354 
Overland Journey to India. 
[No?. 
though they are glad of a text that they can turn to their own purposes ; and they 
give great latitude to the one which authorises them to make war upon Kafirs. 
The hospitality of a Turkman is of that sort which will induce him to give you 
bread in his tent, and to fall upon you when you are beyond its precincts ; and 
though he will keep good faith with one of his own race, I doubt whether he 
would not find a law to evade a pledge given to a stranger if it was much his inter- 
est to do so- They are great thieves, greedy, and cruel ; and it is I imagine 
chiefly to the cowardice of the Persians, that they owe any reputation for bravery : 
they make a dash upon a mass of frightened people, cut down a few of the least 
valuable persons, and do not find it difficult to drive off the greater part of the rest; 
but when they exchange blows with the Kurds, who are good soldiers, they are 
general ly worsted. 
The men, who have an overweening idea of the consequence of their sex, and of 
their part of it especially 13 , lounge about idly when at home; but they are capable 
of great exertion when any thing is to be gained by it, aud considering the immense 
fatigue that both they and their horses can undergo upon thescantiest fare, it must 
be admitted that few irregular troops are equal to them. We expected to find 
them the very Parthians of old, and to witness prodigies done with the bow and 
arrow ; but we hardly saw this weapon : the sword and light lance, were in gene- 
ral use, and all who could afford it had a gun of some sort or other. 
The dress of the men is very similar to that of the (Jsbegs: a canieze , » n 
zerjamas 15 , alkhalik 10 , and a camel hair abba 17 belted round the waist over all - 
hessian boots with pointed iron tipped heels, and a sheep skin cap; but the two first 
named articles frequently suffice them, and they are not particular about went mb 
any nice article of clothing that they happen to light upon in a stranger’s wardrobe. 
The women are dressed in a long chemise, open in front, which reaches down to 
the naked heels, and covers I believe a pair of zerjamas. They wear the hair i 
two long plaited tails, with a bunch and ornament at the end : young gi> I s P ar 
theirs “ a la Madonna,” but it is the privilege of a married woman to put u P on 
head a heavy and ugly cap, something like a hussar’s : from the back of 1 ' 
drops a red silk scarf, and in front are strung as many gold coins as the ns 
can afford. ^ 
The Turkmans marry at a very early age. Women are esteemed among them 
cording to their knowledge of the “ manage;” consequently, a widow is mou ^ 
request than an unmarried girl. They have very arbitrary laws in regard to ^ 
progeny : children born of other than Turkman fathers and mothers, are called 
(literally, slaves), and neither they nor their descendants ever lose the appell ' ltl0 * 
though they live among, and on terms of general equality with the Eegs or tree ^ 
In speaking of them, a man will say, Koul-e Otaboi, Koul-e Yelgoi, &c. The ter ^ 
not one of reproach, but the Turkmans of unmixed descent do not from custo ^ 
termarry with them, and retain certain peculiar privileges, the greatest o ^ 
extends eveu to the life of a Koul, which an Eeg may take without entailing I ^ 
himself the blood feud, which would be the consequence of his killing <» * iee ^ 
This privilege has its limits, for the freemen of a tribe esteeming themsel' 
c t . and wee 
tectors of the Kouls who live with them, would resent an abuse or u; A 
the 
13 The Syed once saying toPirwali, that be had some thoughts of setthu* 
desart, and asking (or his daughter to wife, was answered by this dirty am 1 ^ 
old villain— Nay, nay, Syed Aga, a joke’s a |oke, but nothing of that iryou p eu 
14 Trowseis. 16 Shirt. Vest. 17 Cloak. 
