[Illustration:  CROSSING THE TOLLA]

About two miles from the ford of the Tolla there is a Chinese settlement, which forms a sort of suburb to the Mongol town of Urga.  The Mongols have no great friendship for the Chinese inhabitants, who are principally engaged in traffic and the various occupations connected with the transport of goods.  Between this suburb and the main town the Russians have a large house, which is the residence of a consul and some twenty or thirty retainers.  The policy of maintaining a consulate there can only be explained on the supposition that Russia expects and intends to appropriate a large slice of Mongolia whenever opportunity offers.  She has long insisted that the chain of mountains south of Urga was the “natural boundary,” and her establishment of an expensive post at that city enables her to have things ready whenever a change occurs.  In the spirit of annexation and extension of territory the Russians can fairly claim equal rank with ourselves.  I forget their phrase for “manifest destiny,” and possibly they may not be willing that I should give it.

Urga is not laid out in streets like most of the Chinese towns; its by-ways and high-ways are narrow and crooked, and form a network very puzzling to a stranger.  The Chinese and Russian settlers live in houses, and there are temples and other permanent buildings, but the Mongols live generally in yourts, which they prefer to more extensive structures.  Most of the Mongol traffic is conducted in a large esplanade, where you can purchase anything the country affords, and at very fair prices.

The principal feature of Urga is the lamissary or convent where a great many lamas or holy men reside.  I have heard the number estimated at fifteen thousand, but cannot say if it be more or less.  The religion of the Mongols came originally from Thibet, by direct authority of the Grand Lama, but a train of circumstances which I have not space to explain, has made it virtually independent.  The Chinese government maintains shrewd emissaries among these lamas, and thus manages to control the Mongols and prevent their setting up for themselves.  As a further precaution it has a lamissary at Pekin, where it keeps two thousand Mongol lamas at its own expense.  In this way it is able to influence the nomads of the desert, and in case of trouble it would possess a fair number of hostages for an emergency.

About the year 1205 the great battle between Timoujin and the sovereign then occupying the Mongol throne was fought a short distance from Urga.  The victory was decisive for the former, who thus became Genghis Khan and commenced that career of conquest which made his name famous.

Great numbers of devotees from all parts of Mongolia visit Urga every year, the journey there having something of the sacred character which a Mahommedan attaches to a pilgrimage to Mecca.  The people living at Urga build fences around their dwellings to protect their property from the thieves who are in large proportion among the pious travelers.