1824.] 
piece of oratory or extemporary verses. 
Tt is naturally to be supposed that 
people so ignorant are superstitious, 
and that their ardent temperament will 
be easily excited by any impostor who 
assumes the character of a prophet. In 
the summer of 1821, such a personage, 
named Morall, made his appearance 
among the middle hordé, preaching the 
speedy subjugation of the horde, and 
various other misfortunes. The people 
put faith in him, and his followers be- 
came soon very numerous. They would 
have undoubtedly increased still farther, 
and the circumstance might have led to 
some serious results, had not the occur- 
rence of an unforeseen event destroyed 
his Saintship, and the belief in his mi- 
raculous power. Two hundred Cossacks, 
with some pieces of cannon, appeared in 
the steppe as an escort to some engineers 
who had been sent out to make obser- 
vations ; the prophet urged the Kirghees 
to attack them, assuring them that he 
would turn the brass cannon into clay, 
and prevent them from firing. The 
Kirghees believed -him, and having as- 
sembled in great numbers, made a fu- 
rious attack upon tke Russians ; but 
the latter soon convinced them that 
their guns could still fire and kill, upon 
which they dispersed, and drove away the 
prophet with scorn. The Scotch mis- 
sionaries, who within late years have 
settled in their vicinity, have tried hard 
to convert them to Christianity, but 
with no visible effect; although they 
now and then succeeded in making 
thenraccept of bibles. They are often 
duped by those who, having lost their 
property through the baranta, are wan- 
dering in the vicinity of Orenburg, and 
pretend to listen to the exhortations of 
the missionaries, for the purpose of 
getting breadfrom them. From all this 
it would seem, that the Kirghees form 
a large body of people, without religion, 
without knowledge, without laws or any 
civil institution, and obeying no autho- 
rity unless coupled with force. There 
is however a conservatory power which 
supplies all these, viz. the force of an- 
cient customs, ‘There exists a tradition 
of ancient laws among them, whose in- 
fluence is not yet entirely extinct, and 
which are even now from time to time 
enforced by some of their elders, who, 
in some instances, have even gone so 
far as to inflict capital punishment, al- 
though that authority is presumed to be 
vested in the Khans only. The follow- 
img are mentioned as the principal of 
those traditionary laws: Murder was to 
The Kirghees. 
203 
be punished in two ways; if the assassin 
and his victim were of the same tribe, 
he was sentenced to death; but if they 
were of different tribes, the relations 
of the deceased might claim two hun- 
dred horses from the murderer, and in 
case of his inability, to pay this fine, 
from his tribe. Violence to a chaste 
woman was deemed equal to murder. 
In cases of wounds, or other bodily in- 
jury being inflicted, the principle was 
eye for eye, tooth for tooth, &c. Theft, 
on being owned by the perpetrator, or 
proved by four witnesses, was punish- 
able with death; whilst the objects 
stolen were to be restored by the whole 
tribe at the rate of twenty-seven camels, 
or as the tradition has it, thrice nine ca- 
mels and one slave, for a camel ; twenty- 
seven horses and one camel for a horse; 
twenty-seven cows and one horse for a 
cow ; twenty-seven sheep and one cow 
for a sheep, &c. 
On the tribe’s refusing this restitution, 
or in case of murder, the above-named 
satisfaction, called Koon, the offended 
party was permitted to take, with the 
knowledge and consent of his tribe, 
from the flocks of the refractory one, 
the fourth part of the fine due to him, 
but no more, otherwise the daranta was 
considered as a robbery and crime. 
These laws are said to have been enact- 
ed at a period of very high antiquity, by 
one Tjouka-Khan, whose name is still 
reverenced among the Kirghees. The 
sentence was passed by the assembly of 
the beys, after which one of them was 
charged with the execution of it, 
After this general account of this ex- 
traordinary race of people, we shall 
proceed to give some details of their 
mode of life, &c., principally from the 
interesting narrative of a modern tra- 
veller. During the summer months 
they move with their cattle towards the 
north, and pitch their felt tents either 
singly or in small parties; in winter 
however they return to the south, where 
they form what is called ows, villages, 
camps or hordes.- Their domestic uten- 
sils are, an iron kettle (hasan), a 
tripod (tgan), a wooden bowl (ayak), a 
kitchen-spoon’ (¢shoomitch), a common 
spoon (kassook), a small pail (éshilik), a 
jug (Foomgan), and a few other articles. 
The food, among the wealthy part of 
the people, consists of beef, mutton, 
goats’, camels’, and horses’-flesh. The 
meat is cut very small, and boiled as a 
hash (diss barmak), after which they 
drink a thin liquor, called sarpa. The 
poor people eat porrage of millet, in 
2D2z2 which 
