Page:Mongolia, the Tangut country, and the solitudes of northern Tibet vol 1 (1876).djvu/68

6 home-sick that I was obliged to send him back, and received two new Cossacks in his stead.

At length, towards the evening of November 29, new style, we started on our journey. The harnessed camel set in motion the cart which contained myself and companion and our common friend, a setter, 'Faust,' brought with us from Russia. Soon we left Kiakhta behind, and entered Mongolia. Farewell my country, a long farewell! shall we ever see thee again, or shall we never return from that distant foreign land?

For the whole distance of about 200 miles from Kiakhta to Urga the appearance of the country quite equals that of the best parts of our Trans-Baikalia; here we see the same abundance of trees and water, the same luxuriant pasturage on the gentler slopes of the hills; in fact, there is nothing to remind the traveller of his proximity to the desert. The absolute height of the region between Kiakhta and the river Kara-gol averages 2,500 feet; then the country rises till it attains at Urga an elevation of 4,200 feet above the level of the sea. This ascent forms the outer northern border of the vast plateau of the Gobi.