Among the Celestials : vol.1 / Page 131 (Color Image)

0131	Among the Celestials : vol.1

CHAP. Y.] MONGOLIA.

103

If the French had not killed him, he ought to

have killed himself, and, as he had not done

so, he was ordered into exile for life to the

Mongolian border, and told to think himself

fortunate that he had not been executed. And

here the poor little gentleman was very sore

against his own government, but lively and

cheery withal, and certainly most useful to me.

He used to accompany me for hours through

the bazaars, trying to get things which I

wanted, or to obtain information about the

road.

On April 12 we passed through the Great

Wall, and entered what Marco Polo calls the

land of Gog and Magog. The gateway was

not imposing, consisting as it did merely of a

rough framework of wood, near which was a

low hut, in which dwelt a mandarin with

a small guard, and in front of which were

two small cannons fastened on to a piece of

timber. On either side were large gaps in

the wall--here only of mud—which carts or

anything else might pass through.

On the 14th, we emerged from the desolate

wind-swept valleys of the Yang-ho and entered

the broad, open plain of Mongolia proper.

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