numerous specimens of plants, besides mentioning
many others.
Thus the land occupied by the Kirghese was being
gradually annexed by Russian arms, and ruled by
Russian administration. In 1867 the oblast of Semi-
rechia was formed, including- the Ala-Tau and the
Sergiopol districts, the whole constituting the most
easterly province of Turkistan, and in the following
year the oblasts of Akmolinsk and Semipolatinsk
were readjusted with new boundaries, the town o f
Akmolinsk being made into a provincial capital,
though the oblast administration and all the chief
administration of Western Siberia remained in Omsk ;
and so things remained nearly until the time of my
visit, just before which Semirechia had been detached
from Turkistan, to make, with the two Siberian provinces
of Akmolinsk and Semipolatinsk, the General
Government of the Steppe.
After the subjection of the Kirghese, the Russians
had to meet another enemy in the Khokandians. In
i860 troops were sent from Vierny, under Colonel
Zimmerman, to seize the Khokandian forts of Tokmak
and Pishpek, 160 miles distant. This they accomplished,
thereby exasperating the enemy, who collected
his forces to an estimated number of 40,000, and tried
to take the Russian troops, only 1,000 strong, by
surprise. The attempt failed, thanks mainly to the
skill of General Kolpakovsky, and the Trans-Ili
country was henceforth secured to the invaders. These
engagements, however, with OO ’ the Khokandians from
the Irtish line bring us to a foe the Russians had long
been attacking on the Syr-daria line, from the direction
of Orenburg, which opens up another field of history
to be treated in subsequent chapters.
C H A P T E R X X I .
T H E K I R G H E S E .
Resemblance of Kirghese nomads to Hebrew patriarchs.— Primeval
character of the steppe.— Existence there of Biblical customs:
whence came they ?— Authorities on the Kirghese.— Etymology of
name.— Their sub-divisions, habitat, and numbers.— Origin of
Kara-Kirghese and Kirghese Kazaks.— Appearance of Kirghese :
their physique, diseases, disposition, and character.— Their conscientiousness
concerning an oath.— Their distribution, ranks, and
governing authorities.— Kirghese habitations and tombs.— Dresses,
ornaments, and weapons.
I T was with keen interest that I approached the
tents of the Kirghese. A s a Biblical student,
it had occurred to me how intensely interesting it
would be to witness people living in a stage of
civilization nearly resembling that of the Hebrew
patriarchs, and I had supposed that this might best
be accomplished by a journey up the Euphrates
valley to Palestine.. But I came to the conclusion,
after seeinog the Kirgohese, that in them I had met
with more truthful representatives of the manner of
life of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, than if I had gone
to the soil those patriarchs trod, because the elements
of chanOg e have been less busilJy at work in the
Kirghese steppe than in the Holy Land. Since
Abraham’s day the Land of Promise has seen the
rise and fall of the Jewish nationality. Later, the