of 17 and 30. The men are accepted or refused by a Chinese colonel. At the head of this squadron of 120 men is Nasumbatoff with subalterns (zalyng), 4 senior N.C.O's and 12 junior N.C.O's under him. The pay is 25 roubles for the commander, 12 for a subaltern, 7 for a senior N.C.O (dygan) and 3 r. 5o c. for each of the rest of the men monthly, all calculated in »jermak». — Ukhereda receives 3o roubles a month and Nasumbatoff in his capacity of judge 20 roubles. — At the age of 40 the soldiers are discharged.
The men seem to spend most of their time at home in their yurts and are only called up, when required. A month is devoted every year to intensive drill. Shooting practice is done with old muzzle-loaders. There is only a very limited number of cartridges for the neglected Mausers and not all the men have a dozen of them in their badly worn leather cartridge pouches. According to Nasumbatoff, every soldier should fire about r000 rounds. None of the men reported more than 30o and some even less. It seems probable, however, that the shooting practice is even far less intensive. — Except during the special month firing is only done with blank cartridges. Some of the powder and bullets supplied by the Government appeared to be used for shooting game and for other purposes. The company is inspected annually by an officer from Khui-yu-an-tchen. — In case of war all the Kalmuks are supposed to be liable to report for service, mounted. The sole breadwinner of a family, however, appears to be exempted as a rule. — Excepting among former soldiers, who are discharged at the age of 40, there is no military training, There are no cadres of reserves and it is, or is said to be, unknown, where N.C.O's and officers are to come from. There are said to be supplies of arms at Khui-yu-an-tchen.
IIIF Color HighRes
