verflowing waters, and entered the sandy steppes of Ortous.

The land of Ortous is divided into seven banners; it extends a hundred
leagues from east to west, and seventy from south to north. It is
surrounded by the Yellow River on the west, east, and north, and by the
Great Wall on the south. This country has been subjected, at all
periods, to the influence of the political revolutions, by which the
Chinese empire has been agitated. The Chinese and Tartar conquerors have
taken possession of it in turns, and made it the theatre of sanguinary
wars. During the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries, it remained
under the sceptre of the kings of Hia, who derived their origin from the
Thou-Pa Tartars of the land of Si-Fan. The capital of their kingdom,
called Hia-Tcheou, was situated at the foot of the Alecha mountains
between the Hoang-Ho and the Great Wall. At present, this town is called
Ning-Hia, and belongs to the province Kan-Sou. In 1227 the kingdom of
Hia, and afterwards Ortous, were involved in the common desolation by the
victories of Tchingghis-Khan, founder of the Tartar dynasty of the Youen.

After the expulsion of the Tartar Mongols by the Ming, the Ortous fell
under the power of the Khan of the Tchakar. When the latter submitted to
the Mantchou conquerors in 1635, the Ortous followed his example, and
were reunited to the empire as a tributary people.

The Emperor Khang-Hi resided for some time among the Ortous in 1696, when
he was on his expedition against the Eleuts; and this is what he wrote of
this people in a letter to the prince, his son, who had remained at
Peking:--"Till now, I never had at all an accurate idea respecting the
Ortous: they are a very civilised nation, and have lost nothing of the
old manners of the true Mongols. All their princes live in perfect union
among themselves, and do not know the difference between _mine_ and
_thine_. No one ever heard of a thief amongst them, although they take
not the slightest precaution for guarding their camels and horses. If by
chance one of these animals goes astray, it is taken care of by him who
finds it, till he has discovered its owner, to whom he restores it,
without the least payment. The Ortous are extremely skilful in breeding
cattle; most of their horses are tame and tractable. The Tchakars, north
of the Ortous, enjoy the reputation of training them with more care and
success; nevertheless, I believe that the Ortous excel them in th