ight and from somewhere in the far
interior we heard the moaning chant of many voices. Evidently the
lamas were at their evening prayers.

We stepped inside the door intending only to take a rapid look. The
entire court was deserted, so we slipped through the second gate and
stood just at the entrance of the main temple, the "holy of holies."
In the half darkness we could see the tiny points of yellow light
where candles burned before the altar. On either side was a double
row of kneeling lamas, their wailing chant broken by the clash of
cymbals and the boom of drums.

Beside the temple were a hideous foreign house and an enormous
_yurt_--evidently the former residences of "God's Brother"; in the
corners of the compound were ornamental pavilions painted green and
red. Except for these, the court was empty.

Suddenly there was a stir among the lamas, and we dashed away like
frightened rabbits, dodging behind the gateposts until we were safe
outside. It was not until some days later that we learned what a
really dangerous thing it was to do, for the temple is one of the
holiest in Urga, and in it women are never allowed. Had a Mongol
seen us, our camp would have been stormed by a mob of frenzied
lamas.

A few days later we had an experience which demonstrates how quickly
trouble can arise where religious superstitions are involved. My
wife and I had put the motion picture camera in one of the carts
and, with our Mongol driving, went to the summit of the hill above
the Lama City to film a panoramic view of Urga. We, ourselves, were
on horseback. After getting the pictures, we drove down the main
street of the city and stopped before the largest temple, which I
had photographed several times before.

As soon as the motion picture machine was in position, about five
hundred lamas gathered about us. It was a good-natured crowd,
however, and we had almost finished work, when a "black Mongol"
(i.e., one with a queue, not a lama) pushed his way among the
priests and began to harangue them violently. In a few moments he
boldly grasped me by the arm. Fearing that trouble might arise, I
smiled and said, in Chinese, that we were going away. The Mongol
began to gesticulate wildly and attempted to pull me with him
farther into the crowd of lamas, who also were becoming excited. I
was being separated from Yvette, and realizing that it would be
dangerous to get far away from her, I suddenly wrenched my arm free
and threw the Mon