That
implied a right to trade, so that the Russians, like other envoys,
in Chinese phrase "came lean and went away fat." But they were
not allowed to leave the beaten track: they were merchants, not
travellers. Not till the removal of the taboo within the last
half-century have these outlying dependencies been explored by
men like Richthofen and Sven Hedin. Formerly the makers of maps
garnished those unknown regions
"With caravans for want of towns."
Sooth to say, there are no towns, except Urga, a shrine for pilgrimage,
the residence of a living Buddha, and Kiachta and Kalgan, terminal
points of the caravan route already referred to.
Kiachta is a double town--one-half of it on each side of the
Russo-Chinese boundary--presenting in striking contrast the magnificence
of a Russian city and the poverty and filth of a Tartar encampment.
The whole country is called in Chinese "the land of grass." Its
inhabitants have sheepfolds and cattle ranches, but neither fields
nor houses, unless tents and temporary huts may be so designated.
To this day, nomadic in their habits, they migrate from place to
place with their flocks and herds as the exigencies of water and
pasturage may require.
Lines of demarcation exist for large tracts belonging to a tribe,
but no minor divisions such as individual holdings. The members of
a clan all enjoy their grazing range in common, and hold themselves
ready to fight for the rights of their chieftain.
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