ity, whom he was constrained to treat with some of his heroic lays. His singing consisted of certain forced guttural sounds, which we might rather take for a rattle than a song, and which he accompanied at first with gentle touches of the strings, but afterward, as he became more excited, with wilder strokes upon the instrument. The hotter the battle, the fiercer grew the ardor of the singer and the enthusiasm of his youthful listeners; and really the scene assumed the appearance of a romance, when the young nomads, uttering deep groans, hurled their caps to the ground, and dashed their hands in a passion through the curls of their hair, just as if they were furious to combat with themselves. And yet this ought not to surprise us. The edu cation of the young Turkoman is in every respect calculated to bring him to this tone of mind. Only one in a thousand can read and write: horses, arms, battles, and robberies are the subjects that exercise, in youth, the imaginations of all. I once heard even the honest Khandjan, who intended to read a lesson to his son, recount that a certain young Turkoman had already kidnapped two Persians, and "of him" (pointing to his son) "he feared he should never be able to make a man." Some customs and usages of the Turkomans are very remarkable, as we have but faint traces of them among the other nomads of Central Asia. But there is also the marriage ceremonial, where the young maiden, attired in bridal costume, mounts a highbred courser, taking on her lap the carcase of a lamb or goat, and, setting off at full gallop, is followed by the bridegroom and other young men of the party, also on horseback; but she is always to strive, by adroit turns, etc., to avoid her pursuers, that no one of them approach near enough to snatch from her the burden on her lap. This game, called Kökbüri (green wolf), is in use among all the nomads of Central Asia. To mention another singular usage, sometimes two, sometimes four days after the nuptials, the newly-married couple are separated, and the permanent union does not begin until after the expiration of an entire year. Another singular custom has reference to the mourning for the decease of a beloved member of the family. It is the practice, in the tent of the departed one, each day for a whole year, without exception, at the same hour that he drew his last breath, for female mourners to chant the customary dirges, in which the members of the family present are expected to join. In doing so, the latter proceed with their ordinary daily employments and occupations; and it is quite ridiculous to see how the Turkoman polishes his arms and smokes his pipe, 'or devours his meal, to the accompaniment of these frightful yells of sorrow. A similar thing occurs with the women, who, seated in the smaller circumference of the tent itself, are wont to join in the chant, to cry and weep in the most plaintive manner, while they are at the same time cleaning wool, spinning, or performing some other duty of household industry. The friends and acquaintances of the deceased are also expected to pay a visit of lamentation, and that even when CHAP. XVI. HISTORY OF THE TURKOMANS. 373 the first intelligence of the misfortune does not reach them until after months have elapsed. The visitor seats himself before the tent, often at night, and, by a thrilling yell of fifteen minutes' duration, gives notice that he has thus performed his last duty toward the defunct. When a chief of distinction, one who has really well earned the title of bator (valiant), perishes, it is the practice to throw up over his grave a joszka* (large mound); to this every good Turkoman is bound to contribute at least seven shovelfuls of earth, so that these elevations often have a circumference of sixty feet, and a height of from twenty to thirty feet. In the great plains these mounds are very conspicuous objects; the Turkoman knows them all, and calls them by their names-that is to say, by the names of those that rest below. Let me conclude this short account of the Turkomans with a still briefer review of their history, in which I shall confine myself to what, in these particulars, I have heard regarded as traditions still commanding credit among them. "We all spring," said to me my learned friend Kizil Akhond, "from Manghischlak. Our ancestors were Szön Khan and Eszen Ili. Yomut and Tekke were the sons of the first, Tchaudor and Göklen of the second. Manghischlak was in the most ancient times called Ming Kischlak (a thousand winter quarters), and is the original * This custom existed among the ancient Huns, and is in use in Hungary even at the present day. In Kashau (Upper Hungary) a mound was raised a few years ago, at the suggestion of Count Edward Karolyi, in memory of the highly respected Count St. Széchenyi. home, not only of those of our race who have separated and migrated to Persia, but of the Ersari, Salor, and the rest of the tribes. Our saints of the olden times, as Ireg Ata* and Sari-er, repose within the confines of Manghischlak; and especially fortunate is he who has been able to visit their tombs. Khandjan told me that, so late as one hundred and fifty years ago, the Turkomans had very rarely any other dresses than those which they prepared of sheepskins, or the hides of horse or wild ass; that nowadays this was all changed, and the only thing that remains to remind us of the old national costume is the fur cap. The animosities prevailing among the different tribes often lead to the reciprocal insulting reproach of "descendants of slaves." The time when they left their common country can not be fixed with exactitude. Ersari, Sarik, and Salor were already, at the time of the Arabian occupation, in the eastern part of the desert, on this side of the Oxus. Tekke, Göklen, and Yomut took possession of their present country at a later period, perhaps in the time of Djenghis Khan and Timour. The change of abode of these last-mentioned tribes took place only by partial emigrations, and, indeed, can not even at the present day be said to be more than half complete, for many Yomuts and Göklens still loiter about their ancient seat with singular predilection. During the Middle Ages, the Turkoman horsemen were for the most part to be met with in the service of the khans of Khiva *Ireg Ata means "the great father" in Hungarian; Öreg Atya, "old father." |