Across Mongolian Plains A Naturalist's Account of China's 'Great Northwest'

l," and each to present us with a silk scarf as a token of friendship and good will. We received an invitation to stop for tea at the yurt of an old man who had manifested

en we rode off, our hands were heaped with cheese and slabs of mutton which were discarded as soon as we had dropped b

there are Mongols. Although it was the first of July, we found a heavy coating of ice on the lower sides of a deep well. The water was about fifteen feet b

Mongol Herdsmen

: A Lone Camp

ever hunted. It was hot during the day-about 85 Fahrenheit-but the instant the sun di

e main herd one evening about six o'clock, and it was a sight which made us gasp for breath. We were shifting camp, and my wife and I were trotting along parallel to the carts which moved slowly over the trail a mile away. We had had a delightful, as well as a p

bly could have happened to the boys. Lu met us twenty yards from the trail, trembling with excitement and total

. Hundreds were in sight, feeding in one vast herd and in many smaller groups. Then I remembered that the nearest well was twenty

the carts. There was no possibility of concealment, and our only chance was to run the herd. When we were perhaps half a mile away the nearest animals threw up their heads and began to stamp and run about,

nce of strength behind his flying legs. His run was the long, smooth stride of a thoroughbred, and it sent the blood surging through my veins in a wild thrill of exhilaration. Once only I glanced back at Yvette. She was almost at my side. Her hair had loosened and was flying back like a veil behind her head. Tense with ex

's life to see. But when we were almost near enough to shoot, the herd suddenly swerved heading directly away from us. In an

to that yellow cloud. Standing in my stirrups, I fired six times at the wraithlike forms ahead as fa

telope were in sight at once and many more were beyond the sky rim to the west. We gave the ponies ten minutes' rest, and had another run as unsuccessful as the fi

and turned southward, parallel to the road. A mile away we found more antelope; at least a thousand were scattered about feeding q

ell I slipped off and hobbled Kublai Khan. The poor fellow was so tired he could only stand with drooping head, even though there was rich grass beneath

ent up; they stared fixedly toward the west for a moment, and were off like the wind. About five hundred drew together in a compact mass, but a dozen smaller herds

at distances of two or three hundred yards, while as many more get behind the animals and drive them toward the waiting hunters

we rode to the summit of a little rise a herd of fifty appeared almost below us. We paid no attention to them; but suddenly my pony stopped with ears erect. He looked back at me, as much as to say, "Don'

all upon the surface of the plain. We were still three hundred yards away and gaining rapidly, but I had to shoot; in a moment I would be blinded by the sun. As the flame leaped f

the actions of working the lever on my rifle and aiming, and the speed of the antelope, varied only by a fraction of a

I strapped the other two on Kublai Khan. When I mounted, he was carrying a weight of two hundred and eighty-

r for ourselves; but my pony's nose was full of dust, and I knew how parched his throat must be, so I divided my supply with him. The poor animal

ol pony but he was just as great, in his own way, as was the Tartar emperor whose name he bor

bored him exceedingly but the instant game appeared he was all excitement. Often he saw antelope before we did. We might be trotting slowly over the plains, when sudden

before the animals cross your path, and then you must stop quickly. Kublai Khan learned the trick immediately. As soon as he felt the pressure of my knees, and the slightest pull upon the reins, his whole body stiffened and he braced himself like a polo pony. It made not the slightest difference to him wh

would have to put all my strength upon the reins and the horse would come into a slow gallop and then a trot. Seconds of valuable time would be wasted before I could b

d fifty camels was resting in a little hollow. From the door of our tent we could see the blue summit of the Turin "mountain," and have in the foreground a perpetual moving picture of

kneel, while their packs are being removed, and then stand in a long line, patiently waiting until their turn comes to drink. Groups of ten or twelve crowd about the trough; then, majestically swinging their padded feet, they move slowly

rds which we had found were largely composed of does just ready to drop their you

fawns could not be far away. Sure enough, our Mongol discovered one of the little fellows in the flattest part of the flat plain.

se catch it. We can raise it on milk a

get it for you. You can put it in

. Then I saw a flash of brown, a bobbing white rump-patch, and a tiny thing, no larger than a rabbit, speeding over the plain. The baby was somewhat "wob

ing with fright, it swerved sharply to the left and ere we could swing about, it had gained a hundred yards. Again and again we were almost on it, but every time it dodged and got away. After half an hour my pony was gasping for breath, and I changed to Y

ese antelope probably had been born not more than two or three days before we found them. Later, after a chase of more than a mile, we cau

m two to three weeks old they run with the females in herds of six or eight, and you cannot imagine what a pretty sight it is to see the little fellows skimming like tiny, brown chickens beside their mothers. There is another

Apparently they are all born during the last days of June and in the first week of July. The great herds which we encountered were probably moving northward both to obtain better grazing and to drop their young on the Turin plain. During this period the old buck

acquainted, was the Mongolian gazelle (Gazella gutturosa). The other was the goitered gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa). In the western Go

they keep almost entirely to the Gobi Desert between Panj-kiang and Turin, and we often saw them among the "nigger heads" or tussocks in the most arid parts. The Mongolian gazell

ch is unusual in that locality. It could always be distinguished from the Mongolian gazelle because of its smaller size, darker coloring, and the long tail which it carries straight u

strongly tinged with rufous on the head and face. Its summer pelage is a beautiful orange-fawn. The winte

the animal, I am at a loss to know. Certainly it is not to give them an exceptional "voice"; for, when wounded, I have heard them make only a

n the Panj-kiang plain, did we see them running together in the same herd; then it was probably b

ch fifty-five or sixty miles an hour. It must be remembered that the animals can continue at such a high speed only for a short distance-perhaps half a mile-and will never exert themselves to the utmost unless they are thoroughly frightened. They would run just fast enough to keep we

es an hour, the antelope are perfectly safe unless they happen to be caught off their guard. To prevent just this, the gazelles usually keep well out on the open plains and avoid rocks or abrupt hills

ct largely as supports and the real motive power comes from the hind legs. If an antelope has only a front leg broken no living horse can catch it, but with a shattered hind limb my pony could run it down. I have already related (see [the end of chapter IV]) how, in

er animal in that country, and I have often wondered how it would fare in a race with a Mongolian gazelle. Unfortunately, conditions

ry day we learned something new about the life history of the Mongolian antelope. We needed specimens for a group in the new Hall of Asiatic Life in the America

r specimens. About six o'clock, accompanied by the two Chinese taxidermists carrying bags of traps, we would leave the tents. Sometimes we would walk several miles, meanwhile carefully scrutinizing the ground for holes or traces of mammal workings, and set eighty or one hundred traps. We

es, with huge, round eyes, long, delicate ears, and tails tufted at the end like the feathers on an arrow's shaft. The name expresses exactly what they are like-diminutive kangaroos-but, of course, they are rodents and not marsupials. During the glacial pe

he work had been completed. The results had been very satisfactory, and our boxes contained five hundred specimens; but our hearts were sad. The wide sweep of the limitless, grassy sea, the