Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1918-03-01
Encampment of Nomad Tent DWeIIers.

prayer flags dropping in the still air,
the road led, striking suddenly a trail
that emerged onto a small plateau.
The sheer thrill of that little plateau,
like a sharp upturnlng Chinese mir
rorl At the foot Of the ascent lay a
Bethlehem village. The mellow after
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 MOngolian plain.
To the Top of the World.
The ascent of the next morning was
delayed by the appearance of a cara
van 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, 1t will not be
those carts, for one supreme moment
dominating the world, and then, like
all things mortal, each losing the su-
preme moment at the crest of things
and plunging down the pass, lost in
the Dust below, while we ourselves
took the uptrail to the top of the
world.
The top Of the world! Beyond a
vision Of sky and plain, magnificent
open country rushing away g~loriously
to the horizon and beyond. That Is
he feel of Mongolia-beyond; vast,
silent beyond. Something Of desert
beauty lay in it's unbroken spaces,
peace and healing and desert inscrut-
ability. 1t 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 a summer wind rustled, invit-
ing n to pleasant wanderings.
The Tent DweIIers.
We were now well up in fresh, I'M
trammeled land. There were no fields,
no houses, no villages, only an occa-
sional encampment Of black Mongol
tents with it's 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
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 con-
Sists of one low door. Against the
walls of the tent stand bright chests
Of clothing, brass cooking vessels,
,vau,c nf ohnocou n ho,rol 80 ;n+nr;
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 overhung with
an indescribable odor, Siberian but
more SO skins, cheese, smoke, horses,
dogs, sheep, cows, tobacco, sour milk,
incense to the gods and unwashed hui
mainly, a combination into which the
doors Of Cairo might be carried as a
perfume.
The Mongol mother prepares the
family meal in a pot on the brazier or
sews cloth shoes with a long needle.
In n of the tents a wedding was in
prospect-a wedding which consists of
the b~ridegroom's dashing up with a
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
headdress that forms every brides
6owry. 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 q family, unless 1t be q rich
one, and on cold nights it shelters all
the calves and lambs, little brothers
of the field"
The Mongol Is darker in color than
his Chinese neighbor, high-cheeked
squat, weather-beaten, almost protec'
tive In coloring. Rarely, If ever, on q
Mongol face is seen that fine intelli'
gence which stamps the Chinese; the
fact that he has produced nc arts, nc
crafts, that he Is a worker In no me-
dunn, is writ large in the crudity of his
expression. AS a Buddhist, he refus
es to till the soil lest he take life-kiI
q beetle, for instance. Sheep he may
kill, however, since that may be accom-
plished without Buddha's c~ognizance
back Of the tent. Flocks have another
advantage, too, over fields; focks hi
may carry with him. And the Mongo
knows no shades of a prison house
Give a Mongol a sheep and a horse
and he will feed, clothe, house himself
and roam the plain. Add a COW an(
he can get drunk. Life has nothing
more to offer.
Small lsiand,s Sneeiattv