1839] 



Russian Mission from Orenbourg to Bokhara. 130 



middle of a large round tent : his friends were placed in a semi-circle on 

 one side ; on the other seats had been prepared for our accommodation. 

 The floor was covered with a carpet, wearing apparel hung on a cord, 

 and skins of tigers were stretched against the sides; a rich diadem of 

 gold, very high, and ornamented with turquoise and rubies, the head dress 

 of Kirghiz women ; by their side might also be seen raw meat hanging 

 on hooks, large leather bags of mare's milk, and some wooden vessels of 

 different kinds* It was a strange mixture of rich objects placed beside 

 those of the most ordinary description; the love of magnificence and 

 show joined to the tastes and customs of a half savage society. 



After quitting the Ilek,near the road to Tandy -'iaman, on a hill of red 

 stone we discovered some large ammonites, of nearly 2| feet in diame- 

 ter, besides some rich specimens of copper ore, probably brought down 

 by the river* Not far from the junction of the Soui'ouk-sou, four rivers 

 fall into the Tlek, which, as well as the country through which it flows, 

 from this point, is called Bech-tomak, or the five rivers. 



There is a very extensive view from the summit of the Bassagha, the 

 ascent to which is so gradual that one is quite surprised at finding so great 

 an elevation. This hill is composed of crystallized gypsum, and the 

 whole steppe in this neighbourhood, is covered with the same substance. 

 The Bassagha appears to be only about thirty fathoms high, the slope is 

 very easy on the north eastern side, and steep in the south western, a 

 peculiarity observable in almost all the hills, on this side of the Sir. 



Beyond Bassagha, the soil becomes more and more barren— kawout 

 (camel grass) hitherto abundant, becomes uncommon; and nothing 

 meets the eye, but a clayey barren soil producing but a few miserable 

 plants of a species of wormwood ; the ground is burnt and cracked in a 

 thousand places by the excessive heat of the sun. 



We forded the Kouble'ili-temir, after having broken the ice that covered 

 it with a hatchet. This river was about three fathoms broad, and was 

 in some places a fathom deep. The water is good, the bottom sandy, 

 and the banks are covered with reeds; among which the wild boar is 

 occasionally seen. I here observed a gang of Kirghiz, who had been 

 working in the water for about ten minutes to break the ice. They re- 

 turned to the land to deposit their axes, and then without appearing to 

 dread the painful degree of cold that existed, they plunged three times 

 into the water, a striking proof of the physical insensibility of the 

 wandering tribes. The Koublei'li-lemir is merely a brook, and I should 

 not have considered it worth mentioning, but from the circumstance of 

 our having found a great number of belemnites and skeletons of mice at 

 the foot of a precipitous spot, about ten fathoms high. This attracted our 



