484 FROM NORTH POLE TO EQUATOR. 



happily, they have not been able in any way to influence the man- 

 ners and customs of the people. 



The Kirghiz are a race of true horsemen, and can scarcely be 

 thought of apart from their horses; they grow up with the foal 

 and live with the horse till death. It is not, indeed, on horseback 

 only that the Kirghiz is at home, for he understands how to ride 

 every kind of animal which can bear him at all: but the horse is 

 always, and under all circumstances, his favourite bearer and most 

 cherished companion. He transacts all his business on horseback, 

 and the horse is looked upon as the only steed worthy of a man. 

 Men and women ride in the same fashion, not a few of the women 

 with the same skill as the men. The position of the rider is lazy 

 and comfortable, not very pleasing to the eye of the spectator. The 

 Kirghiz rides in short buckled stirrups, without a leg -guard, 

 touching the front edge of the saddle with the knees only, and thus 

 balancing himself freely; trotting, he raises himself in the stirrups, 

 often standing upright in them, and bending his head so far forward 

 that it almost touches the horse's neck; when the horse walks or 

 gallops, as it usually does, he holds himself erect. He holds the 

 reins with the whole hand. The knout, which is held by the loop or 

 knot, he uses with the thumb, index and middle fingers. Falling out 

 of the saddle is by no means a rare occurrence, for he takes not the 

 slightest heed of ways and paths, but leaves the horse to find these 

 for itself. And even if he be of more careful mood, he will take 

 any path which the beast can tread, with as little hesitation as he 

 mounts the wildest, most intractable horse. Difficult paths do not 

 exist for him ; in fact, path simply means the distance across a given 

 area; what may lie between the beginning and the end of the 

 journey is to him a matter of the utmost indifference. As long as 

 he is in the saddle he expects incredible things of his steed, and 

 gallops uphill or downhill, over firm ground or through bog, morass, 

 or water; without giddiness or any of the fear which seizes him 

 when afoot, he climbs precipices which any other rider would deem 

 impassable, and looks calmly down from the saddle into the abyss 

 by the side of the goat-track, which he calls a road, where even the 

 most expert mountaineer would be unable to repress a shudder. 



