FAMILY AND SOCIAL LIFE AMONG THE KIRGHIZ. 507 



amusement. The different ages of the child are described by the 

 name of some animal; thus it may be "as old as a mouse, a marmot, 

 a sheep, or a horse ". When a boy reaches the age of four years, 

 he is placed for the first time on the back of a horse about the same 

 age, richly adorned and saddled with one of the children's saddles 

 which are usually heirlooms in a family. The happy parents 

 promise all sorts of pretty things to the independent little rider, 

 who has, for the first time, escaped from the protecting arms of his 

 mother. Then they call a servant or some willing friend, and give 

 horse and rider into his charge to be led from one yurt to another, 

 to announce the joyful event to all their relatives and friends. 

 Wherever the little boy goes, he is warmly welcomed and over- 

 whelmed with praises and dainties. A festival in the father's yurt 

 celebrates the important day. 



The child's instruction in all that he requires to know begins 

 about his seventh year. The boy, who in the interval has become 

 an accomplished rider, learns to tend the grazing herds, the girl 

 learns to milk them, and to perform all the other work of a house- 

 wife; the son of rich parents is taught to read and write by a 

 mollah or anyone able to impart such knowledge, and later he is 

 instructed in the laws of his religion. Before he has completed his 

 twelfth year his instruction is at an end, and he himself is ripe for life. 



The Kirghiz honours his dead and their memory even more than 

 he does the living. Every family is ready to make the greatest 

 sacrifices to celebrate the funeral and memorial feast of a deceased 

 member of the family with as much pomp as possible; everyone, even 

 the poorest, strives to decorate as well as he can the grave of his 

 departed loved ones; everyone would consider it a disgrace to fail 

 in paying full respect to any dead person, whether relative or not. 

 All this they have in common with other Mohammedans; but the 

 ceremonies observed at the death and burial of a Kirghiz differ 

 materially from those customary among others of the same faith, 

 and they are, therefore, worthy of detailed description. 



When a Kirghiz feels his last hour approaching, he summons all 

 his friends, that they may make sure that his soul gets into Paradise. 

 Pious Kirghiz, who are expecting death, have the Koran read to 



