NATURE 



457 



THURSDAY, MARCH 14, \i 



THROUGH THE HEART OF ASIA. 



Through the Heart of Asia : Over the Pamir to India. 

 By Gabriel Bonvalot. Translated from the French by 

 C B. Pitman. (London: Chapman and Hall, 1889.) 



THIS is a translation of the account of a very re- 

 markable journey taken in the year 1886 by M. 

 Bonvalot through Central Asia. It is not the first 

 time that M. Bonvalot has traversed that region, 

 for in the years 1880-82, accompanied by M. Capus, 

 and starting from Moscow, he entered Turkestan from 

 Siberia, explored part of Bokhara and the mountains of 

 Kohistan and Chitral, and returning home by Samarcand 

 and Bokhara, descended the Amu-daria to Khiva, and 

 finally crossed the desert of Ust-Urt in the depth of 

 winter. That journey, however, only embraced the 

 country north of the Oxus, and the present one was 

 undertaken to complete the exploration of Central Asia. 

 Shortly speaking, the latter journey— that of which this 

 work treats— began at Batum, whither MM. Bonvalot 

 and Capus had gone by ship from Marseilles, and con- 

 tinued through the Caucasus along the south-west shore 

 of the Caspian Sea into Persia, thence into Bokhara. At 

 Chitral, on the borders of Afghanistan, they were de- 

 tained as prisoners by Ishak Khan, of whom we have 

 heard so much lately. He was then in revolt against 

 Abdurrahman, and his captives were not released till 

 the Indian Government interfered on their behalf. 



There is very much to interest us in M. Bonvalot's ac- 

 count of the feelings of the native tribes in that vast region 

 towards England and towards Russia, but that we shall 

 pass over, merely pointing out what is most important from 

 a geographical or ethnological point of view in the work. 

 At Adshi-Cabul, which is on the south-west shore of the 

 Caspian, he says that the population is Turkish, though 

 the country is Tartar. The men are tall, with good 

 features, and are plainly a mixture of Caucasian and 

 Persian. Their dress differs from that of other Ma- 

 hometans in that the tight-fitting upper garments with 

 long skirts are not frequently seen ; they seldom reach 

 below the knee, and are often open at the breast. The 

 head-dress is higher and broader at the top than the 

 usual Mahometan head-dress, and in place of high boots 

 they wear broad slippers or sandals, with very large 

 wooden heels and curled-up toes. The feet are bare, and 

 are covered with woollen socks, which have fantastic 

 coloured figures worked on them. It was the festival of 

 the New Year when the travellers arrived at Adshi-Cabul, 

 and the whole place was en fete. The Mahometans of 

 the region on such occasions dye their hands, beard, and 

 hair a bright red, with henna. The Turkish language was 

 the only one spoken there, but a few stages further on it 

 seemed as if a new world was reached, where the Russian 

 tongue, Russian fashions, Russian cattle and horses, were 

 everywhere. This, it appears, was due to the descend- 

 ants of a body of Russian settlers, called Malakanes, 

 who had left their homes on account of their religion, but 

 it is not quite clear in what respect they differed from the 

 orthodox Russian Church. The country— that is, the 

 Vol. XXXIX.— No. ioii. 



region north-west of Resht— is wonderfully fertile, but the 

 inhabitants suffer terribly from fevers. The waters swarm 

 with duck, teal, herons, and cormorants ; eagles and 

 foxes abound there. 



Further on, still on the shores of the Caspian, may be 

 seen " all the birds of creation." Generally speaking, the 

 ground held by the Tartars is badly cultivated : the men 

 are incorrigible idlers, lying in the fields while the women 

 sow the seed ; and in harvest-time, instead of gathering in 

 the crops themselves, they sell them as they stand in the 

 fields to the mountaineers for about a third of their value. 

 Though there is an abundance of good timber at hand, 

 they live in wretched hovels with thatched roofs, or in 

 huts made of reeds, with a thin facing of mud, and in the 

 coldest weather prefer to lie shivering in their huts to 

 gathering the firewood which lies almost at their hand. 

 They are badly clad, and, as has been said, suffer terribly 

 from the fevers that are so prevalent. A little further 

 south, towards the confines of Persia, though the month 

 was March, the foliage and the flowers were marvellous : 

 wild pomegranate trees and wild briars growing under 

 acacias and beeches were well covered with leaves ; ane- 

 mones, violets, and daisies bloomed everywhere. At Chifa 

 Rud, near Resht, Talichi, a peculiar Turkish dialect is 

 spoken, but some of the people also use Guilek. Rice and 

 fish, of which there is abundance, are the food of the 

 inhabitants, bread being unknown. From Teheran the 

 travellers journeyed to Meshed, travelling almost due east, 

 and skirting the Great Salt Desert, which presented the 

 appearance of heaps of sand that had been lately washed 

 by the waves of the sea. The journey through the moun- 

 tains at this part was very trying. The sun was scorching, 

 and there was not the slightest shelter to be had. The 

 River Tchai flows through the valley which they traversed, 

 and was the only thing in motion in the whole region. 

 The waters of the river are salt. Dehinemek (the " Salt 

 Village ") consists of only a {^^fi houses, and the inhabit- 

 ants of it are as idle as those on the border of the Cas- 

 pian, cultivating just enough to feed their families and 

 to supply passing pilgrims. Here, as in the whole country, 

 everything seems covered with salt It is seen on the 

 walls of the houses and on the banks of the rivers, and 

 and the water one drinks is very salt. There are many 

 travelling saltpetre-makers to be found in this region, 

 who in summer go from place to place wherever they can 

 find materials to work upon. Their mode of operation is 

 a very rough and ready one. Holes in the earth serve as 

 vats and boilers, and below these are placed ovens. 

 Abundance of brushwood supplies them with material 

 for their fires. They collect from the surface of the 

 earth heaps of a compost of salt and animal] manure. 

 This is soaked for twenty-four hours in water, then filtered, 

 and then boiled for twenty-four hours, cleansed, and 

 placed in the sun, so that the water may evaporate. An 

 ordinary workman can make about fifty pounds in a day> 

 and this he sells at the rate of a penny a pound. The 

 workers appear quite contented with their lot, and the 

 industry is preserved in their families for generations. 



Around Bostan and Shahrud, numbers of gypsy en- 

 campments were met. The inhabitants said they were 

 natives of Seistan, and gained their living by making 

 brass wire and working metal. Each family pays a small 

 yearly contribution to the chief of the Shah's footmen. 



