Page:Mongolia, the Tangut country, and the solitudes of northern Tibet vol 1 (1876).djvu/125

 poor homeless vagrants. Milking the cows, churning butter, preparing the meals, and other domestic work, falls to the lot of the women. The men, as a rule, do nothing but gallop about all day long from yurta to yurta, drinking tea or kumiss, and gossiping with their neighbours. They are ardent lovers of the chase, which is some break to the tedious monotony of their lives, but they are, with few exceptions, bad shots, and their arms are most inferior, some having flint-and-steel muskets, while others have nothing but the bow and arrows. An occasional pilgrimage to some temple, and horse-racing, are their favourite diversions.

With the approach of autumn the Mongols throw off some of their laziness. The camels, which have been at pasture all the summer, are now collected together and driven to Kalgan or Kuku-Khoto to prepare for the transport of tea and merchandise to and from Klakhta, and to carry supplies from Kuku-Khoto to the Chinese forces stationed between Uliassutai and Kobdo. Some few are employed in carrying salt from the salt lakes of Mongolia to the nearest towns of China Proper. In this way, during the autumn and winter, all the camels of Northern and Eastern Mongolia are earning large profits for their owners. With the return of April, the transport ceases, the wearied animals are turned loose on the steppe, and their masters repose in complete idleness for five or six months.

The Mongol is so indolent that he will never