elf to the
exposure to the public gaze of a portion of his legs; the main
inconvenience, after all, being the manifestation to all who saw us that
we could not attire ourselves in exact proportion to our size.

Provided with our sheep-skin coats, we next asked the dealer to show us
his collection of secondhand winter hats. We examined several of these,
and at last selected two caps of fox-skin, the elegant form of which
reminded us of the schakos of our sappers. These purchases completed,
each of us put under his arm his packet of old clothes, and we returned
to the hotel of the "Three Perfections."

We remained two days longer at Koukou-Khoton; for, besides that we needed
repose, we were glad of the opportunity of seeing this great town, and of
becoming acquainted with the numerous and celebrated Lamaseries
established there.

The Blue Town enjoys considerable commercial importance, which it has
acquired chiefly through its Lamaseries, the reputation of which attracts
thither Mongols from the most distant parts of the empire. The Mongols
bring hither large herds of oxen, camels, horses, sheep, and loads of
furs, mushrooms, and salt, the only produce of the deserts of Tartary.
They receive, in return, brick-tea, linen, saddlery, odoriferous sticks
to burn before their idols, oatmeal, millet, and kitchen utensils.

The Blue Town is especially noted for its great trade in camels. The
camel market is a large square in the centre of the town; the animals are
ranged here in long rows, their front feet raised upon a mud elevation
constructed for that purpose, the object being to show off the size and
height of the creatures. It is impossible to describe the uproar and
confusion of this market, what with the incessant bawling of the buyers
and sellers as they dispute, their noisy chattering after they have
agreed, and the horrible shrieking of the camels at having their noses
pulled, for the purpose of making them show their agility in kneeling and
rising. In order to test the strength of the camel, and the burden it is
capable of bearing, they make it kneel, and then pile one thing after
another upon its back, causing it to rise under each addition, until it
can rise no longer. They sometimes use the following expedient: While
the camel is kneeling, a man gets upon its hind heels, and holds on by
the long hair of its hump; if the camel can rise then, it is considered
an animal of superior power.

The trade in came