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Russians when the latter came to occupy the country, but ever since their subjugation they have been entirely peaceful.

"Some of the Bouriats live in houses like those of the Russians, but the most of them cling to the yourt or kibitka, which is the peculiar habitation of the nomad tribes of Central Asia. Even when settled in villages they prefer the yourt to the house, though the latter is far more comfortable than the former.

"We changed horses in a Bouriat village, where a single Russian lived and filled the office of station-master, justice of the peace, governor, secretary, and garrison. I took the opportunity of visiting a yourt, which proved to be a circular tent about eighteen feet in diameter, and rounded at the top like a dome. There was a frame of light trellis-work covered with thick felt made from horse-hair; at the highest point of the dome the yourt has an open space which allows the smoke to pass out, at least in theory. A small fire is kept burning in the middle of the floor during the day, and covered up at night; the door is made of a piece of felt of double or treble thickness, and hanging like a curtain over the entrance.

"I had not been two minutes inside the yourt before my eyes began to smart severely, and I wanted to get into the open air. The pain was caused