ings.

The new emperor, however, did not spend a great deal of his time at
Karakorom. He was occupied for some years in making excursions at the
head of his troops to various parts of his dominions, for the purpose
of putting down insurrections, overawing discontented and
insubordinate khans, and settling disputes of various kinds arising
between the different hordes. In these expeditions he was accustomed
to move by easy marches across the plains at the head of his army,
and sometimes would establish himself in a sort of permanent camp,
where he would remain, perhaps, as in a fixed residence, for weeks or
months at a time.

Not only Genghis Khan himself, but many of the other great chieftains,
were accustomed to live in this manner, and one of their encampments,
if we could have seen it, would have been regarded by us as a great
curiosity. The ground was regularly laid out, like a town, into
quarters, squares, and streets, and the space which it covered was
sometimes so large as to extend nearly a mile in each direction. The
tent of the khan himself was in the centre. A space was reserved for
it there large enough not only for the grand tent itself, but also for
the rows of smaller tents near, for the wives and for other women
belonging to the khan's family, and also for the rows of carts or
wagons containing the stores of provisions, the supplies of clothing
and arms, and the other valuables which these wandering chieftains
always took with them in all their peregrinations.

The tent of the khan in summer was made of a sort of calico, and in
winter of felt, which was much warmer. It was raised very high, so as
to be seen above all the rest of the encampment, and it was painted
in gay colors, and adorned with other barbaric decorations.

The dwellings in which the women were lodged, which were around or
near the great tent, were sometimes tents, and sometimes little huts
made of wood. When they were of wood they were made very light, and
were constructed in such a manner that they could be taken to pieces
at the shortest notice, and packed on carts or wagons, in order to be
transported to the next place of encampment, whenever, for any reason,
it became necessary for their lord and master to remove his domicil to
a different ground.

A large portion of the country which was included within the limits of
Genghis Khan's dominions was fertile ground, which produced abundance
of grass for the pasturage of the flocks