he flock, leading Kublai
Khan. Twice the birds fell across the river, and we had to swim for
them. My pony took to the water like a duck and when we had reached
the other bank would arch his neck as proudly as though he had
killed the bird himself. His keen interest in sport, his gentleness,
and his intelligence won my heart at once. He would let me shoot
from his back without the slightest fear, even though he had never
been used as a hunting pony by Prince Tze Tze from whom he had been
purchased.

In the ponds and among the long marsh grass we found the ruddy
sheldrake (_Casarca casarca_), and the crested lapwing (_Vanellus
vanellus_). They were like old friends, for we had met them first in
far Yuen-nan and on the Burma frontier during the winter of 1916-17
whence they had gone to escape the northern cold; now they were on
their summer breeding grounds. The sheldrakes glowed like molten
gold when the sun found them in the grass, and we could not have
killed the beautiful birds even had we needed them for food.
Moreover, like the lapwings, they had a trusting simplicity, a way
of throwing themselves on one's mercy, which was infinitely
appealing. We often hunted for the eggs of both the sheldrakes and
lapwings. They must have been near by, we knew, for the old birds
would fly about our heads uttering agonizing calls, but we never
found the nests.

I killed four light-gray geese with yellow bills and legs and narrow
brown bars across the head, and a broad brown stripe down the back
of the neck. I could only identify the species as the bar-headed
goose of India (_Eulabeia indica_), which I was not aware ever
traveled so far north to breed. Later I found my identification to
be correct, and that the bird is an occasional visitor to Mongolia.
We saw only one specimen of the bean goose (_Anser fabalis_), the
common bird of China, which I had expected would be there in
thousands. There were a few mallards, redheads, and shoveler ducks,
and several bustards, besides half a dozen species of plover and
shore birds.

Except for these the trip would have been infinitely monotonous, for
we were bitterly disappointed in the lack of animal life. Moreover,
there was continual trouble with the carts, and on the third day I
had to buy an extra horse. Although one can purchase, a riding pony
at any _yurt_, cart animals are not easy to find, for the Mongols
use oxen or camels to draw most loads. The one we obtained had not
been in