288 TRAVEL, ADVENTURE, AND SPORT. 



several of the grandees of Khiva eat it on principle. 

 Niaz (my fat guide) is a poet, and at my request sung 

 me a song of his own composing. It commences with 

 a loud and long holloa, and ends in a volley of words 

 shot off with the greatest volubility : a good pair of 

 lungs seem to be the chief thing necessary. This is 

 all I can make of Beerdee's Persian translation of the 

 words of the song, which is addressed to some fair 

 damsel : " Oh, h h oh ! I am mounted on an 

 ambling pony, clothed in velvet and Jchincobs, and 

 have eight yards of gold ! " To which proud boast 

 the fair one answers, " Oh h h h h, oh ! I care 

 not for your ambling pony, your velvet khiticobs, and 

 your eight yards of gold. I care alone for you." 

 These Cossacks have no horses, but hundreds of ponies, 

 which generally amble well This ambling is natural 

 to them, and is not acquired by instruction. When 

 a colt has obtained a certain age he is tried, and if he 

 is found to possess the hoped-for amble, his ears are 

 split, to mark his superiority over the less gifted, who 

 are, I fancy, generally devoured. This amble seems 

 to be the Cossack's idea of perfection, and yoksliee 

 yoorgab, a good ambler, is the greatest commendation. 

 The women ride over the country as constantly as the 

 men, and are said to have considerable privileges. 

 My fat guide has been once or twice to Orenburg 

 with letters. I asked him to give me some account 

 of the governor of Orenburg, General Perofsky. 

 "He is a man of a snakish appearance, complexion 



