The Sun.
London, England, 1844-03-19 00:00:00

ETHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

At the meeting on Wednesday, Sir James Clark,
Bart., M.D., and Messrs. G. Dressler, H. S. Cuming,
James Tounere, and T. T. Spicer were elected
members.

After announcing the donations since the last
meeting, which were very numerous, the Secretary
proceeded to read the paper for the evening—" On
the Yamal and Goklan tribes of Turkomania, by the
Baron Clement Augustus de Bode," the fruits of his
personal observations of this most interesting but im-
perfectly known people. The Goklans inhabit the
country to the west of the Alburs, and the Yamfids
to the west of the Goklans, up to the eastern shores
of the Caspian Sea. Of the former, there were some
years ago 12,000 families, but they are greatly
thinned; of the latter, there are now between 40,000 and
50,000 families. The Goklans asribe their origin to
two brothers, while the Yamfids are said to be the de-
scendants of four brothers. They follow the creed of
Mahommed, possess corn-fields, rice plantations, and
vegetable gardens, and visit the bazaars of Asterabad
to exchange the fruits of their industry, not only in
this respect, but in goods they manufacture, such as
felt and woven carpets, as well as sheep and horses
from the live stock they rear, for the silks of Anezane
and the cottons of Khorassan. "Of the Turkoman
character," the Baron " regrets that he could find
but very few redeeming qualities to palliate the evil
propensities of their nature." The Turkomans ob-
serve a difference in their children by Turkoman
mothers, and by the Persians, whom they capture,
and the Kasakhs, whom they purchase from the
Uzbecks of Khiva. They of the pure race enjoy
privileges of which the half-breds are deprived.
For instance, they are obliged to choose wives
from among themselves, or from the Persians and
Kasakhs. The Turkomans are Mongolian featured,
by no means ill-looking, and a large proportion of
the younger of the female community are considered
by the Baron " as fair specimens of pretty women."
Ihe lads marry at fourteen and fifteen, and the girls
at ten and twelve, but they are maintained by their
parents for many years afterwards. The greatest
respect the Turkomans can pay to the dead is to bury
the body immediately. Among the Yardids there
are individuals who possess upwards of 1,500 sheep,
200 camels, 30 mares, and as many captive human
beings. They are great horse-racers and chess-
players. The President, in adjourning the meeting
to the 10th of April, when a paper by Captain T.
Postarus, " On the Biluches of Sinde,' is the sub-
ject, read the following extract from the Journal des
Debats of March 8, as an interesting feature
in the progress of ethnology in France :—" M. le
Prince de Joinville lately gave a private audience to
the Council of the Ethnological Society, composed of
Messrs. Milne, Edwards, Charles Lenormant,
D'Avezac, Imbert des Motelettes, and Gustave
d'Eichthal. The Prince conversed with them on the
means necessary to be pursued in order to collect
from all quarters of the globe materials for the study
of the various races of mankind; and dec
i lared his ix-
tention of affording his active assistance n furtherance
of the objects of the Sciety.". The subject of the
Baron's paper just now is particularly interesting, as
it makes us acquainted with the people with whom
Dr. Wolff will have to deal in his perilous undertaking
in search of Col. Stoddart and Capt. Conolly.

• HIGHLANDERS IN INDIA.
Seldom does the Indian mail arrive without bringing
sorrowful tidings to some of us; and we feel ourselves
called on, at present, to notice an event which is deeply
deplored in this place. This is not the first time we have
had to notice our brave townsman, Captain George G.
M. Cobban, of her Majesty's 50th regiment of Foot; but
we have now the melancholy task of recording his death.
He fell in one of the last charges which completed Gen.
Grey's brilliant victory at runnier on the 29th Decem-
ber. While gallantly leading on his company to capture
some guns, which were keeping up a most destructive
fire, he received a grape shot in the chest, when close to
one of those guns ; and his commanding-officer, Lieut.-
Colonel Anderson, was severely wounded by the same
ball. In the language of a friend (his intimate acquaint-
ance, Major Petit), it must be some consolation to his
relations to know, that, " the service, by the death of
Captain Cobban, has lost an excellent officer and a gal-
lant soldier, and the regiment been deprived of a friend
universally and sincerely regretted." His body
was carried into camp, and buried the next evening.
Among those mentioned with approbation by Sir
Hugh Gough, in his dispatch to the Governor-Gefieral,
is Lieutenant W. Fraser Tytler (son of Sheriff Tytler),
and who is Deputy-Assistant-Quartermaster-eneral ;
Major Grant (also a native of this district), the Deputy-
Adjutant-General of the army; and Lieutenant Mac-
donald (son of our late respected townsman, Dr. Mac-
donald) of the 2d Madras Light Cavalry. From a private
letter, we learn that Lieutenant Macdonald behaved with
great gallantry. In personalconffict he severely wounded
two of the enemy, and slew a third, whose sword he
secured as a trophy of his success. He acted as one of
the aides-de-camp to Sir Hugh Gough, and had the
honour of communicating the result of the battle to the
Governor-General, Lord Ellenborough, whom he also
conducted to the tent occupied after the victory by Sir
Hugh Gough.—lnverness Courier.

At the Loncfon adjourned sessions; a license for the
sale of spirits was granted to Mr. Maxhay, fottlia Hall of
Commerce, in Threadneedle-street.