FOR GENERATIONS the Gobi clansmen had been ac-
customed to pass news from tent village to tent
village by mounted messenger. When a man galloped
up with a summons to war, or a bit of gossip, some one
in the ordu would saddle his horse and relay the tidings
to friends in the distance. These messengers were ac-
customed to ride fifty or sixty miles during the day.

As Genghis Khan extended his conquests, it was
necessary to improve the yam. At first, like most of
his expedients for government, it was purely a matter
for the army. Permanent camps were made at intervals
along the line of march, and a string of horses left at
each, with youths to tend them, and a few warriors to
keep off thieves. Where the horde had once passed,
no stronger guard was necessary.

These camps—a few yurts, a shed for hay and sacks
of barley in winter—were perhaps a hundred miles
apart, strung along the caravan roads. Up and down
this line of communication went the treasure bearers,
carrying back to Karakorum the jewels, the gold orna-
ments, the best of the jade and enamel ware, and the
great rubies of Badakshan.

Over these roads the gleanings of the horde were
sent to the homeland in the Gobi. It must have been
an ever-growing wonder to the nomad settlements,
when each month brought its load of rarities and human
beings from unknown regions. Especially when war-
riors who had served in Khorassan or at the edge of the

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