m: "In
the south, establish no kings; in the north, interrupt no alliances."
This policy has ever since been exactly pursued by the court of Peking.
The Emperor Kien-Long, in order to attach to his dynasty the prince in
question, gave him his daughter in marriage, hoping by this means to fix
him at Peking, and thus to weaken the still dreaded power of the Khalkha
sovereigns. He built for him, within the circuit of the Yellow Town
itself, a large and magnificent palace, but the Mongol prince could not
adapt or reconcile himself to the stiff arbitrary etiquette of a court.
Amid the pomp and luxury accumulated for his entertainment, he was
incessantly absorbed with the thought of his tents and his herds: even
the snows and frosts of his country were matters of regret. The
attentions of the court being altogether inadequate to the dissipation of
his ennui, he began to talk about returning to his prairies in the
Khalkhas. On the other hand, his young wife, accustomed to the
refinements of the court of Peking, could not bear the idea of spending
the rest of her days in the desert, amongst milkmaids and shepherds. The
Emperor resorted to a compromise which sufficiently met the wishes of his
son-in-law, without too violently disconcerting the feelings of his
daughter. He dismembered a portion of the _Tchakar_, and assigned it to
the Mongol prince; he built for him, amid these solitudes, a small but
handsome city, and presented to him a hundred families of slaves skilled
in the arts and manufactures of China. In this manner, while the young
Mantchou princess was enabled to dwell in a city and to have a court, the
Mongol prince, on his part, was in a position to enjoy the tranquillity
of the Land of Grass, and to resume at will the pleasures of nomadic
life, in which he had passed his boyhood.

The King of Efe brought with him into his petty dominions a great number
of Mongol Khalkhas, who inhabit, under the tent, the country bestowed
upon their prince. These Tartars fully maintain the reputation for
strength and active vigour which is generally attributed to the men of
their nation. They are considered the most powerful wrestlers in
southern Mongolia. From their infancy, they are trained to gymnastic
exercises, and at the public wrestling matches, celebrated every year at
Peking, a great number of these men attend to compete for the prizes, and
to sustain the reputation of their country. Yet, though far superior in
str