The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-10-02

! and are recruited from horse thieves
/ ugtives from justice in districts Within
the Great Wall
! MIR Hedlev aud his party underwent
genuine hardships, psTils from dust ana
sandstoTms, hunger. almost ntoleraole
fatigue. We must pass over these points
lightly. only observing that he records
them for the bsneht % future explorers
and a. part OF his report on conditions
not i'm n spirit OF complaining. A. ne
came TO know the MOngol man he decided
that the more one sees OF him the hess
one likes him. tie il n simple. chlldhke
individual. much more natural and
innocent than his Chinese brother hui
he 10 a lazy skunk. and one finds it hard
to forgive laziness. He neither
sOws nor gathers into harms. ana yet ne
rsvels in such luxury a. suits his environ
ment He smokes; he drinks whtskey'
and likes a lot Of Il: he gambles; he talks
he idles round all day and every day'
and only wakes up when the hunting falls
due. aud then he spends three days each
month chasing terrified haTes across the
plains or irving to bring down pheaHants
with his ancient MATCHBOX As to the
Monaghan woman Mr. Hedlsy says:
Il could never love her 1she 10 not clean
enough for that hut I have n profound
respect and admiration for her. She
in the least desirable. specimen OF ths
fair SGT that can he ina gined. In another
sense. the hardest worked and most
| industrious woman on the face Of the
earth. She il middle aged at 30. Srinkled
at 80. while at 50 or when she becomes a
widow she must shave her head a. bare
az a monks and set up as family Lama
But she works like trojan and always
works. She 10 born. ~ married. bears
sons. does her work. and dies. And IN
these ave facts Won sum up the average
life Of the woman Of the plains
A for the Mongol burial customs, hvS
minutes tramp ON the plains made MI
Hedley ready for instantaneous CONVEX
sion to cremation. TO which he had hith-
erto cherished objections Of sentiment.
! The met hod il cheap. The corpse
! Clot he'd in old garments. IL carried out
to the plains with certain ceremonies
! 1.-THE iamAs being conspicuous 10y their
! absence 10 the family be POOR, and placed
! In "A sitting posture on a small box. about
two feet square. for the dogs and wolves
to dispose OF. Cremation IL occasionally
r-aorted to. hut the obligatory presence
| Of Lamas who demand heavy fees. puts
| that method out Of the general reach.
Absolutely alone, in the middr, OF the
broad. fiat plains. MIR. Hedley came upon
the most unique store he had ever visited.
hearing the high sounding title Of Sub
stantial and Wealthy a. Heaven Each
Of the smart young assistants has his
regular round Of monthly calls: and az
times they go OF for weeks with heavily
laden carts. penetrating into remote
regions which make an explorers mouth
fairly water with desire. Plenty OF
Western goods figure among the stock.
4 The dogs. instead Of being fierce To every
one outside the fence. were strictly pro-
Chinese and anti-Mongol. and made
! friends with the PARTY because they were
not NOngols. Although the var between
Russia and Japan had been over for
eight months not a man Of these capable
and intelligent young business fellows
knew anything about II. From their
point Of view they did not hesitate % say
that they did not mind how long u went
on. for they had made a lot Of profit out
of It The demand for oxen and horses
had been - great that the months Of the
war had been a veritahle time OF harvest
: for them.
The Marty had been assured that they
would find the confluence Of the Lao Ho
and the Shira Muren. which il the Mon
! EoIian name for what the Chinese call the
Ioang Ho or Yellow River. two miles dis
Lant from this store and that II would he
no NOR, than forty feet wide They were
not told that sven then they would find IL
without water: consequently they passed
tho Insignificant. dry gully and marched
ten miles further. still seeking il. Evsntu-
III. haa NkaH. -.
any water in Il except in tho spring imme-
diatsiy after the frost thaws, and that ten
days before their arrival there had bcsn
enough To compsl the natives to remove
their shoes and socks IN order TO wade
over should there rs specially heavy
rains in the late summer then again there
will Ia water in the Shira Muren. but tho
regular thing ~ as previously stated. so
far a. MIR. Hedley could hear no foreigner
had ever visited this point before except
q young Russian officer who spent ten
days at the uniaus store IN 1904 and was
evidently an intelligenc. Oficsr for the
troops in Manchuria. the Shira Muron
forming the natural and official boundary
between Mongolia ON the north and outer
Chill ON the south. Pursuing their way
tO k'u Lu Kou through q lonely country
they we're 80 fortunate as to have for a
guide during seven miles a garrulous old
fellow who told them almost enough To
al book. among other things giving fur
thcr details about the restrictions imposed
upon the Mongols by their princes. Agri-
| culture and business are alike forbidden
70 them. They may till small plot Of
millet for two years after which the plot
must be restored TO pasture. No Mongol
| may engage in business for himself. II
he has money to invest and IL anxious 20
employ IL otherwise than in raising cattle
he may do - by hiring Chinese manager.
10 whom the business must Ia entirely
submitted.
The result IL that the poor Mongol stands
between two fires. On the one side ~ his
fe,dal lord exacting strict obedience To
his imperious behests and supported In
his claims 10y hoary tradition. On the
other side 10 the willy acuts and ever alert
Chinese exploiting his patron for his own
benefit and steadily amassing wealth
which in time he will carry back IN his
ancestral home and live happy ever after.
In the Fu Hsing Hsien territory our author