The Arkansaw traveler., 1885-06-20
The Tureoman.
Nc~ York rtnes

New \ GFk tGcs.
 Any traveller who has crossed the wild upland reg:c= lately occupied by Russia on the bogder ot AighanistAn, and has seen ihe Turcoma an camps and Afghan villages with which Il is studded. has sur veyed at one glance the past and the present Central Asa. The iortreAs-like Afghan hamlet, ~ith its huge gray mud wAll and marrow, -inister loop holes. be- hind which the low. AAt-rooied earrhen novels hGd3!e6 so closely together as barely 10 leave passage room between them, represents the mAraudinR shepherd of the east in his more advanced stage oi hxed residence ID one spot, but still re- tanning enough of hls guerilla tA,ure 10 regard every stranger as an enemy and to build every house ike a fort The light rurcomAn tent of fei, and saplinRA, set up or pulled down in a few moments, typihes the same man in his original cA2:acts as wandetIng heTisms1. fly ing from his enemy or bouncing upon him with equal suddenness, swooptng ofi with hls booty into the dsS hke oae of its own vul,ures, ever occupied with the duties of hnding grass and ~a..r for the hocks and herds that formed his whole possessions, and of anticipating any foe who ~ished to cut his throat by cusiir { the latier's throat hrst
 But despite all these bandit qualities the Taycoman a, home is not a bad iel- los by any means. Drawing brdle on the crest of one of those long, low swells that break at times the gray unending sameness of the vast plains of Central Asia, you see below you a tiny stream, sharply outlined agains, the sunour din z desert by the dark belt oi undergrowth ringing it. On the bank stand dozen or more huge, pointed, dark gray ob. (ecss very much like gigantic dunce caps" around which a number of sheep and cattle are feeding. A shnll cry from q tall figure among them brings out Of the tents haii score Of gaunt, s.newy fellows in soiled. white tunics and high caps of black sheepskin, handling men- acingly the spears aad guns which they snatched have up.
 The TurcomAn Beg" or chief fscs such he is) greets you with a gurrurai kosh amedeid" (you are weicome) more reassuring than the short curved sabre within reach ol his hand, which shows by is nosches that it has once done thrihy busisesA But iis master is now a solerably peaceAble subjed of Russia, converted by that persuasive strategy which nigh; give . hint to the invaders of the Soudan: We never wasted tune in pursuiDg them, but beset the wates-courses whish- er they maSs repair sooner og later, and then ve had them as our mercy" He kiadiy of5ess you a sea, ca a newly Asyed and still bloody sheepskin and hands you an earthen jar of milk and wooden spoos, licking tSs .S::s= c.ssa as a special compliment Should you arrive on the day of anwc nsed plenty, which results from a cameis deash by age or disease, you may preface with the biue, stringy meat a bowl Of brick tea wifh salf Sor sugar and rancid fat los cream The chiefs little brown gns, ~ho csosd aSound you to play with your sash tasseis and the fringe of your ,urban, year a small brAks coin imbedded in the skin of the forehead,.a Turcornan lady's traditional crnamsnf ever sss1s :ss..s denounced its Hsbsew, counfeTpzrt- Bu. ~ith all this hospitality you ~ill do wiseiy not 10 prolong your call, as every Tuf- conan tent swarms with -indizenous ereepers" nos classified by any hotanist-
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