Wall, the
rails could be laid down on the top of the ground almost as fast as a
man could walk. Only as you approach Urga, north of the desert, would
there be much in the way of bridging and embanking. And it would soon
pay for itself, for the millions of taels' worth of trade done between
North Mongolia and China would easily be doubled if once freed from the
handicap of the costly and uncertain journey of to-day. But more
important than all else is the political side of the question. The
Chinese Government must have known for years that its hold on North
Mongolia was insecure; it has pushed forward colonization by the Chinese
with much more than its usual vigour, and, given time, that would have
settled the matter. But it had no right to count on having time, while a
railway across the desert, taking not long to build, would have bound
all Mongolia to the empire with bands truly of steel, that even the
Russians could not break. And now--is it too late?

* * * * *

The hours were quite too short which I had to spend in Urga, the Urga of
the Mongols; the other settlements were merely frontier posts, one
Chinese style and the other Russian, new and uninteresting. But Urga, Ta
Huren, was another story. To reach it we forded the river, the strong
current washing my feet as we rode through. There may be some other way,
but that sort of thing is part of the ordinary day's work with the
Mongol, and I believe he is rather shy of the one or two bridges the
Russians have built.

Ta Huren has a temporary look that suits its name; fire or flood could
easily sweep it away. And there is nothing of any architectural interest
save two or three temples and lamasseries, and having seen one you have
seen all, for there is little of beauty or fine workmanship about them.
The broad main street and the open spaces above the river were much more
attractive, for there the life of the settlement had gathered, and again
you had the impression of a holiday. There was too much leisure, too
much jollity, and too much colour for the work-a-day crowd of the West
or of China. People came and went, stopped to talk, stopped to stare. No
one seemed in a hurry except one or two self-important officials and
their white-jacketed retinue. Only in the horse-market was there any
real business going on. There the crowd seemed really intent on
something, but buying and selling horses is a serious matter the world
over, in Kent