Gobi Desert, Part 3

This continues and concludes my report of the ( 63-page long)  National Geographic Magazine article, Explorations in the Gobi Desert,  Roy Chapman Andrews, June, 1933.  The Gobi Desert is in the country of Mongolia, surrounded by China except for the north where it borders on Russia.  Let's see what else Dr. Andrews found about the life of the native Mongols at that time.

We in the western nations of 2014 generally take good care of our sick and infirm persons.  In a time of "survival of the fittest," which probably encompasses most of humanity for nearly all of our existence, such scientific care was unknown.  "One seldom sees sick natives.  Probably one of the reasons is that if a person is very ill the relatives simply decamp and leave the invalid to die.  Believing that evil spirits take possession of a body as soon as life is extinct, they are extremely loathe to have anyone die in their yurt," (p. 701).

On the other hand, "assistance to a traveler is taken as a matter of course," (p. 701).

Ponies are the Mongols' prize possession.  "To be left without a pony is a serious matter, for the distance between wells in the desert is often great.  Horse stealing is a capital crime," (p. 701).

"This wild, free life of the plains has made the Mongol exceedingly independent. He relies entirely upon himself, for he has learned that in the struggle for existence it is he, himself, that counts," (p. 702).  This is opposite to the Chinese who depend greatly on family and village.

Herding their animals is the chief occupation of the Mongolians,  "A wicker framework is hastily thrown up by the desert tribesmen to corral their sheep and goats by night," (photo caption, p. 707).

"Even under Genghis and Kublai Khan Mongols had conquered half the then-known world, they left nothing constructive behind them. . . They were only destructive.  They had nothing to give, " p. 708).

The concept of monasticism, Lamaism, was introduced by the Chinese and became the official religion of the Mongols in 1294.  More than two thirds of the male population were lamas, or monks, when Dr. Andrews and the expeditions visited Mongolia.

"The discovery of fossils which show that the Central Asian plateau was one of the great centers of the origin and distribution of world life is perhaps the most important achievement of the Expedition.  After the dinosaur eggs the giant Baluchitherium must certainly take next rank among our discoveries.  It is the largest mammal that ever lived upon the earth. . ."  Can you imagine a rhinoceros 17 feet high at the shoulders, 24 feet long and  weighing many tons?  (p. 710).

Dr. Andrews was understandably proud of the many critically important 'finds' of his expeditions.  "Is it surprising that a wave of sadness swept over me as I looked for the last time at the Flaming Cliffs, gorgeous in the morning sunshine of that August day?  I knew that I would never see them again. . . new fields are calling," (p. 716).  How amazing that the millions of dinosaur bones lay in the desert for untold millions of years until discovered by this expedition in 1930!