Tatars—The Early Western View
The following text written by two French missionaries in the mid-nineteenth century provides a less than positive view of Muslim Mongols.
With the exception of their equestrian exercises, the Mongol Tartars pass their time in an absolute far niente, sleeping all day, and squatting all day in their tents, dosing, drinking tea or smoking. At intervals, however, the Tartar conceives a fancy to take a lounge abroad; and his lounge is somewhat different from that of the Parisian idler; he needs neither cane nor quizzing glass; but when fancy occurs, he takes down his whip from its place above the door, mounts his horse, always ready saddled outside the door, and dashes off into the desert no matter wither. When he sees another horseman in the distance, he rides up to him; when he sees the smoke of a tent, he rides up to that; the only object in either case being to have a chat with the new person.
Source: Huc Evariste-Regis and Joseph
Gabet.([1851] 1987) Travels in Tartary,
Thibet and China, 1844–1846. New York:
Dover Publications, 54.
This complete Tatars contains 180 words. This
article contains 1,180 words (approx. 4 pages at 300
words per page).
