da,
that rises in the watershed between that river and the Onon. One day
Tagudshar, a relative of Chamuka, the chief of the Jadjerats, was
hunting in this neighborhood, and tried to lift the cattle of a
Jelair, named Jusi Termele, who thereupon shot him. This led to a long
and bitter strife between Temudjin, who was the patron of the Jelairs,
and Chamuka. He was of the same stock as Temudjin, and now joined the
Taidshuts, with his tribe the Jadjerats. He also persuaded the Uduts
and Nujakins, the Kurulas and Inkirasses, to join them.

Temudjin struggled in vain against this confederacy, and one day he
was taken prisoner by the Taidshuts. Terkutai fastened on him a
_cangue_-- the instrument of torture used by the Chinese, consisting
of two boards which are fastened to the shoulders, and when joined
together round the neck form an effectual barrier to desertion. He one
day found means to escape while the Taidshuts were busy feasting. He
hid in a pond with his nostrils only out of water, but was detected by
a pursuer named Surghan Shireh. He belonged to the Sulduz clan; had
pity on him; took him to his house; hid him under some wool in a cart
so that his pursuers failed to find him, and then sent him to his own
people. This and other stories illustrate one phase of Mongol
character. We seldom hear among them of those domestic murders so
frequent in Turkish history; pretenders to the throne were reduced to
servitude, and generally made to perform menial offices, but seldom
murdered. They illustrate another fact: favors conferred in distress
were seldom forgotten, and the chroniclers frequently explain the rise
of some obscure individual by the recollection of a handsome thing
done to the ruler in his unfortunate days.

Another phase of Mongol character, namely, the treachery and craft
with which they attempt to overreach one another in war, may be
illustrated by a short _saga_ told by Ssanang Setzen, and probably
relating to this period of Temudjin's career. It is curious how
circumstantial many of these traditions are. "At that time," he says,
"Buke Chilger of the Taidshuts dug a pit-fall in his tent and covered
it with felts. He then, with his brothers, arranged a grand feast, to
which Temudjin was invited with fulsome phrases. 'Formerly we knew not
thine excellence,' he said, 'and lived in strife with thee. We have
now learnt that thou art not false, and that thou art a _Bogda_ of the
race of the gods. Our old hatred i