believe for bruising it also, whilst in a third was a
child amusing himself with a bird tied by a string.*
We managed to purchase a few curiosities from these
nomads ; but the guide, seeing our bent, said he would
take us to some Turkomans who were living in houses
at Krasnovodsk.
We therefore returned, and saw something of the
town. T he most striking object is the fortress on the
seashore, a large rectangular space, enclosed on the
three sides by a high, well-built, stone wall, and having
g o v e r n o r ' s h o u s e a n d s t o r e s a t k r a s n o v o d s k .
within it the Government offices, officers’ houses, and
small barracks. T h e place gave one the idea of a
depot for stores, which are sometimes packed under
the useful Kirghese kibitka, side by side with the less
bulky Russian linen tent. Some of the boats on the
shore I noticed were of very primitive make, with flat
bottoms, and simply cut out of the trunk of a tree.
* A child’ s plaything, as old as the time of Job (xli. 5), “ Wilt thou
play with him as wTith a bird ? ” ; or, as Renan translates -
“ Joueras-tu avec lui cofflme avec un passereau ?
L ’attacheras-tu avec un fil pour amuser tes enfants ? ”
The Turkomans, Persians, and Armenians live without
the fortress in flat-roofed, stone houses. Into some
of these we were led through narrow passages, and
shown a variety of massive but coarsely-made jewellery
> chiefly in the form of amulets worn on the breast.
We had an opportunity also during our stay of seeing
something of the keenness of the Armenians, who in
commercial transactions outwit even the Jews. I
intimated that I wished to sell my two horses, whereupon
some Armenians came to offer me for them ¡os.
each. I deferred the immediate acceptance o f the
offer, thinking I might have further need of them,
whereupon the fellows came on the morning of the
day I was leaving to say that they could give now
only 40^. each ; but rather than be taken advantage of
thus, and remembering that I might need them in
Baku, I determined to take them across the Caspian.
Rosy and Nazar called the day after our arrival, to
say that they had secured some freight for a homeward
passage, and nominally to bid us good-bye, but hinting
also that a little more sugar, etc., would be acceptable.
On giving it, I enjoined upon Nazar to take care of
the letter to the Governor, upon which he swore in
Oriental fashion, pointing to his head,* and set off to
recross the desert.
We started on the evening of the 24th. I brought
my baggage and steeds on board the Kumo, bound
for Baku, and it seemed to savour somewhat of home
when I found that the boat was built in London, and
had done service first on the coast of Finland, and subsequently
had been brought via Petersburg, through
the canals to the Volga, and so into the Caspian. The
first mate, too, though a Russian baron, had been in
* “ Neither shalt thou swear by thy head ” (Matt. v. 36).