and where men
would likewise perish if they did not go on horseback through this zone.
There the earth breathes out carbonic acid gas through holes in the
mountainside, killing all animal life. The gas clings to the earth in a
layer about half a metre thick. Men on horseback pass above this and the
horses always hold their heads way up and snuff and whinny in fear until
they cross the dangerous zone. Here on the top of this mountain
where the bad demon peruses the book of human destinies is the same
phenomenon, and I realized the sacred fear of the Mongols as well as the
stern attraction of this place for the tall, almost gigantic descendants
of Jenghiz Khan. Their heads tower above the layers of poisonous gas,
so that they can reach the top of this mysterious and terrible mountain.
Also it is possible to explain this phenomenon geologically, because
here in this region is the southern edge of the coal deposits which are
the source of carbonic acid and swamp gases.

Not far from the ruins in the lands of Hun Doptchin Djamtso there is
a small lake which sometimes burns with a red flame, terrifying the
Mongols and herds of horses. Naturally this lake is rich with legends.
Here a meteor formerly fell and sank far into the earth. In the hole
this lake appeared. Now, it seems, the inhabitants of the subterranean
passages, semi-man and semi-demon, are laboring to extract this "stone
of the sky" from its deep bed and it is setting the water on fire as it
rises and falls back in spite of their every effort. I did not see the
lake myself but a Russian colonist told me that it may be petroleum on
the lake that is fired either from the campfires of the shepherds or by
the blazing rays of the sun.

At any rate all this makes it very easy to understand the attractions
for the great Mongol potentates. The strongest impression was produced
upon me by Karakorum, the place where the cruel and wise Jenghiz Khan
lived and laid his gigantic plans for overrunning all the west with
blood and for covering the east with a glory never before seen. Two
Karakorums were erected by Jenghiz Khan, one here near Tatsa Gol on the
Caravan Road and the other in Pamir, where the sad warriors buried the
greatest of human conquerors in the mausoleum built by five hundred
captives who were sacrificed to the spirit of the deceased when their
work was done.

The warlike Pandita Hutuktu prayed on the ruins where the shades of
these potentates who had ruled