The Kansas City sun. (Kansas City, Mo.) 1908-1924, 1918-02-23
Enoampment of Nomad Tent DweIIers.

prayer UaSS UrOOplnB III the bLlu air.
the road led, striking suddenly a trail
that emerged onto a small plateau.
The sheer thrill of that little plateau,
like a sharp upturning Chinese mir-f
rOr! At the foot of the ascent lay IA
Bethlehem village. The mellow afterJT
noon sunshine reflected in a small
pOOl-the whole a study in quietude.
And beyond, rushing swiftly away to
the North, our Promised Land, the
great Monaghan plain.
To the Top of the World.
The ascent of the next morning was
delayed by the appearance of a cara
al Of two-wheeled ox-carts piled with
wool, there where the pass notched
the sky. But it was worth the de-
lay. Whatever else slips from me
through memory's net, it will not be
those carts, for one supreme moment
dominating the world, and then, like
all things mortal, each losing the sue
preme moment at the crest of things
and plunging down the pass, lost in
the dust below, while we ourselveSI
took the uptrail to the top of the
world.
~ lOP VI lhC NOllh3 OCJOhu q
vision of sky and plain, magnificent
open country rushing away gloriously
to the horizon and beyond. That Isl
the feel of Mongolia-beyond; vast,
silent beyond. Something of DESERT
beauty lay in its unbroken spaces,
peace and healing and desert inscrut-l
ability. It was of the desert and yet
it was not desert. It's tawny mono
chrome was tinged with green, soft
ened by short, sparse grass through.
which q summer wind rustled, inyit-
ing n to pleasant wanderings.
The Tent DWeIIers.
We we're now well up in fresh, IN.
trammeled land. There were no fields.
no houses, no villages, only an occa-E
sional encampment Of black MongoIi
tents with its guard of dogs. True
nomad's land.
The black Mongol tents are made OF,
layers of felt stretched on a COLLAPSE
BILE wicket of wood about four feet
a high, from which spokes Of wood ex-
. tend to meet above at the top, the
, whole corded with stout ropes. THERE
} are no windows and the entrance conf
Sists of one low door. Against the
walls of the tent stand bright chests
: Of clothing, brass cooking vesselsJ
|. rows of cheeses, q barrel of intoxi-t
cant made from sour milk, and a small
Buddhist shrine. Felt and fur rugs
cover the earth floor and the low daiS
, at the back which adds a Turkish look
= On a center brazier tea SINNERS from
, morning till night, tea drunk copiOus~
ly with butter and salt and a handful
: of millet. The whole is o%verhung with.
: an inde~scribable odor, Siberian but
J., more so; skins, cheese, smoke, horses,
: dogs, sheep, COWS, tobacco, sour milk,
incense to the gods and unwashed hui
: manity, a combination into which the
odors of Cairo might be carried as a
: perfume.
The Mongol mother prepares the
= family meal in a pot on the brazier OK
sew cloth shoes with a long needle
In one of the tents a wedding was ia
prospect-a wedding which consists OF
the bridegroom's dashing up with q
It group of friends On the swiftest horses
obtainable and carrying off the bride
% before dawn-and in the corner of the
tent sat a Chinese silversmith ham
mering out the barbarically beautiful
n headdress that forms every brides
d dowry. One Mongol woman pointed
out to me three beads in her dowry
which she said cost a horse each. The
men also have an inside occupation
smoking and taking snuff. One tent
~suffices for a family, unless it be a rich
t. one, and on cold nights it shelters all
g the calves and lambs, "little brothers
a of the field"
he The Mongol is darker in color thar
ID his Chinese neighbOr, h~igh-cheeked,
squat, weather-beaten, almost protec'
se tive in coloring. Rarely, If ever, on a
f. Mongol face is seen that fine intelli'
lie gence which stamps the Chinese; the
t, fact that he has produced no arts, nc
ID crafts, that he is a worker in no me
m dunn, is writ large in the crudity of his
ee expression. AS a Buddhist, be refus'
RS es to till the soil lest he take lfe-kil
IS, q beetle, for instance. Sheep he may
ed kill, however, since that may be accom-
d, plished without Buddha's cognizance
no back of the tent. Flocks have another
advantage, too, over fields; flocks h
may carry with him. And the Mongo
he knows no shades of a prison house
Give a Mongol a sheep and a horss
e. and he will feed, clothe, house himself
lis and roam the plain. Add q COW and
he can get drunk. Life has nothing
id more to offer.