Kalgan

“ On May 6th we again stood on that point of the marginal range of Mongolia where the descent to Kalgan commences. Again the grand panorama of mountain scenery lay at our feet, the bright green plains of China sparkling like emeralds in the distance. There it was warm and springlike, here on the plateau Nature was only just waking from her long winter's sleep. At every step in the descent we became more sensible of the warmth of the plains; at Kalgan itself trees were in full leaf, and we gathered thirty kinds of flowering plants in the neighbouring hills. ”

“ The city of Kalgan proper, reminds one more of an Egyptian or Arab town than a Chinese one. The dwellings are of baked mud, unwhitewashed, and flat roofed. Some are ornamented with arabesques, and gaily-striped awnings, many of their façades being half hidden with clustering vines. The “Yamen,” or court-house, is the only building of pure Chinese architecture in the whole place, and one felt, when taking a stroll through its busy streets and covered bazaars, as if one had been suddenly transplanted from the heart of the Chinese Empire to some town in Central Asia. ”

“ KALGAN (Chang-Chia K’ow) , a city of China, in the province of Chih-li, with a population estimated at from 70,000 to 100,000. It lies in the line of the Great Wall, 122 m. by rail N.W. of Peking, commanding an important pass between China and Mongolia. Its position is stated as in 40° 50′ N. and 114° 54′ E., and its height above the sea as 2810 ft. The valley amid the mountains in which it is situated is under excellent cultivation, and thickly studded with villages. Kalgan consists of a walled town or fortress and suburbs 3 m. long. The streets are wide, and excellent shops are abundant ”

“ A huddle of palaces, temples, banks lies concealed behind the mud walls that hem in the narrow lanes, for Kalgan has been for many years an important trading centre, and through here passes the traffic across the Gobi Desert. ”

“ On leaving Kalgan, and turning his back on the border range, a wide, thickly-populated, and highly cultivated plain lies before the traveller. The cleanly appearance of the villages affords a striking contrast to the towns. The road is very animated; — strings of asses laden with coal, mule-carts, litter-bearers, and scavengers pass along. In all the villages and towns full-grown men may be seen all day long on the roads, with a basket in one hand and a spade in the other, collecting animal dung, which is used for manuring the fields and for fuel. ”

“ The whole place looked like a gigantic fair. Street tumblers, jugglers, and fortune-tellers plied a brisk trade in the middle of the roadway, heedless of yelling, wild-looking Mongols galloping madly about on ponies, while the shopkeepers at the top of their voices cried out from their doors the excellence of their wares, each trying to outyell his neighbour. Add to this the clashing of cymbals and beating of gongs from a theatre hard by, and you have a faint idea of a street in Kalgan at midday. ”

“ Kalgan, the frontier town of Mongolia, is not so well built as the imperial cities; it is a commercial centre, where bazaars abound, and open stalls; the foot passengers touch the walls of the houses as they file by, one after the other, and the roadway, narrow, squalid, and muddy, is thronged with chariots, camels, mules, and horses. "I have been much struck," writes Madame de Bourboulon, "with the extreme variety of costumes and types resulting from the presence of numerous foreign merchants. Here, as in all Chinese towns, the traders at every door tout for custom. ”

“ With a railway from Verhne Udinsk to Kiachta, Kiachta to Urga, and from Urga across the Gobi Desert to join up with an extension of the Peking-Kalgan Railway to the west at Kweihua-Cheng, trade possibilities will arrive for the employment of much capital and commercial enterprise. ”

“ Within the past few years several momentous railway undertakings have been carried to successful conclusion, and to-day there is feverish activity in covering the empire with the iron thread on every hand. Foremost among these enterprises are the Shanghai-Nanking, the Pekin-Kalgan, and the Canton-Kowloon lines. Railways, indeed, are being driven through the country by various interests and nations, including British, United States, Belgian, French, Portuguese and German. ”

“ Nowhere were there signs of life, nothing growing, nothing moving. For days together we saw no yurts, and more than one day passed without our meeting any one. Once there appeared suddenly on the white track before us a solitary figure, looking very pitiful in the great plain. When it came near it fell on its face in the sand at our feet, begging for food. It was a Chinese returning home from Urga, walking all the seven hundred miles across the desert to Kalgan. ”

“ It is calculated that 100,000 camels are used for the transport of tea only from Kalgan to Siberia, and that no less than 1,200,000 camels and 300,000 ox-carts are employed in the internal caravan trade. Agriculture is only carried on sporadically, chiefly in the south, where the Mongols have been taught by the Chinese. Various domestic industries are also carried on. The trade is chiefly concentrated at Urga, Ulyasutai and Kobdo in north-west Mongolia; Kalgan, Kuku-khoto, Kuku-erghi, Dolon-nur and Biru-khoto in southern and south-eastern Mongolia ”

“ S———— had only been married three months, and had come straight from New York to Kalgan, to share her husband’s fortunes in the wilds, for she was about to leave for a mission four hundred miles from Kalgan, situated in one of the most dangerous districts of the Chinese empire. Her husband came in shortly after, also in Chinese costume, with the addition of a pigtail! It is a rule that every one connected with this society shall wear native dress; and when at their posts in Central China the missionaries are expected to eat like the natives. ”

“ Under the treaties of 1858 and 1860 a post-route between the Russian frontier and Kalgan was established, and in spite of the competing railway through Manchuria, a horse-post still crosses the desert three times a month each way. The Mongols who are employed for the work go through from city to city in seven days, galloping all the way, with frequent changes of horses and, less frequent, of men. ”

“ The part of Mongolia I went to is situated 800 li, or say 270 English miles, north-east by east of Peking, and, at the usual rate of 90 li (or 30 miles) a day, is nine days distant. This is not the part of Mongolia near Kalgan. Kalgan is north-north-west of Peking, five days' journey. ”

“ At first the appearance of the country does not change; the level plain watered by the Peiho and its tributary the Cha-ho is thickly studded with villages, and small towns and hamlets recur frequently along the road-side; but on the second day the mountains, which had been hitherto hardly visible in the distance, appeared nearer, and thirteen miles from Ku-peh-kau we entered the outlying hills of this marginal range. It is somewhat different from that at Kalgan. ”

“ Hence it is preferred by the Chinese caravan men as well as by the great, or those in a hurry, who use relays. The other, known as the "Camel Road," turns northward from Kalgan and [245] after a hundred miles takes a northwestward course to Urga. There are no Mongol settlements after you have passed the fringe of villages bordering the Great Wall, and wells are few and far between, but it is one hundred miles shorter than the more western route, and by so much the better for those who go through with the same animals. ”

“ The traffic is very large, and numerous Chinese two-wheeled bullock carts passed us laden with all kinds of merchandise; salt is also transported by this road to Kalgan, from a salt lake (so the natives told us) 130 miles north of Lake Dalai-nor. Caravanserais stand by the road-side for the convenience of travellers; but we never made use of them, preferring a clean tent and pure air to the dirt and smells of Chinese inns, besides avoiding the impertinent curiosity of the Mongols or Chinese, who invariably crowded round us whenever we stopped near their habitations. ”

“ The first that was met with was in descending the north-eastern side, and along the base of Porrongurup; the next was on the banks of the Kalgan; and the third, which was exceedingly rich, commenced on the southern side of the chasm of the last-mentioned range. We were unsuccessful in our endeavours to discover the Kuik or the Quannet. The answers of the natives, from whom I had hoped to gain some information to our numerous interrogations on the subject, were generally so very vague, that it was impossible to place any reliance upon them ”

“ It was a hard field, and no one else could or would go. The Mongols of the Plain were to some extent benefited by the American Mission at Kalgan ; those dwelling in Eastern Mongolia were without a helper. Considerations like these, as he tells us, decided his new course of action.
In these circumstances my mind has turned away north-east from Peking, where people are not so scarce, and where the Mongols live as farmers. I have been to that region twice. I knew some people who came from that region. As soon as Mr. Rees returns from Chi Chou I hope to go again. ”

“ J. G. Anderson and Messrs. H. C. Faxon, E. G. Smith, C. R. Bennett, M. E. Weatherall and J. Kenrick.
In Kalgan, Mr. Charles L. Coltman arranged for the transportation of the expedition to Mongolia and not only gratuitously acted as our agent but was always ready to devote his own time and the use of his motor cars to further the work of the party.
In Urga, Mr. F. A. Larsen of Anderson, Meyer & Company, was of invaluable assistance in obtaining horses, carts and other equipment for the expedition as well as in giving us the benefit of his long and unique experience in Mongolia. ”

“ An hour after we were snuggled in our fur sleeping bags, two Mongols rode into camp, but we were too sleepy to give an exhibition of the fire-works.
We reached Panj-kiang about noon of the second day and found that a large mud house and a spacious compound had been erected beside the telegraph station by the Chinese company which was endeavoring to maintain a passenger service between Kalgan and Urga. The Chinese government also had invaded the field and was sending automobiles regularly to the Mongolian capital as a branch service of the Peking-Suiyuan railroad. ”

“ I have seen them all without seeking them, with the exception of Baikal and Irkutsk. These are all by the way, and I dwell upon them as proofs that God, in sending His servants from home and kindred, often gives them pleasure and worldly enjoyment on the way, which He does not promise, and which they have no right to expect.
After another but briefer sojourn at Olau Bourgass he set out on his return journey, visited Urga, then crossed the great plain on horseback in the course of fourteen days, and reached Kalgan on June n. ”

“ Kalgan, China and Mongolia meet at, 235; main roads from, to Urga, 244, 245; an outpost of Russia, 246; 233, 238, 239, 241, 242, 243, 252, 257, 266, 273, 281.
Kalgan-Peking R. R. the first railway constructed by Chinese, 234. Kang (furnace) , 248. ”

“ Kalganov ran back, sat down in a corner, bent his head, hid his face in his hands, and burst out crying. ”

“ In the mountain village of Likuan it is built alone as a cure for sickness. A pig is killed and the mediums summon the spirits as in Dawak (cf. p. 316) .
Kalang: A wooden box, the sides of which are cut to resemble the head and horns of a carabao. The spirits are not thought to reside here, but do come to partake of the food and drink placed in it. It is attached to the roof of the dwelling or in the balaua or kalangan. New offerings are placed in the kalang, before the men go to fight, or when the Sayang ceremony is held. ”

“ It was the bruised and lifeless body of Kanana.
With trembling hand the grim chief drew back the sheepskin coat, and all men then beheld, bound about the Bedouin boy, the sacred girdle!
"I gave it to him," said Kahled solemnly; "and upon the fragments you have returned to me, he wrote the information by which we conquered Jababal and Manuel. You saw him throw this lance at me; you called him 'traitor!' but about the hand-rest there was wound this strip. See! In blood—in his blood—these words are written here: 'Do not retreat. The infidels are starving and dying. ”

“ Plants a lawed vine which is to keep his mother informed as to his condition. Child's father is with war party, but does not recognize son. It rains continually so party cannot cook; but the spirit helpers of child's mother feed him, and he shares food with companions. They plan ambush near enemies' town. Kanag cuts off head of a pretty girl; his companions kill an old man and woman. They return home and hold dance around the heads. When Kanag dances, earth trembles, coconuts fall, water from river enters the town, and the fish lap his feet. His father is jealous and cuts off his head. ”

“ O let not Thine inheritance fall into the hands of Thine enemies, the deniers of Christ, who know not Thy Name; for we are Thy people and the sheep of Thy pasture, and Thee we praise for ever and ever. Amen.” Then Caleb the king went out from his royal city, and he departed and destroyed, and killed all the Jews who had laid waste the city of Nagran, and he performed countless miracles. And he returned to his royal city with great honor and joy not to be estimated, giving thanks to God at the same time. ”