Aug. 24, 1876] 



NATURE 



359 



bare, grotesque-looking rocks of granite, about 1,000 feet high. 

 It is a solemn sight to see them gradually rise before your eyes 

 out of the vast treeless steppe. Numbers of Argali were seen 

 running on the mountains, and we proposed for the next day an 

 Argali-hunt. The hunting party offered a strange picture on 

 the next morning ; there were fifty Kirghiz chiefs on horseback, 

 many of them holding golden eagles on their hands. These 

 birds are trained here to catch the wolf and the fox, and they 

 acquit themselves excellently of their task, except in spring, 

 when, their minds being taken up by love-thoughts, they are 

 unfit for work. It is wonderful to see how the Argali dash along 

 the rocks, and the young ones as quick, or perhaps still quicker, 

 than the others. Several Argali and Argali kids were killed ; 

 we saw also a wolf, but failed to kill him. On the next day was 

 a race of the Kirghiz boys ; they rode 20 versts in 54 minutes. 

 After that there was a wrestling match. The Kirghiz formed 

 two divisions, each having its champion, who, dressed in shirt 

 and drawers, was ready for the match. They stood with their 

 shoulders together, and tried to throw each other down by seiz- 

 ing each other's girdle. The combatants were fine, muscular 

 fellows. They showed also some equestrian feats, such as riding 

 at full gallop standing. At about seven o'clock we continued 

 our journey, and arrived the next morning in Sergiopol, for- 

 merly called Ajacus, a small town of about 1,000 inhabitants. 

 The road to Sergiopol leads altogether through the steppe, which 

 from time to time is covered with small mountain-ranges ; on 

 the last station before Sergiopol we saw for the first time the 

 snowy tops of the Targabatai. 



"Interspersed everywhere through the steppe are the yurtsand 

 peailiar tombs of the Kirghiz, whose herds wandering over the 

 steppe help to animate it. The town lies in a treeless plain ; 

 before reaching it we were received by a picket of Cossacks in 

 their gala-uniform, who conducted us to our quarters. Here we 

 were welcomed by the district chief, CoLFriedrichs, who for ten 

 days had awaited us in Sergiopol. Here we obtained some fine 

 specimens of fishes from the Balkhash-lake, and we continued our 

 road accompanied by Mr. Paul, a German telegraph official, 

 and the commander of the town. Major Politzky. The line of 

 Cossacks is here at an end. From time to time there Is a mise- 

 rable mud hut called " picket," where Cos?acks ought to be. 

 Horses are generally to be had there, vehicles but seldom. Our 

 road led us always through the steppe, which began to show a 

 white salty incrustation, and which everywhere is bordered in the 

 most picturesque manner by the Tarbagatai. W\ along the road 

 we were accompanied by^Cossacks and chiefs of the Kirghiz. 

 We took our first station on the banks of the Karakol, where we 

 had a splendid view of the Tarbagatai and the more distant snowy 

 heights of the Ala Tau, in the south. Here we found new speci- 

 mens of the fauna of the steppe ; the sandpiper, the eastern 

 turtledove ( Turtur ^elastes), the white-throated lark of the Alps, 

 the grey-headed wagtail During the night we heard a strange 

 cry, and found it to proceed from a frog, of which we obtained a 

 specimen. Beetles were very scarce in the steppe, nor did we see 

 any butterflies ; perhaps it was still too cold. Our tea gets worse 

 and worse, as now the water contains more and more salt ; our 

 principal beverage is, therefore, kumis, which, after all, is not so 

 bad ; it tastes a little sour, like buttermilk, and has a strange smell 

 and after- taste. The major and Mr. Paul remained behind in 

 Karakol, and so did our baggage- cart, therefore our baggage had 

 now to be carried by three camels. Behind Karakol are the first 

 Kirghiz who cultivate the soil ; they grow wheat in vast fields, 

 irrigating them by damming the river, and turning over the fertile 

 soil with a miserable plough that penetrates only to a depth 

 of a few inches. The labourers were surrounded by numbers 

 of Larus ridibundus. The first 12-15 versts we had to ride, 

 because, from this forward, only the wild horses of the 

 steppe were to be had, which up to this time had never seen 

 a vehicle. It was most interesting to see the wild animals 

 harnessed to the tarantassa ; five fellows had at times enough to 

 do to hold a single horse, and then off we went with shouts and 

 blows, away like the wild huntsman in the story-book. As long 

 as the vehicle held together everything went on well, but very 

 often traces and reins broke at the first start. The steppe is 

 covered with rhubarb, hemlock, and spiraea just beginning to 

 flower. "Where the alkali earth begins the ground was bare, and 

 the plants which grew there had a grey, sombre colour. We 

 f aw sometimes the great and little bustard, also many kites, and 

 here and there a golden eagle — kulans (wild horses) and antelopes 

 (saigas) were not seen. On May 8 we entered upon the genuine 

 salt steppe, and our horses sank up to their fetlocks in soil 



covered with a crust of white salt. The dust was awful ; our 

 way led through immense beds of reeds, and we found ourselves 

 most probably in the dry bed of the lake Ala Kul. At night 

 we reached the banks of the actual lake from the west side. At 

 first there is nothing but a dense mass of reeds, only here and 

 there is a narrow strait visible. Many geese, ducks, and swans 

 were heard ; we obtained here a specimen of the land tortoise. 

 The next day we continued our road on the south side. It was 

 very hot, and splendid mirages were dancing in the air ; our way 

 led continually through the salt steppe ; the lake was mostly 

 covered by reeds ; only at two places was it to be seen. In the 

 afternoon we reached a camp of yurts situated at the foot of a 

 hill on the south side of the lake. The scenery before us was 

 splendid ; in the foreground the vast surface of the lake of a 

 greyish blue bordered in the background by the Tarbagatai, and 

 behind it rose the snowy summits of the Ala TaU. Numbers of 

 birds are at the lake, innumerable grey geese with their young 

 ones, ducks, swans, grey cranes, gulls, amongst these the beau- 

 tiful grey fisher-gull {Larus ichthyatus). The waterfowl were 

 unfortunately very shy and scarcely to be approached. Near 

 the lake on the steppe we found for the first time rose-starlings 

 {Rosenstaare) and black-headed wagtails, amongst these some 

 with white eye stripes, and a peculiar lark. We did not obtain 

 any specimen of the reed-pipers, because shooting was impossible 

 among the dense reeds. I got all the Kirghiz to help me to 

 collect, and so we obtained beetles and two varieties of lizard, 

 one most interesting, a kind of gecko, with pink and blue spots. 

 It was very hot, 79° F. in the shade, and many gnats appeared. 

 After having made a small raft out of the trunks of trees we 

 went fishing and caught many fishes, but only three to four 

 varieties, all unknown to me, most interesting, and by no 

 means belonging to the European kinds, with the exception 

 of a sort of Cobitis. There was a peculiar fish about 2 feet long 

 called Marinka, and said to be poisonous, but we tasted it and 

 found it quite palatable. For two days we remained near the 

 lake, living in a yurt belonging to the Sultan Abin Dair, who 

 traces his pedigree from Jenghis Khan, and belongs to the 

 "nobility of the white bone" ; he possesses 2,000 yurts in his 

 dominions. We collected many plants and some snails near the 

 Ala Kul, and took samples of the soil, salt and water. We 

 continued our road, passing through the steppe, onward to the 

 Ala Tau, at the foot of which we took a night's rest in a yurt, 

 whence we saw many Kirghisian tombs of unbumt bricks. The 

 next day we were obliged to ride, because one of the horses 

 objected altogether to be harnessed, and the others ran away with 

 the vehicle. After some time, however, they became quieter, 

 and we could again get into the vehicle. Meanwhile, the tem- 

 perature had changed ; it was very chilly ; we were cold in 

 spite of the furs, and happy to reach another yurt camp at 

 about midnight. The road was scarcely perceptible ; the 

 Cossacks had to hold the carriage with ropes, and we heard con- 

 tinually the cry of "derschdi," r.if. hold fast. Dr. Brehm had 

 an upset On the next morning our road led through the green 

 steppe interspersed with many " Auls" of the Kirghiz, whose 

 herds, consisting chiefly of goats and fat-tailed sheep, were 

 pasturing here and there. In the south the steppe was bordered 

 by green hillocks, with masses of red outcropping rocks ; in the 

 west by bare sand hills, in the north and east by a hijher range 

 of mountains, covered with fresh-fallen snow, behind which rose 

 the high summits of the Ala Tau. And on we went more into 

 the mountains. We passed over the river Dschindschilla, 

 where red bole is to be found, and then on without interruption 

 through ravines and over mountains, on through the green but 

 treeless landscape. We collected magnificent wild, red peonies, 

 blue campanulas, and other plants ; ajid here we saw for the first 

 time the bee-eater. At length we saw Lepsa before us in the 

 plain, surrounded by green but bare mountains ; except in the 

 south where they were covered with trees, behind which rose the 

 picturesque peaks and cones of the Ala Tau, half their height 

 covered with snow. Lepsa has nearly 3,000 inhabitants, con- 

 sisting mosdy of Cossacks and Tartars. Some Kirghiz live 

 near. Broad streets planted with birch trees run through the 

 town and give it a pleasant appearance. The houses are nearly 

 all small and built of wood. Besides the Cossacks there is a 

 regular battery stationed there. The town was founded since the 

 conquest ol Turkestan, and is growmg rapidly. The Cossacks 

 cultivate the ground and keep bees ; the honey is very fine, and 

 cuts like lard. We live very comfortably in the house of a rich 

 Cossack, who possesses 2,000 hives, and only regret that we 

 have to leave so soon," 



