On the Road to the Caspian 255 



the meaning of the Turkoman terror. For our 

 part, we experienced no bother of any kind when 

 passing through the Turkoman country, not even 

 the loss of a baggage - animal, and for this we 

 were indebted, not to our official position, for 

 that we had left behind, but to the fact of our 

 being Britishers, and also to the kind assistance of 

 the Kussian Commissioner at Gunbaz-i-Qabus, for 

 whose word the Goklan and Yamut have a very 

 profound respect. Unprepossessing as the Turko- 

 man is in his physiognomy, his tout ensemble is 

 very striking. A cloak, often of red or striped 

 Bokhara silk, tied in at the waist, baggy trousers 

 tucked into long crinkled riding-boots, the whole 

 surmounted by a huge bonnet of black or brown 

 sheepskin. About him are hung etceteras in the 

 way of guns, pistols, and knives, and finally, he 

 is mounted on a horse with skin like satin, which 

 he sits like a centaur, and holds dearer than his 

 wife. The figure belongs to a savage and romantic 

 East that is fast passing away. 



As we proceeded west after leaving the Gurgan 

 gorge, the hills on our right dwindled and finally 

 disappeared, while those on the left retreated to 

 become a distant dark wall, so that we presently 

 found ourselves marching through a spacious green 

 steppe of wonderful natural fertility. But these 

 people are herdsmen and bandits, not cultivators, 



