half the world wandered, and his soul
longed for the chimerical exploits and for the glory of Jenghiz and
Tamerlane.

On the return journey we were invited not far from Zain to visit a very
rich Mongol by the way. He had already prepared the yurtas suitable for
Princes, ornamented with rich carpets and silk draperies. The Hutuktu
accepted. We arranged ourselves on the soft pillows in the yurtas as the
Hutuktu blessed the Mongol, touching his head with his holy hand, and
received the hatyks. The host then had a whole sheep brought in to us,
boiled in a huge vessel. The Hutuktu carved off one hind leg and offered
it to me, while he reserved the other for himself. After this he gave a
large piece of meat to the smallest son of the host, which was the sign
that Pandita Hutuktu invited all to begin the feast. In a trice the
sheep was entirely carved or torn up and in the hands of the banqueters.
When the Hutuktu had thrown down by the brazier the white bones without
a trace of meat left on them, the host on his knees withdrew from the
fire a piece of sheepskin and ceremoniously offered it on both his hands
to the Hutuktu. Pandita began to clean off the wool and ashes with his
knife and, cutting it into thin strips, fell to eating this really tasty
course. It is the covering from just above the breast bone and is called
in Mongolian tarach or "arrow." When a sheep is skinned, this small
section is cut out and placed on the hot coals, where it is broiled very
slowly. Thus prepared it is considered the most dainty bit of the
whole animal and is always presented to the guest of honor. It is
not permissible to divide it, such is the strength of the custom and
ceremony.

After dinner our host proposed a hunt for bighorns, a large herd of
which was known to graze in the mountains within less than a mile from
the yurtas. Horses with rich saddles and bridles were led up. All the
elaborate harness of the Hutuktu's mount was ornamented with red and
yellow bits of cloth as a mark of his rank. About fifty Mongol riders
galloped behind us. When we left our horses, we were placed behind
the rocks roughly three hundred paces apart and the Mongols began the
encircling movement around the mountain. After about half an hour I
noticed way up among the rocks something flash and soon made out a fine
bighorn jumping with tremendous springs from rock to rock, and behind
him a herd of some twenty odd head leaping like lightning over the
ground. I