RUSSIA'S NEW DOMINION
PORTION OF MONGOLIA. The portion of Mongolia that has passed into t'he hands of Russia as a result'of the Chinese revolution was visited recently by Miss Bondfield, a daughter of the Chinese agent of the Bible SocietyMiss Bondfield and her companions followed the trade route from Pekin and entered Outer Mongolia after passing the Great Wall, which was built by the Chinese centuries ago to keep back the fierce northern tribes. They crossed a great plateau, at a height of several thousand feet, and then travelled through prairie' country until they entered the desert of Gobi. Beyond the desert was ,the capital city of Urga, where dwelt the high priest who' lias since become the nominal ruler of the country. Kotuktu, as he is called, is the local incarnation of Budda, and Miss Bondfield found that lie was worshipped as a god, his palace being made the goal of pilgrimages. He was really a dissolute and rather unpleasant -person. Urga was divided into three portions, a Russian town, a Chinese town and the holy city, but the influence of the Russians was paramount. Russian soldiers and traders were to be found everywhere, and it was evident even then that China's authority over the territory was being threatened. After leaving the capital Miss Bondfield traversed a wide belt of wheat-growing country of extraordinary fertility. The summer was intensely hot, with very long days and short' night, and crops grew and ripened with remarkable rapidity. The Russians were developing the natural wealth of the soil as quickly as possible, and the travellers noticed that modern implements were being used in the farming areas. Telegraph lines had been built and the whole country was heling brought under Russian influence. Now that Mongolia has become "independent," the Russian Government is going to build railways into the territory. Within a few years the Czar's soldie'rswill be on the Chinese border again, with Mongolia behind: them,
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Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 215, 9 March 1912, Page 8
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323RUSSIA'S NEW DOMINION Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 215, 9 March 1912, Page 8
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