nsition from tie back seat of a motor car to a jolting cart did
not harmonize with their preconceived scheme of Mongolian life. But
they endured it manfully, and doubtless it added much to the store
of harrowing experience with which they could regale future
audiences in civilized Peking.

My wife and I were each mounted on a Mongol pony. Mine was called
"Kublai Khan" and he deserved the name. Later I shall have much to
tell of this wonderful horse, for I learned to love him as one loves
a friend who has endured the "ordeal by fire" and has not been found
wanting. My wife's chestnut stallion was a trifle smaller than
Kublai Khan and proved to be a tricky beast whom I could have shot
with pleasure. To this day she carries the marks of both his teeth
and hoofs, and we have no interest in his future life. Kublai Khan
has received the reward of a sunlit stable in Peking where carrots
are in abundance and sugar is not unknown.

Besides the three Chinese we had a little Mongol priest, a yellow
lama only eighteen years of age. We did not hire him for spiritual
reasons, but to be our guide and social mentor upon the plains. Of
course, we could not speak Mongol, but both my wife and I know some
Chinese and our cook-boy Lu was possessed of a species of "pidgin
English" which, by using a good deal of imagination, we could
understand at times. Since our lama spoke fluent Chinese, he acted
as interpreter with the Mongols, and we had no difficulty. It is
wonderful how much you can do with sign language when you really
have to, especially if the other fellow tries to understand. You
always can be sure that the Mongols will match your efforts in this
respect.

An interesting part of our equipment was a Mongol tent which Charles
Coltman had had made for us in Kalgan. This is an ingenious
adaptation of the ordinary wall tent, and is especially fitted for
work on the plains. No one should attempt to use any other kind.
From the ridgepole the sides curve down and out to the ground,
presenting a sloping surface to the wind at every angle. One corner
can be lifted to cause a draft through the door and an open fire can
be built in the tent without danger of suffocation from the smoke;
moreover, it can be erected by a single person in ten minutes. We
had an American wall tent also, but found it such a nuisance that we
used it only during bad weather. In the wind which always blows upon
the plains it flapped and fluttered to such a degree t