ABSTRACT
On September 8th Urga lay at our feet, traversed I by the abundant waters of the Tola river and encircled by Bogdo Ola’s wooded steeps. The rays of the sun, which for weeks we had been cursing, now threw an enchanting light over thousands of birch and larch trees clothed in autumn foliage. The innumerable gilded roofs and minarets of the monastic city, the goal of our desert journey, lay before our enraptured eyes.
