A Queer Beverage. 



In the winter many of the nomads move to the higher valleys 

 where the pasturage is more open, due to the high winds which 

 sweep it bare of snow. 



The home of the Kazak is the familiar " aul," or felt tent, of 

 the same shape as those met with on the Pamirs and in Mongolia. 

 There are few good points about these people, but there is one 

 way in which they appear to be superior to their Kalmuk neigh- 

 bours and that is in the matter of cleanliness, although their 

 other drawbacks outweigh this desirable attribute. 



The food of the Kazaks comprises milk, cream, mutton and 

 horse-flesh, the latter looked upon as a great delicacy. The 

 most popular article of diet amongst them is, however, " kumis," 

 fermented mare's milk, the taste of which must certainly be an 

 acquired one. I have sampled a number of beverages during 

 wanderings on five continents, but have yet to meet anything 

 rivalling " kumis." The drink in question is made in a leathern 

 receptacle and frequently stirred until fermentation, when it is 

 considered fit to drink. It has the reputation of being invigor- 

 ating and constitutes a staple article of diet. Whenever a halt is 

 made at an aul, or a visitor arrives, he is proffered the flowing 

 bowl and does full justice to it. There is no accounting for taste 

 even in Central Asia ! 



The Kazaks are distributed over the land lying to the north of 

 the Thian Shan, but are more in evidence in some valleys than 

 in others, notably along the Jirgalan and eastern and central 

 portions of the Tekkes. The hills to the north of the latter 

 valley are peopled by the Kalmuks, though a few scattered groups 

 of Kazaks are met with in the Ih Valley. 



The Great Yulduz apparently belongs exclusively to the 

 Kalmuks, and no Kazaks were to be seen there. This occupation 

 of territory struck me as being governed on the same principles 

 as formerly obtained amongst the American Indians, where each 

 tribe hved within limits settled by themselves, although inter- 

 tribal warfare was constant. 



The Kazaks are gifted with no martial qualities, in this respect 

 191 



