INTRODUCTION
In Mongolia to-day there is about as much Russian influence as there was in the Caucasus at the time of the Crimean War. What amount of Russian influence will be felt in Mongolia sixty years hence?
A glance at the map will show that in Unknown Mongolia Mr. Douglas Carruthers describes his travels on the border-line of Mongolia proper. In the course of his journey he explored the district of Uriankhai, in the extreme N.W. of Mongolia, whose ownership is disputed between the Mongol and Russian Governments. His interesting book deals with all phases of life on this rugged frontier of Mongolia. The authors' journeys described in this volume took them practically N. and S. and E. and W. through Mongolia proper, an entirely different country many miles away from Uriankhai. Mongolia proper cannot be said to be unknown, but it is certainly very little known. Between them the authors visited the majority of important places in the country.
Captain Otter-Barry's visit to Mongolia took place very shortly before the outbreak of the Chinese Revolution, when Mongolia still owned allegiance to Hsuan Tung, the last Emperor of the Ching dynasty of China. He travelled from China across the Gobi Desert, then viâ Urga, and the Yero mines to Kiachta and Siberia.
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