Page:Mongolia, the Tangut country, and the solitudes of northern Tibet vol 1 (1876).djvu/117

 in diameter, and about 10 feet high in the centre. The roof is formed of light poles attached to the sides and doorway by loops, the other ends being stuck into a hoop, which is raised over the centre, leaving an aperture 3 to 4 feet in diameter, which answers the double purpose of chimney and window.

When all is made fast, sheets of felt, of double thickness in winter, are drawn over the sides and door and round the chimney, and the habitation is ready. The hearth stands in the centre of the interior; facing the entrance are ranged the burkhans (gods), and on either side are the various domestic utensils. Round the hearth, where a fire is kept burning all day, felt is laid down; and in the yurtas of the wealthier classes even carpets for sitting and sleeping on. In these, too, the walls are lined with cotton or silk, and the floors are of wood.

This habitation is indispensable to the wild life of the nomad; it is quickly taken to pieces and removed from place to place, whilst it is an effectual protection against cold and bad weather. In the severest frost the temperature round the hearth is comfortable. At night the fire is put out, the felt covering drawn over the chimney, and even then, although not warm, the felt yurta is far more snug than an ordinary tent. In summer the felt is a good non-conductor of heat, and proof against the heaviest rain.

The first thing which strikes the traveller in the life of the Mongol is his excessive dirtiness: he never washes his body, and very seldom his face and hands. Owing to constant dirt, his clothing