A Pretended Dervish in Turkestan. Part IV [pp. 390-403]

A Pretended Dervish in Tutrkestan.
during many nights, for the heat was
so great that it was impossible to
travel until sunset. The pale light
of the moon gave to the landscape
something fantastic; the long file of
camels and travellers extended itself
in tortuous folds upon the flinty soil,
the waters of the river flowing slowly
with a mournful noise, and beyond
extended afar the formidable desert
of Tartary. This district, which bears
the name of Toyeboyun (camel's back),
no doubt on account of the curves
described by the Oxus, is inhabited
at certain seasons of the year by the
Kirghiz, a nomad people among the
nomads. A woman to whom Vamb6ry made some remarks on the subject of this vagabond existence, replied laughing, "Oh, certainly! one
never sees us, like you other mollahs,
remain days and weeks sitting in the
same place; man is made for movement. See! the sun, the moon, the
stars, the animals, the fish, the birds,
everything moves in this world; only
death remains motionless." As she
finished these words, the cry was
heard, "The wolf! the wolf!" The
shepherdess cut short her philosophical dissertation to fly to the assistance of her flock, and made so good
a use of voice and gesture, that the
ferocious beast took flight, carrying
with him only the beautiful fat tail of
one of the sheep.
The Kirghiz are very numerous in
central Asia; they inhabit the immense prairies situated between Siberia, China, Turkestan, and the Caspian
sea; but it is difficult to compute their
number. Ask them a question onil this
subject, and they will reply emphati cally, "Count first the sands of the
desert, then you will be able to number the Kirghiz." Their wandering
habits have secured them against all
authority, and Europeans are in an error when they believe them to be subject
to the government of Russia or that of
the Celestial Empire. None of these
nations have ever exercised the least
power over the Kirghiz; they send, it
is true, officers charged to collect taxes
among them, but th;e nomads regard
these functionaries as the chiefs of a
vast foray, and they only admire how,
instead of despoiling them of everything, they content themselves with
levying upon them only a slight tax.
Revolutions have often changoed the
face of the world, the inhabitants of
the desert have remained the same for
thousands of years; singular types of
savage virtue and vice, they offer today a faithful image of the ancient
Turani.
. The pilgrims were anticipating with
delight the end of their journey; only
six or eight stages remained, when
one morning at break of day, two men
alinost naked approached the caravan,
crying in suppliant tonles: "A morsel
of bread, for the love of God!" Every
one hastened to assist them, and when
food had somewhat restored their
strength, they informed the dervishes
that, surprised by a band of Cossacks,
ataman Tekke, they had lost baggage,
clothes, provisions, and were only too
happy not to have lost their lives. The
brigands, one hundred and fifty in number, were planning a raid upon the
troops of Kirghiz camped upon the
banks of the Oxus: "Fly, then, or
hide yourselves," added the men, "or
else you will meet them in a few hours,
and in spite of your sacred character,
these bandits without faith or law will
abandon you in the Khalata, after robbing you of all you possess." The
kervanbashi, who had already been pillaged twice, no sooner heard the words
Tekke and ataman than he gave the
order to beat a retreat. Consequently
after having rested the animals a short
time and filled their bottles, the hadjis, casting a look of inexpressible re gret upon the tranquil banks of the
Oxus, made their way toward those
frightful solitudes which had already
swallowed up so many caravans. They
advanced in perfect silence, not to
arouse their enemies; the step of the
camels upon the dusty soil returned
no sound, and very soon the shades of
night enveloped them.
Toward midnight all the nilgrims
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