202 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



Photograph by M. O. Williams 



STRIKING A BARGAIN AT MERV 



The buyer and seller grasp hands to feel out the opponent, and when they seem to be 

 in deadlock a third man steps in to arbitrate. If it is a go, they shake hands once more with 

 the money between the palms. 



The Turkoman was a fine, erect man, 

 whose real height was accentuated by a 

 massive, shaggy sheepskin shako till he 

 seemed a veritable giant. To the princely 

 bearing of the Bedouin he added the mili- 

 tant charm of the drum-major. His fine 

 features were cruel but handsome. His 

 nose was straight, his chin strong, and 

 his face oval. He was handsome and he 

 knew it. With American methods he 

 could have won the hand of any wife he 

 chose. But he was forced by custom to 



follow the method of barter and his purse 

 was as thin as his lips. 



Among the Persians, Kirghizes, and 

 Sarts this militant Romeo bought wives 

 for a tenth what a Turkoman woman 

 would cost. But he had to pay the price 

 in the irregular features and smaller 

 bodies of his offspring. Commerce robbed 

 him of his proper mate and put in her 

 place an inferior woman who bore home- 

 liness instead of beauty. Rugs fought 

 with humans and defeated them. But the 



