458 



NATURE 



{March 14, 1889 



They are constantly on the move, and make their tents 

 or huts so lightly that they can dismantle them at a 

 moment's notice. They resemble the natives very much 

 in features, and have the same filthy habits, but they are 

 more swarthy in complexion, and much thinner. With 

 regard to the Turkomans, they are, or rather were — 

 for they have ceased their depredations— the terror of the 

 Persian pilgrims and traders. M. Bonvalot thinks that 

 they have received a bad name which they do not 

 deserve. They are frank, gentle, hospitable, affable, 

 and truthful ; while their victims, the Persians, are the in- 

 carnation of deceit and lying. The Turkomans, he says, 

 have all the good qualities of the Turks, a race which has 

 been more calumniated than any other, but from which some 

 of the more highly esteemed European nations might with 

 advantage learn many things. From Samarcand they jour- 

 neyed to the Amu-daria, whence, completing an irregular 

 curve, they returned to Samarcand. Upon leaving Sari- 

 jui, they came up with a number of Uzbegs, who were 

 coming down from the summer encampments in the 

 mountains to their winter-quarters in the valleys. The 

 men of the tribe ride in front, driving the cattle and 

 horses before them, and the younger children look after 

 lambs, goats, and calves. Some are bareheaded ; others 

 wear a dirty turban. Though they are filthy in their 

 habits, they are wonderfully strong. Their dwellings are 

 strong, but easily taken to pieces. As a rule, the Turko- 

 man is not a nomad, like the Uzbeg; he has not very 

 many cattle, so that it is not necessary for him to move 

 to different pastures with the changes of the seasons. In 

 the valley of the Surkhan they met many encampments 

 of gypsies, who appear to lead the same sort of life all 

 over Central Asia. Their tents are of the most primitive 

 kind — two poles, with a piece of cloth spread over them. 

 From this to Regar the country is very rich, well 

 Avatered, abounding in rice-fields, but, like the other parts 

 of Central Asia where there is a copious rainfall, fevers 

 abound. At Kara-tagh, besides English, French, Russian, 

 and Indian goods, various products of the district itself 

 are sold in the market, as, for instance, rice, barley, 

 wheat, grapes, and dried apricots. In the towns there 

 are many blacksmiths and saddlers, and a few potters, 

 who are very skilful in making and enamelling cups and 

 dishes. Strange to say, the occupation which has the 

 most numerous representatives is that of druggist. A 

 funeral procession amongst the Uzbegs, who regard death 

 as a blessing and not as an evil, is thus described : — 



" A small stream which crosses the road is salt, and we 

 notice a group of men ascending its course with very 

 rapid steps. They are carrying something on a stretcher, 

 but, instead of going as slowly as they can, like bearers 

 of a dead body in the West, they march at full speed, as 

 if they were conveying some one who was very ill, or had 

 met with an accident, to the doctor's. They go across 

 the fields, and stumble in their hurry. They talk loudly, 

 as if they were quarrelling, and there is not the least 

 trace of sadness upon their faces. There are about ten 

 of them, and they are dressed as plainly as usual. . . . 

 In advance are several men with poles, which will be 

 used for forming a vault on the grave, and behind comes 

 an aged mollah, leaning upon a stick." 



The travellers reached Samarcand in December, and 

 were about to abandon the idea of going further, when 

 General Karalkoff suggested that they should try to enter 



India by Pamir. It was worth trying, for nobody had ever 

 before thought of attempting such a thing in winter. The 

 undertaking was a great one, and they took every care in 

 their outfit before setting out. Boots made of double felt 

 with leather soles, with strips of skin protecting the 

 seams, were made for them. Long stockings, made of 

 felt, reaching up to the thigh, lined trousers with leather 

 trousers over them, were the protections for the legs. The 

 body was covered with two garments, one of them made 

 of Kasghar sheepskin with the wool left on. A sheep- 

 skin cap covered the head and ears, and a huge hood 

 of the same material enveloped the whole head and face, 

 with the exception of the eyes. With regard to the food 

 supply, the more remarkable portions were immense 

 numbers of small slabs of bread soaked in fat and baked 

 twice over ; mutton boiled down, salted, and placed in 

 bladders ; roasted millet seed, and dried apricots. The 

 journey really began at Osh on March 6, and for over a 

 month the whole party underwent the severest privations ; 

 the goal, however, was reached at last. We have not 

 space to say much about this journey over the Pamir, 

 one of the most remarkable feats of travel ever accom- 

 plished, but a few extracts in M. Bonvalot's own words will 

 show what the enterprising explorer and his companions 

 went through : — 



" March 13. . . . The variations of temperature are very 

 great, for at 9 a.m. the thermometer marks 75° F. in the 

 sun and 10° F. below freezing in the shade, while at 2 p.m. 

 it is nearly 100° F. in the sun and 3" below freezing in the 

 shade ; at 6 p.m., there are 18° of frost, while at 9.20 p.m. 

 the glass is several degrees below zero." 



" March 17 (when crossing the Alai). We are all of us 

 exhausted and out of breath, devoid of all strength, and 

 nearly blind. We have splitting headaches and a feeling of 

 suffocation. One man is stretched out on his back, close 

 beside his horse, which is lying on its side ; another man is. 

 asleepas he stands with his head resting against the saddle ; 

 a third is whipping his poor horse, to the tail of which he 

 clings like a drowning man to a buoy. Some of the men 

 were bleeding from the nose, and so were the horses, the 

 blood freezing as it trickled down their muzzles, and look- 

 ing like ruby stones. . . At 6 in the morning there were 

 75° of frost." 



On March 22 they reached an altitude of 15,000 feet 

 on Kizilart. On March 27, when at the height of I5,7cx> 

 feet— that is, at the summit of the pass of Kizil-Djek— 

 a terrific snow-storm burst on them. 



" March 30. . . . At 2.20 a.m., with the moon still sO' 

 luminous that I could distinguish objects inside the tent, 

 I go out to look at the thermometer, and find that the 

 mercury has vanished. It has evidently been frozen. 

 Thinking that I may be mistaken, I show the instrument 

 to Capus, and we light a candle, the result being that we 

 find the mercury really has frozen up, and is no bigger 

 than a leaden pellet." 



About the beginning of April they approached human 

 habitations, and here, near the source of the Oxus, they 

 found numbers of monuments to the dead : — 



" The tumuli are built south-west to north-east, so that 

 the dead may have their faces turned towards the holy 

 city. They extend around four mausoleums made of 

 earth, almost double the height of an out (felt tent), and 

 with a frontage of about 30 feet. The cupolas are 

 pointed, and the architecture very simple, as there are no 

 materials handy to attempt anything ambitious. More- 

 over, if a higher building had been erected, the wind,. 



