COOKERY IN THE STEPPES. 91 



lofty calico head-dress, a part of which falls over the shoulders and 

 covers up the neck. 



The Kirghiz are fierce, cunning, and often cruel, but the life of a 

 guest is esteemed sacred. They have not so much respect, however, 

 for his property, and do not always resist the temptation of plunder- 

 ing him of any article which suits their fancy. Equestrian exercises 

 and falconry are their favourite amusements. They love the chase, 

 indeed, with a true sportsman's passion ; they love it for itself 

 rather than for the game it secures, for they have no greater dainty 

 than a dish of mutton. Their mode of preparing this viand is ex- 

 quisitely simple. They content themselves with skinning the animal, 

 cutting it into quarters, and plunging it into a, pot, where they keep 

 it boiling in a great quantity of water for a couple of hours. Gener- 

 ally, to .prevent the loss of any portion, they cook with the meat the 

 animal's intestines, without even taking the trouble of cleaning them. 

 The guests arrange themselves in a circle on carpets of felt ; the men 

 in the foremost rank, the women and children behind them. The 

 smoking quarters of mutton are removed from the pot ; each man 

 draws his knife, slashes off a slice, eats a portion, and passes the re- 

 mainder to his wife and children, who speedily finish it. The dogs 

 come in for the bones. Afterwards, bowls of the liquor in which the 

 meat has been boiled are handed round, and not a Kirghiz but 

 swallows, the greasy broth with delight. This broth, koumis, and tea 

 are his customary drink ; the tea is not made in the European fashion, 

 but becomes a veritable soup, prepared with milk, flour, butter, and 

 salt. In every well-to-do aoul the women keep constantly upon the 

 fire a vessel full of this beverage, which they offer to visitors, just as 

 the Turks serve up coffee, the Spaniards, chocolate, and the French, 



To the north of the Great Horde, in the government of Irkutsk 

 (Siberia), we meet with the Agro-Mongolian people of the Buriats, 

 numbering about 35,000 families. They are given to Chamanism, 

 an idolatrous worship widely spread through Eastern Siberia. Their 



