The extensive steppes in the middle and north of Asia have
formed, for thousands of years, the abode of nomadic peoples belonging to the
Yellow race. In prehistoric times they spread over northern Europe, but they
were gradually supplanted by white-skinned Indo-Europeans, until now only
remnants of them exist, such as the Finns and Lapps. In later ages history
records how the Huns, the Bulgarians, and the Magyars have poured into Europe,
spreading terror and destruction in their path. These invaders were
followed in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries by the even more terrible
Mongols and Ottoman Turks. Their inroads might well be described as Asia's
reply to the crusades, as an Asiatic counter-attack upon Europe.
MONGOLIA
The Mongols, who have given their name to the entire race
of yellow- skinned peoples, now chiefly occupy the high plateau bounded on the
north by Siberia, on the south by China, on the east by Manchuria, and on the
west by Turkestan. [2] Although the greater part of this area consists of the
Gobi desert, there are many oases and pastures available at different seasons
of the year to the inhabitants. Hence the principal occupation of the Mongols
has always been cattle breeding, and their horses, oxen, sheep, and camels have
always furnished them with food and clothing.
[2] Mongolia has long been a part of the Chinese Empire,
but in 1912 A.D., when China because a republic, Mongolia declared its
independence.
