302 Travels in Central Asia. [No. 3. 



medan, half savage, named Joonjuk, dependant on Aunwah. The 

 post is on top of a precipice, but under precipitous mountains all 

 round, so that the sun never shines there. 



Avalanches from opposite snowy peaks — portions leap the river. 



8^. — Halt — the proper name of Kafirs is Ziak Kaioon ; story of 

 two Europeans who were imprisoned and died 60 years ago. 



The Moorzooms still worship sun and moon, and respect idols. 

 The Koo or Khookraw — (dirty Khoo,) is a wandering thieving tribe 

 — worship goats and silver, wear their skins in dress, or any black 

 colour, but red ibex or white never. They eat their meat raw. They 

 eat the heart and liver of their own dead. 



The Kafirs generally either bury their dead erect in snow, or 

 expose them on some bare precipice, first extracting the heart and 

 liver, which are burned on an altar, then kept ; or occasionally as a 

 sign of affection, the ashes are mixed with herbs and eaten. 



Here procures a man of medical character, Shaubul Ali, and with a 

 son of Tunguth Shah determines to endeavour to penetrate into the 

 Kaionook (Kafir) country. 



9th. — Sets off with Mold, nephew of Shaubul, Tunguth' s son and 

 two other Moorzooms, Joy Earn and the Therbah, the Syud, &c. 

 agreeing to wait at Anony for their return. 



Eugged rocks and snow, up and down to ravine with a torrent of 

 melted snow to Khoest, the remains of an old fort and some caves 

 in side of a precipice of immense height, with remains of ruins at 

 the top. 



The only residents are Moorzoom fakeers turned Zai. The Zai 

 would not touch the Cashmeer and Kabul Mahommedans, but had 

 no objection to the Hindu and Kafir. Mamoo they call Mahommed, 

 and consider him a priest of the Zai order. Zai is the hero-founder 

 of the Khaioo tribe and son of Ool, the god of fire ; as an idol he 

 is worshipped as a human head surrounded by fire. That at Zai 

 was cut out of granite, five feet square, in a deep recess, which he 

 was not allowed to approach nearer than ten yards, a line of blood 

 and ochre marking the holy boundary. It was situated at the end 

 of a rocky platform, surrounded by lakes, to reach which they first 

 descended the ravine and then ascended a smaller crevice some 

 30 or 40 yards long. 



