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The heart of a continent : vol.1 |
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the march we reached a Kirghiz encampment of twenty-two
tents. Here were the first Kirghiz I had met; but most of
the men were with their flocks and herds, higher up on the
mountain-sides, and it was only the very old and the very
young that were left down below with what might be called
the heavy camp equipage. Having no tent of my own, and
there being no public inn, I was obliged to do as the people
of the country do, and seek the hospitality of the inhabitants
of the tents. This was, as usual, readily given. We rode up
to a tent, and Rahmat-ula-Khan went in, said we were
travelling to Kashgar, and asked for accommodation for the
night. In this way I found myself quartered in a tent with
four very old ladies, one of whom was a great-grandmother,
and the youngest a grandmother. They were very hospitable
old ladies, and we took a mutual interest in each other. The
tent was similar in construction to the yurts of the Mongols,
but these Kirghiz seemed much better off than any of the
Mongols I had met, or than the Kirghiz we afterwards saw
on the Pamirs. They were well clothed in long loose robes
of stout cotton cloth — generally striped — of Russian manu-
facture. Round the tents were piles of clothes and bedding
for the winter—good stout felts and warm quilts; and rows
of boxes to contain the household goods and treasures. A
small portion of the tent was always partitioned off, and there
were kept all the supplies of milk, cream, and curds, which
form the staple food of the Kirghiz. On the whole, the tents
were very clean and comfortable, and by living en famille
with these Kirghiz, I got to see a great deal more of their
customs and habits than I otherwise should have done.
Meanwhile, while I was looking round the tent, my
hostesses were examining all my kit, and showing great
interest in it. I had to take off my boots and socks, and it
so happened that my socks had holes. This immediately
appealed to the feminine instinct; they were whisked away,
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