River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1918-06-13

or In bad weather by tunduk or
large flap of felt. Inside there is no
furniture but the ground, which con-
stitutes the floor, is covered with the
finest embroidered felts and rugs from
Samarkand. The sides are hung with
gorgeous silks and large silk cushions
are profusely distributed.
When guests are expected, the fam
lily hangs their brightest clothes and
richest furs on ropes which stretch
across the tent, and the whole effect
is beautiful and extremely luxurious
Everyone sits on the ground or re-
clines on cushions and, when food is
served (Which is a continuous per-
formance), small round table is
brought in, about six inches high.
The only disconnected thing in the
tent is the hunting eagle, which sits
in the background on his perch, sigh
ing for the return of winter.
The Kirghiz are a short, thick-set
race, with coarse black hair on their
heads but with little hair on their
faces. Their complexion is a dark oil
i've brown and the young people have
pleasant rosy glow in their cheeks;
their features have many of the Mon
gOlian characteristics. The race is
much mixed, however, and individuals
of Turkish and Semitic cast of fea-
lures are not lacking. They are
neither ugly nor beautiful, but their
expression is kindly and gentle; their
teeth are usually white and often en-
dure to old age unblemished. They
never walk or perform any manual Ia
Dor, and their hands and feet are al
most invariably small.
They are perfect horsemen in their
own peculiar style of riding; they sit
on tiny saddles with very short stir
rups. No man could ride on such
saddles if he were not encased, as
they are, in layer upon layer of thick
cotton-wadded clothes and furs (usu-
ally sheepskins), and none of our race
would consent to present the picture
which they do when they sit perched
high on their small ponies, stuffed out
twice or thrice their, natural girth.
Winter Their Hard Time.
The winter is a hard time for man
and beast. 1t is seven months long,
and the wind never tires of blowing,
while the thermometer sinks to so and
60 degrees below zero. When the biz
Zard blows, the air is full of binding
snow, and when the sun shines, as it
does sometimes, the snow becomes
covered with a hard crust, and then
the stock suffers cruelty. Not so much
the horses, for they are naturally
tough and can paw through the crust,
but the cattle are more helpless and
the sheep and goats entirely so, and
they must be herded where the snow
is soft or where there is none, or they
must be fed from the small supply of
wild hay which has been saved dur
ing the summer. Only the camel is
safe, with his long hair protecting his
uncouth body, and large soft eyes
which can look straight into the storm,
and with his two Jumps of fat, on
which he can live till the stormy time
passes and spring comes again.
The only relief which the people
have from the tedium of winter is
sport, of which they are very fond.
They have few firearms and only use
them when they hunt the bighorn
sheep. Then they shoulder a muzzle-
loading, smooth-bore, single-barrel
rifle about four feet six inches long,
whose barrel is so heavy that it must
be supported by wooden crutch at
its muzzle end. The smaller animals
they hunt with eagles, in the training
and handling Of which they are skill
full, and a good eagle will, in a season,
catch sufficient hares and foxes and
wolves to furnish enough pelts for
clothing all the jewellers in the Aool
with the furs which are SO necessary
to them.
The Kirghiz practice few arts or
trades on a very small scale and fire.
quently display considerable sense
of artistic thoroughness. During the
winter the women spin thread both of
camel's hair and sleeps wool, not with
a wheel, but with a little spindle, which
can be compared to child's top. In
the summer they weave the thread in
to narrow strips. A stake is driven
into the ground outside one of the tents
and here the weaving commences and
proceeds across the Steppe indefinitely
until the diligence of the weaver or the
supply of thread fails. CameFs hair is
preferred for cloth and the result is a
strip, about 10 inches wide, of dull
brown cloth, rather heavy and eternal
~ wear-proof.