Page:Mongolia, the Tangut country, and the solitudes of northern Tibet vol 1 (1876).djvu/114

 mention of them afterwards. Let us begin with their external appearance, taking as our model the inhabitants of the Khalkas country, where the purity of the Mongol race is best preserved.

A broad flat face, with high cheek-bones, wide nostrils, small narrow eyes, large prominent ears, coarse black hair, scanty whiskers and beard, a dark sunburnt complexion, and, lastly, a stout thick-set figure, rather above the average height: such are the distinguishing features of this race. In other parts of Mongolia, but especially on the south-east, where for some distance it borders with China Proper, the original type is much less distinct; and, although the nomads reconcile themselves with difficulty to a settled life, still in some way their neighbours have exercised such influence over them that in those districts lying immediately outside the Great Wall they have almost become Chinese. With few exceptions, the Chinese Mongol still dwells in his yurta or felt tent, tending his herds; but in appearance and still more in character he is a decided contrast to his northern brethren, and bears a close resemblance to his adopted countrymen He follows their fashions in his dress and domestic habits; and, owing to frequent intermarriages with their women, his coarse flat features are cast in the more regular mould of the Chinese face. His very character has undergone a remarkable change; the desert has become distasteful to him, and he prefers the populous towns of China, where he has learnt the advantages and pleasures of a more civilised existence. But, in thus gradually departing from his former life, the Chinese