Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-12-11
THE MONGOL'S LAST RIDE.
In the Saddle All His Life, His Fu-
neral, Though Barbarous, Il Not
Inappropriate.

The wild nomad tribes who range
over the vast country known as Mon
golia have been celebrated for their
craftsmanship from the earliest days
of history, when they swept across
Asia and down through central Eu-
rope, leaving tracks never to be
effaced.
In the mother country of the race,
Tibet, and in the deserts of Mongolia,
the tribes of wild horsemen have al
tered very little with the march of
the centuries, but of late years they
have been reduced to a certain de-
gree of order, and, lacking the outlet
formerly provided for their super
fuous energies by wars and inter-
tribal raids, they are likely to lose
much of their old spirit and charac-
t%eristic customs, says the London
Graphic.
The hereditary aristocracy play a
great part in Mongolian life, and even
among the widest nomad tribes
princes" and dukes" are quite COM
mon. The princes" it may be noted,
have for some time past been little
more than pensioners of the suzerain,
China, receiving a small yearly rev.
enue. in return for which they are
bound to furnish military service if
called upon.
Beyond the possession Of a more
numerous flock, finer ~sheepskin coats
and a larger tent, it is difficult to see
what privileges are conferred by
rank. The expression, "a beggar on
horseback"-to denote a ludicrous or
homogeneous sight-would have no
meaning in Mongolia, for prince and
beggar alike ride everywhere.
Every Mongol is a born horseman,
and he herds his flocks of sheep,
goats and camels on horseback, be-
ing able, it is said, to keep his seal
even when intoxicated, as he is not
infrequently.
Horse racing is an extremely pop.
ular amusement, the number OF en-.
tries for each race being enormous.
and q kind of polo is played in which
the place of the ball is taken by a fat
sheep, held in the arms of one of the
players, from which the others try
to snatch it.
There is, in fact, no circumstance
of Mongol life in which Workmanship
does not play a part. Courtship and
marriage take place on horseback, a
simulated case and abduction of the
bride constituting the ceremony of
the latter, while ever in the last
scene of life's drama the ruling pas
sion strong in death" is frequently
shown in the funeral o~bsequies.
The method of burial most con.
genial to the wild, free soul of the
Mongol is, however, that which is so
repugnant to u western ideas, and
yet there is something weirdly char
acteristic about the scene.
The dead man, wrapped in his blan-
ket, is taken from his yourta, or felt
tent, in the still hours of the night,
when the cold air blows keenly across
the bleak, open steppes. Four COM
panions mounted on their rough,
wiry little ponies bear him up, and at
a mad, wild gallop the little band
sweeps across the plain toward some
distant hills.
Frequently the lean prairie dogs
of the village follow the funeral cor
tege, and a black cloud of ravens,
known to the people as the 'Mongol's
sepulcher," hangs round the hills.
Once at the appointed place, there
is little more to do; a last farewell
to their comrade, and the little band
is in the saddle again, speeding back
to the cluster of tents, or rudely buiH
town, at full gallop, with only a
stoical regret for the stiff, stark fig
ure out there on the hills, with
CLASSY eyes staring up to the star
spangled sky.
Each mar knows that the time will
come when he, too, must take this
terrible last ride, but with oriental
philosophy he says: IF God wills it,
what can we do?"