My concept of a desert is that they are either like photos of the Sahara, with an unlimited horizon of sand dunes and scarce oases scattered here and there or like the American western deserts, full of cacti, other plant life, lizards and snakes. Do I have a lot to learn!
Dr. Andrews described the Gobi Desert in Mongolia as full of raptors, the birds of prey, "a half dozen species of hawks and owls, several species of eagles and two great vultures," one black vulture having a wingspan of ten feet. One of the other scientists "took a young black vulture from the nest . . . and brought it back to camp. It flourished and became as tame as a chicken. . . it was always allowed the freedom of the camp and never attempted to leave," (p. 676).
Another task of the scientific party was to study mammals of the region. During their five separate expeditions from 1922 to 1930, they trapped and preserved 10,000 small mammals (kangaroo rats, hamsters, voles, sand rats, hedgehogs, and other species peculiar to the area) to ship back to the museum in America for study. The troupe came upon herds of wild asses, antelopes and gazelles, and also upon solitary wolves.
There was a photo of a wild dog which looked fierce! "Mongolian dogs are of the Tibetan mastiff breed. . . they will attack a stranger on sight," (photo caption, p. 687).
I found an answer to my question about reptiles in the desert. "The Gobi is so dry and cold that there are very few reptiles. Pit vipers, the only poisonous snakes of the Gobi, caused us some annoyance at times," (p. 689). (I hate snakes!!) "We named the place "Viper Camp" because 47 snakes were killed in the tents. . . Fortunately, the cold had made them sluggish, and they did not strike quickly," (p. 692).
The people of the region, the Mongols, were also studied. They were a pastoral and nomadic people, following their herds of goats and sheep for pasture. "Mongols are fond of children, but the youngsters do not have an easy time in life. They are examples of "the survival of the fittest." They grow up as best they can, with no attention to the most ordinary rules of health, cleanliness or diet," (p. 692). Dr. Andrews said that their only medical care was the prayers of the lamas (Buddhist monks). The Mongol men who helped the expedition as guides, interpreters and hunters were fascinated by the telescope. "They would gaze through it by the hour. They would give any of their possessions, not excluding a wife, to obtain field glasses," (photo caption, p. 693).
In the second eight-page section of color photographs, the Great Wall of China at Nankow Pass, Mongolia is shown remarkably intact. FYI: there were actually three spans of Great Walls of China. "The Wall at Kalgan was the outer line of fortifications; the Wall at Nankow, the second line of defense; and the Wall at Peiping (Peking) the third and last line," (photo caption, p. 694). FYI: Astronauts report that there are only two man-made objects on earth visible from space: the California Aqueduct and the Great Wall of China.
The next blog will reveal more of the Mongol ordinary life, as it was in the 1930's.
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