AKSU TO SHATTA, IN TEKKES 59 



Kalmaks are the dominant race, and from them 

 is formed what may be called the military police 

 of the district. They are Buddhists, wear their 

 hair in short pigtails like the Thibetans do, 

 and they took great interest in us as having 

 come from Ladak. Always cheery and willing 

 to oblige, they have excellent manners, and 

 never let their curiosity get the better of them, 

 seeming intuitively to know when their visits have 

 lasted long enough. Of course, they don't wash 

 much ; but that is a detail, and, in spite of it, the 

 more I saw of these people the better I liked them, 

 which is more than I can say of the others. They 

 have a language of their own, but many of them 

 speak Turki, and some a little Russian as well. 



The Kirghiz and Kazaks are both Sart races, 

 and call themselves Mahommedans ; but their re- 

 ligion appears to be purely nominal. The Kazaks 

 have a considerable amount of Mongolian blood 

 among them, and their features often show distinct 

 traces of it. Both are lazy, stupid, and not at all 

 addicted to speaking the truth, except when they 

 see a special reason for doing so. The Kalmaks, 

 on the other hand, are almost invariably truthful, 

 and, if ignorant of the subject under discussion, 

 will say so, instead of drawing on their imagi- 

 nation. 



All three always go mounted, rarely walking if 

 they can help it ; but the Kalmaks can walk, if 



