sitting outside before a fire. ' This was the only prison,
they said in K h iv a ; further, that they made short work
with malefactors, and decided their cases quickly.
J?.e men aPPeared to be fed truly “ with bread o f
affliction and with water o f affliction,” * and after givin g
them a trifle we continued our round, passing in the
course o f the day the gallows.
Having thus spent some hours in looking about the
town we returned late to lunch upon the inevitable
pilau. On the previous day we had heard a story from
the cook’s dominions anent this dish that was flattering
to our nationality. Among the condiments in the
niches in our room was some Russian essence or extract
o f vinegar, and the cooks thinking, I suppose, to give us
something rechercht, and not knowing the strength of the
essence, mixed it freely in the rice, and then discovered
that they had spoilt it, whereupon they made some
more, but declared that the vinegar must be English,
for that the Russians had nothing so strong as th a t !
W e were not called upon for much medical assistance
m Khiva. Their chief diseases are fevers and
ophthalmia, but they have no leprosy or rishta. Sevier
prescribed only for the Divan-beggi, and I think a few
o f his household, who seemed anxious in every way to
make us comfortable.
On our second evening four musicians came to
entertain us one playing a tambour, two others
flageolets, and another a tambourine. W e had been
told by Captain Mirbadaleff to ask Polvan, the son of
Matmurad, for a Khivan flute and for written music for
t e tambourine. T he notes he gave me were written on
ruled paper, with lines numbered in Arabic up to iq
though the notes extend only between lines 6 and 10. I
* 2 Chron. xviii. 26.
heard, too, of a stringed in-
strument called kizhak, a kind
of fiddle. Besides the musicians
were provided three batchas,
who began their dances with
clappers or castanets, but they
were not so clever as the boys
in Bokhara. They had their
hair cut short, and appeared to
be from 15 to 17 years old. As,
usual, a small crowd pressed
into the room, and squatted
against the wall, Tailly among
them, to participate in the fun ;
but when the Divan-beggi
appeared he speedily turned
out the majority and sat down
with us. I had intimated to
him that I should be thankful
for an opportunity to ask him
questions about the khanate,
so that when they had made a
noise for a while, and then
asked if I wished for more, I
was glad to excuse myself on
the ground that I desired conversation
with our host. Ugh !
said one of the musicians, as if
disgusted with our want of
appreciation of their talents.
After this they speedily left
the room, and we fell to— the
Consul, Matmurad, Yakoob,
Sevier, and I— at such a cross-
KHIVAN TAMBOURINE MUSIC.