trouble to move at our approach; they merely rose on their hind legs,
pricked up their ears, and looked at us as we passed with the utmost
indifference. The fact is, these animals feel perfectly secure, for,
with the exception of a few Mongols who follow the chase, nobody ever
molests them.

The herds of the Tartars of the Ortous are not very numerous, and are
quite different from those which feed on the rich pastures of the
Tchakar, or of Gechekten. The cattle and horses appeared very miserable;
the goats, sheep, and camels, however, looked very well, which is
undoubtedly the consequence of their predilection for plants impregnated
with saltpetre, whereas cattle and horses prefer fresh pastures, and pure
and abundant water.

The Mongols of Ortous are very much affected by the wretchedness of the
soil upon which they live. In the course of our journey we saw no
indication that they had become much richer than they were in the time of
the Emperor Khang-Hi. Most of them live in tents made of some rags of
felt, or of goat-skins framed on a wretched woodwork. Everything about
these tents is so old and dirty, so tattered with time and storms, that
you would with difficulty suppose they could serve as abodes for human
beings. Whenever we happened to pitch our tent near these poor
habitations, we were sure to be visited by a crowd of wretches who
prostrated themselves at our feet, rolled on the earth, and gave us the
most magnificent titles, in order to extract something from our charity.
We were not rich, but we could not abstain from bestowing upon them a
part of the modicum which the goodness of Providence had bestowed upon
us. We gave them some leaves of tea, a handful of oatmeal, some broiled
millet, sometimes some mutton fat. Alas! we would fain have given more,
but we were obliged to give according to our means. The missionaries are
themselves poor men, who only live upon the alms distributed among them
every year by their brothers in Europe.

Any one not acquainted with the laws by which the Tartars are ruled,
would not readily understand why men condemn themselves to spend their
lives in the wretched country of the Ortous, whilst Mongolia presents, in
every direction, immense uninhabited plains, where water and pasture are
to be found in abundance. Although the Tartars are nomads, and
incessantly wandering about from one place to another, they are,
nevertheless, not at liberty to live in any other country