498 FROM NORTH POLK TO EQUATOR. 



dips three of them at a time into the broth, and puts them into the 

 mouth of one of his f ellow-f easters after another. It would be an 

 insult to the giver if the receiver did not at once swallow the pieces, 

 even though, if they be large, he chokes so frightfully that he 

 becomes blue in the face, and urgently requires the assistance, 

 which his neighbours immediately give by striking him on the back 

 with their fists, to render the process of swallowing easier. The 

 guest, on the other hand, must never give more than three pieces, 

 for if he exceeds this number, if he stuffs five at a time into the 

 mouth of a man, and if the man is choked in the attempt to 

 swallow the too generous gift at once, the giver must compensate 

 the bereaved family to the value of one hundred horses, while if 

 anyone chokes over the three pieces, he is not held responsible. 

 After the meat has been consumed, the chief guest hands round 

 the vessel containing the broth, and each drinks from it according 

 to his necessities or desires. At the close of the meal, though not 

 until all have washed their hands, every well-to-do host, whose 

 mares are yielding milk at the time, hands round koumiss, and this 

 much-loved beverage is received by everyone with obvious rever- 

 ence. If anyone has not yet taken part in the meal, he comes now 

 to refresh himself with this nectar. They drink to intoxication, for 

 the Kirghiz has as great a capacity for drinking this highly-prized 

 milk- wine as he has for eating, and in both respects he is anything 

 but modest or moderate. 



But the ceremony attending ordinary visiting is nothing com- 

 pared with that observed in connection with all important family 

 events, such as weddings or burials. In the case of the former, the 

 joy finds vent in much practical joking; in the latter, mourning is 

 accompanied by ceremonies indicative of respect to the dead. 

 Wooing and weddings, burial and memorial celebrations give rise to 

 a whole chain of festivals. 



As among all Mohammedans, the father woos on behalf of his 

 son, and pays the future father-in-law a varying, and often very 

 considerable sum. A matrimonial agent, who is proclaimed as such 

 by the fact that he wears one leg of his trousers over and the other 

 under his boot, makes his appearance in the yurt in which a daughter 



