to turn, and after a time I learned to wedge myself so closely in that it required a heavy jolt to disturb me. I was very lucky in getting the camels, for as they work during the winter and are turned out to grass during the summer it is very hard to hire them in the hot months. However, I was fortunate enough to make an arrangement with the two Mongols to take me as far as Ourga or Kuren, the sacred city of Mongolia, for eighty taels of silver. 1 Of the ten 1 About £23. IN MONGOLIA 17 camels I only absolutely required two for myself, one to draw the cart, the other to carry my baggage, consisting of three boxes and a sack full of pots and pans. The boxes contained provisions for the route, biscuits and American beans, and bacon, cases of dried tongue, carrots, a huge pump- kin and some beer. Thus I was self-sufficient, and comforted myself by thinking that if the Mongols were to abandon me in the middle of the desert I could subsist for some weeks at least upon my own resources. But such a thing never entered their simple minds. We jolted on for a few hours, until the drizzle, for it had been drizzling from early dawn, turned to such heavy rain that we were compelled to stop. I waited for awhile until the rain abated somewhat, and then emerged from my ark and found — oh, delicious sight after the dusty, torrid plains of China ! — that we were traversing rolling downs, verdant and moist, that stretched away as far as the eye could see. By the freshness of the air we were obviously at a great altitude — the height of the pass is indeed more than 5000 feet above the sea — and I knew that we should continue at nearly the same altitude during the greater part of our journey across the steppes ; so that there seemed to be little risk of a recurrence of the fierce heat that I had undergone. There was not a hill within sight, nor a tree, but the undulating ground was well covered with good pasturage, variegated with flowers that are common in England. Among them I noticed the gentian, campanula, larkspur, B l8 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK buttercups, and the Michaelmas daisy. Several hamlets were within sight, and one of them close at hand contained a small Buddhist temple ; thither I dispatched the younger Mongol to purchase milk. The country was evidently well suited to the pas- toral life of the Mongols, and large herds of cattle were grazing in the neighbourhood. Some small pools of water had been formed in the hollows of the meadow-land by the heavy rain which had fallen during the night; and I proceeded, accord- ing to our truly English fashion, to take a bath, greatly to the astonishment of my attendants. The frequency of one's ablutions always seems to cause mingled amazement and amusement in the minds of Orientals, who, whatever else they may understand, do certainly not understand the use of water. One cannot go round the world without encountering some dirty people, but assuredly, of all, the Mongols are the dirtiest. They have but one idea of the use of water, and that is to make tea with. During my sojourn on the steppes I never saw either man or child wash himself. Once, indeed, an old man poured a little tea over his hands and nibbed them gently together and then stroked his face, but possibly that was some mystical ceremony. Certainly during the five weeks that they were with me neither of my at- tendants ever washed any portion of his person. The result of this, and of their innocence of any idea of ever changing their clothes, may be imagined. In any little pause from work, or in the intervals of conversation, they would employ their time in taking off their heavy Chinese boots and searching their felt IN MONGOLIA 19 stockings — no ! that phrase is inapplicable ; I should rather say they would beguile their time by destroy- ing animal life with a success that would have been horrifying to true Buddhists. And as regards their huts, I need only say that after any hospitable in- vitation, and a consequent seance among their household gods, it was necessary to exercise very rigidly " the right of search." On my return I found that the Mongols had put up their small blue tent, which they courteously invited me to enter. They were evidently very desirous to please, and had placed a felt mat for me in the best place, sheltered from the wind and the occasional drizzle. On the ground in the centre of the tent the younger was endeavouring to kindle a fire. In Mongolia there are no trees, and the fuel universally used is argol', or the dry dung of the various animals that roam the steppes. In their migrations the people carry with them a small circular iron crate, and placing the argol round the inside of this, and leaving plenty of ventilation, they kindle the fire by striking a spark with a flint and steel into the driest piece they can find, and blowing until it breaks forth into a flame. It requires long habit and a great expenditure of breath to make a fire in this way, and when made it is a wretched affair. It gives but little heat, and fills the place where it is lighted, whether tent or hut, with a pungent smoke that is very trying to the eyes. The argol is not always readily to be obtained. We carried a good supply always with us, and almost every morning Bara, the old Mongol, would ride off on one of the camels to obtain a further quantity from 20 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK some neighbouring hut. On the present occasion I found the smoke exceedingly trying ; for the argol was damp, and my eyes fairly ran down with tears. But there was no help for it. Outside, the ground was thoroughly wet, and the drizzle still coming down. The only thing to be done was to make the best of the situation. I cooked some oatmeal por- ridge for breakfast, and employed myself in getting the correct pronunciation of the few Mongol words in the vocabulary that I had made with the assist- ance of my Russian friends at Kalgan, and then pro- ceeded to take a keen scrutiny of my companions. Old Bara was of the usual Mongolian type, of short stature,with a broad face, high cheek-bones and small Oriental eyes. In expression he greatly resembled the Indians of N.W. America whom I knew so well. In fact I could fancy that I had met him before among the Squamish on Frazer River — and here I may remark that I noticed a great similarity between some of the Mongols on the confines of China and Indians that I had seen on the Platte River when crossing the prairies. He was dressed in a long sheep-skin coat which reached nearly to his heels, and was fastened round the waist by a girdle. This he changed according to the weather ; when cold he wore the wool next his skin, when warm he reversed it. Upon his head there was a pointed skull-cap of a faded blue colour, edged with wool. Underneath his coat he wore a pair of short breeches, reaching from the waist to a little below the knee. Top-boots of the Chinese make with felt soles, and felt stock- ings completed his attire, for he wore no under-gar- IN MONGOLIA 21 ments. The younger man, Geluga, had an honest Mongol face, bronzed and dirty like that of his com- panion. He was clad in a long frock of blue stuff, and upon his head wore the kind of cap most common among the Mongolian tribes. It is perhaps best described as a wide-awake, with the upturned brim of fur, and a conical crown covered with yellow silk, having a glass ball or button at the top, and a broad ribbon hanging down behind. The colour of this button denotes the rank of the wearer. As regards other parts of his attire Geluga was dressed like Bara. At the girdle they both had, as is usual among these tribes, a pouch containing flint and steel and a case with chopsticks. Their pipes, with ab- surdly small bowls, not holding more tobacco than a thimble, were thrust into their long boots. Geluga only had a long, narrow, sharp knife. The expression of their countenances was honest and kindly, and as somewhat of a physiognomist I was glad to be pleased with their appearance, for under God's good providence I was now committed to the care of these wild and simple children of the steppes. Nor did their subsequent conduct belie their looks. No man ever had more faithful and trustworthy servants. They were always anxious to please. I soon found out that they stood in great awe of me — a feeling which I thought it prudent to maintain by an assumed dignity of manner blended with condescension. Once only did they manifest a tendency to neglect their duties. On one occasion they put their cauldron upon the fire before I was served. This I thought it wise to check, and summoning the utmost severity 22 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK to my countenance that I could assume at the moment, I shook my fist solemnly in old Bara's face, and removing the pot in which their food was being cooked, put my kettle in its place. They were properly awed, and I never had occasion afterwards to find fault with them. Towards evening the weather seemed to be clear- ing up a little, and the camels were packed. There were now nine of them, beside the one that drew the cart. No sooner were we under weigh than the rain recommenced with increased violence. To my dis- may I found that the door and the little window on the windward side leaked considerably, and gutters of water began to flow down upon my clothes and what stock of food I had stowed inside the cart. One of the most exciting and exasperating of the minor evils of life is to live in a hut that leaks, and by hut I mean a house containing but one room, so that there is no possibility of escaping the falling drops by fleeing to another apartment. The detection of the first leak, the stopping it for a moment by' stuffing some article into the cranny, the soaking of the water through that, the sight of other leaks, the vain at- tempts to stop them while they multiply ; then the change of tactics, the dragging one's various articles into the corner where there appears to be no leak, abandoning the rest of the field to the enemy, then perhaps the consciousness that there is a drip, drip, drip coming down upon the bedding, the one thing you desire to keep dry, the frantic attempts to stop it, the placing a basin or saucepan underneath the downpour to catch the drops, the marvellous way in IN MONGOLIA 23 which the leak appears to shift, so as to evade what had been placed below ; finally either the giving up the contest in despair, or the cessation of the rain, and the consequent peace and hearty laugh over past troubles — with all this I was well acquainted, but a leaky cart was a new experience. The offending window had shrunk in consequence of the dry weather, and the cart being not well built, a con- siderable portion of the rain which fell upon the roof found its way inside through this aperture. In vain I stuffed various articles into the cranny ; it duly resulted in their getting soaked and acting as most efficient conductors for the water. In vain I tried every expedient. Little pools were collecting upon my blankets, and at last I was compelled to rush out in the midst of the pelting shower, and in desperation cut a piece off my brand-new waterproof sheet, and nail it over the obnoxious window at the expense of getting thoroughly wet in doing it. " Nunc est ridendum," said I, jumping in again and thinking of Theodore Hook. But there was to be no peace as yet. Either the wind or our course shifted, and the rain began to come in at the other window. Once more I tried my former expedients, but in vain. I took out my drinking-cup and held it under the tiny gutter, but when it was nearly full a sudden lurch of the jolting cart jerked its whole contents over me, so once more I was fain to jump out, knife in hand, measure the window, cut another piece from my ill-used waterproof, and nail it with vigorous blows under the leather and over the offending aperture. Of course the door still admitted the wet, 24 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK but this I resolutely ignored, and enveloping myself in my blankets tried to persuade myself that I was comfortable. What a night that was ! The wind roaring over the prairie, and the rain pelting down upon the cart. The storm was so violent and the darkness so profound that we could not proceed. I heard the Mongols employed outside in pitching their tent, and then in spite of damp clothes fell into a slumber which lasted until morning. After a hurried breakfast upon dried tongue and biscuit we resumed our journey, and halted about noon on the banks of a small stream, the Narine Gol — Gol being the Mongolian word for river. Here it seemed we were destined to remain for awhile ; for the heavy rain-storm had so increased the stream that it was not fordable. Not that even when thus swollen the so-called river was of any very great depth, but it was sufficiently deep to cause the water to flow into the cart, had we at- tempted to cross, and thus to wet it thoroughly and all the articles it contained. So we quietly camped and sat down by the stream till the water should subside. It seemed a stupid thing to be doing, waiting for a swollen brook to abate, when a small bridge which could easily have been built by the combined force of the neighbourhood would carry all travellers over at almost any time of the year. Horace's lines occurred to my thoughts — " Qui recte vivendi prorogat horam Rusticus expectat dum defluat amnis ; at ille Labitur et labetur in omne volubilis oevum." But, however, there we were, and the only thing to IN MONGOLIA 25 be done was to make the best of the time thus spent. In the afternoon I walked off to a small yourt or station which was distant about half-a-mile from our encampment. I found that it consisted of three gurrs or huts, each at the distance of some twenty yards from the others. The huts throughout Mon- golia are all built after the same pattern. In form they are circular, the walls being about five feet in height, and the roof sloping upward, not to a point, but to a circular hole which allows the smoke of the fire kindled inside to find a vent. The framework of the wall is made of sticks, imported from China or from the Khalkas in the north, placed lattice-wise and covered with felt, straw matting being some- times laid underneath. The making of the felt, which is used for so many purposes, is one of the chief employments of the women. They assemble in parties and pull out the wool, and lay it upon a flat piece of ground in rectangular patches, and then beat it well with sticks. It is then wound upon a simple roller, and drawn over the ground by a man on horseback. The door of the hut, which is always very low, not above four feet in height, is placed on the side sheltered from the prevalent wind. The floor is of earth, and the argol fi; e, kept in by an iron crate, is in the centre. The hole in the roof immediately above is formed by a circular ring of wood, over which a shutter is drawn when it is raining heavily. Through this hole the smoke is supposed to escape, which it only does after eddying a few times round the interior. The height of the apex of the roof from the ground is from eight to ten feet, and the diameter 26 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK of the hut from twelve to fifteen feet. There is no division in the interior, but all the family sleep in one apartment. Against the wall there are ranged the wooden boxes which contain the food and utensils, and household treasures of the family. Among these there is always one which is used for religious pur- poses, where the joss-sticks and the offerings and the little brazen vessels, and perhaps the images, are kept, before which prayer is wont to be made. The family sit, or rather squat, in the space between the boxes and the fire on mats of felt placed on the ground. As a general rule the inhabitants are forward and very polite in inviting the stranger into their huts, and lay a mat for him in the best place, and offer him tea and try to do him honour. Before the door there are lines of cords hung on props, and sometimes quite low and pegged into the ground. To these cords camels and cattle are tethered when either the camels are needed or the cows or goats are being milked. There is a good deal of simple etiquette in the social habits of the Mongols ; and one point to be observed is that these lines are not to be passed on horseback. It would be a grave offence to ride up to the door of the gurr. The stranger must dismount and fasten his horse at a certain distance. He must not also take his whip with him into the hut, but must leave it behind, and then make the due saluta- tions to the master of the house. On the present occasion some small, well-formed cattle tethered to the cords were being milked by two or three brown, dirty, weather-worn females, who appeared very bashful and very much afraid of the stranger. The IN MONGOLIA 27 only other noticeable figure in this yourt was the pole erected near one of the huts, from which hung two tattered streamers inscribed with prayers in the Thibetan characters. I saw similar poles often after- wards. In fact there is scarcely a yourt without one. It is regarded as a protection to the village. As the canvas flutters in the breeze it is imagined that the prayers which are inscribed upon it are constantly ascending to the Buddha world. On returning to our encampment I found the Mongols preparing for the night. The camels were all disposed upon the ground in a semi-circle before the tent with their legs tucked under them, and breathing heavily ; and within old Bara was super- intending the brewing of a jorum of tea. Being somewhat in doubt as to whether the brook was fordable or not, I took Geluga to the ford, and made him turn up his breeches and wade into the stream. However, he found the water nearly up to his waist before he reached the main current, and assured me that there it would be above his head. Evidently there was nothing to be done but to wait. Old Bara came up at the time with his hands behind his back, a favourite attitude with the Mongols, and looked wistfully at me in a dolorous manner, and sighed ah ! ah ! deeply several times, as though we were upon the verge of ruin. I believe he thought that I should beat him for this delay, but finding that I took matters philosophically he cheered up palpably. Returning to the tent I lit my lantern and placed it at the door that I might be able to read and write, greatly to the delight of a group of Mongols who came 28 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK dropping in on their ponies. After a great brewing and drinking of tea they all went away, and we were left to dispose ourselves to slumber. Old Bara before retiring to his mat came out into the starlit night and made his simple devotions. They consisted in his placing the palms of his hands together and bow- ing to the four points of the compass, at the same time touching his forehead and breast with his hands thus pressed together. I could not hear that he uttered any words, though close to him at the time. Soon nothing could be heard but the heavy breathing of the patient camels as they chewed the cud around the tent. Next morning at an early hour we crossed the Narine Gol, which we then found to be not more than two feet and a half deep, for these brooks subside as rapidly as they rise, and thence journeyed on all morning, having on either hand rolling, grassy up- lands, dotted with rick-like huts and herds of grazing cattle. About noon we rested in the midst of a fine, grassy plain, and the Mongols pitched the tent and lighted the fire, and brought a scanty supply of muddy water from a small pool left by the rain. Having now been three days without fresh meat, and as there were plenty of sheep feeding in the vicinity, I told Bara we must have some mutton, and by his direction Geluga started off to a neighbouring gurr, and soon returned with a fine sheep before him on the horse's back. I forgot to put down in my note-book the exact amount that I paid for it, but believe it was two taels (about 12s.). I was anxious to view the slaying of the animal, for I had heard of the great skill IN MONGOLIA 20. of the Mongols in butchery. Geluga's long narrow knife having been cleansed and whetted on the shafts of the cart, the sheep was placed on the ground on its back, and an incision quickly made in its belly. Into the incision the man from whom the sheep had been bought, acting as butcher, thrust his hand and arm nearly up to the elbow. It is said that this is for the purpose of grasping the heart. However, within a very few seconds the animal ceased its struggles and was dead. The skin was then cut longitudinally and the carcase was flayed, the skin falling down on either side and forming a dish which held the blood and kept the meat from the soil. The carcase was then cut up. The operation was so rapidly done, that within ten minutes after the first incision was made the animal was dead and skinned ; within a quarter of an hour the carcase was divided into joints ; and within three-quarters of an hour a portion of it was cooked and ready for our dinner. This sounds a little barbarous ; but it is the way they have in Mongolia. The butcher kept the skin for his trouble. Before the flaying of the animal was finished we had quite a company of people round our camp, as is always the case upon these occasions. They often seem to scent the carcase afar off, and come to- gether to feast with the slayers. The entrails and those parts which a foreigner would not eat are thrown into the iron pot which is the invariable accompaniment of the Mongol, and when boiled for a little time — for they never roast or fry meat — without any salt, the contents of the pot are 30 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK amicably divided among those present. 1 They take these choice morsels in their fingers (for though they carry chopsticks with them they are very seldom used) and devour them quickly. The fair sex is always well represented on these occasions. I noticed that whenever we killed a sheep, ladies were sure to appear from somewhere. They would sit upon the ground at the tent-door with the men, and receive their portions together. No preference or precedence is ever accorded them. In dress and general appearance there is no great difference between the sexes. In lower Mongolia the women wear long frocks, like the men, generally in colour of a faded red or reddish-brown, and fastened round the waist with a girdle. Their boots are of leather with felt soles. If they wear a hat it is much like that of the men, which I have already described, but as a usual thing they have no other covering than that of nature upon their heads. Their coiffure — perhaps their fair sisters in the West may feel an interest in the Mongolian fashions — though strange, is not perhaps more so than some of the modes of late years. Their long hair is plaited at the crown into two long braids — pigtails I should call them if speaking of the other sex — which are brought round from the back of the head to the front, and stand out from the head in a stiff manner in precisely the form of the long horns of the Warwickshire cattle. These braids are fastened together just above the forehead, 1 They also have another use for these entrails, in the case of some diseases, colic e.g., teeming them warm from the body of the animal upon the stomach of the patient. IN MONGOLIA 3 1 and from the point of juncture two chains of coloured beads and bits of coral hang down on either side of the face as far as the cheek-bones, increasing in breadth as they descend like the strings of a cardinal's hat. Their faces are of the Mongol type, with high cheek- bones, small eyes, and raven hair, very brown, often very ruddy, and nearly always, I am sorry to say, very dirty. Being nearly of the same height as the men, who are very short, and dressing so much like them, when they come riding up in a large party sitting astride upon their horses, they are hardly to be dis- tinguished from the males ; and were it not for the softer tones of their voices and a certain feminine expression of countenance when they speak, one would not recognize them as belonging to the softer sex. Their principal employment is to attend to the house- hold affairs, milk the cows and goats, make the fire and boil the milk, prepare the cheese and clotted cream (uruma), make tea, and drive the cattle to the pasturage. The weather next day (August 9) was fine, and we halted at eleven o'clock for our midday rest in a fine plain of good pasture with several small yourts in sight. As usual we were soon surrounded by the inhabitants, who when they behold a camel train and cart in the distance, come flocking in from all the habitations within sight. They are all dressed in much the same fashion, in long frocks of blue or faded red, or reddish-brown, fastened round the waist with a girdle. Caps of different patterns are in vogue, some fitting close to the head like a skull-cap, but coming to a point with a little round button at the 32 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK top, others consisting simply of a circular piece of fleece, looking like a round bit of an old yellow door- mat. This is placed on the top of the head and tied underneath the chin. On this occasion there were two Lamas among the company. A very large pro- portion of the male population are Lamas or Buddhist priests, I should say fully a third, and in the north one-half. They are readily distinguished by the fact of the whole head being shaven, whereas the laymen, while shaving the rest of the head, wear a short pig- tail, not nearly so long or so well kept as that of the Chinese, descending below the shoulders, and simply twisted without any ribbon. The inferior Lamas, who are found in the country, forthe higher grades are to be met with only at Kuren, the sacred city, or at some of the Lamaseries, engage for the most part in ordinary avocations like the rest of the population, and meet with a good deal of re- spect. They ordinarily have the precedence over laymen, and are helped first to food. Many of even the inferior order are, however, mere drones, and are supported by the common people, who reward them for exorcising spirits when they are sick and other works of their ministry. The greater part of their time they spend in contemplation and the recitation of their sacred formulas. They are supposed to be celibates, but few, however, of those that live at a distance from Kuren, the place of residence of the Great Lama of Mongolia, are so in reality. Among the Khanates of the Khalkas in the north, the Lama's brother will marry two wives, and after the marriage ceremony will make over one of them to IN MONGOLIA 33 his brother. Whether this is a custom in the south I do not know, but not infrequently on entering the hut of a Lama I was introduced to his consort and family. This, however, is a breach of discipline. I do not know whether or not it was fancy, but I thought them less prepossessing and coarser in appearance, more pushing and curious, less gentle and amiable, than the laics. The Government of China, according to its usual astute policy, encourages the Lamas, and supports a large number of them at Peking, with a view partly of pleasing the Mongols, and also, it is said, of rendering them unwarlike and more amenable to authority. Our two visitors had their rosaries with them, as is usual, for the purpose of saying their prayers, which consist of the recitation of the sacred formulae, especially that of the famous " Om Mani-padme Um." This they repeat at all odd times, when journeying, or resting, or in the intervals of their meals. I thought the present a good opportunity of obtaining one of these rosaries, and cast my eyes covetously upon the one that was the most worn. The old Lama, the owner, somewhat astonished that I wanted it, offered it for a brick of tea or plug of tobacco. This was too much ; for tea and tobacco are the current money of the country. I offered half of each, and this he eventually accepted ; but when the bargain was struck he looked with regret upon the rosary, no longer his, and at length begged me to give him one of the small coral beads. To this I readily assented, and he was then abundantly satis- fied. To show them that I understood the use of c 34 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK the rosary, I told them that I had seen the Lamas using them in the Lamaseries at Peking, and growled out " Om Mani-padme Um " in my very bassest and hoarsest notes. This seemed to amuse and delight them amazingly, and the other old Lama immediately sent off a boy to his gurr for a brand-new rosary, which he presented to me on the spot. At the same time I heard Bara explaining to them, in answer to a question, that I said prayers, especially that I said one before dinner. They occasionally interrogated me upon the same point. For some days after leaving this spot we had fine weather and made good journeys, travelling from thirty to thirty-five miles per day. This first steppe that we traversed, called Kara Usu (" black water "), is in its whole extent of the same character that I have already described. Rolling downs of good pasturage stretch out on all sides dotted with numer- ous herds of sheep and cattle, and yourts of two or three huts,looking like small hay-ricks in the distance. Occasionally we would come upon large droves of horses, all small, tough and hardy ponies, and herds of camels taking their summer's feed, and thus being prepared for their winter's work. All the real travel across Mongolia is done in the cold season, when the camels are in full vigour. In the hot weather they are unable to do much work, and are turned out to graze and recruit their strength, and by the time the cold weather sets in they are fat and strong, and their humps stand up firmly on their backs. As for our camels — we had fifteen with us now, for Bara had bought five additional ones on our way — they were IN MONGOLIA 35 somewhat worn out, for they had been working all the previous winter, and so far during the summer also. They had lost their coats, and looked bare and hungry, and their flabby humps hung all on one side. However, as their loads were very light, for I had but a small amount of baggage, and the Mongols nothing but their food for the journey and some argol, and a few woollen mats, we marched along pretty well. The drawing of the cart was the only heavy work to be done, and the best camel of the number was put to that. At the head of our cavalcade rode Geluga upon a raw-boned, long-stepping camel. He by a string led the camel that drew the cart. Next to the cart, and linked to it by means of a cord, came the camel that carried my boxes. A cord attached to his pack led to the next animal, and so on ; so that all the camels were linked together in a long string, old Bara bringing up the rear. The leading string is tied to a small piece of wood which is passed through the animal's upper lip near the nostrils, and fastened with a button upon the other side. This is a very tender part, and when the camel resists the pressure upon the cord it must suffer much pain. If the animal be very tired or obstinate, one often sees the lip bleeding at the puncture. In such cases the cord not infrequently breaks from the pres- sure which the animal puts upon it, or becomes de- tached from the saddle of the previous animal, and then, if there be no one behind, the poor camels stand still in the trail, not attempting to wander away, and stretching out their long necks, look wistfully around 36 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK and begin to browse. We were not infrequently delayed in this way. The two Mongols would be riding together in front, I perhaps walking on a good way ahead, when it would be discovered that half of our train had been left behind, perhaps half-a-mile, and then there would be the riding back, and the catching the cord, and the tugging at the poor creatures' nostrils and their consequent discordant shrieks. It is by pulling this cord that the driver forces the camel upon its knees, before he either mounts or dismounts. He tugs and cries " choo, choo, choo," and the animal utters his strange cry, half shriek, half grunt, and then comes down upon the knees of his fore legs. Then a pause and he kneels with his hind legs. Then a settling, when he tucks his legs underneath his body, and the operation is complete, and he begins instantly to browse upon the grass within reach of his long neck. When he gets up the operation is reversed. He gets up on his fore legs and his body is inclined at an angle of 45 ° towards the ground ; then he lifts up his hind legs and gives a final shuffle. Until one becomes used to it the mount- ing a camel and the starting off is a matter of some difficulty. Some of them have, moreover, a habit of bounding up directly they feel the human body thrown across them, which greatly disconcerts a tyro. On the first occasion when I essayed camel-riding I came to great grief. Seeing no stirrups I imagined that there were none, for the Mongols frequently ride without them, and throwing my leg upon the animal's broad back, which was padded with woollen mats, immediately, before I had gained a seat, he started IN MONGOLIA 37 up on his fore legs, where he paused before the next step in the process, and his body being inclined very steeply towards the ground, and there being nothing to hold on by, for old Bara had the leading cord in his hand, I slid with some violence to mother earth, somewhat to my worthy follower's amusement, though he tried courteously to repress his laughter. The gait of the camel is peculiar and sways the body of the rider up and down, giving him the appearance of a potentate bowing to the applauses of a surround- ing multitude. On the march, if the camels be very hungry or worn out, they will graze as they go. Their long necks enable them to do this without diffi- culty. Thus they manage to take in a great deal of provender. Whenever we were traversing plains where there was any feed at all, our animals were cropping it as they went by day or night. The camel next in order to the cart was an animal in the prime of life, and with him I managed to strike up quite an acquaintance. By day, when not walk- ing, I usually sat at the door of the cart, perhaps trying to read as well as the jolting of the vehicle would permit. The rope by which he was tethered would just permit the camel to come alongside of the door. This he would do, and I would gently stroke his nose. At first he did not know what to make of this, but soon came to like it, and would come to the door of the cart when he saw me get in after a walk. If he were obtrusive or had been eating too freely of the wild garlic to render his proximity agreeable, I had but to shake my stick in his face and tell him with a loud voice to fall back, and he would do so with 38 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK perfect good breeding. I never could see the Mongols bestow any affection upon their animals. They take care of them, but never show any such affection towards them as we do towards our horse or our dog. I can quite fancy that individual camels are not cal- culated to inspire any great attachment. When on the march we usually started from our resting-place at about four o'clock a.m., and tramped on until high noon. There was no stoppage for break- fast, so after awaking about six a.m. and having made my ablutions, in a chance puddle by the way- side, or making an apology for a wash with a bottle of tea that I had kept for the purpose from the previous day, I broke my fast with bread or biscuits and cold tea, or perhaps fresh milk fetched by Geluga from a neighbouring yourt. At about eleven a.m. we halted for midday, and cooked our dinner, and gave the camels a rest ; then resuming our journey, about five p.m., we travelled on till near midnight. At first I thought that the Mongols ate but once per diem, but I discovered that they hid lumps of half-cooked mutton in the breasts of their frocks which they munched between- whiles. Such was our mode of travelling, and upon the whole very pleasant travel- ling too, while crossing Kara Usu. Our course continued for some days over the high, rolling uplands ; the plains, covered with bunch- grass, but with no trees, stretching away as far as the eye could reach. One morning (August n) old Bara gave me to understand that his wife and family were living not far from the spot where then we were, on the west side of the road, and that he wished much IN MONGOLIA 39 to go and see them. If I consented, he would ride off with some of the camels, and Geluga with the rest would go on with me ; he promising to rejoin me on the next day. Of course I made no objection ; but he appeared to have grave doubts whether he might really venture to go ; for he was careful to explain the matter two or three times, and when he was riding off, his face was turned towards mine to be sure that I was really propitious. If I had but made the slightest opposition, or even, I believe, looked black at his petition, his longed-for visit to his home would have been given up. The same afternoon I went on with Geluga, and, Bara being now away, had to take my part in packing and loading the camels. They were by this time much fatigued, and constantly broke away from the nose-strings through unwillingness to travel, and from a desire to pick up something to eat from the scanty herbage. We were now well on into the desert of Gobi, or Shamo as the Mongols call it, and during the night crossed a sandy belt where there was no feed. The camels now went along quietly and slowly. It was of no use their bending their long necks to the ground, for they found nothing there. Their large, soft, spongy feet fell noiselessly upon the sand, and there was no sound of a living creature except the wild singing of Geluga from time to time and the mono- tonous humming of his prayers. Towards midnight, as I was retiring to the cart to get some sleep, the camel which was drawing it stumbled and fell from sheer fatigue ; and Geluga took this as a sign that 40 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK we had better go no further ; and we accordingly halted for a few hours. The moon just past the full was then shining in silent splendour. Next morning, waking in my cart, I found that Geluga [had been able to pack the camels by himself, and that we were passing smoothly over the yielding sand. Spying a yourt at some distance in front, I deter- mined to breakfast there, and walked on ahead ; but finding a pool of water, which had been concealed by a slight rise in the ground, I told Geluga to stop at the first gurr (or hut) while I tried to get a bath. The water was very shallow, and the mud very deep, so that I got but a poor wash. Some dogs, startled no doubt by the strange sight of a man trying to get a wash — a sight which I dare say they had never beheld before, a nd probably never would again — came from the yourt near at hand and barked furi- ously at the edge of the pool, and I thought it possible that I "might have to fight for my clothes. Some of the Mongolian dogs that I encountered when cross- ing the steppes were very large and fierce. They would come bounding over the prairie from some neighbouring hut as we were passing in so threatening a manner, that I was fain for prudence sake to take refuge in my cart. These, however, fortunately for me, were true curs and fled upon my approach. Walking up to the cart I found a hospitable Mongol talking to Geluga who invited me into his hut. I found that he was heating his morning's milk. A small double boiler of dried mud was built in the centre of the floor, and underneath it a fire of argol was slowly burning. The boiler was full of fresh IN MONGOLIA 41 rich milk just beginning to simmer; and of this, with biscuits, I made an excellent breakfast. The Mon- gols heat their milk directly it comes from the cow, skimming off the cream for the purpose of making urumu, i.e. clotted cream. They make their tea after this fashion. They place their round iron cauldron full of water over the fire, and allow it to re- main there until the water is nearly, but not quite boiling. They then throw in two or three handfuls of tea. The amount depends upon the number of the family and guests present. The tea is the com- mon brick tea which travellers take from China into the interior, tea-dust pressed together, I know not how, into the shape of a brick or tile. This is pounded into dust and thrown into the water, which is then stirred with a long ladle. They then pour in a con- siderable quantity of their heated milk, cold, and stir until it is well mixed with the tea. If the Mongol be rich in cattle, or if guests of distinction are present, the good wife then pours in some urumu and still stirs with the ladle. Then perhaps a little curd or butter is put in, until the liquid becomes almost like soup. When the process is complete, they bale it out into tall metal jugs of a peculiar shape, and these are handed round. They drink the tea from small wooden bowls, and take it very hot. Every one who may happen to come in is as a matter of course wel- come to tea, and without any demur takes his bowl from the breast of his frock, for every one carries one about with him, and holds it forth for the favourite beverage. After drinking several cups, they will take their pipes out of their boots, where they always 42 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK keep them, and will drink and smoke until the tea is finished. After our breakfast we continued our journey, travelling still over a soft, sandy plain, whose only vegetation were odoriferous herbs of the artemisia species. We were still off the track ; but Geluga evidently knew the country well. Indeed, it was easy here to keep the right direction, for a singularly shaped hill or rather rock, rising abruptly from the plain, which Geluga called Gotugawa, made an ex- cellent landmark. As we passed under this hill we met a Mongol on foot who was evidently a friend of Geluga. He put out his two hands ; and Geluga, who was also on foot, put his hands and wrists underneath those of his friend, and touched them. This is the ordinary mode of salutation among these people. If two equals meet, the one puts out his arms before him with thepalms of his hands extended as a sign of deference, as much as to say, " I am a humbler person than you." Then the other immedi- ately puts his hands and wrists underneath those of his friend as though he would say, " No ! I am an inferior person to you." Geluga's friend turned round with us, and in his company we shortly arrived at a small group of three huts or gurrs in the midst of the sandy plain. The Mongols made the camels kneel down, and took off their packs, but did not allow them to go and graze as usual, but kept them sitting up in their usual manner. The hut of the Mongol into which I was intro- duced appeared just the same as others which IN MONGOLIA 43 I had entered. Boxes containing their various utensils and articles of food were ranged round the apartment against the wall, and felt mats, upon which four or five Mongols were sitting, were placed upon the mud floor round the fire. These men were guests who had dropped in, as their manner is, to partake of whatever was going on. One can seldom remain long in any gurr without some one entering on a passing visit. For a Mongol when riding on business or pleasure will seldom go by a hut without stopping to exchange greetings, and drink tea, and smoke pipes. There is an established code of etiquette always observed on these occasions. The visitor must fasten up his horse at a certain distance from the hut, and enter the little door with the customary salutations ; first to the master of the house, and then to the others assembled there. And then, being of course welcomed, he sits down and takes out his bowl for tea. By this time I had learned some of the usual salutations, and made my greetings in the proper form, which were duly returned, to the assembled company. The fire was placed at my disposal, and upon it I placed a pot of beans to boil until dinner-time arrived. After awhile, going out into the open air, for the atmosphere of the hut was very warm, I saw that Geluga had taken the felt mats from off the camels, which now for the first time showed their drooping humps and backs denuded of hair. It was evident that they were in somewhat of a poor way. At the same time Geluga informed me with a deprecatory air that we should wait there until 44 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK Bara arrived, which would not be until the day after the morrow. To me this was a matter of in- difference. It was to the interest of the Mongols to bring me to Ourga within twenty-five days, as they would forfeit a tael for every day beyond the specified time. And, provided they did that, I was not un- willing to rest for a day or two. And this quiet spot in the midst of the desert, under the shadow of Gotu- gawa, was as good a place for a short stay as any other. And among a people like the Mongols, about whom so little is known, something was going on to interest one almost every hour. An instance of this occurred in the afternoon of the same day. I was in the gurr to which I had been previously in- troduced, endeavouring to mend my tin mug, which having been bruised had become leaky, by punching it out and soldering it with some metal from off a bacon tin. In doing this I was pressing it against an old box on my right hand, and was hammering away, when Geluga observing me, with an air of alarm motioned me to desist, intimating that the box was a sacred thing connected with their worship. Look- ing again more closely and seeing apparently only two empty boxes, one placed upon the other, and the lower one covered with a cloth, I involuntarily laughed ; quite inadvertently, for I would never show disrespect towards the belief of any people unless I could teach them a better. This I found displeased my entertainer, who was present ; for he became very silent and soon went out of the hut. I continued there, and in about half-an-hour he re- turned, and not entering but standing outside, uttered IN MONGOLIA 45 some words to Geluga, among which I detected the phrase "put up the tent." For this purpose Geluga quitted the hut and I was left there alone. Taking advantage of this, I thought there could be no harm in ascertaining what really I had done by examining the boxes. In the upper one there was nothing but the carved stick., hollowed in the form of a small trough, in which they are wont to place their joss- sticks, and an old roll of some woven material on which probably prayers or sacred formulae had once been written, but which was now so discoloured with dirt and age that nothing could be distinguished upon it. Lifting carefully the cloth which covered the lower box, I saw that it contained four or five tiny trap bowls, clean and bright, full of rice and millet and other grain. There was neither image nor painting nor any representation of any divinity. Yet these, as I felt sure, were intended as offerings to divinities good or evil ; for Buddhism in Mongolia is largely tinged with polytheism. Geluga quickly returned, and putting together several articles of mine which were lying about, told me that the tent was put up and that he had made a fire. Desirous of being quite sure what was wished of me I would not take his hint. But presently the Mongol who had invited me into the hut returned in company with several others, and told me that the tent was put up, that a fire had been made, and that I could cook my dinner there. Of course I immediately gathered up my belongings, and with a civil greeting left the gurr, vexed that I had unwittingly given them displeasure. In the course of the evening, however, while I was at 46 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK dinner, some of them came round as usual and gazed, and touched with wonder and admiration various articles that were lying about, especially a portable case containing knives, forks, and spoons, asking questions innumerable of Geluga all the time. I managed to propitiate them with gifts of food and tobacco, and they became very friendly. And when an hour or two afterwards I was walking by the door of the same hut, I was invited to come in. I found them at their favourite occupation of drinking tea. Often in Mongolia I thought of my dear friend Charles Calverley's line, "Tea veniente die, tea dece- dente vorabat." Some of them soaked millet in the beverage and sucked it down as well as they could. Others took a little flour in their fingers from a bag, and making it into a paste in the tea, then ate it. Others contented themselves with sipping the scalding liquid and staring gravely at me, and now and then making comments upon my dress. While the others were smoking, and I was cutting up tobacco for them, an old Lama, who it appeared was the real owner of the hut, came in and began to make preparations for his devotions. I watched his proceedings quite as narrowly as the others had observed mine. He first took out of a box a small parcel of little white stones, and fetched from a corner what I had long been desirous of seeing, but now beheld for the first time, a prayer-cylinder, old and well worn, evidently the companion of many years. Afterwards I was to see very many of these cylinders. The portable ones carried about by the Lamas, and employed in their private devotions, are usually small, from twelve to IN MONGOLIA 47 eighteen inches in length, and consist of three pieces, the handle or stick, terminating in a metal spike or spindle, the cylinder itself which revolves upon the spindle, and the knob which secures it there. The cylinder is made either of metal, iron or silver, or of wood, and round it there is written in Thibetan char- acters the well-known ascription " Om Mani-padme Um," "Glory to the Lotus-bearer" (Padma-Pani),or some other sacred formula. Within, rolled up tightly, there is a long scroll of paper, upon which sacred sentences are written. A string is attached to the external face of the cylinder, to the other end of which there is fastened a trap knob, or perhaps a few coins, or lump of metal, and sometimes a small shell. These, when the stick is moved in the hand with a rotatory motion, cause the cylinder to revolve upon it the more easily. The esoteric idea is that by every revolution of the cylinder, in which the prayers or sacred sentences are written, the glory of the divinity (Padma-Pani for example) is exhibited to the four points of the compass, i. e. to the whole universe. The " Om Mani-padme Um " is a pure ascription of praise, " Let all the earth recognize the glory of Padma-Pani." The oftener glory is thus ascribed, the greater is the merit of the worshipper. But to return to the old Lama — having taken ten stonesout of theparcel, and placed themapart.he took the cylinder in his right hand and his rosary in his left, and squatting upon a felt mat and revolving his cylinder, repeated his formulae under his breath, and at the same time passed the beads through his fingers, thus keeping count of the revolutions of his prayer- 48 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK wheel, and therefore of the praises that he had meritoriously rendered. There is, as I found out, a correct way of holding the cylinder. The thumb should not be extended up the stick, but should be tucked in under the fingers. It is usual also to revolve the cylinder from left to right ; but occasion- ally by way of change it is revolved the other way. The old Lama joined freely in the conversation that was going on, stopping for awhile his mutterings, but still revolving the cylinder. And when he had said his say, if he had pretermitted to use his rosary, he would pass a number of beads through his fingers by way of making reckoning for the revolutions of the wheel while he had been talking ; for while he had been joining in the conversation, the cylinder had been saying his prayers for him. Every time that he completed the telling of the beads, and arrived at the coral one with which he had begun, he put on one side one of the white stones, and thus continued his devotions until the rosary had been told ten times, and the ten stones were set apart by them- selves. Apparently he was then about to perform some ceremonies which he did not wish me to wit- ness ; for he intimated, not discourteously, that there was a good fire at my tent ; so accordingly I left his hut. The next day I rested quietly, and occupied part of my time in writing up my journal. There were numerous visitors at the huts all the morn- ing. Mongols came galloping up in their usual fashion, standing almost upright in their stirrups, but inclining a little forwards, and urging their sturdy IN MONGOLIA 49 horses to full speed. The laity were usually clad in faded maroon or blue frocks ; the Lamas in yellow, with perhaps, if they possessed a certain rank, a bright yellow jacket over the frock. Mongolian ladies also came in some of the parties, riding their horses astride, and decked out in gorgeous array, always in bright colours, their gowns, worn loose with no girdle, being perhaps of red, their huge sleeves of blue, slashed perhaps with yellow, and their masses of hair marvellously plaited, made stiff with fat, and adorned with numerous and curious ornaments of silver and coral. The effect of their bizarre attire was, however, much marred by the fact that their garments were usually faded and always very dirty. In this part of Gobi I observed that the women were very bashful. Not one ever came near our encampment. If I passed one of the gurrs in which any of them happened to be at the time, they would hastily shut the door. And if one of them had occasion for any article in a hut where at the time I happened to be, she would stand outside, as not wish- ing to be seen, and call to some one within to hand her what she wanted. This is, however, by no means the case throughout Mongolia. Frequently along the track the women are forward and importunate in begging for articles that they fancy. They are hard-featured, with high cheek-bones, small eyes, ruddy, somewhat weather-beaten complexion, dirty faces and hands, and large masses of black hair. I saw but one face that I should call pretty, and that was at this very village. D 50 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK The Mongols, like all uncivilized and un-Christian nations, do not make much account of the women. They perform most of the work about the yourts, tend the sheep and cattle, milk the goats and cows, and do all the cooking. Either they or the children drive the live stock to pasturage, and watch them and bring them home, while their lords and masters drink tea and smoke, and ride about the country, and spend part of their time — this is especi- ally true of the Lamas — in religious meditation. In the hut of a lama one may see the two sides of life ; the practical in the woman, and the contemplative in the man. The man, I fancy, is satisfied with this arrangement ; whether the woman is, I cannot tell. They appear, however, to be very patient, and cer- tainly have nothing of the "new woman" about them. On the second day old Bara rode up on his camel with the happy light of home upon his bronzed face ; dismounting he came to me with profound bows, and with pleased but deferential smile presented me with a cheese, an offering of gratitude from his wife. It was about the size and shape and weight of a good- sized brick. I graciously accepted it, and cutting off a piece at once, ate it with apparent relish. It was not particularly bad, but very close and heavy, and I felt oppressed. But, however, in the course of two or three days I ostentatiously munched a bit at meal-times when Bara was looking, and threw away little bits when he was not looking, and dropped portions of it out of the window of my cart, and thus in time got rid of it with considerable credit. IN MONGOLIA 5 1 It was very interesting to have this opportunity of observing the daily life of a people so little known and of habits and customs so strangely different from our own. Their religion is evidently rude in the extreme. These rough children of the steppes have none of the philosohpic theories of higher-class Buddhism. Whatever may be the case with the higher grades of the hierarchy, the country Lamas are, I am satisfied, ignorant of the doctrines of Buddhism as taught in Southern Asia. From the frontier of China to Kuren (or Ourga), the sacred city, there are no temples. The religion is individual and family worship. In their huts they have their penates, little figures, usually medallions of Shakya- muni, and other divinities or deified heroes of Buddhism. They have their little bowls of offerings, and they spin their prayer-wheels and chant their formulae, it may be to Padma-Pani. But their real devotion, I do not doubt at all, is given to their Great Lama, the man-god, the incarnation of the divinity who dwells at Kuren. Whether they are moral or not I really do not know. In China I had heard bad accounts of them. But I saw nothing wrong. My own two attendants were honest fellows enough. But it was well to be upon one's guard when strangers were about, especially Lamas. In their Buddhism, as in other forms of heathen religion, there is no in- struction given in morality at all. It was a moving and a sad thought, that from China to Kuren, in all that vast region stretching away to Thibet, I was at the time in all human probability the only believer in " One God and Jesus Christ His only Son our 52 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK Lord." In the hot noonday, while the sun was beating strongly on the sandy desert, I recited the Creed in the shade cast byGotugawa, and my thoughts turned to Him who is as " the shadow of a great Rock in a weary land." These poor simple, ignorant people are His children. He looks upon them with love and pity. Yet they know Him not. They have never heard of Him. That they are not un- willing to accept the Gospel when put before them, is shown by the success of the Russian Mission among the Bouriats, which I was afterwards to visit. And humanly speaking, our hope must be that through the instrumentality of the same Christian Church the blessed Gospel of Christ will reach the wandering tribes of the steppes. May God hasten the time. We must " pray the Lord of the harvest to send forth labourers into His harvest." For some days after leaving Gotugawa and its friendly shade, the heat was more intense and the sandy desert more sterile and forbidding. For one or two days at a time, there being no wells, we were absolutely without water, and my scanty ablu- tions were performed with milk which we had care- fully brought with us. It was very stuffy in the cart, yet outside the great heat and glare from the white sand were very trying. The Mongols were silent, and we moved along noiselessly. The very camels languished. The five or six that came along in a string behind the cart, and were commonly crop- ping the bunch-grass with their long necks while on the march, now stalked slowly along, looking round disconsolately ; and sometimes indeed, being over- IN MONGOLIA 53 spent, would come to a halt. On these occasions the string that tied them together would perhaps break, and Geluga, waking up from a doze, for the Mongols often sleep upon their camels, would perceive that two or three of the animals were left a quarter of a mile or half a mile behind. And there the huge ungainly creatures were still standing, not having moved a yard, craning their necks around, and looking into vacancy over the glimmering sands with their dull, patient eyes. Itwas the rule of our journey to rest, for the camels' sake, during the middle of the day, and march morn- ing and evening and the greater part of the night. But sometimes we were obliged to travel during the heat. On one of these occasions, finding the cart very hot, I stepped out to walk awhile. When lo ! on issuing from the cart I beheld to the right of our route, at apparently a distance of about three miles, a large and fair lake smooth as a mirror, and one or two objects by the margin that appeared like trees seen through a mist. I was utterly dazed, until, falling back upon my own mind, I felt sure, I knew, that there was, and there could be, no such lake for some few hundreds of miles, and looking up I saw old Bara looking down upon me from his camel with a fatherly smile, and shaking his old head from side to side as much as to say, "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." Immediately it flashed upon my mind that I was in face of the beautiful phenomenon of the desert, the mirage. I had been fortunate indeed in just catching it. For I had been gazing at it with delight but a few minutes when a light, luminous mist 54 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK seemed to gather over the water, and then the whole scene appeared to break up into beautiful silver-grey wavelets that nickered in the air. Now they seemed to move towards us, coming on a few feet above the ground, now they streamed away to the right, getting behind us and crossing the track by which we had come. Oh, how beautifully the wavelets shimmered in the hot air. But now as we went on our way they settled down into a light haze. It was an illusive vision ; but like many other illusions it was fair, very fair — while it lasted. As we neared Ourga it became evident that our camels would soon " give out." The fine animal which had been drawing the cart fell lame, and was relegated to the office of carrying Bara. One of the others, a fine animal also, but one which had been working during a great part of the summer, was sub- stituted for him ; and it soon became a hard matter to drag him through his day's work. On the night of August 26 we rested much earlier than usual, viz. about ten o'clock ; and the Mongols pitched the tent and lighted a fire (which was very welcome, for the night was bitterly cold), and with an old Lama who journeyed with us for several days, made their supper of tea, in which they had soaked a little grain. The pasture being here very good they allowed the animals to graze around until quite late into the night ; and as I lay in the cart the sound of their browsing was very pleasant. We were then at an altitude of nearly 5000 feet. It was a clear frosty night, and the wind was blowing from the north. I found some difficulty in keeping myself warm. The next day we resumed IN MONGOLIA 55 our march, making, however, but slow progress, to- wards a picturesque range of low mountains which lay before us, and encamped again quite early just as we were about to pass through them. On the morning of the 28th we started at sunrise — and very bright and beautiful the sunrise was in the frosty air — and crossing a low pass, where I had to dismount from the cart and assist in pushing it up the incline, entered upon a valley of considerable beauty. Fine hills, rounded yet varied in form, rising to a height of perhaps 2000 feet above the terreplein, stretched away on either hand at a distance of about half-a-mile. The whole surface of the valley and of the hills up to their very summits was clothed with verdure. Numerous flocks of black-faced sheep and blue-grey goats, herds of cattle, and droves of horses were grazing about at their leisure. A few yourts of the beehive-like huts nestled at the base of the hills. The sky above was clear and the sun shone brightly ; and to give additional colour to the scene, our friend the old Lama, who had rejoined us after a short absence, and two companions trotted along near us on their sturdy white ponies, clothed in scarlet frocks and yellow hats, journeying towards the sacred city. At noon, to my delight, we halted near a small brook. This was the first running stream that I had seen since crossing the Narine Gol — I suppose somewhere about 500 miles back — and I immediately made preparations for having a bath. Stimulated I suppose by the sight, Geluga informed me with some pride of manner that next day he meant to wash, and that we should come to a river 56 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK where we should find plenty of water. This was the Tola. I was interested in hearing this promise or threat on his part — I do not know in which light he regarded it — for it would indeed be a novel sight to behold a Mongol using water for any other purpose than that of making tea. The free use of cold water seems indeed to be a matter unthought of by these Orientals. The stripping in the open air for the sake of having a bath I rather suspect they look upon as a sign of madness. I remember once at Chang-kia-keu, in China, sallying forth from the town quite early in the morning, and finding a remote place, secluded as I imagined from mortal observation, I proceeded to undress and rush into the river. But I had been watched, and the news rapidly spread ; and while I was in the water I observed a great crowd of men and youths, standing indeed at a respectful distance, who threw stones like Shimei, and I doubt not uttered words of similar import to his. I speculated whether I was not in for a row. But fortunately upon my emerging from the water they incontinently fled in terror, fearing, I suppose, that I should rush upon them and tear them limb from limb. I remember laughing heartily at the time as I thought of a similar scene between Gulliver and the Lilliputians. Before my bath was over the sun became overcast and a bitter wind blew from the north. After a dinner of goat's-meat broth, we again started on our way, the trail leading us down the valley till we came to a brook which ran clear and rapid along a very winding course. This was the Tola. Here the hill- tops were covered with pines, a pleasant sight after IN MONGOLIA 57 travelling more than 600 miles without seeing more than one tree ; and the land in the valley was very good, and the feed excellent. We stopped a little while at a cluster of huts to get some argol. Large flocks of sheep and herds of cattle were roaming around. The huts here are still covered with woollen matting ; but they use wood for the cattle sheds. Their construction is somewhat peculiar. A piece of ground, some thirty feet square, is enclosed with a wall made of young pines ; and, within, the area is roofed over on three sides, leaving an open space in the centre. The interstices in the wall are stuffed with argol, which is also heaped upon the roof. Here for the first time I saw some of the long-haired Mon- golian cattle. What their coats may be at other seasons of the year I do not know ; but at this time, while their backs and sides had coats like ordinary cattle, all underneath the belly of the animal a mass of long hair like goat's hair hung down to the ground, two feet, I suppose, in length. Their tails also were exceedingly bushy. Some of them bear an extra- ordinary amount of hair about with them. Their shoulders are high and lumpy, and their necks placed very low ; so that at a short distance they look like somewhat small buffaloes. Their heads, however, are small. At night we camped early, not far from a large train of camels coming from Ourga. I walked to their encampment, and found a numerous and busy company. Three very large tents, each con- taining eight or ten persons, men and women, were pitched close together. In each tent there was a blazing fire of argol and wood. It was cheering to 58 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK see again a bright wood fire. In one tent they had kindled two. Huge cauldrons had been placed above the flames, which licked round them and sent showers of sparks up to the tent roof ; and the men and women were employed in cutting up a sheep which had just been killed, and in preparing for their supper. A large number of camels, I could not tell how many for the darkness, were lying on the ground before the tents, with their woollen mats upon their backs, chewing the cud and breathing heavily as usual. Their burdens were lying in heaps in the centre. I could see that among other things they were carrying a large portion of timber. Of course I was invited into the tents, but would not enter, as I was longing for tea and sleep, and therefore re- tired to our camp. It was a delicious night, clear but not too cold. There was a sensation of moisture in the air which was pleasant after many weeks spent in a very dry atmosphere. One could hear a distant barking of dogs, and the tinkling of bells belonging to passing trains of o^c-carts, and the voices of men shouting to their animals, for the valley was full of trains starting from Ourga for the autumn season ; and there was that most delightful sound which called one's memory back to pleasant Swiss tours, and Highland glens and gold-bearing American creeks — the sound of a rushing mountain stream. It was with such surroundings that I fell asleep in the valley of the Tola. Next morning, making an early start, we arrived about seven o'clock at the banks of the Tola. I had managed to get some sleep in spite of the IN MONGOLIA 59 jolting of the cart, and upon awaking found Geluga only at hand, Bara having ridden off to view the ford, and see what prospect there was of crossing the river. He came back looking very distressed, and sighing ach ! ach ! eyed me wistfully, as was usual when any little untoward incident occurred. It was impossible, he said, for the cart to cross the ford, for the water was too high. But it appeared upon inquiry that there was a temporary raft for the transmission of vehicles, and the old man was only sighing because I should have to pay somewhat, at which he thought I should be highly displeased. However, I made it clear that I was quite well satis- fied, and bade the Mongols make a bargain. Accord- ingly for that purpose we moved off to one of several gurrs that were clustered near at hand, and the two Mongols were soon seated upon the ground, talking over the terms and eyeing with complacency the brewing of a jorum of tea. I left them imbibing the grateful beverage, and went down to the river for a plunge. Young Geluga's promised dip, perhaps I hardly need say, never came off. I know not what opposing thoughts came into his mind. Maybe the bright-flowing, rushing river looked cold, as certainly it was. He had got on very well so far without wash- ing, why should he not get on without it equally well in the future ? " Quieta non movere " is a safe conservative Oriental maxim. Why experiment ? They never washed in the good old days. Do we in our vanity pretend to be better than our grand- fathers ? It is our duty to stem the tide of new- fangled reform ; and so, seeing that "second thoughts 60 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK are best," he stood fast, and still unwashed " he nobly returned to his cottage again." There was no difficulty in getting any of our be- longings over except the cart. There were two rafts already made, formed of three canoes lashed together. Upon one of these Bara, with the luggage, was quickly conveyed across the stream. The camels and the pony were made to flounder through the flood ; the pony swimming ; and only the cart was left. For the transport of that, the Mongols thought it necessary to choose a time when nothing else was crossing, and for such an opportunity we were obliged to wait some time, as there were a number of horses and cattle engaged in making the passage. On one side of the river the drovers were engaged in urging the animals into the water, shouting and lashing at them with their whips to force them to take to swimming. Some dozen or twenty boys, all of them incipient Lamas with shaven heads, were dabbling about in the cold water, employed with boyish delight — for boys are pretty much the same all the world over — in preventing the cattle from returning to the bank. When animals driven into a river find themselves being carried off their feet, their first impulse is to turn round and strike out for the shore that they have just quitted. And the business of the boys was to prevent this by run- ning down the banks, or into the water, and throwing stones at them and shouting, an employment quite to the taste of all true boys. There was not much difficulty in forcing the ponies across. They swam the stream, and, passing through the groups of IN MONGOLIA 6 1 Mongols upon the opposite bank, who were squatting upon the ground smoking, surveying the animated scene and shouting out advice, walked quietly away to graze upon the neighbouring pasturage. But it was different with the cattle. We were delayed, I suppose, half-an-hour, while the drovers were en- deavouring to force two of the long-haired Thibetan cows to cross the stream. They had their calves with them. And whether they were afraid for them I know not. Anyway, they would not take to the water, but in spite of the shouting and cruel blows from stones and whips, would flounder back again to the bank from which they had been driven. At length it occurred to the dull-witted Mongols, what one might have thought would have entered into their minds from the first, that the best way would be to carry the calves across first. Accordingly they were seized and bound with ropes — the mothers looking on in anxiety all the while, moving restlessly to and fro and grunting in a very strange and touch- ing manner — and thus tied were carried over in the canoes. There was then no difficulty with the cows. The maternal instinct — beautiful and beneficent gift of the great Creator ! — gave them courage ; and in a few minutes, dripping with water, they were caress- ing their young ones on the other bank. The river was now clear for the cart. With a good deal of pushing and hauling and shouting of directions it was placed upon the canoes. I embarked in front, and with two men steering with poles at the stern we were quickly carried over by the force of the rapid stream. Our transit was now complete. I gave 62 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK the Mongols who had assisted us a tael in silver, with which they were well satisfied ; and we were quickly rolling over a pebbly flat towards the town of Kuren (otherwise Ourga), which had been visible in the distance all the morning. I was disappointed by my first entrance into the town. It consisted exclusively of Chinese low, i. e. one-storeyed, houses and shops. The streets were rough and unpaved, as are all the Chinese streets, and the cart rolled and jolted along. Chinamen stood at the shop-doors with their round hats, loose gar- ments, round dull faces, oblique, cunning, Oriental eyes, and pig-tails down their backs, smoking their little pipes and gazing at our cavalcade, especially at the foreign " devil." I was surprised at seeing nothing more bizarre, nothing very different from what I had often seen in crossing China. Upon inquiry, however, the problem was solved. This was not Kuren proper, the sacred city, but China-Town, a suburb at some little distance from the sacred city, where the Chinese merchants, traders and shopkeepers reside, who carry on a considerable traffic across the plains. There is no very great love between the Mongols and the Chinamen. The former, the simpler, more open, more manly race, regard with respect not unmingled with scorn the clever, industrious and far more highly civilized Chinamen. The latter, capable, astute, thriving, self-satisfied, look down upon the rough pastoral tribes of the steppes, with their simple virtues and childlike dispositions. To my own mind the Chinamen are a wonderful and deeply interesting people. They possess some qualities indeed that IN MONGOLIA 63 are especially obnoxious to Englishmen. In the mass they are cowardly, fanatical and cruel, the upper and governing classes especially. In many ways, to Christian and moral people of wholesome and cleanly habits, they are not a nice people to live amongst. And no doubt different tribes, or sections of the people, from different parts of their vast empire, differ considerably among themselves. Men of the hill tribes that I have met with in the gold diggings of North America are much finer men physi- cally, much more adventurous and enduring, than the men from the plains and cities. But the average John Chinaman is not such a bad fellow. He is diligent and persevering, in my own experience trustworthy, amenable to kindness, and most grate- ful. Do a kindness to a Chinaman, and he and his friends will never forget you. I had the oppor- tunity of showing kindness to one or two Chinamen on Frazer River, and tried to teach some of them English. The fact, I suppose, was somehow made known among their fellow-countrymen ; so that wherever I went throughout the colony the China- men received me with a glad welcome and hospitality, and brought me little presents and invited me to their houses to tea. I believe it will be found that missionaries who have lived long in China have become, perhaps almost without exception, fond of the people among whom they dwelt. Passing through the Chinese town I directed Bara to take us to the Russian settlement, for there I hoped to put lip. Accordingly we made our way thither, and I found a very substantial house, about 64 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK two miles from Kuren, occupied by several Russian officials, also a small church and a resident Russian priest. The head officer, to whom T had a letter of introduction from the good and able Archimandrite at Peking, Palladius, received me very cordially, and offered me quarters as long as I intended to stay in the neighbourhood of Kuren ; an offer which I grate- fully accepted. It was a happiness to be again amongst Christians and refined gentlemen. My belongings were handed over by the Mongols, and all that remained was to pay them for their service. The silver was weighed, and I bade them good- bye. We were mutually sorry to part. They had served me honestly. They must have known that I had silver with me for my journey. They must have known too, for I made, no disguise about my belongings, that I had no weapon with me. I was a stranger, alone and unarmed amongst them and their people. Yet I believe no thought of harming or robbing or defrauding me once entered their simple minds. Indeed never but once had I any suspicion of them. Once, not long after the beginning of our journey, and before I was well acquainted with them, I was perplexed and made a little anxious by their conduct. Two or three men joined us at nightfall, and a halt was made, and there were conferences carried on in whispers, and we left what was obviously the track and went away over the prairie in a some- what different direction, nor could I elicit from my two servants, who appeared to be keeping out of the way, any explanation of our mysterious move- ments. I walked for two or three hours through the IN MONGOLIA 65 night with my hand upon my English clasp-knife, until we halted. I then crept into the cart and commended myself to sleep, and waking in the morning found that nothing was amiss. Probably they had left the track for some good reason and were too much afraid of me to attempt any explana- tion. I never doubted the good fellows after that. I believe they had become somewhat attached to me. We parted with many beaming smiles and bows and hand-shakings. They were intending, as they said, to rest their camels for a few days and then make their way home again. I thought them very faithful, honest, pleasant fellows. I trust when they thought of me afterwards, they would think me just and kind. CHAPTER II THE SACRED CITY OF THE MONGOLS Kuren (or Ourga, as the Russians call it) is the sacred city of the Mongols, as being the usual resi- dence of their Great Lama, the object of their deepest veneration, the centre of their religious worship. For the Buddhist religion, as it is still found in Ceylon or Burmah, is in many ways unsuited to the simple children of the steppes, who require a creed less mystic and less philosophical, more simple, more concrete, and appealing more directly to the re- ligious element in their nature. And so, among the Mongols, Buddhism, which has ever exhibited such a wonderful power of adapting itself to the varying requirements of peoples, has taken an alto- gether different shape. Indeed, it is quite mislead- ing to speak of Buddhism as it is found in Southern, Eastern, and Central Asia, as if it were everywhere but one and the same religion. The Fo-ism of China is mixed up with the other philosophic and moral theories and traditional customs of the Celestial Kingdom ; and the Lamaistic form of Buddhism which holds in Mongolia, and which has taken into 66 DOLMEN-MEMORIAL OF A BUDDHIST SAINT (KUREN). [ To face page 66, PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK IN MONGOLIA 67 its system and assimilated portions of the old Shamanism, and even, as I have witnessed, some elements of fire-worship, probably resembles in fact the Tao-ism of China, or even the Polytheism of ancient Greece or Rome, almost as much as the pure Buddhism of Ceylon. The priesthood, as representative of the ascetic element, is everywhere highly exalted wherever the Buddhist religion has spread ; and in this fact there has been an opportunity for a development highly congenial to the religious instincts of the pastoral tribes of Central Asia. One of the sacred Triads specially reverenced among the Mongols is that of Burchan, Lama, and Nom — the " Buddha, Sanga, and Dharma " of more southern Buddhists ; i. e. " the Divinity, 1 the Priesthood, and the law." Indeed, there is probably not a more priest-ridden people upon the face of the earth. But though from the first preaching of Buddhism in Thibet and Mongolia the Great Lamas at the head of the spiritual hierarchy have ever been regarded with the excessive reverence of superstition, it was not for many centuries, probably not until the close of the fifteenth century, that there sprung up the re- markable theory of a perpetual incarnation in them. Padma-Pani is perpetually incarnate in the succes- 1 The Mongolian word " Burchan " is not to be regarded as the exact equivalent of " Buddha." The missionaries of Buddhism found the word upon their entrance into Mongolia. It is an old Shaman word, and the Siberian Shamans of the present day call the divinity " Burchan." It is used by the Christian Bouriats for the true God, and is employed by the Christian missionaries in the same sense. 68 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK sive Dalai-Lamas of Thibet ; and Pandida, who, it is said, first preached Buddhism in Thibet, is incarnate in the Great Lama of Mongolia, or " Khu- tuktu." 1 Thus, then, there is a concrete object of religious veneration far better suited than the philosophic theories of Southern Asia to the simple ignorant peasants of the steppes. It is true, indeed, that they profess to believe in " gods many, and lords many." Invading Buddhism took into itself, as I have said, a large portion of the former belief in demonology ; and having been originally, ac- cording to the teaching of Shakyamuni, probably purely atheistic, has become in Mongolia, Thibet, and China, actually polytheistic. You cannot enter a Buddhist temple in Mongolia without seeing images of divinities in the shrines, and banners with hideous delineations of demon-gods hanging down on all sides from the roof. Yet I fancy the belief in these gods has comparatively but a slight hold upon the people. Their enthusiastic loyalty, their most reverent worship, the deepest devotion of their hearts, are reserved for the Lama, the man like themselves, whom, with no reason, indeed, that can be estimated, they fondly believe, or sup- pose, to be an incarnate god. The Khutuktu is from the early days of his child- hood immured in the enclosure of hispalaceat Kuren. 1 The Khutuktu is of the supposed incarnations the third in rank ; the two others that rank above him being the Dalai- Lama and the Bantcheyne Bogdo, both of Thibet. Which of these last mentioned is the superior in dignity seems to be a moot point; at least, in Mongolia, precedence is sometimes attributed to one, sometimes to the other. IN MONGOLIA 69 This he never quits, except when he pays a visit to his house in the country, and on the solemn occasions when he comes forth in state to bless and be adored by the people. If he pass safely through childhood and attain to the state of manhood, he is then, at the age of twenty-two or twenty-three, taken away to Thibet to be consecrated to the rank of " Geloon " by the Dalai-Lama, 1 and usually dies on his journey home, or if not, then, soon after his return to Mongolia. The explanation of this at first sight startling fact could beyond doubt be furnished by the agents of " Bogdo Khan," 2 who has an hereditary fear of the warlike Mongols, and jealousy of their chief, and well understands the secret art, fighting with " silver spears," of striking down an enemy at a distance. No need to say that the unhappy man himself is kept in absolute ignor- ance of the fate which has overtaken his predecessors and awaits himself. When he is dead, it is believed that the divinity which dwelt in him has passed into some other child of man recently born, and a grand deputation of Lamas is at once dispatched to Thibet to institute a search for the child ; for it is the will of Bogdo Khan that the Khutuktu should be of Thibetan parentage. M. Hue tells us in hi& Travels in Tartary — a book which I may remark by the way is not always to be relied 1 There are three orders peculiar to the Mongolian " Lama " : (i.) Geloon, (ii.) Getzoul, and (iii.) Houvarak. 2 "Bogdo" means "Divine." Bogdo Khan is the Emperor of China. " Tzagan Khan " — " tzagan," white, or happy — is the Tzar of Russia. 70 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK on for perfect accuracy — how he himself witnessed this cavalcade on its way to Thibet. The head Lamas are, of course, alone aware of the secret signs by which the infant who has inherited the divinity may be recognized, and accordingly they find them in the infant son of suitable and compliant parents. The little one is duly adored, and taken charge of, and carried off to his luxurious captivity at Kuren. Sometimes, when passing by the enclosure and seeing the gaudily-coloured and gilt roofs of his pavilions rising above the lofty wooden walls, one thought sadly of the young man within, and longed to be able to whisper a few words in his ear, and warn him of the fate in store for him. It has always been the policy of the astute Govern- ment of China, while abstaining from interference with the spiritual authority of the Great Lama, to curtail and keep in check his temporal power. The country of the Khalkas, which lies to the north of the great desert " Gobi " — a tract of 300,000 square miles, the more desolate part of which is called " Shamo," the " Sea of Sand " — is divided into four Khanates ; and there is, besides, the " Shabin " Government, consisting of clans given to the Khu- tuktu at various times by different princes. The men of the Shabin, assigned to the temples, num- bered a few years ago upwards of 70,000. The administration was formerly in the hands of the Khutuktu himself, but has recently been taken from him by the Chinese Government and entrusted to a Lama, a nominee of its own, who with his two assistants resides at Kuren. But all the ecclesi- IN MONGOLIA 71 astical affairs of Shabin are administered in the name of the Khutuktu. The four Khanates of Khalka, containing, it is said, a population of 5,000,000, form two Govern- ments, each presided over by an Umban,or Governor, appointed from China, to which Khalka became subject towards the close of the seventeenth century. The Umban of Kuren, the easternmost of these two Governments, was at the time of my visit not a Chinaman, but a Mongol, a Buddhist of the most rigid type. At the time of his appointment he was greatly scandalized at the atmosphere of the world which surrounds the sacred city. There is an old Buddhist law that no merely secular persons, such as x traders or shopkeepers, should dwell within two miles of the residence of the Khutuktu ; whereas, the law having fallen into desuetude, a town of considerable size has sprung up around the lama- series. In fact, while the number of Lamas in Kuren is between 3000 and 4000, the total number of inhabitants is said to be 10,000. The newly-ap- pointed Governor determined to sweep all these people away from the place — a hazardous and most impolitic act. But the Khutuktu, showing himself to be in this a sensible man, has for the present put a stop to the execution of the threat. He told the Governor that he was too late ; matters had gone too far ; and the attempt to drive away some 7000 people from their shops and houses would be folly. Besides, the presence of the people had as yet in no way injured him or the interests of the religion. And so the matter rests. 72 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK At the present time the chief part of the secular population resides in an eastern suburb, separated from the sacred city by a broad street or market- place. No woman is allowed to lodge in the sacred city. The town issingularly built,being formed of a large number of enclosures, varying in size, and all sur- rounded with high wooden palisades. These wooden walls vary from eight to ten or twelve feet in height ; so that, the houses being very low — those of the Chinamen being only of one storey — nothing of them can be seen from outside, except, perhaps, just the ridges of the Chinese houses. As these enclosures adjoin one another, they form streets, or, rather, unpaved roads, often very muddy, and are entered through a gate, roughly and squarely made. When you enter one of these enclosures you will find one or two Mongol huts, or a low Chinese house, built in what we call the pavilion style, or perhaps an idol temple. The Mongolian huts, or " gurrs," are beehive-looking structures, in form very much like the pictures that one often sees of the tents of the Esquimaux. In shape they are circular, with a wall about five feet in height, and conical roof. The framework is made of sticks of wood, placed lattice-wise, imported from China or Siberia — for there are no trees upon the steppes — and is covered with felt kept down by cords. There is no chimney, but a circular hole at the apex of the roof, to allow the smoke from the argol (dung) fire to escape. The temples are made of wood, and in their ground-plan bear a resemblance, per- IN MONGOLIA 73 haps merely superficial, to the construction of the Greek churches. In the porch there are one or two large prayer-cylinders, perhaps five or six feet in height. In the drums of these there are fixed spokes of wood, to which every one gives a push as he goes in or out ; so that they are usually found slowly revolving. The main body of the building, the hall of assembly, or " nave " as we should term it, is rectangular, usually square, in shape, festooned with cloths and banners hanging from the roof, upon which are depicted the effigies of the Buddhas and Demons. Drums also are suspended from the roof, which are beaten from time to time. At the opposite side of the hall of assembly from the porch is the shrine ; or very commonly this is in a separate apartment, connected with the hall by a short passage. Here, perhaps in a case, are images of the gods, and upon an altar-table little brass cups filled with offerings — wheat, millet, rice, and butter. In the large hall, or " nave," the visitor will probably at any time find three or four Lamas of the poorer sort, with their shaven heads and loose, dirty gar- ments, sitting cross-legged on the floor, having their books of prayers, shaped like long, old-fashioned music-books, 1 before them on a low desk, growling, or rather bellowing, out the sacred formulae in their hoarsest bass, as though they would be " heard for their much speaking." These Lamas, who form such a large part, it is said more than a moiety, of the male population, 1 The books of magic mentioned in Acts xix. 19 were pro- bably books of sacred formulae such as these. 74 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK are the least prepossessing people that one meets with in Mongolia. They are lazy, inquisitive of course like all other Mongols, very dirty, and fre- quently supercilious and domineering. Their re- citation of the prayers (so called), which are written in Thibetan, the sacred language, of which many of them do not understand a word, is utterly formal, and, if there be no witnesses present, often unreal and irreverent to the last degree. They will fre- quently break off their recitations to chatter and laugh, and sometimes shout out mere gibberish — " vain repetitions " indeed. Externally, the great hall of the temple is roofed over with a large dome, made of a framework of wood covered with canvas ; so that, at a little distance, these temples appear not unlike large tents, such as are sometimes used in country places in England for the performances of a circus. In this strange city the most singular feature to the eye of the stranger is, perhaps, that presented by the mechanical contrivances for prayer. Over the gate of each of the enclosures, between the cross-pieces, there is fixed a good-sized prayer- wheel, to the drum or cylinder of which two or three small sails are attached, similar to those that are fastened to the children's toy windmills in England. These are caught by every passing breeze ; so that, especially when a strong wind prevails, the rapidly revolving cylinders cause a perpetual whirr throughout the place. There are also numerous poles erected here and there with streamers, upon which the sacred f ormulse are written ; IN MONGOLIA 75 and as the wheels revolve and the streamers flutter in the breeze, continual prayers and aspirations are sup- posed to be ascending to the Buddha world. I was very wishful to obtain one of these prayer-cylinders, but for a considerable time was baffled in my object, as it is strictly forbidden for the Lamas to sell them. However, on one occasion, finding near one of the temples a receptacle for the worn-out paraphernalia, and "grubbing about to see what I could discover, I fished up, along with old banners and pictures of the Buddhas and Demons, some of which I still possess, an old broken prayer-wheel. An inquisitive young Lama coming up at the moment, I told him, in answer to his questionings, that I wanted a prayer-wheel, and would give him a good sum for one. Looking round cautiously to see that no one was within earshot, he promised that he would try to get me one, and bring it to me at the Russian station, where I was staying, at a little distance from the town. Accordingly, the next night, long after dark, having muffled himself up to avoid recognition, he brought in one of the common hand prayer-wheels, which is before me as I write. It is thirteen inches in length, and consists of three parts : a wooden handle or stick, terminating in a long iron spike ; the cylinder, made of copper, four inches in diameter, perforated with a hole, through which the spike is passed ; and a brass knob, which secures it there. From the external face of the cylinder there hangs a heavy knob of copper by a string, which, when a rotatory movement is given, by means of the handle, causes it to revolve more readily. Within 76 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK the cylinder there is, I know, though I have never opened mine, a long narrow coil of paper, upon which prayers are inscribed in Thibetan characters, probably the famous formula said to have been given by Abida to Ariabolo, that therewith he might assuage the vices and passions of men : "Om Mani-padme Um "— " Glory to Padma-Pani." This, perhaps, will be inscribed very many times upon the scroll. The vulgar idea is, I suppose, that the use of the prayer-wheel is merely that of in- dolently saving the trouble of saying prayers ; but this is a mistake. The magical formula is usually repeated aloud while the wheel is being revolved ; and sometimes, by means of a rosary, held in the left hand, the revolutions are duly re- corded. On one occasion, when crossing Shamo, a poor Mongol woman asked permission to accom- pany my caravan through a part of the night. For four hours I walked behind her, beside the ungainly camels, over the soft, silent sand, with the starlit sky above, and the desert stretching away on either side into the obscurity ; and all the while she spun her prayer-wheel, and chanted to a monotonous tune, in her soft woman's voice, the " Om Mani- padme Um." Never, for a moment, was the wheel still. Occasionally she would speak to my two Mongols, or make replies to them ; but, excepting during these breaks, she never once ceased her chant — " Om Mani-padme Um." I was hugely delighted, during my stay at Kuren, to hear that the Great Lama, being about to remove to his countrv house, would come forth to be adored IN MONGOLIA 77 by and to bless his devoted people. When the appointed day arrived, having driven into Kuren, accompanied by a young Russian, I made my way to the palace of the Khutuktu. On our arrival before the gate, at about half-past ten a.m., we found that the ceremony was not expected to take place till nearly noon. We found plenty of amusement, however, during the interval, in looking upon the scene around us. There were brown, dirty, ruddy Mongols from the country, come on pilgrimage ; and country women, rich and poor, the former decked out in all their bizarre finery. In the midst of the throng there was a spare, ascetic-looking Manchurian Lama, who attracted much attention, sitting cross-legged on the ground, clothed in red with a yellow hat much like that of a mediaeval jester, revolving his cylinder with his rosary in his left hand, chanting out his monotonous prayers. Costumes of many patterns and various colours and fabrics ; silks of blue and red ; rough, simple shepherds in sheep-skin frocks, oddly-shaped hats, and heavy felt boots ; Lamas in red flowing gar- ments and wonderful yellow hats of different shapes — round, helmeted, and crested : such were some of the objects that struck the eye. Taking out my note-book, I made a few sketches of some of the strangest figures ; but this I had to do very cautiously, as some of them, especially the women, evidently resented what they regarded as a liberty. A length there was a stir among the people, which showed that the eagerly-expected ceremony was about to take place ; and they all 78 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BQOK moved off to an open space, in front of an enclosure, near the palace. After a little while the gates of this enclosure were thrown open, and a small de- corated pavilion was discovered inside, with a highly ornate chair, in which the great one was to sit. The pilgrims were all arranged in three or four broad rows across the open space, and sat down thickly upon the ground. We walked off to the gate of the palace enclosure, from which, we were told, the Khutuktu would soon issue. Presently a small procession of Lamas arrived, and took up their position at the same spot. 1 There were two men having long strips of fur, which they wore somewhat as the Eastern deacons wear their stoles, over the right shoulder, and hanging down towards the ground. There were two men in huge yellow woollen helmets, bearing trumpets shaped like flageolets ; and a number of Lamas, advanced in life and of high position, in large gilt processional hats. One Lama bore a lofty round canopy of yellow silk, like a large umbrella with long hangings. Other Lamas, of high degree, bore a sedan chair covered with yellow stuff. Shortly after this pro- cession had taken its place, the trumpets were sounded, and all eyes were turned towards the gate, which, up to this time, had been shut. It opened, and then came out a group of high Lamas, all in bright red flowing silk robes, and among them the god himself, who immediately took his seat upon the sedan chair, and was lifted up by the Lamas 1 There are no less than 500 Lamas in the personal retinue of the Khutuktu. IN MONGOLIA 79 appointed for the purpose. He was a stout man, with a large, round, shaven, good-humoured face, not wanting in intelligence, but with a smirking and consequential expression. I should have guessed him to be about thirty years of age, but in fact he was only twenty-one ; the time, therefore, of his fate- ful journey to Thibet was not far off. The trumpets continued blowing, the procession started, and soon entered the enclosure that I have mentioned. To the gate of this we hurried in time to see the Great Lama take his seat upon the chair of state. All caps were taken off, the Khutuktu alone remaining covered, and a chosen few were ranged before him. These were they who obtained the privilege by valuable gifts. The presents of rich Mongols are often, I was told, very costly. I saw one man, only meanly dressed, carrying in a silver plate, shaped like a crown and elaborately carved, as his offering. These favoured ones were placed before the great one, and all, both men and women, took off their hats, which were held by the attendant Lamas, and received the much-valued benediction, the while prayers were chanted out in the deep bass which the Lamas cultivate, and handfuls of corn were thrown up into the air. We were standing at the gate during this ceremony, not being allowed to enter. While there, the Umban and other man- darins, clad in rich garments of blue silk, their hats adorned with buttons, which denoted their rank, and peacocks' feathers — a , decoration conferred by Bogdo Khan — passed in and took up their positions not far from the throne. But they were 80 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK evidently quite subordinate personages. When the favoured ones had received their special blessing, the trumpets were again sounded, we were requested to move away from the gate, and the great one came forth. First stalked the two Lamas with their so-called stoles of fur ; next the two trumpeters in their helmets ; then one or two Lamas ; then one bearing a censer ; then the sedan chair with the god lifted on high on the shoulders of the Lamas. A few more Lamas and the mandarins closed the procession, which moved, not quickly, but not very slowly, down the ranks of people kneeling or pros- trating themselves upon the ground. Each person, man and woman, had a small silk handkerchief, which he or she had brought as an offering, for they were all quite poor people. These were collected by the attendant Lamas. The great one held a long strand or rein of silk in each hand, which he twisted round as he was borne along. Each strand was tied to the handle of a wand borne by a Lama walking on either side. To the other end of this wand there was attached a small bunch of silk ribands, and with this, as the procession moved onwards, the Lamas touched rapidly the bare heads of the people, they at the time, poor things, holding up their hands with the palms pressed together as if in prayer, and with a rapt, awe-struck expression upon their simple faces. Thus, through the medium of the wand and the silk strand, each person was for a brief moment brought en rapport with the incarnate god. He in the meantime looked round with much indifference and complac- IN MONGOLIA 8 1 ency. As he passed near me and my companion, he looked at us, as we stood, with some displeasure, and prudence whispered that it might be safer to kneel, or at least incline one's head ; but the prudence of my reflections was counteracted by the British obstinacy of my knees ; I felt that it could not be done ; and doubtless recognizing that we were not of his people, the Lama's expression quickly changed to a stare of eager curiosity, and I, for my part, returned his gaze with some curiosity and yet more sadness. Thus the ranks were all passed through, the trumpets blowing lustily all the while, and the great one returning by the way he came, the walls of the enclosure once more hid him from our view. The people then slowly dispersed ; many of them, however, stopping awhile to worship. Standing before the gates of the palace, and placing the palms of their hands together, they touched their foreheads and breasts, and then, prostrating them- selves at full length upon their faces, they touched the earth with their foreheads. This they would do, perhaps a few, perhaps many times ; and then brushing the dust from their heads, went away to their place of lodging. It was all very strange and piteous. The words arose to one's mind which long, long ago spake of the unhappiness of those " who worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for evermore. Amen." CHAPTER III THE VENERATION OF THE FIRE Lama-worship is, as I have already remarked, far excellence the religion of the Mongolian tribes. Buddhism as taught by Shakyamuni in India would not suit this hardy and energetic people. The soft, dreamy inhabitants of the torrid south, surrounded with the most gorgeous productions of the natural world, with but few wants, and those readily supplied by the fecundity of nature, may be satisfied with and even revel in the subtleties of philosophy, or the melancholy yet poetic fancies of their abstract speculations ; but it is not so with the active children of a more rugged clime, where to live requires work, with its daily round of cares and struggles. They cannot do with atheism. In their lonely life among the steppes and among the rocks, in the face of the hardships and perils of their existence, they cannot but believe in intelligences superior to themselves, malignant and protecting, and so Buddhism, ever elastic, has made a com- promise with their old belief, and has allowed them to believe in " gods many and lords many." And 88 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK IN MONGOLIA 83 yet they are not satisfied with this. They desire some still more concrete object for their faith. Their inherited divinity does not appeal to their intellects. He affords them no rational ground for their allegi- ance in supernatural evidences, or in the super- human beauty and majesty of his character. But he gives them a rallying-point for their feelings of devotion. He is an object for their faith which yet they can see with their eyes and their hands can handle. He calls forth the feeling of loyalty and hope which lies deep in the human soul. And so they cling to him with all the earnestness of their simple natures, and venerate him with increasing fervour. An interesting witness this of the yearn- ing of the human heart for some central object of belief nearer than the invisible, unattainable Deity, upon which it may bestow the treasures of its love. After the ceremony of the benediction I wandered through the town and visited well-nigh all the temples. I must attempt some description of the general plan upon which they are built. The monasteries are all surrounded with a palisade of wooden stakes from eight to fourteen feet in height which effectually prevent what goes on within being seen by those without. The entrance of the en- closure is squarely made, and over the gate there is commonly a small prayer-cylinder with wind-sails attached, by means of which it is revolved when- ever there is any breeze stirring. Upon entering the enclosure, the temple, with its large dome, is before us, and on either side, at the corners of the 84 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK enclosure and between the temple and the pali- sades, there will be perhaps two long sheds, filled with benches, in which not uncommonly there will be found a crowd of shaven boys, young Lamas, shouting out their prayers. A porch stands at the entrance of the temple immediately opposite the gate of the enclosure, and in the porch there are usually two large prayer-cylinders, four or five feet in height, with spokes in the centre, by pushing which they are revolved. Passing through the porch we enter what I will call the "hall of as- sembly " where the daily worship is carried on. In the larger temples it is square or nearly so, and is divided into three aisles by two rows of wooden pillars. The central part is surmounted by the dome, which is covered externally with canvas painted with black and ochre. The canvas can be withdrawn at pleasure. The framework of the building is of slight wooden beams and poles, fastened strongly together, and the walls are covered with curtains, the texture of which depends upon the wealth of the Lamasery. The two sides of the hall, on the right hand and the left upon entering, are filled with low wooden benches four or five inches in height, not uncommonly covered with red stuff ; upon these the Lamas sit cross-legged when at their prayers, and they are so arranged in rows that the one half of the assembly faces the other half. Strips and banners of silk are suspended from the roof and hang nearly to the ground, and Thibetan paintings are attached to the pillars. A glass case will per- haps stand somewhere against the wall, filled with J0j» • rra/lrf ms^ BK i.'jx:':-^ £ ..j# JiR^i^-l . "***■' >—'' "r>W;< A PAVILION OF THE KHUTUKTU. o , O' o F e q^ 1 o (a) Entrance gate. (b) Porch. (c) Nave or hall of assembly *(d) Dome. (e) Shrine with idols. c [i J « L 1 b PLAN OF LAMAIST1C TEMPLE (KUEEN). [To face page 84. IN MONGOLIA 85 images and clay medallions of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. At the side immediately opposite the door there is usually a large throne with canopy. The space under the dome is empty. Behind the throne, and in a line with the door of entrance, there is in the temples of the upper class a narrow straight corridor, perhaps twenty feet long, which leads to what I will call the shrine, a small room in the shape of a narrow parallelogram built at right angles to the corridor. Here the chief idols are placed with offerings continually before them. This completes the temple. I could not help noticing a perhaps superficial resemblance between the plan of one of these buildings and that of a Greek church. Each is divided into three parts. The porch of the one answers to the trapeza or narthex of the other ; the " hall of assembly " or dome to the ecclesia ; and the shrine to the altar. But perhaps the Mon- golian temple is only a development of the ordinary hut of their pastoral life. The remaining space of the enclosure behind the temple is taken up with the gurrs or huts in which the Lamas reside. They are precisely the same as the habitations of the people who are employed in pastoral pursuits. In the first temple which I entered, to which I was attracted by the sound of drums and cymbals, which showed that something was going on within, I found four Lamas, two being men and two mere boys, engaged in reciting their Dharanis, or sacred formulae. They were seated cross-legged on one of the low benches upon one's right hand on entering. The oldest of the four 86 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK was employed in rattling one of the small wooden drums that are often employed upon such occasions, another was clashing the cymbals vehemently, and one of the boys was beating a large drum. These drums or tambourines have handles of about three feet in length attached to them, by means of which they are suspended from the rafters when sounded in the temples. The two older Lamas were gab- bling their formulae as fast as lips could utter them, stopping from time to time to say a few words to each other, probably about the stranger, and laugh, and then going on again as rapidly as ever. Oppo- site to the door there was as usual a large throne quite empty, except that some cushions were piled upon the seat. Before the throne upon a quasi-altar thirteen little lamps were burning, small cups of brass filled with oil and lighted wicks. There was also upon the table a wooden receptacle for incense- sticks. In this instance there was no shrine as usual behind the hall of assembly, but a glass case containing three small idols stood on the right side of the throne. There was also near this a large press containing idols and medallions. It was closed at the time, but I managed to look in and see what it contained. These medallions are small circular images of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and are to be found in every temple and upon every domestic altar. I succeeded with some difficulty in purchasing a number of them while in Kuren, and I have them now before me. They are made of clay, and the largest are one inch and five-eighths, and the smaller ones one inch and one-eighth in IN MONGOLIA 87 diameter. The surface containing the image of the Buddha is gilt and the back and edge are painted vermilion. Upon one of the two larger Shakya- muni is represented sitting cross-legged, his left hand holding the alms-bowl, his right hanging down upon the knee. This is the attitude of meditation. His head is encircled with a nimbus, and upon his right hand sits Ananda, his famous cousin, and upon his left another disciple, Ayesha. The other large medallion represents Namsarai, and the smaller ones " Ayuchi Burchan," as I was informed by the Mongols, Burchan being the Mongolian word for Buddha. The temple when I entered it was empty, with the exception of the Lamas and the boys ; but while I was looking round several persons, men and women, pilgrims doubtless who had been at the benediction of the Khutuktu, came in slowly and reverently, and walking round touched with their foreheads various parts of the throne and the altar and the case containing the idols, and then departed, giving a twirl to the prayer-cylinders as they passed through the porch. The Lamas, especially the old one, were inclined to be very chatty, and without ceasing their work of beating the drums and cymbals, asked me many questions, and as I stood near them felt my clothes to ascertain their material, and talked to each other and then laughed merrily, and then would gabble out their recitations again with astonishing velocity and noise. Never was there any so-called religious service so undisguisedly a sham and a pretence. The presence of the simple pilgrims with their looks 88 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK of awe and reverence imposed no restraint upon these teachers of law. I wished much that I could converse with them, but it was only with great difficulty and by abundant use of signs that I could understand their simplest questions. I visited most of the other temples and found them all pretty much alike. In each there would be one, or perhaps two Lamas with two or three boys beating drums and cymbals and reciting the Dharanis with great speed. Perhaps there would be also a few shaven Lamas standing idly about talking and langhing. In nearly every instance there was an idol shrine behind the hall of assembly, and in one of the cor- ridors I found four Lamas sitting cross-legged, and making a prodigious din. In one of the "halls" there was but one Lama, with his rosary and cym- bals, reciting his prayers. Standing close behind him I listened attentively to his words, and found that " ha, ha, ha, hum, hum, hum," formed no inconsider- able part of his recitations. It is to be remembered that the prayers are not said in the vernacular, but in the Thibetan, the sacred language, which none but the very few learned understand. Moreover the most sacred Dharanis, which were originally de- livered in Sanscrit, are thought to be of such exceed- ing efficacy that each syllable, each letter, has a magic virtue. They may not therefore be translated into another tongue, but when written in the sacred books, while the ancient language is preserved, each Sanscrit letter is rendered by its equivalent letter in the Thibetan. Thus they are no more intelligible to the Mongol than a Greek sentence if written in IN MONGOLIA 89 old German characters letter for letter would be to the ordinary Englishman. In this temple the idols were placed in a press, or cupboard, which at the time was open, and the Lama, who was disposed to be very friendly, gave me the names of one or two of the divinities without ceasing his work. One, he said, was a representa- tion of Maidra, and one of Burchan Bukshee (the Master Buddha), btit the lower orders of the Lamas seldom, I think, know even the names of the divinities represented. I visited the temples with gentlemen who understood the Mongolian well, and we generally obtained conflicting replies to our queries. The most curious and most richly decorated of the temples that I visited this day was the last. The house containing the idols was not connected with the hall of assembly, but was in an enclosure behind, the gate of which was shut. I found, however, some simple Lamas in one of the gurrs within the enclosure, and made friends with them by allowing them to handle my clothes, and ex- amine my boots and watch-chain, and ask ques- tions which I answered as well as I could. One of them, at my request, opened the door, and I was admitted into the sanctum. The shrine was built in the Chinese fashion, and ornamented in front with bright colours tastefully handled. Within I found a long narrow room, with a low roof well painted in the fashion common in the best Chinese temples. The magic formula, " Om Mani-padme Um," was inscribed upon the 90 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK rafters in Thibetan characters. Fronting the side at which I entered three large painted curtains hung from the roof, each having in the centre the effigy of a divinity, and before each there was placed a large altar-table for offerings. A case with idols stood at each end of the room, that on the right hand containing three, one of which was Jampal or Manjusri, the god of wisdom, and another Monla, " the great physician." The Monlas are eight in number ; they are the Buddhas who are believed to have created the medicinal plants. " When men set out to collect such plants they implore the assistance of the Monlas, and their names are uttered while the medicine is prepared and taken." 1 In a religious picture in my possession all the eight are depicted, but a chief one occupies the most promi- nent position in the centre. He is sitting cross- legged with apparently a large vessel in his lap and his right hand resting on his knee, with the palm extending outwards. This position of the hand symbolizes charity. 2 The religious shawl hangs over his shoulders, the curled hair rises conically upon the head, and upon the hair a ball. The ears are very large so that the laps touch the shoulders, and the expression of the face shows a mild repose. The other seven are grouped around, all with their glories round their heads, and the sun and moon look down from the top of the picture. Below, the lotus- flower is springing up luxuriantly. There were one or two Lamas within when we entered busied at a small table on the left side of 1 Schlagintweit, xv. § 9. 2 Ibid. xiv. § 1. IN MONGOLIA 91 the enclosure, and after looking around I went to see upon what they were employed. I found that they were lighting lamps of oil in small brazen cups, and preparing dishes to place upon the altar-tables before the representations of the divinities. The greater number of dishes were of butter, plain and coloured — the favourite colour appeared to be mulberry — piled up in heaps and patterns of various shapes, much like the dishes of confectionery, moulds of cream, etc., which are sent to table by our English cooks. Also there were, numerous cups, large and small, the larger ones being of the size of small bowls, full of different kinds of grain — rice, barley, wheat, and various sorts of millet. There were cups of Mongolian tea, and a huge bowl therein a wick was placed between two large lump, of butter. I was ignorant of the use of this until I witnessed a very curious scene on a subsequent occasion. All these articles, except the last, were arranged on the altar-table before the pictures of the divinities. Behind the door I was surprised to find a coat of chain mail placed upon cross sticks, as is the fashion in armouries. There was also a small iron helmet and straight sword. These things the Lama would not allow me to handle. Upon emerging from the close, oily atmosphere of the shrine into the open air I found that the evening was far advanced, and nothing more could be seen that day. I accordingly turned my steps towards my temporary home, deeply interested, pained and perplexed with all I had seen in my first day at the sacred city of the Mongols. 0,2 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK Kuren (or Ourga) is regarded by the Mongols of the steppes much as Mecca is by the Mohammedans of the west. It is pleasantly situated in a broad valley between two ranges of hills on the banks of the river Tola, and in its locale reminded me some- what of a very different place, the city of the great Salt Lake, the sacred spot of the followers of Joseph Smith. The Russian Consulate is situated at some little distance from the city, and every day a vehicle was put at my disposal by the hospitable Consul in order that I might visit the temples and see the wonders of the place. The Russian carts here in use are well adapted to the nature of the country, being roughly but strongly made, with very long shafts, and an arch of wood shaped like a large yoke uniting the ends of the shafts, to which, as well as to the shafts themselves, the animal is harnessed. The ponies are sturdy and active, and trot along bravely, and it did not take us long after we left the Consulate before we were rattling through the streets, or rather roads, of Kuren. At the time of my visit the city was full of the rough, simple shepherds and their wives who had come on pilgrimage to bring their presents and take part in the adoration of the incarnate God. They appeared to me, from my acquaintance with them during the whole time that I was in Mongolia, to be a rough, simple, honest, ignbrant people. Their worst fault that I could discern was their dirtiness. There was a great variety of appearance and costume among the people. There were the brown, dirty ..' v. flr a % *~ ^Main's i ^ fc S^^»>^^^rjgb ; ' ^1 ■ft ^B*w^- r ^ aLtialM * ■ * '»■■ ^ *•' ■ht -*•'' **~^^£^£JmZji£. si ^^^m^^ MONGOLIAN WOMAN IN HER ORNAMENTS. {To face page <}■$. IN MONGOLIA 93 shepherds with their long frocks lined with wool and awe-inspired faces, country women grave and shy, hats of different shapes and material, heavy felt boots, costumes of many fashions, various colours and fabrics, silks of blue and red and of various patterns, raven hair and ruddy faces. These were some of the objects which the eye took in at the first glance. But with regard to the people, what struck me most was certainly the full-dress costume of the females. Nothing could be more odd. I remember well my feelings of astonishment and amusement when I first beheld it. Dare I attempt to describe it ! Inspiring genius of Le Follet, come to my assistance. Let me begin with the hat. It may be best described as a wide-awake with broad up- turned brim of fur. The crown is of yellow silk, sur- mounted Panjandrum-like with a little round glass button at top, of some bright colour. Hanging underneath the hat and depending upon the fore- head of the fair (?) wearer there is an oval ornament composed of worked silver and coral beads. The face must be supposed to be of a ruddy brown, with high cheek-bones and small Oriental eyes. The hair, which is of a raven black, is manipulated into a most extraordinary coiffure. Two huge braids depend on either side of the face to the waist. From the points where the braids depart from the temples two ornaments of silver and coral like large ear-rings, with three or four short chains, hang down upon the cheeks. The braids are flat and of great width — fully eight inches — and the hair, which is smoothly plastered with some oily substance, is confined by 94 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK bands of flat silver chains. The ends of the braids are inserted into silver tubes of about a foot and a half in length, and three or four inches in width, embossed at the top and bottom and centre. They hang down considerably below the waist and, not being fastened, sway about with the motions of the wearer. The frock, which is usually of a bright colour, either red or blue, is of the same width from the shoulders to the ankles, and is confined round the waist with a band. There is an opening from the throat to the side, underneath the right arm, fastened with buttons. The singular part of the dress is the sleeves, which are of very great size, quite balloon-like and puckered. They rise very high upon the shoulders like epaulets, and are usually of a different colour from the frock : e.g. if the frock be red, the sleeves will perhaps be yellow ; if the frock be blue, the sleeves will be red. There is some simple embroidery about the elbows ; and thence the sleeves, which taper in breadth and are so long as almost to hide the hands, are of the same colour as the gown. There is a large crescent-shaped ornament upon the bosom of embossed silver and coral ; and a huge silver ornament, which I am unable to describe, hangs far down the back, ter- minating in three or four chains. A large silver chatelaine is suspended from the waist on either side, consisting of a toothpick, an earpick, tweezers, and several other utensils, which are, however, T believe, merely ornamental. Large unshapely boots of the Chinese fashion complete the attire. It will be seen from the amount of silver employed that «a Wwl'-M I 'ISt ■KfeJSsv i me- 3 aHlL 1 1 AMI 1 m$ ^ ! 1 jskL^^cS 1 Ei r IW — J^^m' mPV-r^r -* BACK OF MONGOLIAN WOMAN. [TV/ftce^gy^. IN MONGOLIA 95 the full-dress costume is very costly. In fact, having an eye to a purchase, I made inquiries, and found that the dress and ornaments could not be obtained much under seventy pounds sterling. The material of the dress among the more wealthy is silk. In case the reader may wonder how I am able to give so minute a description of the attire, I may explain that in addition to my notes I made several sketches of the ladies as they stood before me. Unlike the men, who came and looked over my shoulder as I was attempting to sketch, the ladies usually put on an indignant expression and walked away ; so that I soon learned to take out my note-book and commit my impressions to paper when unperceived. There were many Lamas of different grades mingled with the crowd ; the inferior country Lamas habited in the usual Mongolian frock, and not to be distinguished from laymen except by their shaven crowns; the superiors attached to the monasteries clad in long flowing garments of red silk. Their grades and different offices were distinguished by their hats. Some of these were mere circular pieces of yellow felt, with long yellow wool hanging round the head. Others were high- crowned ; not flat, however, at the top, but coming to a point. Others, worn by men only of the very highest rank, who occasionally passed through the crowd with an important air, and were reverentially regarded by the people, were stiff and gilt, having very wide brims and several crowns rising by steps, which diminished in size towards the top. These g6 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK are mentioned by Cunningham as worn only by the highest abbots in Ladak. 1 The ordinary people, though congregated together in the town, still preserve as far as possible the same mode of life which they follow in the country, and dwell in " gurrs " such as I have already de- scribed, beehive-like huts formed of sticks placed lattice-wise, and covered with felt. The great advantage of such a style of domestic architecture to a pastoral people is this, that in a very few hours they can take down their houses, pack them upon their camels, and transfer their penates to some other locality. The Chinese residents who have come here for the purposes of trade live in wooden shops and houses of one storey, with a long ridge gaily painted and decorated, such as one sees habit- ually in passing through the northern Chinese country towns. The palisades around them vary from eight to fourteen feet in height, so that the houses being low, nothing of them can be seen from the road, save perhaps just the ridges of the larger Chinese resi- dences. The whole town is divided into twenty- seven districts, and each district has its temple. Pilgrims have lodgings in the district to which their clan or "koshun" belongs. In the city proper no person may reside but " religious " ; and no woman may sleep within its boundaries. The position of the women is inferior, as might be expected ; but during my sojourn in the country I saw no instance of unkindness towards a woman. 1 Ladak, xiii. § 4. IN MONGOLIA 97 It is said that they live longer than the men. They marry very young and are often betrothed as soon as born. As in all the uncivilized tribes that I have made acquaintance with, they are careful to prevent marriages among near blood relations, and may not marry within seven generations of the common ancestor. The dowry given with a bride is usually paid in live stock. In one instance that I heard of the dowry given by a wealthy father consisted of 900 sheep, 150 cattle, 300 horses, and 100 camels. 1 They are, I believe, usually faithful in the married state ; but sometimes a wife will leave her husband and marry another. The dowry is in that case returned to her father. In such a case the male children remain with their father, and the females with the mother. The bridegroom fre- quently does not see his bride until the nuptials. At the time of the wedding the groom goes to the house of the bride's father to offer sacrifices and pay his respects. He remains there during the night, and in the morning takes his bride veiled to his hut. His parents and invited guests go out to meet them with samshu and boiled mutton. In his hut the Lamas recite prayers and sprinkle them with holy water. Then the veiled bride is taken to the house of her husband's parents. An offering is made to the domestic fire, which is re- garded as sacred, by casting in butter. The bride pays her devotions to the fire upon the hearth and to the Lama, who is sitting down. She does obeisance to her husband's parents, and then follow 1 See The Khanates of the Khalkas (Mitchell). G 98 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK festivities. For purification after childbirth the Lama recites prayers and sprinkles holy water. A register is kept of names suitable for children born on every day of the year. The women beat felt for the roofs of the huts and other purposes, prepare furs and sacks of horsehair, and sew garments. Polygamy is permitted, but uncommon except among the wealthy. The Lamas are supposed to be celibates, but are not in reality. The children of their illicit unions are unrecognized, but allowed to belong to the koshun (tribe) of the mother ; and all the sons become Lamas. The Bouriats, and I believe the same is true generally of the Mongolian tribes, keep no pigs nor fowls because they would require provision during the winter. Neither do they eat fish. They call them river-worms. The manner of disposing of the dead is settled by the Lama, and depends upon the day and the year on which the deceased was born. It is either by burial, burning, or exposure. If the corpse be soon eaten by the dogs it is a good omen. The largest of the temples in Kuren, and the most imposing building next after the pavilions of the Khutuktu, is the temple of Maidra (Mai- treya), the coming Buddha. According to the later developments of the Buddhist theology in Thibet, from which country the Mongols have obtained their religious system, Buddhas when manifesting themselves upon earth to enlighten mankind with the light of the law, manifest them- selves also at the same time in the two higher unseen worlds. Appearing upon earth they are called IN MONGOLIA 99 Manushi Buddha s ; in the higher world they are Dhyani Buddhas (" Buddhas of contemplation "), while in the highest world of incorporeal beings they have neither shape nor name. A Dhyani Buddha is able by the power of meditation to cause to emanate from himself a divine being, a Dhyani Bodhisattva, who, whenever a Manushi Buddha arrives at the end of his mission and departs to Nirvana, continues his work until the time when another Manushi Buddha appears. Thus the Dhyani Buddha of Shakyamuni, the last of the Manushi Buddhas who have appeared in the present system of the world, is Amitabha ; and the Dhyani Bodhisattva who has emanated from him is Padma- Pani, greatly venerated by the Thibetans and Mon- gols as being the guardian of the faith of Shakya- muni until the time when Maidra the Buddha of the future shall appear to the world. The temple of Maidra is quite a substantial building with a central dome, under which there is a colossal image of the divinity, I should suppose some fifty feet high. We conversed with several of the Lamas who were assembled there watching the decorations ; for at the time the temple was being painted. These Lamas, like most of those who live in the sacred city and do nothing for their livelihood, were mostly fat, jolly-looking fellows- They walked about clad in their red garments with their rosaries in their hands, and sometimes spread a woollen mat in front of the great idol and said their prayers. One of them in answer to a question told us that the figure between the knees of Maidra 100 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK was Adisha. We mounted the zigzag staircase that was built opposite to the great image, and I made a sketch of the figure of the Buddha in his attitude of meditation with his impassive face and the lotus plant springing up on either side of him. From the summit of the temple we had a good view of the city, and were able to ascertain accurately the ground-plans of the smaller dome-covered temples. It was at the back of this temple that I found the shed with the old discarded pictures of the divinities and the spoilt prayer-wheel. Thence we went into one or two of the temples, but found that nothing was going on. At that part of the Khutuktu's enclosure which is made over for the habitation of the chief Lamas, we found several of them sitting down and enjoying the otium cum dig. in their bright red flowing robes and round yellow hats. They told us that we were not allowed to enter the enclosure ; none but the high Lamas might do that. M. Kormazoff, my companion, asked one jolly fat old fellow what he did with himself all day when the morning prayers, as in this case, were over. To which he replied that he read his prayers and slept ; and thereupon he yawned and took a pinch of snuff, giving one the idea of his having been just engaged in the last- mentioned congenial employment. The 3000 odd Lamas have nothing to do and do nothing except perhaps assist at the morning prayers ; and only a small minority do that. They are supported by the gifts of the pilgrims. In each of the four Khanates of Khalka there IN MONGOLIA IOI are several koshuns or clans. They vary in popu- lation ; some of them having but few members, perhaps 40 yourts with 400 males. They are governed by a code for civil and criminal affairs made for the Mongols at Peking. Regard, how- ever, is paid to their own peculiar customs. The Umbans appointed by Bogdo Khan — the Emperor of China — administer the affairs of their own government, but cannot interfere with the internal affairs of the different koshuns : they are man- aged by the hereditary native chief. In each Khanate there is a Diet which appoints an elder who must always be a Khan, approved by Bogdo Khan, to preside over it. The Khan receives no pay, but has much honour and influence, and is not removed except for misdemeanour. He may nomi- nate his successor, who, however, may or may not be approved by Bogdo Khan. The Diet, con- voked once or twice a year, fixes the taxes and makes other regulations. If the chief of the clan has no children, he may transmit his power to his rela- tions, but only in the male line. The children of the chief have nothing to do with the government of the clan during their father's lifetime ; but if fully grown up they are often called into council by their father. Usually the chieftainship descends to the eldest son ; but the father may nominate one of his other sons with the consent of Bogdo Khan. The son attains his maj ority at his eighteenth year. During a minority the affairs of the koshun are administered by the senior of the leading men. The chiefs of the clans used to receive payment from 102 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK Bogdo Khan ; but this has been dropped lately from want of money. They also receive certain dues (" tatire ") from the clan. A cluster of huts with from five to forty sheep pays one ; but with forty or upwards it pays two. Tatire may also be paid in cattle. For every cluster of huts there is an elder. Khans and chiefs must present them- selves periodically to Bogdo Khan and do homage ; and he gives them ranks and titles. Khans and nobles of the first rank wear a ruby button on their hats, the eldest son of a non-governing chief coral, the other children blue transparent, lower nobles blue non-transparent. Khans and chiefs have the privilege of wearing peacocks' feathers granted to them by Bogdo Khan. These things represent the " stars " and " garters " of Western civilization. Each clan has its troops. For every somo — 150 men — there is a captain, for every three somos a colonel, for every four somos a " mairen," for every Khanate a Djanjun. The commander-in-chief of all the Khanates is the Djanjun of Ullasutai. Neither officer nor soldiers receive pay from the Government. The troops are reviewed once a year near Kuren, when the best marksmen are rewarded. The costume of the military is distinguished only by the fact that their overcoat is edged with a border of the same colour as the flag. Each Khanate has its flag, and each clan in the Khanate has the same. The whole system appears to be well ordered for the government of a pastoral people. It will be observed that Bogdo Khan, while prudently allowing the people a large measure of home rule IN MONGOLIA 103 in their domestic affairs, really keeps the reins of power in his own hands. The Mongols are orderly and contented. There are no beggars except the Lamas ; and the people can mostly read and write. There are two police-officers at Kuren, or Ourga, one lay and one chosen from the Lamas, who are present at the ceremonies. On the occasion of one of my visits to the town an incident occurred which might have had very serious results. After visiting one or two of the temples my companion, M. Kormazoff, and I went to see the brewing of the sacred tea which plays a part in many of their religious ceremonies. Asking no permission, we crossed the court-yard, and finding the building saw the tea being made in large cauld- rons of boiling water. Having satisfied our curiosity, upon leaving the building a large door flew open and three or four great fierce Mongolian dogs came bounding towards us, baying savagely. My com- panion, who stood paralyzed, apparently unnerved, fortunately had brought with him a strong, heavy cudgel. Snatching this from his hand as the fore- most brute made a spring at me, I managed to deal him a crashing blow on the head which put him hors de combat, and his yells, which echoed all round, daunted the others, which circled round us, but did not venture to close. We put back to back, and turning round, so that the brutes were confronted by the stick, edged away towards the gate. There the dogs left us, remaining on their own ground. Whether they were let out upon us by one of the guardians of the place I do not know. 104 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK I dare say the animals were doing their duty, for I suppose we had no right to be where we were. But . at the time ethical considerations did not trouble us. September 3. — I had made up my mind to leave Kuren on this day ; but as I did not intend to start until evening, I resolved to walk into the town in the morning to observe for the last time the services in the temples. M. Kormazoff, who was unable to go with me himself, desired a young Russian to accompany me, and to ascertain for me where the most interesting services were to be held. However, after breakfast, when I was ready to set out, my guide did not make his appearance, so I started for the town alone on foot. On my entering the town the prayer-wheels were twirling round along the roads, and from the pavilions the streamers were fluttering in the breeze. I heard all around the blowing of horns, the beating of drums and the sound of chanting in the different buildings, and resolved to go into the various temples one after another and see where the most interesting ceremonies were being carried on. In the first which I entered, perhaps with the excep- tion of the temple of Maidra the largest in the city, I found some thirty or forty Lamas in the hall of assembly underneath the dome. They were nearly all quite young — I should think that not above two or three were more than twenty years of age, and the majority were under sixteen — and were all dirty and sordid in their appearance. A pro- digious noise was being made ; for they were all IN MONGOLIA 105 bawling out their prayers at the top of their voices, and some of them were adding to the din by beating drums and wooden balls. As usual they were mostly sitting cross-legged upon the low wooden benches with which the hall of assembly is always filled, but one or two of them were standing. The building, except where they were congregated under the dome, was quite empty ; but there were a few spectators assembled at the door. I watched the scene for some little time ; but observing no signs of a change, and being wearied with the dis- cordant noise, I left, and went into the nearest temple, where sounds from within showed that prayers were going on. This, though small, was the most ornate temple that I saw. The latticed walls were covered with hangings ; and long strips and banners of many-coloured silks were suspended from the roof, and hung nearly to the ground. Some very curious Thibetan paintings were at- tached to the pillars, and there were several large cases with glass windows filled with idols. Some fourteen or fifteen Lamas sat in the centre of the building underneath the dome and chanted out the sacred formulae. There were three principal per- formers, the chief ringing at times a small bell, the second clashing a pair of cymbals, and the third beating a drum. The others, mostly very young, sat cross-legged upon the low benches with their hands upon their laps, and joined from time to time in the prayers by droning out their recitations very rapidly. One corner of the temple was cur- tained off by a low temporary screen of coloured 106 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK stuff, over which I could discern the heads of several Lamas who were busily employed at some work which I could not see ; and there was a continual noise as of the filing and scraping of some materials. I made several attempts to get behind the screen that I might see on what they were engaged, but was every time foiled. When the different Lamas that were within the temple seemed to be busily employed, I would stroll as if casually towards the corner, but always found some sturdy Lama in the way who told me that I could not go there. Mean- while the recitations still continued ; the only change being this, that the principal officiating Lama took a bowl of wheat from a small table at his right hand upon which it had been placed, and passed it through his hands, and from time to time cast handfuls of it into the air whence it fell upon the ground ; upon which the cymbals were clashed by their manipulator. After awhile I left and entered other temples near at hand, where I found similar services being carried on, generally by bodies of Lamas ranging from ten to twenty-five in number. The only new feature which I noticed was this, that some of the drums bore the mystic sign of the yin and the yang, showing how far the philosophy of China had penetrated. Near some of the temples there were lofty platforms like look-out stations fifty or sixty feet in height, and ascended by means of two long ladders. Upon one of these in the centre of the city, hard by the largest of the temples which I had visited, there were two men IN MONGOLIA 107 blowing conchs. They were singularly habited in frocks of grey wool, and bore upon their heads lofty grey helmets also of wool. The sound emitted from the shells, which I had never previously heard, was very penetrating and weird. I waited near the foot of the platform for some minutes until they had done their work, when they put their conchs into bags which they bore with them and descended. I approached with the desire of examining the shells to ascertain whence they were obtained ; but the guardians put the bags firmly under their arms and hurried away with looks of horror at my presumption. Upon going again into the smaller and more ornate temple which I have mentioned I found a change. An old Lama of a rather prepossessing appearance was sitting under the dome on the left- hand side upon entering ; and on his left were two middle-aged Lamas, one of whom bore a large pair of cymbals, and before him, sitting also on one of the low benches, there was ranged a row of young Lamas, twelve or fourteen in number. The old Lama who was officiating was dressed in a long robe with a cowl. Immediately at his left hand there stood a small table upon which several articles were placed — a metal pot shaped like a teapot orna- mented with silver, a cup of either solid or plated silver containing a liquid which I afterwards ascer- tained to be samshu (spirit) and water, a small vessel in which there were some peacocks' feathers and stalks of fine grass, and a bell. With these articles he performed various operations. The bell he rang 108 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK at short intervals. From time to time he dipped his fingers in the samshu and waved them in a some- what curious way before him. And once he took, the silk from the table and wound it up solemnly. All the time the whole of the Lamas were repeating their recitations solemnly, and their demeanour was much better than any that I had previously witnessed in Ourga. There was no laughter or shouting, and they seemed fairly intent upon what they were about. After some little time this came to a close, and I began to fear that the service was ended ; but it was only a pause to allow of preparations being made for that which was to follow. While these prayers had been going on the young Russian who had been told off as my conductor entered the building. He had been looking for me in all the temples. Upon the occurrence of this pause the old Lama turned to him and asked who I was, and laughed and joked a little; and some Mongolian tea was brought in and handed round to all who had been engaged in the service. When the old Lama, who for distinction's sake I will call the priest, had finished his tea, he rose from his seat and was habited by an attendant in a robe of common yellow silk. Meanwhile a small portable brick furnace was brought in and placed before the priest's seat at a distance of about two feet, immediately under the dome. It was round in shape upon a square pedestal, and within was a wick between two large lumps of butter. A small light was then placed upon one of the corners IN MONGOLIA IO9 of the base. At the same time other attendants brought in a good-sized table and placed it upon the priest's right hand. It was covered with numerous articles. There were two rows of bowls filled with different sorts of grain, wheat, rice, millet and other kinds, the names of which I do not know. Each row contained about a dozen bowls, and those in the one row were much smaller than those in the other. Some eight or ten saucers contained dishes of butter of various colours, which looked not unlike moulds of English confectionery. Two large bundles of grass were put at one end of the table, and also a considerable number of small billets of wood. Finally two long ladles, apparently of silver, one having a very much longer bowl than the other, were brought in and laid with the other articles. The priest, now vested, seated himself in his former position. A low board was put before him to shelter the lower part of his person from the heat, and a cloth placed over his knees. The preparations being complete, the cere- mony began. Attendants brought in a number of small bundles which were distributed among the Lamas in succession, beginning with the officiat- ing priest. Each Lama opened his bundle and revealed some very curious vestments which I had not seen before. First, each put on a mitre of five points all in the front ; and within this and upon the crown of the head a spiral cap terminating in a sharp peak ; and then a pair of long ribbons as strings to the head-dress, which was then complete. The only other vestment in the bundle was a good- 110 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK sized silk cape of various colours and adorned with different patterns. Underneath this each Lama wore his usual frock, the priest having in addition the yellow silk robe which I previously mentioned. The vestments, when new and clean, must have been decidedly rich and handsome ; but now they were somewhat ding} 7 and soiled. The wick in the interior of the furnace was then lighted from the small lamp upon the base, and the chanting began. The butter was soon melted and the fire began to blaze up brightly. A large metal vessel was next brought in filled with some smoking fatty liquid, perhaps melted butter, and the two ladles were handed to the priest by the attendant. With them he fed the fire from time to time, baling the liquid with the smaller ladle into the larger one, which when full was emptied into the furnace. The fire would then burst forth in tongues of flame, that mounted up towards the dome, and the cym- bals were impetuously clashed. The various offer- ings were then thrown into the furnace one by one by the priest : first a number of the little billets of wood, then the different specimens of grain, bowl after bowl being handed to him by the attendants, and then the bundles of grass ; and at each offering the cymbals were sounded. The red light of the flames shone upon the yellow faces, the shaven heads and quaint garments of the Lamas, and for the moment concealed the faded colours of their robes. The strips and banners of silk hanging from the roof were stirred by the draught created by the fire. Now and then a thin column of smoke IN MONGOLIA III ascended to the dome as the various offerings were cast into the fire, and the air was filled with the odour of burning fat. The old priest, upon whose wrinkled countenance a ruddy glow was thrown by the red light, waved his fingers in a curious manner towards the flames as though he were tendering these offerings to the invisible powers, and the attendant Lamas all joined in the sacrifice by hoarsely chanting out their prayers. The scene was strange indeed and striking. When all the bowls of the first row had been emptied into the furnace the priest ceased offer- ing for awhile and went through various minor ceremonies. Between the thumb and palm of his right hand he held a small sceptre of silver about four inches in length ; and between the thumb and palm of his left hand a small bell ; and thus he would wave his fingers in a curious and inde- scribable manner towards the fire, and at intervals ring the bell. Then he would dip his fingers in the samshu and water, and wave them with an air. And then perhaps after awhile, the chanting con- tinuing all the time, he would take the little bunch of grass and peacocks' feathers from the table and wave them and replace them where they were before. Then he began with the second row of offerings, which were handed to him in turn by the attendant, and one by one were committed to the flames. The scene had now continued for a long time, perhaps an hour and a half ; and several of the Lamas, particularly the younger ones, showed evident signs of weariness. One or two were quite boys : they 112 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK must have been very warm ; for the day was hot, and they had been sitting for long immediately in front of the fire, and between heat and fatigue began to show signs of drowsiness. Their faces were flushed and they nodded upon their seats ; but rousing themselves with a start they woiild again go on with their prayers, once reading from a book of Thibetan prayers, which had been contained in their bundles. While the second row of offerings was being consumed, seeing that the ceremonies were similar to those which had gone before, I walked about the temple with the Russian, and looked at the idols and the Thibetan paintings attached to the pillars, and inquired the names of the divinities which they represented. Some of the gods I did not know by name ; but there was one prominent picture of Burchan Bukshee (Shakya- muni), one of Ariabolo, and one of Namsarai. When all the corn was consumed, the moulds of butter were committed to the flames, and finally all the remaining billets of wood. The ceremony was now obviously drawing to a conclusion. Dur- ing a pause Mongolian tea was brought in and handed round. Each Lama took one of their wooden bowls from his breast and partook of the beverage, of which they must have been much in need. They all clapped their hands solemnly. The priest extinguished the fire by pouring water upon it from a metal vessel shaped like a teapot, and the service was done. The Lamas folded up their vestments and prepared to depart. I took this opportunity of coming forward and examining the vessels and the IN MONGOLIA 113 remains of the various offerings. The old priest asked many questions through the young Russian, and chatted and laughed and felt my clothes and was inclined to be very friendly. He allowed me to handle freely everything that was lying about. All the time of the service the Lamas behind the curtain had been at their work, and I determined if possible to find out what they had been doing. I was not permitted to go behind the curtain, and in vain stretched my head above it. I could only see the upper part of the figures of the Lamas as they bent over some object. The Russian at my request interrogated the Lamas who had been officiating, but for a long time could get no answer to his queries. By dint of perseverance, however, at length he elicited the fact that they were mending the idol of a god that had been broken. All were now leaving the building. I passed out among the Lamas and the temple doors were shut. I was glad to have been a witness of this scene, as it presented striking proof of what I have previously urged — viz. the absurdity of treating Buddhism as if all over Asia it were one religion, and that " the most numerous religion of the world." Buddhism is multiform. It takes up and amal- gamates popular elements in the belief and practice of any country which it invades, however really inconsistent they may be with the dreamy spiritual ideas of Gautama. It was really fire-worship that I had witnessed. It is plain that Buddhism, finding this cultus fixed in the minds and in the domestic customs of the Mongols under their Shamanistic 114 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK IN MONGOLIA system, took it into its own system. Into the old Shamanism this veneration for the fire was no doubt introduced when it sprung up in western and central Asia as a part of that system of thought which is popularly identified with the name of Zoroaster, though beyond doubt it is much older than his time. CHAPTER IV FROM OURGA TO SIBERIA Having now seen the wonders of the Mongolian sacred city, in which I had been powerfully inter- ested, I felt that I must pursue my journey towards Siberia. Accordingly I hired the services of two Mongols — the head-mati being a Lama — with their two horses, and having said good-bye to my kind friends the Russians, with many protestations of kindly regard, I set out for Kiachta, the frontier town in Siberia, the northern terminus of the caravan route across the steppes. The journey occupied only a few days and was devoid of any incident of particular interest. The ground we traversed was utterly different to the sandy deserts of Gobi. It was more broken and diversified, with no facilities for the pastoral life of the Mongolian tribes. Oc- casionally our track wound among low hills. Some- times it ran through dreary stony defiles. The remembrance of one tract of country is specially stamped upon my memory as being more utterly desolate and forbidding than, I think, any other tract of the various countries in which I have 115 Il6 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK travelled. It was a long, weird defile with no soil, nor vegetation, but of stones — stones covering and hiding the earth, stones and rocks in layers upon layers. It was apparently a place of the old, old Obi cult. There were piles and pillars of stones at the entrance and through the pass. It was a place evidently of dread and ill omen to the passers-by. But to this I have referred elsewhere. In due time we arrived at Kiachta, a thriving little Russian town, deriving its prosperity from its being a dep6t for the overland tea route between Russia and China. Here I was very kindly received by Mr. C. M. Grant, an Englishman who had been long resident in Siberia, and in whose house I remained until I was ready to start on my homeward journey. In due time my cart was disposed of, a rough vehicle was hired for my use, and accompanied by a Cossack whose services had been lent me by the head Russian official, I set off for Lake Baikal. It was on the festival of the decollation of St. John Baptist (Eastern Calendar) that I left Kiachta, a day on which, in commemoration of the event of the day, the pious Russians eat nothing but what is round. In the church, a sufficiently handsome building, there is a miracle-working icon of the Blessed Virgin. Upon my inquiring what miracles were attributed to it, all that I could make out was that from time to time during the night a bright light was seen in the church. And when the church was opened nothing was found there but the icon, which is supposed to have shed forth the light. But I could not gather that any trustworthy witness IN MONGOLIA 117 had ever actually beheld light emanating from the picture. I anticipated no great difficulty in reaching Lake Baikal, where I was especially anxious to visit Monseigneur Benjamin, the Bishop of the Trans- Baikal territory, for the road was fairly good, although a good amount of rain had lately been falling, especially in the east. But one never can foresee all the incidents of travel in a rough country. Shortly after leaving Kiachta we arrived towards evening at a small town and drove to the inn, a wretched caravanserai, for food. After a short conversation with the proprietor the Cossack took all my belongings, including various packages of food for the journey, out of the vehicle, disposed of them in the inn, and contrived to let me know that there we must remain. In vain I tried to find out the reason of this halt, and how long it was likely to last. I knew not a word of Russian, and the Cossack and the people of the inn knew nothing else. But I was made clearly to understand that here I must remain. It certainly appeared that I was in a fix. " Was I to be detained there against my will ? Could the Cossack, under the guise of an attendant, really be a guard set over me ? Could the Russian authorities have any suspicion that I might be a spy ? Being in Siberia of my own accord, could I be regarded as a voluntary exile ? " The idea was " intolerable and not to be endured." " Britons never, never, never, etc." But obviously the first and absolutely necessary step was to ascertain precisely the state of affairs Il8 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK and the reason of my detention. Accordingly, next morning after breakfast I sallied forth into the town and accosted every respectable person whom I met first in French, then in German, finally in English. But no ! I was met everywhere with a polite shake of the head, and a few murmured words in Russian. The town was a poor place, and the only noticeable point about it was that the side-walks leading out of the town were made of planks resting upon trestles at a height of some three or four feet above the roadway. For a long time my efforts to find some one with whom I could converse proved unsuccessful ; but at length a well-dressed man wrote down on a piece of paper the name and address of a man who apparently, as he thought, might help me. Armed with the piece of paper I prosecuted my inquiries, and at length found the person indicated, an old, somewhat dirty Lithuanian with matted beard and dull melancholy eyes, who had been exiled to Siberia some thirty years before. His German, which appeared to me very rude, he apparently had almost forgotten. And my knowledge of the language was very, very limited. We hammered away for a few minutes, and then the situation was sufficiently plain. The river Selenga was in flood, and the road by which we must travel was submerged to a depth of several feet. " How long is the flood likely to last ? " A shrug of the shoulders. " Impossible to say ; it may last a few days ; if it rain in the east, the flood will come into the town, and may last a week or two." This IN MONGOLIA II9 then was the explanation of the side-walks upon the trestles. What then was to be done ? I could not afford to wait for the subsidence of the floods, as it was of importance to me to reach the river Kama, on the other side of the Ural Mountains, before the coming on of winter put a stop to the running of the steamboats. Accordingly, hurrying back to the inn I paid for the vehicle and my entertainment, ordered the Cossack to get my luggage conveyed to the water, hired a boat with rowers, bundled into it my various packages, and in a few hours was floating quietly down the inundations. It was a novel, but by no means unpleasant, experi- ence. The water appeared to me to spread over a considerable expanse. Every now and then we passed a house standing above the flood, built upon piles. At one of these we passed the night. It seemed rather odd to hear the quiet swirl of the waters underneath the floor upon which one slept, and then in the morning stepping out upon the platform to take one's tub by means of a header into the stream. The boatmen and Cossack seemed to think it odd, like the Chinamen, and I dare say were humbly thankful that they were not so dirty as to require a bath every morning. The floating down the Selenga and the subsequent drive down the valley were both pleasant enough. The Selenga is a fine river, and the low hills, notably on the left bank, were well wooded, and the trees just beginning to show the autumnal tints. Arriving at Lake Baikal, I took up my quarters for a few 120 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK days at a wretched inn towards the south-eastern end of the lake, which in its dimensions may well be styled an inland sea. For two of my main objects in resolving to return home through Siberia were, (i) a desire, having a passion for foreign missions, to visit and make myself acquainted with the work of some of the missions of the Russian Church to the heathen. One of the mistaken notions of the average Englishman is that " the indolent Eastern Church does no missionary work among the heathen"; whereas I was aware that the Russo-Greek Church has some flourishing and highly-blessed missions among the heathen of Northern Asia, and I was wishful to acquire some knowledge of their methods. (2) My own particular hobby being the study of " comparative religions," I was anxious to learn what I could of Shamanism in its haunts among the aboriginal tribes of Siberia. Monseigneur Benjamin, the Bishop of the Trans-Baikal region, and the head of a very flourishing mission to the Bouriats, a large Mon- golian tribe, was, I knew, well capable of giving me much valuable information upon both of these points. And accordingly I had provided myself with a letter of introduction to the good Bishop from my very kind friend, M. Palladie, the Russian Archimandrite at Peking. Monseigneur Benjamin was residing at the Monas- tery of the Saviour at Posolsky on the southern border of the lake. The monastery, which is of no great size, is built upon a raised platform, and surrounded by a lofty wall, having a gate IN MONGOLIA 121 approached by a long flight of steps in the centre of the west side. The Cossack accompanied me to the gate, which was ornamented with frescoes of the Saviour, the Blessed Virgin, and I think St. Nicholas, the Saviour being exalted in glory above the portal, and the Blessed Virgin below Him on His right hand. Upon passing through the gate we entered a large court containing four or five houses, small but neat and well built, with the church in the centre. The church is built in the style usual in this country, which is I suppose a Russianized form of the Byzantine. Over the western entrance a lofty octagonal tower is erected, surmounted with a dome painted externally with blue dotted with golden stars. From the dome rises a slender pinnacle terminating in a cross. The nave of the building is arched over with a much larger dome, painted green, as usual, from which rises another pinnacle. On the left hand of the entrance stands the Bishop's house, an unpretending but sufficiently comfortable residence of wood. Having been admitted, after a few minutes the Bishop entered, a fine-looking man in the very prime of life, habited in a long black silk robe, with large loose sleeves lined with purple. A miniature of the Saviour hung suspended on the front of his robe ; in his hand he carried an episcopal staff, and on his head he wore a tall hat of the shape worn by the priests in the divine offices, and of a very dark purple colour. His beard was uncut, and his long hair fell upon his shoulders, as is the custom with the priests of the Russian Church. I noticed 122 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK these points as he was reading my letter of intro- duction. That being perused he addressed me with a kindly and gentle manner in the Russian language, of which I scarcely understood five words. To my dismay I found that he could speak neither French, English, nor German. And my heart sank as I thought, "Here have I come some hundreds of miles in the hope of conversing with this good man, and after all we are unable to understand each other." A happy thought, however, occurred to me, and I broke the awkward silence by saying, " Intelligisne Latinam linguam Domine ? " To which he replied, " Certe," with a bow and a smile. I had never attempted to speak Latin but once previously, and that was fourteen years " before, when, being then a Cambridge undergraduate, I had crossed the Alps in company with an Italian priest. However, there was nothing else for it. At first I was somewhat perplexed by Russian peculiarities of pronunciation, such as putting v for u, as in avdio and pavper, and frequently a g before the h, as gharbet, for habet. But we soon became used to what appeared to each of us peculi- arities in the other, and though no doubt purists would have been amused, perhaps somewhat scandal- ized at some of our sentences, we managed to make ourselves mutually understood, which is, I suppose, the main object of language. After some convers- ation the Bishop invited me to go and see the school of the monastery. We found the boys just finishing their dinner. There were not more than some fourteen or fifteen of them, mostly Bouriats, one IN MONGOLIA 1 23 or two Russians, the rest of mixed parentage. One little fellow was reading aloud the Lives of the Saints in the Slavonic language, which they all understood. They were all intended for the priesthood, if they do well. At the conclusion of their meal the boys and the two priests that were with them all stood up, and, turning to an icon of the Saviour fixed in a corner of the roof, sang grace and a few prayers, frequently bowing and crossing themselves. After visiting the school-room, we went to see the church, or rather churches, for it seemed that there were two churches under the same roof, one in the basement used during the winter, and one above used during the summer months. The latter is the handsomer of the two. It is built in the form common in Russia, and is divided into three parts. (1) The trapeza (so called from the fact that the monks used formerly to dine therein, and I believe in some instances do so still), or narthex, as it may also be styled. It is usually low with a groined roof painted green, and is separated from the ecclesia by a broad arch. Into this part all persons such as Mohammedans or Jews may enter, (2) The ecclesia, answering to our nave, is a large circular space roofed usually with a lofty dome. At the east it is closed by the iconostasis, the prominent object in an edifice of the orthodox Eastern Church. This is a large screen stretching across what we should call the chancel, made usually of metal, ornamented perhaps as in this case with pilasters of imitation malachite or glass, silver tablets, and icons or pictures of the saints. In the centre is the " Roval Gate " of 124 PAGES FROM, MY NOTE-BOOK brass, so called because it is only entered by the priest during the Liturgy, and in Russia by the Tzar, as at his coronation. Beyond this is (3) the altar, or, as we should call it, the chancel, in which, im- mediately behind the royal gate, the altar proper is placed ; and beyond that on the north side the credence table. Here, too, there is a side-room in which the incense, oil, and water are kept. And on the south side is the station of the deacons. After viewing the church we returned to the Bishop's house, where I spent the remainder of the afternoon. It will be convenient for me to condense and place in order the various topics of my conversations with the good Bishop on this and the two following days. The monastery, he told me, was founded by a Russian merchant, who was also charge d'affaires at Peking in the year 1715, and it is now the centre of the missionary operations of the Trans-Baikal district. There are five ecclesiastics, priests and deacons, including himself, resident in the monastery employed in the divine offices, and in taking charge of the school. The missionary stations, twelve in number, in the Trans-Baikal district are all under his jurisdiction. The missionaries are fifteen m number, eight being monks and seven secular priests. The latter are married. The priest at every station has three sub-ministers or lay brothers under him, and at each station there is a church and a clergy-house. The Bishop pays frequent visits to each station, and all the monks periodically go up to the monastery, and stay with the Bishop COLOSSAL IMAGE OF MAIDRA (iCUREN). [ To face page iqo. IN MONGOLIA 125 for direction and spiritual communion. From time to time the priests also pay visits to each other for intercommunion, and that they may see how the work of the others is prospering. Thus the feeling of isolation is avoided. The number of heathen in the district was estimated at 112,000 ; that of the baptized Bouriats is 12,000. Monseigneur Benjamin was the first Bishop of the district. At the time of his consecration, five years before my visit, the number of the baptized Bouriats was 1600. These had been baptized by the parochial priests, some of whom were still labouring among the heathen. The Bishop held strongly the conviction that in the conversion of the heathen we must look for those whom God by His grace is calling. The missionaries under his directions do not go out and preach indiscriminately among the pagans, but endeavour in going in and out among them to find out those who are desirous of being baptized. To this end they make great use of their converts, and ascertain from them who among their country- men are well-disposed towards the Gospel and inclined to lead Christian lives. Very many present themselves every year as being desirous of baptism. " In this matter," added the Bishop, " I ought candidly to say that circumstances greatly favour the spread of the Gospel among the Bouriats. They, perceiving that all the Russians are Christians, and seeing no other form of Christianity but that of the Orthodox Church, are led to entertain the notion that to become a Christian and to become 126 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK a Russian are synonymous terms. They some- how have the idea that until they are Christians they cannot live in the Russian manner. Even very rich Bouriats, being Buddhists or Shamans, still live in gurrs after the Bouriat fashion. But when they are baptized they become Christians and Russians and live after the Russian manner. Their customs are Russian, and, alas ! their vices are Russian also." I was very anxious to know what in this and other missions of the Orthodox Church are the qualifications for holy baptism. The Bishop's opinion was that no hard-and-fast rule could be laid down. The Fathers of the first cen- turies required a considerable probation of cate- chumens. Perhaps that may have been because of the mixed state of society, and the grievous temptations presented in the ancient cities of heathendom. In the Orthodox Church they thought that there must be different rules laid down for catechumens according to circumstances. " From what we have heard," he said, " of the practice of your missionaries, it seems to us that they regard baptism rather as a seal, after long testing, of a staunch virtuous life, than as a means of grace and strengthening. We believe that it helps the new disciple of Christ to be what otherwise he cannot be. There were some English missionaries a good while ago here among the Bouriats, and after a few years the Tzar inquired how many converts they had baptized, and when he heard that they had baptized none, he concluded that they must be political agents, and ordered them IN MONGOLIA 1 27 out of the country." [I believe these were agents of the London Missionary Society.] " You must be aware," he went on, " that in the cases of conversion and baptism recorded in the Bible, there was no long testing, no lengthened probation, but a very simple faith in the Saviour was accepted, and holy baptism was administered forthwith." [See Acts ix. 18 ; viii. 26-40 ; xvi. 14, 15, 25-34.] This was a point which, of course, I had often considered, and which is indeed worthy of most serious con- sideration. " At the same time," he added, " no doubt circumstances alter cases." " What then is your custom here ? " I asked. " Circumstances make our course here plain," he replied. " We require three things. (1) The applicant for holy baptism (for he himself must seek it, moved as we trust by Divine grace) must have borne a thoroughly good char- acter as a heathen, and must be ' well reported of ' by the leaders of his tribe. (2) He must have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ ; but, as in those Scriptural instances, faith only of a rudimentary, inchoate character. He must be able to say, with the Eunuch of Ethiopia, well understanding the full meaning of what he says, ' I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.' (3) He must solemnly undertake to put himself, when baptized, under the care of one of our priests for further and careful instruction in Christian truth. They are taught the Lord's Prayer and are baptized." " Do you find many of them fall away after baptism ? " I asked. " Some no doubt do ; what could one expect ? Is it not the case that some of our own 128 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK Christian people, the children of Christian parents, who are baptized in infancy fall away ? All have not the grace of perseverance. Can we then expect the heathen who are converted and baptized, all to remain staunch ? But they mostly remain faithful ; and then too we get the children of them all." And he added, with a significant smile, " I should tell you here that we are aided greatly by the laws. For by the law of Russia it is forbidden to any one to leave the Orthodox Church. The Bouriat therefore knows that when once baptized he cannot revert to paganism, but becomes once and for all a Christian. We do not baptize any under fifteen years of age except the children of Christian parents. Believing that the heathen require faith rather than cultivation of the mind, we build churches and not schools everywhere." Here he had a slight hit at the English missionaries. " The Bouriats," he said, " were nonplussed (scanda- lizabantur) at the fact that they built no church." But he has schools for the young, in which, however, they instruct only the children of Christian parents. As regards assistance in worldly affairs, the mission- aries give alms to those Christian Bouriats who are very poor, but this only in case of their having become Christians previously to their destitution ; and then only to a small extent. Perhaps they give away 200 or 300 roubles per annum in this manner. They also give them a trifling contribu- tion towards the building of a house. The mission is too poor to do more, even if they wished to do so. The expenses of the mission are defrayed by IN MONGOLIA 129 voluntary contributions. The Government gives 3000 roubles per annum. A Society for the Pro- pagation of the Faith in the Russian Empire had been lately set on foot. There were at the time the following missions in the Russian Empire : — (1) In America. This when under the charge of Innocent, afterwards Metropolitan of Moscow, had been marvellously blessed. What has become of it since Russian America was made over to the United States I do not know. (2) The Amour. (3) The Trans-Baikal. (4) Irkutsk. (5) Yenisei. (6) Tomsk (Altai). (7) Tobolsk, among the Osti- acks. (8) Archangilsk, among the Samoiedes. (9) Kazan, among the Tartars. (10) Astrachan for the Kalmucks. There is also a mission in the Caucasus ; but this is separate and very rich, having been endowed by the State. Speaking of the Bouriats the Bishop remarked that they first received letters, the Thibetan char- acters, when Buddhism was first introduced into Mongolia by missionaries from Thibet. They are now used by the Lamas. "Mongolian characters had only lately been introduced. The Shamans in the district of Irkutsk have no letters. The Bouriats are divided into clans, and keep their ' genealogies very strictly and are proud of them. They have a general respect for Christianity, and acknowledge that it is the best religion, yet many of them are unwilling to give up their old ideas and customs. In building their churches the missionaries are frequently assisted not only by the Christian Bouriats, but also by the heathen. 130 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK IN MONGOLIA The great majority of them are Buddhists — or, as I should prefer to say, Lamaists — but yet there is a great deal of latent Shamanism. The Shamans keep their religion and their doings secret, not on account of any prohibitory laws, but from choice. They dress like other Bouriats, and are looked upon as magicians not only by the Bouriats, but also by the more ignorant Russians. It is a remarkable fact that the same is true in other countries where any form of Shamanism with its conjuring priests has a hold upon the people. In the Sandwich Islands the lowest class of the whites, e. g. some of the low-class Portuguese, who live among the natives, have a dread superstitious belief in the power of the cursing Kahunas and the blighting effect of the evil eye. I am told that there is a somewhat similar belief among some of the whites of India in the supernatural power of the " devil-dancers." Other informa- tion which the Bishop gave me concerning Shaman- ism or the " black faith," which in fact was not very much, I will reserve for another chapter specially devoted to the subject. CHAPTER V ' SHAMANISM ' The old, old religion of Asia, which, it might well be thought, would have been driven by ad- vancing light into the limbo of forgotten super- stitions, has not yet by any means died out. It has been dispossessed of its fairest provinces by Christianity and Mohammedanism in the west. It has been ejected from Southern and Central Asia by various forms of belief, notably Buddhism and Brahmanism ; though it still retains its hold upon the prse-Aryan tribes of India, who, remark- ably enough, have never been conquered by those more thoughtful systems of belief, but have still clung to their ancient and ruder notions. It has been supplanted in China by the various beliefs of the " Celestial Empire," and among the Mongols of Gobi by the strange religion of the Lamas ; yet upon Buddhism and Confucianism it has left its undoubted impress. In the north it still lingers among some of the Turanian tribes of Siberia. Among the Bouriats who dwell in the neighbour- hood of Lake Baikal, the Ostiacks, the Tungoos, 131 132 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK and the Samoiedes, there are yet many thousands of heathen who cling to their old religion, which is probably the most ancient of all false beliefs under the sun. As a form of belief, it may be described as being partly nature-worship and partly demonolatry, including a deification of the spirit of man. As nature-worship Shamanism has assumed the form which we should expect in people mainly engaged in pastoral and agricultural pursuits. Among the Mongols " Heaven " was deified as being the active beneficent power of nature, and as such was almost personified. So that hence there arose among the early European travellers the impression that they believed in a supreme God. So Father Carpini, who wrote in the thirteenth century, says that the Mongols believe in one God, who is the Creator, but worship Him with no rites nor prayers ; and Rubruquis says much the same. But in this they were perhaps somewhat mistaken. " Heaven " was regarded as the dominant life-giving power, but the heathen Mongols now have no idea, and in all probability had not so late as the thirteenth century, a definite idea of a personal supreme God. Going back to the earliest times, the first religious notion among the Turanian nations — and this remark might be extended further — seems to have been that of " Heaven " more or less clearly personified, and regarded as the chief god (or God). Herodotus tells us (I. 131) concerning the Persians that " they have no images, temples, nor altars, nor such gods as the Greeks, but they ascend lofty mountains IN MONGOLIA 133 and offer sacrifices to Zeus, whom they identify with the vault of the sky. They sacrifice also to the sun, moon, earth, fire, the winds, and water." This is, in fact, Shamanism. I suspect that the " Magus " of whom he speaks as offering the sacri- fice was practically a " Shaman." There was undoubtedly a strong Turanian element in Persia and the neighbouring countries which had a great influence upon ideas subsequently introduced. " At the head of the Babylonian theology," says Mr. G. Smith (Chaldcean Account of Genesis), "stands Anu, a deity who is sometimes identified with the heavens, sometimes considered as the Ruler and God of heaven." " Anu " is the same as " Ana," who, according to Professor Sayce and M. Lenor- mant, was the first of the Supreme Triad of the Accadians, the very early inhabitants of Chaldsea. M. Lenormant says (Chaldean Magic) that " Ana closely resembled the Tien of the early Chinese. But, in the oldest religion of China, Tien ' the heavens ' was also Chang- ti ' the supreme Lord.' He soared above the spirits of nature as sovereign master and first principle, crowning the edifice of the worship of spirits by a thoroughly monotheistic idea. It was perhaps so at the be- ginning among the Accadians." And he brings strong reasons to prove that the Accadians were indeed Turanians, and " belonged to a chain of nations of the same race which spread in the earliest ages from the plain of Central Asia to the Persian Gulf." Students of the Bible must have observed how frequently those writers that were especially 134 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK concerned with the kingdoms of Assyria, Babylon, and Persia, such as Daniel, Ezra, and Nehemiah, employ the expressions " God of heaven," " King of heaven," " Lord of heaven." The expression in Daniel iv. 26 is especially noteworthy. They will understand also, what seems otherwise remark- able, how it was that those great kings were so ready to yield all honour to the God of Israel. If they believed in one great god of the heavens, it was easy for them to identify him with Jehovah. On the other hand, it will be observed how careful the writers and prophets of that period were to set forth Jehovah as being the Creator of the heavens and their host. There has been much the same notion among the Chinese under the word " Tien," concerning which, and the question whether or not it is a proper translation of " God," there have been so many disputes among the Christian mission- aries in China. It is probable that there, too, there has been for many centuries little more than the idea of an active vivifying principle. In the old Mongol philosophy, as in that of their neigh- bours the Chinese, and indeed in a hundred mytho- logies, there was the idea of " Heaven " and " Earth" as representing the active and passive, the paternal and maternal, principles in nature. Formerly commingled together, from their separation sprang fire, and it is presumed all the manifold forms of life. 1 The former, the paternal principle, gave 1 It is interesting to remember that according to Hesiod (Theog. 133-5), fr° m ^e union of Uranus and Ge there sprang a numerous offspring, among them Hyperion and Oceanus. IN MONGOLIA 135 ltfe, the latter form, to the objects produced. Some of these ideas, like the Chinese theory of " yang " and " yin," were probably only later developments, and were borrowed from their more cultivated neighbours. There can, I believe, be no doubt whatever that in the ancient times the Mongols possessed a much more distinct and more worthy idea of a supreme being than they have at the present time, or have had for many centuries. It was at a very early period that they received from Iran Zoroastrian conceptions which became amalgamated with their own more ancient belief. " Hormusda " was identified with " Heaven." Thus Genghis Khan was called sometimes " Son of Heaven," sometimes " Son of Hormusda." He himself ap- pears to have been a believer in the supremacy of this deity. There is an interesting story in which he is represented as discussing along with his brothers and generals the question, " In what consists true happiness ? " His own conclusion was that " it is in the protection of the Ruler of the earth, eternal ' Heaven ' ; in this consists happiness, with which nothing else can compare." " Heaven " has always been regarded by the Mongols as a beneficent power : it gives the soul of man, and has been the sender of good men, the benefactors of their race. One of their ancestors was born from a ray of light which descended upon his mother, another from a hailstone which fell from heaven into the mouth of a princess. If the people or the chiefs committed any bad action of cruelty, or injustice, or abused the good gifts of earth by 136 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK destroying or wasting grain or cheese or wine, Heaven showed its displeasure by sending bad weather, drought, or pestilence. Lightning falling from the sky upon any spot would indicate the presence of evil spirits or something unclean. As a corollary to their worship of Heaven, they regarded the sun, moon, and stars as objects of religious veneration. It was at the full-moon or half-moon that they would set off upon an expedition. The stars, e. g. the constellation Ursa Major, had an influence upon life, health, the prosperity of their flocks ; and to them they brought their offerings of cheese or milk. As Heaven (" Tengri ") was venerated as the active male principle, the originator, so also " Mother Earth," the passive producing principle, was wor- shipped under the name Itoughen or Getoughen. To her they offered milk, cheese, and tea, and prayed to her for the fertility of the soil, and other blessings desired by a pastoral people. Her chief quality is fecundity, which is called forth her in by means of the active beneficent influence of Heaven. The veneration given to Earth in general was also dis- tributively rendered to the various hills and rivers and localities with which the people were best acquainted, such as the rivers Selenga and Orchon. But, indeed, every hill and valley, almost every locality, has its divinity, who is regarded by the people with superstitious awe. It is here that we begin to come across that which ! is in actuality the belief of the Mongolian tribes at the present day. Some of the ideas which have IN MONGOLIA 1 37 been already touched upon belong rather to the religion of the past, as testified to by Mohammedan and Christian historians and by their own writings ; but when we come to demonolatry, and the super- natural powers of the Shamans, we touch that which has a real undoubted hold upon the imaginations, and the feelings, the worship, and the every-day life of these simple ignorant children of the steppes. Whatever may be the case with other people, the Turanian race at all events has exhibited no inherent power of making progress in religious ideas. Rather, on the other hand, is there every sign of their having gradually fallen away from the worthier beliefs of by-gone ages. In a rude race unenlightened by a revelation of the Truth, abstract theories, which they may per- haps have received from more cultivated neighbours, exhibit a tendency to fade away into unreality ; while such beliefs as have about them an element of mystery, or appeal to their imaginations and their fears, retain their hold upon them in undiminished force. In the Lamaistic religion held by a large proportion of the Mongol tribes there is, no doubt, a considerable admixture of ideas received from Buddhism ; and these are doubtless held by the better educated of the Lamas ; but certainly to the outsider those parts of their professed system which appear to have a real influence upon the people are their demonolatry and their worship of the great Lama, the incarnation of Pandida. Still more, of course, is this the case with those Mongols who still adhere to the old Turanian religion. There seems 138 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK to be an ineradicable persuasion in the human mind of the existence round about in the air of invisible spirits. The Shamanistic belief peoples every valley, every hill, every stream, with genii, chiefly malig- nant, whose hostility has to be deprecated and guarded against. They seem also from the most ancient times to have held a belief in the separate existence of the human soul after death. The souls of the departed are either good or evil according as they did good or evil when alive upon the earth. The former rest quietly in the unseen world ; the latter hover in the. air just above the surface of the earth, and from old habit are engaged in inflicting injuries. They destroy children, and settling upon men and women induce diseases. These disem- bodied spirits (ongons) are therefore much to be feared. In vast numbers they flit about in every spot, especially in desolate places, and among the tombs. When any one is afflicted with any disease, it is the function of the Shaman (priest) to ascertain what ongon has entered into him, and to exorcise it. In connection with this theory there is the re- markable Obo worship, a characteristic and pro- bably very ancient part of their superstition. In various spots, generally selected either because of their elevation or some noticeable peculiaiity, mounds of earth and stones were erected for " Obo " to propitiate the tutelary divinity of the locality, and to ward off the malignant assaults of the evil spirits. These mounds and heaps of stones were commonly set up by the side of the track ; and they who passed by would contribute some offering IN MONGOLIA I39 to " Obo." One encounters these occasionally when crossing Gobi or Shamo, the desert between Eastern Siberia and China. I have a very lively recollection of passing through a remarkable rocky defile only one or two days' march from the Siberian frontier. There were no trees nor shrubs, indeed I may say there was no vegetation, within sight. There were fantastic rocky cliffs on the right hand and on the left, and the ground was covered with boulders and piles of rocks and stones strewed about in wildest confusion. It was a singularly desolate and somewhat weird spot. My Mongol attendants had been hurrying on, as I afterwards thought, that we might pass through the defile before nightfall. There was a cairn of stones at the entrance of the defile, another at the exit, and a third, I think, about in the middle. The light was failing, and my two attendants, the chief of whom, by the way, was a Lama, pulled their cloaks over their faces and motioned to me angrily to be silent as we passed through. Afterwards, upon reading Rubruquis, I was interested to find that he, more than six hundred years before, had had a precisely similar experience. For, to employ his own words, he tells us how, when entering upon a lonely valley, " our guide begged me to say a prayer ; for the spot was tenanted by demons, who are wont to carry off men. We sang the Creed in a loud voice, and by God's grace passed through safe and sound." The good Father in these words evidently betrays a little anxiety on his part. Traces of a superstition akin to this Obo-worship 140 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK are to be found in widely-separated countries. It is probably connected with the curious Fung-Shui of China. The notion of the Chinamen seems to be that if the general balance, which naturally holds in every locality, be improperly disturbed, the demons will be angered, and disaster will ensue. Similar superstitions are found among the Indians of North- West America. Among the tribes of Siberia it was connected with the popular holidays of the people ; for every tumulus was erected and consecrated with festivities and games, feasting and races, and this, no doubt, as is commonly the case under similar circumstances, has contributed to perpetuate its hold upon the popular imagination. As a part of their worship of the elements, the Mongols, as was naturally to be expected, paid a peculiar veneration to fire. It is quite likely that some of their ideas in this matter may have been borrowed from the Persians ; but it is obvious that uninstructed heathen in their veneration for the various powers of nature could not but be at- tracted to this element, because of its beneficent uses. It is its cleansing, purifying virtue which seems chiefly to have attracted the attention of the Mongols. It was employed in many purifying processes : as, for example, after a death, the tent in which the body had lain must be purified, and the things in it placed between two burning piles. A stranger before being admitted to the presence of the Khan must pass between two bonfires ; for thus, it was thought, he was deprived of the power of doing harm. Nothing unclean might be thrown IN MONGOLIA 141 into the domestic fire. They esteem it a transgres- sion to throw anything into the fire which causes a bad smell, such as water, or to spit into it. On the other hand, the way of showing veneration is to cast into the fire that which increases the flame, as e.g. oil, butter, or fat. This cultus is common to all the Mongols, those who profess the Lamaistic religion as well as those who cling to the older belief. I have already given an account of a ceremonial worship of fire in a Lamaistic temple at Kuren. The domestic hearth has ever been regarded by the Mongols with peculiar veneration, and has been personified as the goddess " Out." She is the guardian of domestic happiness, and is looked upon as being the mistress of the home. Any one wishing to become an inmate of a house must first salute the fire, as if asking permission to become one of the family. At marriages an indispensable part of^ the ceremony is the salutation of the fire by the bride and bridegroom. Butter also is cast into thd flame, and the domestic hearth is sprinkled with spirit (distilled from mares' milk) by the Shaman. This veneration for the element of fire, especially in its domestic aspect, dates from a period long anterior to the rise of the Zoroastrian system, and is a part of the old elemental worship of the Turanian race. Then there was also among the Mongols a multi- tude of secondary divinities, some being such as commended themselves to a warlike people — as the god of courage, of war, and of victor}? — and 142 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK others which, as a pastoral people, they would desire to propitiate. There was the god of good fortune ; and the god of children ; nine gods-protectors, answering, as some have supposed, to the Amshas- pands of the Persian system ; and a crowd of others both good and evil. A superstitious dread of the terrible dragon they probably caught up from their neighbours the Chinese, and also their veneration of ancestors. The earth and the atmosphere above the earth are peopled with innumerable invisible spirits, mostly evil, and hostile to the human race, the objects of their liveliest dread, ever to be guarded against, and if possible propitiated. Demonolatry then is in actuality their religion, and this finds its characteristic and practical ex- pression in their rooted belief in the functions and supernatural powers of the " Shamans " or sorcerer- priests. The etymology of this word has been much disputed, some writers, e.g. Hardwick, deriving it from the Sanskrit ; others from a Maudshurian word signifying " perturbed," " excited." This latter is the theory of the Russian writers, who assert that they got it from the Tungoos tribes dwelling in the government of Irkutsk. Different words to describe the system are employed by the Samoeides and Ostiacks. No doubt the striking external feature of the work of the Shamans is their religious frenzy, and its expression in the excited dance. One of the boys in Bishop Benjamin's school on Lake Baikal imitated for my entertain- ment the incantations of the Shaman priests, which he had often witnessed. A bundle of rags was IN MONGOLIA 143 rapidly tied to a stick, and the little shaven-headed fellow capered wildly about, flinging his bare feet high into the air, waving his stick now towards us, and now towards the imaginary person to be exor- cised, and singing all the while a heathenish chant, while the other boys tittered, and the good Bishop looked on with an amused smile. The theory of the Shaman is, in fact, that he is a " medium," and is from time to time possessed by a demon, under whose influence he is powerless, and through whom he holds communication with the spirit world. This theory, perhaps begun fre- quently, but not always, in imposture, is maintained until the Shaman appears to believe, and probably does believe, in the reality of that which he pro- fesses. That the people themselves recognize this distinction seems to be shown by the curious fact that they discriminate themselves between true and false Shamans ; the latter being those who, having no gift nor inspiration, have assumed the office for gain. And another very remarkable fact as bearing upon the explanation to be given of the phenomena is this : that it sometimes happens among the Bouriats that they who have taken up the office, as if persuaded that they had a leaning towards it, afterwards abandon it, apparently not being able to acquire the inspiration. The true Shamans are those who, in the judgment of the people, are veritably possessed, not taking up the vocation as a matter of their own choice, but im- pelled towards it by hidden influences. Commonly, such an one manifests a " leading," even in his early 144 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK years. He is gloomy and morose, is estranged from his relatives, loves to go apart, and fills his father's house with groans and wailings. In these symp- toms he and his friends recognize the workings of a spirit, and, deceived himself, he becomes more or less consciously a deceiver. He takes up the calling of a Shaman, and with secret rites, among which are probably fastings and lonely meditations, he is initiated. Thus, it will be observed, there is no formal order of these men, no caste, no hereditary or selected dignity. Any man can become a Shaman ; it rests absolutely with himself ; of his own will he takes up the office, and of his own will he can at any time abandon it. It is a system without a hier- archy, without a temple, without public worship. It teaches no morality, it enforces no duties, it has no theory concerning sin — except, indeed, the offence of having angered one of the capricious spirits. It is not the duty nor the aim of the Shaman to instruct or elevate his countrymen, neither is there any one whose duty it is to do this. But he is a diviner, a soothsayer, an exorcist, and therefore a healer. It was he who, on all accus- tomed occasions, which were chiefly domestic, offered up the prayers of the people, as, for instance, at their great half-yearly festivals, in spring and autumn, when the grateful nomads, rejoicing in the renewed face of nature, or in the fruits of har- vest, brought to the divinities offerings of grass and spirit, pouring out libations of new mares' milk upon the ground, and sacrificing horses and mares IN MONGOLIA 145 — white mares being held in especial request for offerings. 1 Upon the entering on any import- ant undertaking, prayers to the protector-god will be offered by the Shaman, and it is he by whom the offerings are made to the home-goddess, " Mother Out." In such calamities as the break- ing out of disease among the cattle, or the ravages of wolves among the flocks, the Shaman will be consulted, sacrifices will be prescribed, and the victim eaten by the Shaman with the officers. He is able to prognosticate future events by means of signs and omens. And more than all, he is the doctor — the people have no other — who is called in for the healing of the sick. In this matter the theory is that the disease is caused by some evil spirit, perhaps brought upon the sufferer by the spell of some personal enemy ; and the object of the Shaman will be to exorcise the spirit, and either to drive it into a selected animal, which is killed and eaten, or, more usually, to draw it into his own body. The strange ceremony with which he does this has been often described, and is much the same in every tribe. The Shaman puts on his peculiar garment, hung with small plates of metal, bits of bone, and anything that will make a rattling, jing- ling noise. Having put on his head a cap or helmet of silk and iron, he takes his drum in his hand, and beating it or striking it xvpon the ground as he sits, he recites his prayers, at first monotonously, then more rapidly. Becoming excited, he redoubles his 1 Rubruquis. White horses were held in special veneration by the Persians (Herod.) and Germans (Tacit.). 146 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK blows upon the drum ; the excitement increases, and his face now assumes a wild and frenzied ex- pression. Now the crisis arrives ; the demon comes. He bounds to his feet, throws away the drum, begins to cry and howl, spins round and round, beats him- self, and makes frightful contortions with his face. Now he foams at the mouth ; the bystanders seize him and have to put forth all their strength, so great is his power, to gain the mastery over him ; other- wise he would do himself a mischief, would cut or tear himself, or even inflict upon himself some permanent injury. But at length he becomes calm, and the friends of the sick man are now assured that the evil has come out of him. It is generally allowed by those who have wit- nessed these scenes, which are still enacted among some of the Mongolian tribes of Siberia — as, for example, the Bouriats — that the Shaman plays his part with great skill and gives to many the idea that he really is possessed. The belief of the Mongols themselves in the Shamans, their influence over the demons, their power of prophecy, and their ability when they choose, which is not always the case, to cure diseases, is firm and general. And indeed, even by the more ignorant of the Russians in Siberia, they are regarded as magicians, and believed, in their tricks and conjurations, to be gifted with pre- ternatural power. I took the opportunity of asking Monseigneur Benjamin his opinion upon this inter- esting question. He replied that it certainly was the opinion of some that Satan does lend power to the Shamans for the deceiving of the people ; but IN MONGOLIA 147 for himself no sufficient evidence had been brought before him to show that this was the case, and he should be slow to believe it. His own opinion was that the Shamans were partly conscious impostors, and also partly self-deceivers. Of late years the Gospel has made great progress among these heathen tribes of Siberia, and many thousands of converts have been made. The remainder are principally Shamanists, and are very uncivilized, many of them living in the woods almost in a state of nature. But the religious system of which a sketch has thus been given, and which in its characteristic feature is the same as that held in early times by all the tribes of Southern, Central, and Northern Asia, 1 is, at the present time, by no means confined to the inhabitants of those high latitudes of which we have hitherto been speaking. It is a striking fact that in His Majesty's Empire of India there are upwards of six million souls holding to rude beliefs and superstitious rites that are practically identical with those that have been just described. These tribes, undoubtedly prae- Aryan, and of the Turanian stock, are scattered throughout the peninsula from the north-east corner on the borders of Assam, down to the in- habitants of Tinnevelly in the extreme south. While the rest of India has been overflowed by the mighty waves of Brahmanism and Buddhism, they 1 From the Accadian writings, the most ancient Turanian literature at present known to us, it appears that in prae-Aryan times the religious belief of Chaldaea was, in fact, demonolatry. Yet at the head of the Pantheon was " Ana," the spirit of the heavens. 148 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK have remained like isolated rocks that have never been submerged by the flowing tide. And though separated by vast tracts of country, and holding no communication with each other, they have varied in no important respects from their primi- tive beliefs ; they have certainly made no progress whatever towards a better and worthier faith, but rather, whatever change there may have been seems to have been by way of retrogression. And thus, while elsewhere wondrous changes have been going on in the world of thought, these simple tribes have been holding to the rude notions handed down from their forefathers for tens of centuries. These prae- Aryan tribes appear for the most part to have a belief, which in the past ages was more distinct, but is now very vague and unreal, in a supreme god, or a chief among gods. But some of them, as the Koch, Bodo, and Dhimal tribes of the north-east, " have no word in their languages for God, for soul, for the future life, nor for sin, piety, prayer nor repentance." 1 Indeed, it should al- ways be borne in mind that there is in demonolatry no moral element whatever. They have also a crowd of secondary divinities, such as would accord with the needs of their peculiar circumstances, e. g. the genii of the various rivers. The local genii skim along above the surface of the earth, invisible to man, but seen by the lower animals. The demons, who are chiefly malignant, must be propitiated by 1 Hodgson, Journal of Anthropological Society of Bombay, Vol. I. no. 2. IN MONGOLIA I49 offerings, sometimes bloody sacrifices. The people are all firm believers in the theory of " possession." 1 And here comes in that which is really the living part of their superstition, the work of the " witch- doctor " or " Shaman." The methods of these witch-doctors (" Ojha " or " Sok-ha ") are pre- cisely similar to those of the Siberian Shaman, already described. There is the same frenzied dance, in which the " Ojha " works himself up into a pitch of mad excitement, cuts his flesh till the blood flows, 2 drinks his blood, or sucks the blood from the throat of the decapitated sacrificial goat. As he reels in his frenzy, suddenly the afflatus de- scends, the demon takes possession of him, and he is worshipped as a present deity. These people, remnants of the ancient Turanian population, are a simple and docile race, more amenable to the influences of Christianity than the proud adherents of the more cultured religions of India, whose missionaries have made small im- pression upon them. There are now four bishops of the Anglican Communion presiding over flocks drawn from these primitive tribes. If we now take flight eastward, and give a glance at the religious notions of the inhabitants of the Pacific Islands, we shall there find, making a little 1 One very remarkable fact is mentioned by the late venerated Bishop Caldwell, viz. that he has met with not a few cases of supposed " possession " among Christian natives, even those of considerable standing. 2 See 1 Kings xviii. 26, 28. Compare also the Galli of Cybele. The fearful ode of Catullus (Atys) gives us a powerful picture of the frenzied orgiastic worship of the " Great Mother." 150 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK allowance for their insular position and the softer nature of their dispositions, precisely similar ideas prevailing. In the Sandwich Islands, e. g., their religion was just the same as that which we have already had under review — a polytheistic system, with the cultus of local divinities, and demonolatry. Indeed, under the outer garb of Christianity, many of the natives still cling, in secret, to some of their ancient beliefs and heathenish customs. In some of the other islands there was, it is said, a similar cosmogonic theory to that already noticed. Heaven and earth were formerly one, and it was by their separation that the universe was brought into being. But in the Sandwich Islands I found no trace of such a thought as this. There was, indeed, a god of heaven and a god of earth, but no notice was taken of them. The local gods, which, as usual, they got from the circumstances of their environment, were few in number, but powerful and greatly dreaded. There was Pele, the dread goddess of subterranean fires, 1 Pali, the god of precipices, and the shark- god, especially venerated at Molokai. Every individual, certainly every chief, had his guardian spirit (akua). And according as this spirit was revealed to them, as of the sky or earth, so would he make his fetish, either as a bird or animal. Sick- 1 When, sitting down upon the hard crust of the crater of Kilauea, I was watching the tawny billows of lava rocking to and fro in the molten lake, and the carmine fountains of liquid fire spurting up into the air, it seemed no matter for surprise to hear my Kanaka guide, squatting near me, droning out a monotonous chant to Pele. IN MONGOLIA I51 ness was caused by the entrance of some demon ; and the sorcerer was sent for, and a fowl was cooked and eaten by him, and the ceremony of exorcism was gone through by him pretty much as has been already described. When a chief was taken sick, the question was asked, " What enemy has done this ? " And the cursing priest (Kahuna ananna) was sent for, that he might find out the secret foe, and pray him to death. This was done with elabor- ate ceremonies ; the enemy was revealed to the sorcerer, and it was given out of what death he should die ; and if, soon after this, any one died of that disease, the Kahuna was greatly honoured and feared and richly rewarded. The Kahuna pos- sessed the gift of second-sight. He would see a man's wraith, and tell him so, and the terrified man would pay for an offering to be eaten by the priest and present him with a garment. From these few points the whole system will be readily understood. It was a grinding tyranny in which the chiefs, with whom lay the real power, and the Kahunas played into each other's hands. The fearful tyranny of the " Kapu" ("taboo") system has, I suppose, been never exceeded upon the earth. The social condition of the people was deplorable. They recognized no sins of the flesh as such. Their system of belief inculcated no morality. And though a highly intelligent, indeed gifted, people, they were making no progress in morality, nor conceptions of duty, nor were giving even any indications of a feeling after a worthier idea of God. It must have been in the old prae-Aryan times, *5 2 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK before the inroad of the more thoughtful religions of Asia, that the Malayo-Polynesian race set out from the south-eastern regions of Asia on their wonderful mission of peopling the islands of the Pacific. Of the many books that might have been, one is disposed to regret, not least of all, that the history of these voyagers from island to island has not been written. What tales of endurance, and deeds of heroic daring, would, methinks, have been recorded ! Starting upon their great dispersion, they took with them as their moral and religious equipment their nature-worship and demonolatry, the rude theories of the Turanian race. And after the lapse of all the centuries we find them with these same wild notions, and nothing more. If there has been any change, it has been by way of declension from their early belief. In not any one of the thousand islands of the ocean has there been any sign of development in moral and religious ideas. The race has shown itself utterly power- less to attain by its own mental and moral efforts to any worthier conceptions of God, of duty, or of goodness. It has been waiting throughout the ages for that illumination which is now, in these latter days, being brought to it from Christendom. And if once more we take a mental flight still further to the east — for the march of the Turanians has been eastward as that of the Aryans has been westward — and give a glance at the Indians of North-West America, we find ourselves among a people of different characteristics, of alower standard of intelligence, simple, sincere, and naturally amiable IN MONGOLIA 153 and moral, leading in their natural state lives pure and chaste ; and, with regard to their religious notions, holding to the simpler and wilder forms of the belief, a sketch of which has already been given. They possess, indeed, generally a belief in a Supreme Being. It is just possible that this belief may have spread amongst them since their intercourse with the whites during the last hundred years. But it is so universal — during a constant intercourse with them for several years I never met with an Indian who did not profess to believe in " the Great Chief on high " — and so prevalent too among tribes which have had little or no intercourse with the whites, that this seems to be quite unlikely. Yet of this Being they know nothing, and offer to Him neither sacrifice nor worship. They possess a dim belief in a future state. Of secondary divinities they have none. They have not a name for any god. There are spirits everywhere. There is a spirit in the sun and moon ; there is a spirit for every mountain, river, rock, and ravine. The Indian offers an in- vocation to the spirit of the waves that they may not be lashed into a storm ; to the spirit of the winds that they may be assuaged; to the spirit of the rocks that his canoe may not be dashed against them. The spirits are abroad at night, and the Indian shrinks from going out into the dark- ness, and remains in his ranch. He hears them in the sighing of the wind, the creaking of the branches, and the rustling of the forest leaves. Sickness is caused by an evil spirit, or an enemy has " worked bad medicine " and injected it 154 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK into the object of his hatred. Then comes in the office of the " medicine-man." With his proceed- ings every one, I suppose, is familiar ; they are similar to those of the " Shaman," " Ojha " or " Kahuna." He can often see the spirit, the germ of the disease, and it is like a toad or a lizard, and with the usual paraphernalia, with jingling robe and rattle, with excited dance and hideous din, he exorcises it — perhaps draws it into a sorcerer's tube, such an one as I possess, plunges it in water, or blows it away into the air. The sick man is then assured that the spirit is cast out, and — such is the connec- tion between mind and body — he not infrequently in point of fact appears to be benefited. The higher class of " medicine-men " claim to be taken possession of at certain times by a demon. I was once by chance a witness of the frenzied doings of one of these medicine-men in an Indian village in Vancouver Island. Stripped stark-naked, with face of deadly pallor, and wild eyes gleaming from underneath his matted hair, he was crawling about on all-fours among the filth, chewing the offal and gnawing the bones that were lying on the dung- hill, white foam hanging round his mouth, and falling in great flakes upon the mud. No chance spec- tator would, I am sure, have entertained the idea that he was deliberately playing a part, but would have instinctively concluded that he was stark- mad. The native inhabitants of the village looked on at a little distance in apparent fear. To con- vince the common people of the fact of their " possession," and to inspire them with terror, IN MONGOLIA 155 the medicine-men of the North-West have re- course to various arts. They perform many really curious conjuring tricks, the secret art being handed down among them and imparted to each medicine-man at his initiation. From time to time also the highest class perpetrate revolting actions, which really might be thought to show that they are under the influence of bestial in- clinations. We have seen that the " devil-dancer " of India at times drinks the warm blood of an animal in his frenzied dance. Whether blood has the property of kindling, or fostering, hysterical ex- citement, I do not know. But it is somewhat curious that these medicine-men have a similar custom, but in a far more disgusting form. In their wild frenzy they will seize upon one of their Indian dogs and rend it in pieces and devour it upon the spot. Nay, far worse, the very highest class, into which females were not admitted, were in fact cannibals. I am speaking now only of the wildest northern tribes in the neighbourhood of Queen Charlotte's Island. At intervals, when it was thought well to strike terror into the people, and, as I suspect, when it was known that a death had recently occurred in the village, the medicine- man would become disturbed and excited, would beat upon his breast, and say, " The Nock-Nock must have food." He would exhibit signs of in- sanity ; and the people, knowing the symptoms, would fly away in terror, and peep through the bushes or look on from their canoes. The poor wretched man would go raging through the empty 156 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK village, searching, as it seemed, for what he wanted. The maniac, for such he appeared to be, would find out the hut where the poor corpse was lying — probably he knew of its whereabouts all the while — would break down the door, seize the poor body, and These phenomena are certainly strange, and worthy of consideration. Are these Shamans, witch-doctors, medicine-men, whatever they are called, conscious impostors ? Or, as the native tribes certainly believe, and not a few also of the low-class whites who reside among them, can it be that they really become the subjects of demoniacal possession ? To these questions different replies have been given. That there is nothing in all these manifestations but imposture, deliberately designed and cleverly executed, is, however, an opinion held by very few, if any. It is thought by many of the whites that the medicine-men do certainly themselves believe in the reality of their possession. Yet there can, I think, be no question at all that there is a good deal of conscious and deliberate im- posture in the system. There are those, however, who believe that we may discern the veritable work- ing of the powers of evil. Intelligent and experi- enced missionaries (such as Mr. Caldwell and Mr. Duncan) tell us that they have witnessed much that they cannot account for on natural principles, and are disposed to believe that the medicine-men do really, by their wicked doings, bring themselves under the power of supernatural evil influences. Others, however, of equal acumen and experience, IN MONGOLIA 157 such as Bishop Caldwell and Monseigneur Benjamin, either reject, or at least plainly decline to adopt, this view. But, indeed, there is a wide distance between the theories of conscious imposture and demoniacal possession. I am not aware what scientific ex- planation has been given by the physiologists of our day of the state of frenzy, the orgiastic rites and frantic dances which have been the strange accompaniments of so many forms of heathenish worship, both ancient and modern. I suppose — but I speak somewhat ignorantly — that they would be characterized as forms of brain disease, nervous excitement, or religious hysteria. It seems pro- bable that these heathen priests possess the art of working themselves up into an unnatural hysterical condition, which is certainly akin to mania, and may easily be mistaken, even by themselves, for demoniacal possession. It is a curious physio- logical fact which, in this connection, is worth bearing in mind, that people may feign an abnormal condition of mind and body until they exhibit a tendency to pass actually into the condition which they simulate. Thus a foolish young man may feign intoxication, and by acting the part he may put himself into such a confused and excited con- dition that he will protest he does not quite know whether he is sober or not. The nature and con- ditions of hysteria are not, I suppose, even in the present day, fully comprehended. 1 1 See an apposite story in Lucian of an actor who lost control of himself when playing the part of Ajax Furens. De Salt, sec. 83. 158 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK It is to be observed that the peculiar beliefs and characteristic practices of " Shamanism " are dying out in the various countries that we have glanced at in our rapid survey. The true light is kindling, and the baleful fires are burning low. The hideous practices that have been mentioned as taking place in N.W. America have, I believe, practically died out. They were no part of the creed which the natives brought with them when they crossed over into America from Northern Asia, but have been superadded in the lapse of time, affording another proof of that which we have seen elsewhere, the gradual deterioration of the Turanian system of belief. Nowhere throughout the continent of America do we find any sign that the natives were emancipating themselves from the follies and horrors of their superstitions, or were even striving after a knowledge of better things. Amidst their dark forests and rushing rivers, or on their far-stretching prairies, they were leading the same wild, hopeless life from generation to generation. And in regions where, as among the Mexicans, they had attained to a considerable degree of civilization, there the religion was the most bloody and revolting. In the north-west they are a manly, a simple, and a kindly people. One cannot live amongst them, and see them in the various circumstances of their barbarous and yet virtuous lives, without feeling a deep interest in them and a lively com- passion for them. They are dying out before the white man. The usual expression with reference to this is, I believe, that it is the destiny of savages IN MONGOLIA 159 to die out before the more civilized races. Those of us who know more of these matters would speak very differently of this sad fact. But every lover of humanity will rejoice to know that there is a remnant of them, and will pray that there may be multitudes, who have reason to be thankful for the coming of the white man to interrupt the solitude of their savage life. For amongst the whites, who too often corrupt and betray them, there are Chris- tians who have brought the light of a better know- ledge to those who were indeed "sitting in dark- ness," and a deathless hope to the poor trembling souls who, from dread of the unseen power of evil, were all their lifetime subject to bondage. CHAPTER VI LAKE BAIKAL TO THE URAL MOUNTAINS Speaking of the projects for union, or, as I pointed out, for such a nearer approximation of the Orthodox and the Anglican Churches as would permit the members of the one to communicate with the other, I found Bishop Benjamin very stiff on the question of the " nlioque." How could there be any union with a difference in the Creed ? On my venturing to submit that the nature of the eternal procession of the Holy Spirit is a sublime and inscrutable mystery not clearly revealed to us, and that surely, therefore, the indeterminate doctrine should not be a stumbling- block in the way of fraternal union, he would only reply that the matter must be yet further treated of. The Orthodox Church must desire, for she always prays for, the unity of Christendom. He knew but very little about the Church of England, in- quired how many sacraments we own, and whether We possess the Apostolic succession. The party in the Anglican Church, whose leader he understood was Dominus Pusey, which is desirous of re-intro- ducing the ancient rites and ceremonies, would have 1 60 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK IN MONGOLIA l6l done wisely to seek information from the Orthodox Church, in which the most ancient customs have been ever strictly preserved. I took this opportunity of asking some questions concerning the Russian Church. Was their doctrine identical with that of Rome concerning the Blessed Virgin ? " By no means. The Orthodox Church does not receive the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. It has no dogma concerning the Assumption. There is indeed a festival which is called the ' Sleep of the Virgin.' They look upon her as upon the Saints. They do not pray absolutely to her. They do not expect the aid of the Saints, but ask for their prayers. There is no distinction between the exoteric and the esoteric belief upon this subject. Certainly not. As regards miracle-working pictures " — [I had in my mind the icon at Kiachta] — " they believe not that the picture works miracles, but that the Almighty, moved by the prayers of the offerers and of the Saints, sometimes does so, and that certain icons are sometimes used as instruments, as the rod of Moses was used by him as an instrument in the working of wonders. As regards confession the laity are as willing to confess to the secular priests, who are married, as to the monks, except only in Bulgaria, where, he believed, the people preferred making their confessions to the monks. He thought that the ancient rule that Bishops should be celibateg a wise one. Bishops had such a difficult work and so much to manage that they could not manage a wife as well. St. Paul says that 'the unmarried man careth for the things of the Lord, but the 1 62 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK married man seeks how he may please his wife.' " I ventured to remind him that the same Apostle says, " Let a Bishop be the husband of one wife." " True," he replied, " but he does not command it, but permits it." This rather obvious remark needed no rejoinder. He spoke somewhat concerning the various bodies of schismatics, who to the number of some millions have split off from the Orthodox Church. Many of them have separated themselves on questions of the most trifling nature, such as the precise manner in which they should hold their hands during prayer. There are not a few of them in the Trans-Baikal district. They have no mass because they have no priests. They are zealous in spreading their opinions, and have many mission- aries. There are three of these missionaries in the Trans-Baikal, very illiterate persons. Indeed, speak- ing generally these Dissenters are ill-educated and grossly ignorant people. My intercourse with the good Bishop was exceed- ingly pleasant, and it was with gratitude for his dignified courtesy and kindness that I wished him good-bye. I may here record a somewhat humor- ous incident which resulted from my visit to the Posolsky monastery. It was long afterwards, in the year 1898, that a friend of mine, a Norfolk layman, a well-known Russophile, and well versed in the- ology, spent a night at a monastery far down in the south-east of Russia, not very far from the Caspian Sea, whither he had gone to inspect some ancient and scarce manuscripts of music. Sitting up late with the white-haired Archimandrite, the conversa- IN MONGOLIA 163 tion turned upon theology and the doctrines of the respective Churches of England and Russia. The Archimandrite remarked that once only before had he met with an Englishman, and he was a priest of the Church of England who thirty years before had visited the monastery of Posolsky in Siberia, where he, the Archimandrite, was then working as a priest. He remembered the circumstances well, because the Englishman — and he mentioned my name, which oddly enough he had remembered — was obliged to converse with his Bishop in Latin, there being no other medium of communication common to them both. " He told us some things about the Church of England which we could not very well believe." " Why, what did he say ? " said Mr. B. "Why he told us, e.g., that the English Bishops had more than 40,000 roubles per annum. This could not be true." (The Russian Bishops have, I believe, as a rule, some 3000 or 4000.) " Oh yes," said my friend, " that is perfectly true. And I may tell you that that priest is now a Bishop himself ; indeed curiously enough he is my Bishop, and I have now come from his cathedral city." " Aha ! " said the old man, his eyes twinkling with amusement. " I remember that in those days Mr. Sheepshanks said that in his opinion the Bishops had too much money, and the priests far too little. I wonder," he said with a chuckle of merriment, " whether he would say the same now." The coincidence of the two interviews and the two conversations was curious. But those of us who have travelled much could tell other tales of strange "rencontres." If I am ever so fortunate 164 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK as to meet that venerable Archimandrite again, I will inform him whether I have indeed changed my opinion. Crossing Lake Baikal in a wretched crazy old steamboat, which was afterwards lost, I arrived on the 20th September at Irkutsk, and after paying my respects to the Governor-General, who received me very courteously, and after a long conversation with his lady, who spoke English perfectly and who lent me a pile of the latest numbers of the Illus- trated London News, went to call upon the Arch- bishop. I arrived at the time when he was about to take dinner, and having sent in my letter of introduction from Monseigneur Benjamin, waited in an ante- chamber. The house of the good Bishop was simple and unpretending. He was waited upon by one or two young men — novices, I presume — clad in cassocks and with long hair coming down to their shoulders. By and by the Archbishop, a man well advanced in years, with a kindly benevolent face, long grey beard, and brown thin hair falling upon his shoulders, came into the apartment, richly draped in long black flowered-satin robe and monk's hat and veil, and greeted me very courteously. I made my apology in French for calling at an unseasonable hour, which he received very pleasantly ; and he then, not being able to speak French, continued the conversation in Latin. We first talked about the missions under his jurisdiction, and he informed me that there were about 100,000 Bouriats in his diocese, of whom 11,000 had been baptized. The mission-stations IN MONGOLIA 165 among this wild race were presided over by ten missionaries, of whom only one is a monk, the others being secular priests. The Bouriats are principally Shamans, and are very uncivilized, many of them living almost in a state of nature in the woods. I endeavoured to obtain more information concerning the Shaman superstition, but did not learn much from the Archbishop, who was evidently not so in- timately acquainted with the customs and habits of thought of the heathen as the missionary Bishop Monseigneur Benjamin, nor was this to be expected. The Archbishop was evidently wishful to make inquiries of me concerning the Church of England. He, as he said, knew somewhat of its doctrine and condition, having lately read a book about it by M. Wiseman. " The Church of England has no bishops," he said, partly interrogatively. I replied with a smile that he must not get his information about the Church of England from M. Wiseman. I might as well form my opinion of the Orthodox Church from the statements of the Russian Dissenters. As he broached the subject of union between the Churches, I remarked that that was not to be hoped for at the present time, but why should we not aim at friendly intercommunion ? " But why did I think that union was not to be hoped for ? " " There are several differences between the Churches," I replied ; "for example (thinking of Monseigneur Benjamin) there is the ' filioque' in the Creed." He replied at once warmly that the " filioque " is a later development. " Yet many of the early Fathers held the doctrine of the Latin Church." " Yes," said he, " individual l66 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK Fathers, but it is not the doctrine of the earliest synods ; we hold by the synods of the early Church." I did not, of course, wish to enter into controversy with the venerable prelate, and managed to turn the conversation. He was very particular (like other Eastern theologians with whom I have conversed) in inquiring as to the number of sacraments held by the Church of England. They appear to attach an undue value to the word " sacrament " as applied to grace-giving ordinances, and to suppose that if we do not apply the word to any particular ordinance, that amounts to denying that it is a means or channel of a special Divine grace. The Archbishop also inquired particularly concerning the different parties in the Church of England, especially the party which desires to revive the ancient ceremonies — " Nos," he said with much emphasis, " tenemus antiquos ritus cum rigore." On the whole the impression which I gathered from conversations with Russian divines both in Siberia and Russia proper was mainly that of their strong conservatism. There are indeed two parties amongst them, the conservatives and the liberal or reforming ; and it is probable that my intercourse was mainly with the former. My clerical acquaintances appeared to betray no consciousness that their Church either needed or was susceptible of any improvement. They think not unnaturally that wherever we differ from them we have gone astray, led astray originally by Rome ; and that whatever errors we may hold result as a natural consequence from the original sin of Rome in breaking off from Catholic unity. They are quite willing to discuss the IN MONGOLIA 167 question of union or intercommunion, but the advances must come from us, and they have not the slightest idea of modifying any of their doctrines or practices. At the same time their attitude towards us is quite different from that of the divines of the Roman Church. There is an absence of arrogance, bitterness, or scorn. If at any time a necessity arose for the drawing together of the two nations, and there were an earnest desire in both Govern- ments and peoples to be united in bonds of amity, in that case I believe there would be no insuperable difficulty in bringing about a friendly intercom- munion between the two Churches. There can be no question at all that the Orthodox Church has an immense influence upon the people of the land. Laymen of position and intelligence whom I met in Russia are far more liberal and more desirous of reform than those of the clergy with whom I had the privilege of holding intercourse. The Archbishop very kindly showed me his chapel, and on my making the remark that I had not been able as yet in a Russian church to follow the Liturgy, as during the most sacred part of the canon the royal gate is closed, and the priest com- pletely hidden from the congregation in the nave, he very courteously invited me to enter the altar on the following day, Sunday. Accordingly, next day, a little before nine o'clock, the hour of the service, I went to the Archbishop's house and waited until his Grace came out. After a few words of kindly greeting, he gave me in charge to one of the ministers and then proceeded to his chapel, where, while 1 68 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK the priests and deacons were singing round him, he was vested in a rich purple robe. Meanwhile I was conducted behind the iconostasis, where I had the opportunity of witnessing those parts of the Liturgy which are not beheld by the people of the congregation. The scene at the participation, when, the royal gate being shut, the Archbishop, the cele- brant, standing before the altar, and the priests and deacons standing round it, they all bent over it and partook of the blessed sacrament, was most impressive and touching, taking one's thoughts vividly back through the long ages of Christian belief and life to the first celebration of the holy rite in the " upper room " at Jerusalem. During the communion of the clergy a priest had been preaching to the people in the nave, and was still continuing his sermon when their participation was finished. A large wooden comb was brought to the Archbishop, and he sat down by the icon- ostasis and combed out his long hair. The service being finished, the royal gate was thrown open and an infant was brought up by his mother and com- municated by means of a spoon. I was also privi- leged to witness the ordination of a priest, but this did not impress me ; some parts of the ceremony, though doubtless ancient and curious, appeared to me lacking in decorous dignity. I remained for a few days at Irkutsk, for the Governor-General told me that he would probably be able to find me a travelling companion, as there were frequently officers who had occasion to go to Russia proper ; and it would obviously be a great IN MONGOLIA 169 convenience to me to have a companion who could speak the language of the country. In the mean- time I was most kindly and hospitably entertained by gentlemen whose acquaintance I had made in one way or another. At the time there was somewhat of a rage for things English. Buckle's History of Civilization and other books of the kind were being read, and as a great treat I was feasted at little dinners with English porter — a beverage for which I have no liking — at three roubles, or nearly six shillings, a bottle. After a few days I was informed that an officer, a German by nationality, would be happy to accompany me in my journey westward. I had purchased a tarantass, a rough, strong vehicle balanced upon poles by way of springs. I had also, as we were getting towards the end of September, and the weather was likely to be. very cold, bought as a protection against the cold and wet a stout sheep-skin coat, worn ordinarily with the fleece outside, but reversible, so that in the bitter weather it could be worn with the wool next to the person. With this sheep-skin coat down to the heels, wool outwards, a red sash round the waist, and an Astra- chan fur cap by way of head-dress, no doubt one would have created a sensation in Bond Street, but the main thing was that it was suitable for the circumstances of the case. And I always in all my travels and missionary experiences stuck resolutely to my clerical collar. Our preparations being complete, and the day of our departure having arrived — I believe it was September 25, but have not kept a record of the exact 170 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK day — my packages including some food for the journey, such as biscuits, tinned cooked meats, dried fruits, brick-tea, and sugar, were stowed away in the tarantass, I said good-bye to my kind Russian friends, a pair of horses were harnessed to the vehicle, crack went the driver's whip, and off we set for our long drive to Europe. There was in truth nothing very remarkable about this journey, except that it was long, and, as most people would think, tedious. The road was usually bad, indeed for considerable tracts of country there was no road at all. Yet we made very fair pro- gress ; for the post-horses, which were supplied by the Government at a very low rate, were stout, well-fed animals, and our drivers, especially if they were quite young, liked to go along at a good pace. I was always glad to see a mere boy mounting to the driver's seat. We seldom stopped more than half or three-quarters of an hour at the post-house, to get a meal. Otherwise we drove along night and day, only stopping just to change horses. By day we were able to look out upon the country through which we were passing ; and when rain or sleet was falling, we were fairly well protected by an apron and hood. There was really nothing remarkable about the country, which as a rule was not mountainous, nor well-wooded, nor picturesque. From time to time we passed tracts of good rich soil, especially when driving through what the Americans would call " bottoms," often covered with groves of poplars, which now were shedding thickly their yellow leaves. But as a rule the land IN MONGOLIA 171 seemed to my uninformed eyes to be light and poor, very little cultivated, and not infrequently barren and sterile. The wayside houses were very poor and wretched ; and it was fortunate that I had a sufficiency of food still with me. At night we both of us managed to get a fair amount of broken sleep, enough for the requirements of the time. The pull-up at the post-house would awaken us, and we usually bundled out while fresh horses were being brought and harnessed. My companion I think always did so. These post-houses afforded one a novel and not wholly agreeable experience. We would run in out of the keen air and biting wind, and passing hastily through the outer room of the house, for the door was never fastened, would rush into the inner apartment. Oh, the close, hot, stifling atmosphere ! oh, the hum and buzz of myriads of flies roused by the light we carried with us ! and faugh ! the rank fetid stench ! A glance round the wretched room would show only a bare table, one or two benches and settles, and perhaps one or two men sleeping on the floor. Sometimes no human being was in sight, but filling up one end of the apartment was the huge stove made, I think, of some coarse common kind of china ; and at our shout human forms would move upon the top of the stove, a face with matted beard and blinking eyes would stare at us, and down would roll the man to do our bidding. A move was hastily made into another room. The samovar (glorious inven- tion !) with its charcoal was all ready . The fuel was kindled. In a surprisingly short time steam was I72 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK shooting forth. I produced my tea-pot — alas ! it was afterwards broken when passing through Germany — a piece of brick-tea was crumbled into it. The grateful beverage, with a few biscuits, refreshed us mightily. The horses were now in. My friend paid for me the trifling sum owing, and lighted his cigarette. Crack again went the whip of the moujik, and we sped away into the dark- ness. Perhaps it will be thought that this must have been very fatiguing and trying to the health. Well, no, not so much so as might have been thought. We were almost all the time breathing the keen, bracing air. And a man in the prime of life and in vigorous health can accommodate himself to most circumstances. It was not nearly so trying to the constitution as my journey across the prairies of America in the stage-wagon. One could do a good many things when Plancus was Consul. From time to time we met with parties of exiles tramping along eastward, well guarded, and in some cases bound. Never in my lifetime have I seen human beings who more powerfully impressed me with the sense of wickedness and degradation. They appeared to be the very scum of the earth. They were obviously criminals ; the same class of men that we used formerly to transport to " Botany Bay." I have no reason to believe that at any time we encountered political exiles. I had not sufficient data from which to form a decided opinion, but from what I gathered in the course of my journey, I should be disposed to think that the ideas which IN MONGOLIA 173 we have been apt to entertain in England of the harshness of the treatment meted out to the political exiles has been exaggerated. The peasantry of the country seemed to be low in the order of civilization, honest, kindly, and dull ; with no ideas, hopes, or ambitions of rising in the social scale ; very ignorant, very attentive to their religious duties, thronging their churches, observing scrupulously the outward practices and traditional customs which they have been taught. It is to be feared indeed that there is a good deal of super- stition about their religion, which I am afraid does hot appear to their minds to involve very stringent moral obligations. They certainly are grievously intemperate — I should say the most intemperate people that I ever encountered. We would some- times during the night, perhaps after some holiday, drive through villages where the houses for the most part were lighted up, and the bulk of the inhabitants awake and apparently nearly all the worse for drink. We journeyed on without mis- adventure, excepting that once our tarantass broke down, and we were obliged to wait a few hours while it was being repaired. We passed through Tomsk and Omsk, and I became more anxious, as it seemed to become somewhat less likely that we should reach the river Kama before the close of the navigation for the winter season. It became steadily colder, and as we neared the Ural Moun- tains the frost was very strong, and the nights and early mornings were indeed bitter. It happened once or twice in the early morning at one's matu- 174 PAGES FROM MY NOTE-BOOK tinal ablutions, which were usually performed in the open air, that when the servant from the post- house had, as was the custom, poured the water from a metal jug over my hands, the water spilt upon the ground would be congealed before I left the spot. Yet for my own part I felt no particular inconvenience from the cold, nor was I weary of the journey. I had hoped to see a fine range of mountains in the Urals. But no ! in that respect they are as disappointing as the " Rockies." We drove over the former, as I had previously done over the latter, without the consciousness of passing over anything more than a high water-shed. We rattled down to Ekaterinburg (where I bought a few chains of the pretty crystals found there as presents for dear ones at home) with the conscious- ness that after having driven some 2000 miles in twenty days, it was now a question of a few hours whether we should win or lose the race. We urged on our post-boys, and when we came to the hill looking down upon the Perm, and the river Kama was running its shining course below us, there lay the last steamboat of the season getting up steam for the last voyage. It was with that sense of mental satisfaction which one always feels in the achievement of a purpose that I purchased my ticket just as the last bell was ringing. The other men in the office took off their caps and bowed to the icon of St. Nicholas fixed up in the corner of the ceiling, and crossed themselves and kissed each other. I had ensconced myself at the first sign of IN MONGOLIA 175 this ceremony behind a chair in the corner of the room. But I imagine that no one had a design on me, for I was obviously a foreigner. My lug- gage was carried on board. I left my tarantass to my travelling companion, asking him to sell it if he could and forward me the money; but I was not greatly surprised that I heard no more of the matter. We sailed pleasantly down the Kama to its junction with the Volga, then up the Volga to Nijni-Novgorod, thence on to Moscow, delightful city ! where I spent some time. Thence by St. Petersburg through Germany to England, where I arrived before the end of November 1867, not un- thankful, I trust, for my preservation and countless mercies, and happy in the thought that I was again at home. THE END Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, London & Bungay.