[43] Lewschine says the same in his above-named work upon the Kirghis, page 358.
[44] Dr. A. Bastian has found the oracle of the shoulder bone even among the Buruts who profess Shamanism, and it is considered by the Kirghis as a remnant of the same religion. See Ausland, No. 23, 1869.
Of food which is peculiar to the Kirghis we will name Sürü, which consists of smoke-dried flesh (horse or sheep's flesh) cut into small pieces, roasted in fat. The preference for this arises from its keeping for weeks carried about without spoiling. Ködje, ordinary wheat, is cooked in water and eaten in sour milk.
As national games of the Kirghis, we may mention tadjak-kisimo (stocks). It consists in leaping over a rope held high. The winner is applauded, the clumsy, on the contrary, are pressed between two chairs, and exposed to the jeers of the company. Further, "eshek yagiri" (wounded asses' back), in which in running they must leap over three or four squatting play-fellows.
These form the third division in the race, and are essentially different from the Kirghis in physiognomical expression, although allied in language and customs. The Karakalpaks are distinguished by a tall, vigorous growth and a more powerful frame than all the tribes of Central Asia. They have a large head with flat full face, large eyes, flat nose, slightly projecting cheek-bones, a coarse and slightly pointed chin, remarkably long arms and broad hands. Taken as a whole, their coarse features are in good harmony with their not less clumsy forms, and the nickname of the neighbouring people
Karakalpak, (has a flat face, and is himself totally flat). This sobriquet has not been uttered without reason. The complexion approaches that of the Œzbegs, particularly that of the women, who long retain their white complexion, and with their large eyes, full face, and black hair, do not make an unpleasant impression. In Central Asia they are highly renowned for their beauty. The men have pretty thick, but never long beards. The Karakalpaks, who are sometimes falsely ranked with the Kirghis, are at present only to be met with in the Khanat of Khiva, to which they moved at the beginning of this century. A man of this tribe relates to me that they lived earlier on the banks of the Yaxartes, and certainly near its mouth, whilst another portion abides in the neighbourhood of the Kalmucks, probably in the government of the Semipalatinsk.