Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-07-19

tinguish between English and Americans.
hence, Notwithstanding the fact that our
passports were issued by the United
States government, and our permit con-
at the request of the American ambassa-
dor. the police onhciais were possessed
Of the notion that We were English spies.
Comfortable Travelling.
But finally, after the train started, We
were very comfortable in q big compert-
ment made up our own beds. wrapped
our steamer rugs around US and laid
down to pleasant dreams. There IL no
inducement for a passenger to sit up
late upon a train in Turkestan. for
the compartments are lighted with
single candle, set in a little glass box
does not make enough light to throw
a shadow. The motion of the train is
as soothing as a rocking chair. The speed
is never more than twenty miles an
hour; the track is smooth: there is no
jolting and what motion there is is as
regular as the ticking Of a clock.
We awakened early in the morning at
the kfzilerrat, three hundred and fifteen
versts, or about two hundred and twenty
Ave miles, east Of krasnovodsk. where we
saw our first Turkomen. our first
Kibitka, as the curious tent is called in
which they live, and our first camels.
which were slowly pacing off the desert
in long caravan over a trail which
runs parallel with the railway track:
Samovars of hot water and bottles Of
milk and big piles of bread, and bowls
of hard-boiled eggs were the first things
We saw when We looked out Of the win
dow OF the train at the station, and these
were offered by q row of Russian women
with white handkerchiefs tied over their
heads, who stood behind tables upon
which their wares were spread. And
they were well patronized by the third
class passengers.
Savage Looking Barbarians.
Crowds of savage-Iooking barbar;ans
were standing around the platform here
as We saw them afterward at all the
other stations. We had seen several
Turkomen at Baku and at krasnovodsk
and three or four had crossed the Cas-
plan sea on the same steamer, but they
were more or less diluted. so to speak. or
corrupted by contact, and these were the
real thing. They looked very fierce, but
we were assured that this was due
chiefly to the sheepskin cap, with its
shaggy wool hanging down over their
swarthy faces and piercing black eyes.
The Turkoman is of Monaghan origin.
a Mohammedan Tartar and a nomad,
with large fiocks and herds and droves Of
camels and horses. Like the Bedouins
of Arabia, they have their regular camp
ing places and their regular trails. and
follow the pasturage as the season wanes.
They inhabit the western part of Turke-
stan-the deserts along the eastern shore
CT the Caspian sea-and until they were
overcome by the Russians had govern
ment of their own under a khan or over
lord. whose authority was acknowledged
by the chieftains of many local tribes
and clans. They are entirely illiterate,
but are gifted with remarkable intelli-
gence, and many Of them have acquired
large wealth, which is chiefly represented
goats. Their dress is very striking ana
varies according to the wealth and posi-
ton Of the wearer. Their faces are dis
tinctly Monaghan and they have slanting
eyes like the Chinese, but resemble the
Koreans more closely.
Costume Of the Turkoman.
An ordinary Turkoman wears a pair Of
wide cotton trousers over his bare brown
legs and usually bare feet, although in
the winter he puts on boots with high
heels and toes which turn up Chinese
fashion This may be one of the evidences
of his Monaghan origin. He wears no
stockings, but winds strips Of wooden
cloth around his legs to protect them
from the cold. In summer the higher
class wear sandals.
His shirt Of gay colors is usually open
to show his hairy breast, and over 1t he
wears a tunic OF bright colored cotton
which reaches TO his knees. And over
that long garment like an old-fashioned
dressing gown. Of quilted cotton of the
most brilliant colors and conspicuous pat
terms. yellow, pink, blue. scarlet and green
being the favorite hues. 1t is made with
wide open flowing sleeves-a1so Chinese
fashion The richer Turkomen wear silk
instead of cotton and present gorgeous
spectacle.
I On the head is an enormous shakko or
cylindrical hat OF sheep or lambs wool,
usually very shaggy and 1t looks heavy,
hot and greasy. Every man wears a
beard They never shave except on either
side of the lower lip. leaving an imperial.
They wear sashes of brilliant colors tied
around their waists in which they carry
their valuables, and wherever they appear
in this fantastic apparel you may be sure
that they make conspicuous figures.