CHAPTER I

ENTERING THE LAND OF MYSTERY

Arrival in Kalgan--The Hutukhtu's motor car--Start for the great plateau--Camel caravans--The pass--A motor car on the Mongolian plains--Start from Hei-ma-hou--Chinese cultivation--The Mongol not a farmer--The grasslands of Inner Mongolia--The first Mongol village--Construction of a _yurt_--Bird life--The telegraph line 1