termed krout, and koumiss prepared from the milk of
mares. They are governed by begs or heads of families, by
behadis and khans. They are Sunnite Moslims* Among
them is preserved the revenge of blood, which leads to
acts of atrocious cruelty.
All accounts agree in ascribing to the Kirghis the broad
Turanian form of countenance and the other physical characters
erroneously considered as peculiar to the Mongolian
race. Pallas says that, like the Kalmuks, they have'
crooked or bowed legs, which he attributes to their riding
so much on horseback. Count Meyendorff says, that the
Kirghis have not features so strongly marked with the
traits of this physiognomy as the Kalmuks, who are
well known to belting to the Mongolian nation. ^Nor are
the Kirghis so corpulent as the Kalmuks. I shall cite thé
accounts of some other travellers who have: lately visited
the Kirghis.
The German travellers M. M. Zwick and Schill, if® the
account of their journey in the steppes, give a similar report.
The idiom of the Kirghis is so analogous to that of the
Kasan Tartars, that these writers could only perceive ! a
dialectic difference between them. The physiognomy of
the Kirghis however displayed a remarkable resemblance
to that of the Mongoles.*
Lieutenant Wood has described from personal observation
and in a very graphical manner-the Kirghis hordes’ who
inhabit the lofty region of Pamer. He says, that “ although
their features are iChinese, their complexions are fair and
even rosy.”+ In Stature the Kirghis are under the middle
size. Of a kyl numbering sevèn men the tallest was five feet
five inches and a half in height. Their countenance is
disagreeable : the upper part of the nose sinks into the face,
leaving the space between their deeply-seated and elongated
eyes without the usual dividing ridge : the bone immediately
above the eye is protuberant, but slants back more abruptly
than in Europeans : their cheeks^ large and bloated,
* Zwick trad Schill, Journal of a Journey from Sarepta to the Kalmuk
hordes in Astrakhan, 1823.
' t Wood, JOumey to the Sources of the Oxus, p. 242.
look as if pieces fof; flesh had been daubed upon them :
a short beard-covers the chin, and in those individuals who
have more luxuriant hair the. .beard has a natural curl.
Their- persons are not muscular. Their »complexions, are
darkea#|^l^fl" ëxpbèure to all weathers rather than by
fhppsun. The »‘women a?e rathf^l good-looking, are of
a delicate form 'like^thb, Hazaras and make good wives.
Hè remarks in several plaèes-'ori- the ruddy and healthy
complexions of -the»;Kirghis females.?^ He says that^f the
Kirghis resembi-ët the:-Uzbeks ?,©f Kunduz, but the dif-
ferèWee^bétween a g tempërate and a rigorous climate is
observable-in the wellvproportionedtframe of the »Uzbek
and win the stünéed- growth .of the Kirghis. They profess
to be related to the-.Uzbeks and speak .nearly khe^.same
la n g u a g e .” ' 4 W - '
B lum e n b a c h d n .h is D ecad es h a s given* ttó ^ êg iu ie o f a s k u ll
o f a K irg h is^K a sa k , an d h e says th a t he> h a s a n o th e r c ra n ium
o f th é sam e race' in h is Collection w h ic h isfcpreeisely s im ila r
to th a t w h ich h e h a s e x h ib ite d . . B o th , co n firm th e sta te -
m e n te o f'K la p ro th , th a t th e K i r g h i z re sem b le th e »Mongèied
in th e 'S h ap e ; o f th e ir h e a d an d fe a tu re s^ I n b o th o f th ese
skulls^ th e face is wide, b y th e3 la t e r a l p ro je c tio n o f th e
* ê tó é k -b o n e s , th e m a la r p o rtio n b f | M u p p e r, m a x illa ry
bom p re s e n tin g a plan® su rfa c e , a n d d isp la y in g bos fu rrow
o r dep ressio n s: th e fo reh e ad is r a th e r n a rrow e r a n d th e
o rb its d e e p e r th a n ls -g r tiT a |ly t h e ^ i i i n i M o n g o lia n s k u lls .
Such are- the characters noticed by Mumenbach,* He describes
the head -as having very strongly-marked characters
of the Mongolian form and as differing not from the cranium
of a Kalmuk. He considers it to be the skull of a Cosak of
the Don, but as the Don Cosaks are of Slavonian origin
and ‘strongly resemble the Russians and Poles,f it is more
probable that this skull, which Blumenbaeh terms Calvaria
Casacci Donensis, is one belonging to. the Kirghis Kasak
* Btómenbaeli bas figured another craniuib ra^is]jpU«&iomwhich he recdyed-
from Von Asch, who has contributed many skulls'to his museum from Siberia.
—See Decades Craniorum', <tec.
gee Dr. Clarke’s Travels in Russia, vol. 1, ps 286.