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caravan carrying Chinese wine about six miles from town did their native tendency
display itself again in pillaging and emptying several containers. Somewhere in
the vicinity of Hargana they were ambushed by Tushegoun Lama and so treated
that never again will the plains of Chahar welcome the return of these warrior
sons who were sent out to conquer the Soyot descendants of the ancient Tuba.
The day the column left Uliassutai a heavy snow fell, so that the road became
impassable. The horses first were up to their knees, tired out and stopped. Some
Mongol horsemen reached Uliassutai the following day after great hardship and
exertion, having made only twenty-five miles in forty-eight hours. Caravans were
compelled to stop along the routes. The Mongols would not consent even to
attempt journeys with oxen and yaks which made but ten or twelve miles a day.
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Beasts, Men and Gods, by Ferdinand Ossendowski
Only camels could be used but there were too few and their drivers did not feel
that they could make the first railway station of Kuku-Hoto, which was about
fourteen hundred miles away. We were forced again to wait: for which? Death or
salvation? Only our own energy and force could save us. Consequently my friend
and I started out, supplied with a tent, stove and food, for a new reconnaissance
along the shore of Lake Kosogol, whence the Mongol Sait expected the new
invasion of Red troops.
CHAPTER XX
THE DEMON OF JAGISSTAI
Our small group consisting of four mounted and one pack camel moved northward
along the valley of the River Boyagol in the direction of the Tarbagatai Mountains.
The road was rocky and covered deep with snow. Our camels walked very
carefully, sniffing out the way as our guide shouted the "Ok! Ok!" of the camel
drivers to urge them on. We left behind us the fortress and Chinese dugun, swung
round the shoulder of a ridge and, after fording several times an open stream,
began the ascent of the mountain. The scramble was hard and dangerous. Our
camels picked their way most cautiously, moving their ears constantly, as is their
habit in such stress. The trail zigzagged into mountain ravines, passed over the
tops of ridges, slipped back down again into shallower valleys but ever made
higher and higher altitudes. At one place under the grey clouds that tipped the
ridges we saw away up on the wide expanse of snow some black spots.
"Those are the obo, the sacred signs and altars for the bad demons watching this
pass," explained the guide. "This pass is called Jagisstai. Many very old tales
about it have been kept alive, ancient as these mountains themselves."
We encouraged him to tell us some of them.
The Mongol, rocking on his camel and looking carefully all around him, began his
tale.
"It was long ago, very long ago. . . . The grandson of the great Jenghiz Khan sat
on the throne of China and ruled all Asia. The Chinese killed their Khan and
wanted to exterminate all his family but a holy old Lama slipped the wife and little
son out of the palace and carried them off on swift camels beyond the Great Wall,
where they sank into our native plains. The Chinese made a long search for the
trails of our refugees and at last found where they had gone. They despatched a
strong detachment on fleet horses to capture them. Sometimes the Chinese
nearly came up with the fleeing heir of our Khan but the Lama called down from
Heaven a deep snow, through which the camels could pass while the horses were
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Beasts, Men and Gods, by Ferdinand Ossendowski
inextricably held. This Lama was from a distant monastery. We shall pass this
hospice of Jahantsi Kure. In order to reach it one must cross over the Jagisstai.
And it was just here the old Lama suddenly became ill, rocked in his saddle and
fell dead. Ta Sin Lo, the widow of the Great Khan, burst into tears; but, seeing the
Chinese riders galloping there below across the valley, pressed on toward the
pass. The camels were tired, stopping every moment, nor did the woman know
how to stimulate and drive them on. The Chinese riders came nearer and nearer.
Already she heard their shouts of joy, as they felt within their grasp the prize of the
mandarins for the murder of the heir of the Great Khan. The heads of the mother
and the son would be brought to Peking and exposed on the Ch'ien Men for the
mockery and insults of the people. The frightened mother lifted her little son
toward heaven and exclaimed:
"'Earth and Gods of Mongolia, behold the offspring of the man who has glorified [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]