not very strong, the
natives being somewhat indifferent to their rulers and ready at any
decent provocation to throw off their yoke. Though engaged in the
peaceful pursuits of sheep-tending, and transporting freight between
Russia and China, they possess a warlike spirit and are capable of
being roused into violent action. They are proud of tracing their
ancestry to the soldiers that marched with Genghis Khan, and carried
his victorious banners into Central Europe; around their fires at
night no stories are more eagerly heard than those of war, and he who
can relate the most wonderful traditions of daring deeds may be
certain of admiration and applause.

The first "outside barbarian," other than Russians, who attempted this
overland journey, was a young French Count, who traveled in search of
adventure. Proceeding eastward from St. Petersburg, he reached Kiachta
in 1859. After some hesitation, the governor-general of Eastern
Siberia appointed him secretary to a Russian courier _en route_ for
Pekin. He made the journey without serious hindrance, but on reaching
the Chinese capital his nationality was discovered, and he was forced
to return to Siberia.

From Pekin the traveller destined for Siberia passes through the
northern gate amid clouds of dust or pools of mud, according as the
day of his exit is fair or stormy. He meets long strings of carts
drawn by mules, oxen, or ponies, carrying country produce of different
kinds to be digested in the great maw of the Imperial city. Animals
with pack-saddles, swaying under heavy burdens, swell the caravans,
and numerous equestrians, either bestriding their steeds, or sitting
sidewise in apparent carelessness, are constantly encountered. Now and
then an unruly mule causes a commotion in the crowd by a vigorous use
of his heels, and a watchful observer may see an unfortunate native
sprawling on the ground in consequence of approaching too near one of
the hybrid beasts. Chinese mules _will_ kick as readily as their
American cousins; and I can say from experience, that their hoofs are
neither soft nor delicate. They can bray, too, in tones terribly
discordant and utterly destructive of sleep. The natives have a habit
of suppressing their music when it becomes positively unbearable, and
the means they employ may be worth notice. A Chinaman says a mule
cannot bray without elevating his tail to a certain height; so to
silence the beast he ties a stone to that ornamental appendage,