496 FROM NORTH POLE TO EQUATOR. 



boasting is quite natural to him, and is not distorted by any show 

 of false modesty. As far as his means will permit he clothes 

 himself richly, ornamenting his coat and trousers with braiding, his 

 fur cap with the feathers of the horned owl; but he never becomes 

 a mere dandy. The women, as may be imagined, are still more 

 anxious to set their charms in the best possible light, and I was not 

 at all surprised to learn that they prepare from the juice of a certain 

 root a delicate, fragrant, and lasting colouring which they apply to 

 their cheeks in other words, that they paint their faces. 



As a natural outcome of his desire to please, the Kirghiz gives a 

 willing adherence to all the manners and customs of his people. His 

 culture and good breeding manifest themselves chiefly in a strict 

 observance of all those customs which have been handed down to 

 him from the past, and have been materially influenced by Islam. 

 This implies a certain formality and ceremoniousness in all mutual 

 intercourse, but it also puts a check on undue arrogance, and 

 banishes everything unseemly, almost everything awkward, from 

 their social relations, for everyone knows exactly what he has to 

 do to avoid giving offence or making himself disagreeable. 



Even mutual greeting is attended with a certain amount of 

 ceremony which is observed by everyone, and is therefore, of course, 

 quite clearly defined. If two parties of Kirghiz meet, a considerable 

 time is always taken up in the exchange of greetings. The mem- 

 bers of both bands simultaneously lay their right hands over the 

 region of the heart, and stretch the left hand towards the right of 

 the other, whereupon each draws his right hand from his heart and 

 joins it with the left, so that now for an instant all four hands are 

 in contact. At the moment of embracing, both pronounce the 

 Arabic word "Aman" (peace), while beforehand they exchanged the 

 usual Mohammedan greeting, "Salam aleik" or "aleikum" (Peace 

 be with thee, or with you), and the reply, "Aleikum el salam". In 

 this manner every member of one band greets every member of the 

 other; both bands, therefore, when they meet, range themselves in 

 rows, along which one after another runs hastily, so as to give the 

 temporarily-restrained "red tongue" its full freedom as quickly as 

 possible. The shorter method, which, however, is only used in the 



