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112
EAST ASIA.
of it stretches a chain of gently sloping hills, while to the south rises the abrupt
Khan-ola ridge, the genius of which is honoured with yearly sacrifices. The Kuren
properly so called, which encloses one of the three palaces of the Jctson-tampa, or
" Living Buddha " of Mongolia, stretches for considerably over a mile to the north
of the Tola, and forms a labyrinth of courts and alleys, where probably more than
10,000 lamas have pitched their tents, or built their mud huts, beneath the shadow
of the gilded domes of the temples. Here is a sort of university embracing the
faculties of medicine, theology, and astrology. The Ma'ima-chen, or commercial
quarter, lying east of the Kuren, is occupied by about 4,000 Chinese dealers.
Here is the camping ground of the Russian caravans, and here is current a
" Pigeon " Mongolian jargon mixed with all the dialects of China and Siberia. A
Fig.
46. URGA.
Scale 1 : 45,000.
. 3,800 Ymds.
new quarter has also sprung up round the Russian consulate, established in 1861,
where have been organized most of the recent scientific and commercial expeditions
across Mongolia. A large triennial fair is held at TJrga in September, visited by
about 200,000 persons from every part of Mongolia.
All the trading routes converge on Urga, which is the chief station on the
great tea highway between Kiakhta and Kalgan, at one of the gates
in the Great
A\ all, while it is also connected with Kobdo, Uliasutai, and the towns of Kansu and
Manchuria by regular postal routes. Along these tracks camps of fifteen to twenty
tents are established at intervals, and placed under a postmaster, who is bound to
provide travellers with night lodgings and mounts free of charge. By the treaties
concluded between Russia and China in 1859-60, the St. Petersburg Government