AMONG THE KIRGHIZ 
285 
stantly in their yurts, ate the same food they did, rode 
their yaks, wandered from district to district as they did, — 
in a word, became to all intents and purposes a full-blooded 
Kirghiz. They often used to say to me: ‘^Siz indi Kirghiz 
bo oldiniz" (You have become a Kirghiz now). 
Three months earlier I had experienced nothing but 
kindness at the hands of Togdasin Beg, chief of the 
Kirghiz of Sarik-kol, and their intermediary with Jan 
Darin at Bulun-kul. On this the occasion of my second 
visit, he welcomed me like an old acquaintance, showing 
me every attention and honouring me with the choicest 
delicacies of the Kirghiz cuisine. He asserted, that a day 
or two’s rest in his yurt was absolutely indispensable for 
me, before I went on to visit his neighbour Mus-tagh-ata, 
a chieftain who from a sublimer tent commands authority 
over a greater race of subjects. I was very glad to accept 
his insistent hospitality, for I wanted to engage men and 
yaks for the summer. For nth July my host planned a 
grand surprise. Being anxious to show me the full glory 
of Su-bashi and the neighbouring yeylaus (summer camps), 
he made arrangements for a baiga or “mounted games”; 
which, although as but a drop in the ocean when compared 
with a parade of imperial troops, nevertheless for romantic 
and fascinating effects probably exceeded anything house- 
hold troops can produce. 
During the course of the morning the flower of the 
manhood in the district rode towards the higher-lying auls 
in the plain of Irik-yak, where the games were to take 
place. On they rode, troop after troop. Towards noon 1 
too went in the same direction, escorted by a bodyguard of 
42 Kirghiz wearing their best khalats. And what varieties 
of colour ! Khalats of every conceivable shade, check 
girdles, daggers and knives, baldrics with jingling vade- 
mecums — a piece of steel for striking fire, an awl, tobacco 
pouch, etc., head-coverings of every variety, mostly 
however small round black close-fitting caps [calottes), 
embroidered in red and yellow and blue. Closely sur- 
rounded by this gay holiday throng, I involuntarily felt 
in my plain grey travelling suit like a dervish amongst 
