URGA, a city of Mongolia and the administrative centre of the Northern and Eastern Khalkha tribes, is situated in 48° 20' N. lat. and 107° 30' E. long., on the Tola river. The Chinese and Mongolian towns which make up Hurae, as the Mongols call Urga, stand on the high road from Peking to Kiachta (Kiakhta), about 700 miles from the Chinese capital and 165 from Kiachta, and are separated from each other by an interval of 2 or 3 miles. The Chinese town is the great trading quarter, and there the wealth of the district is collected. The houses in this part are more substantially built than in the Mongol town, and the streets have a well-to-do appearance. The population is estimated at about 5000, and the law which prohibits Chinamen from bringing their wives and families into the place tends to check increase. The population of the Mongol quarter is reckoned at about 10,000, though on the occasions of the religious festivals the numbers are much larger. Although trade is not altogether excluded, the raison Tetre of the town is that it is the residence of the metropolitan of the Khalkha tribes, who ranks third in degree of veneration among the dignitaries of the Lamaist Church. This “resplendently divine lama” resides in a sacred quarter on the western side of the town, and acts as the spiritual colleague of the Chinese lieutenant-general, who controls all mundane matters at Urga itself, and who is also especially charged with the control of the frontier town of Kiachta and the trade conducted there with the Russians. Until quite lately bricks of tea formed the only circulating medium for the retail trade at Urga, but Chinese brass cash are now beginning to pass current in the markets. The temples in the Mongol quarter are numerous and imposing in appearance, and in ...