66 
EXPLORATIONS IN TURKESTAN. 
several of his sons, but his wives and daughters remained in retirement in another 
part of the mansion. Among the objects of interest that were shown to us with 
justifiable pride was a photograph of chiefs and officers, the Min-bashi among them, 
who attended the coronation of the present Tsar. Although onr conversation was 
retarded b\- the necessity of two translations, the courtesy of our host never failed. 
When we took leave of him, on June 29, at one of his smnmer houses near the 
town of Jellabad (fig. 37), it was with regret that we lost so genial a companion. 
Three of his jiggits went on with us to the limits of his department. For four 
days we found that couriers had been sent ahead to make announcements of our 
coming, and to secure ns a welcome among the people of the uiouutaius. 
Kig. 37.— The Min-Bashi of Kugart and his Men. 
The Kirghiz were always helpful and hospitable. The Russians had described 
them as untrustworthy, and doubtless they resemble people in other parts of the 
world in including some who are lazy and evasive with others who are thrifty and 
truthful. Some of our felts were stolen in a village in the Tuluk Valley, but they 
were soon recovered. A similar experience has befallen me in a mining town in 
Montana. The leaders in the villages seemed to be men of energy and ability. 
They always received us with courteous attention and gave us of their best. In 
the midsummer season of our visit, the rude, mud-house winter villages in the 
valleys were almost deserted. We saw many of the houses open and empty; only 
a few men remained there to look after the irrigation of the wheat and grass fields. 
The rest of the popidation, with all their possessions, w^ere found in the high valleys. 
Around Son Kul in particular, at an altitude over 9,000 feet, we .saw great numbers 
of summer camps. The habit of life was that of seasonal migrants rather than 
