Kurdestan, which is a name very common in the East, is no more than a geographical appellation for the entire country inhabited by the Kurds. Its area is estimated at more than fifty thousand square miles. This region has no political boundaries, but includes both Persian and Turkish territory. It may be said to extend from Turkish Armenia, on the north, to the plains of the middle Tigris, and the Luristan mountains, on the south. It contains many other people besides Kurds, such as Turks, Nestorians, Chaldeans, Persians and Armenians. The origin and ancestry of the Kurds, like that of most Eastern nations, is still unsettled among ethnologists. They stand among the Asiatic races, like the Basques and Lapps in Europe, wrapt in obscurity. They are a people without a literature, and almost without a history. They number about two millions, six hundred thousand of whom are under Persia, the rest being under Turkey. They are divided into many independent tribes; the tribal feeling is very strong, a very fortunate thing for Turkey and Persia, for could the Kurds be firmly united these Empires might often suffer much at their hands. Some of them are nomadic, not, however, wandering indefinitely, for they have well defined circuits which they make annually. But some of them are agricultural people, who live in villages, tilling ground on the plains and hillsides. It is amusing to notice them on their way to their work, dragging along their sluggish limbs, as though they might drop asleep at any moment. They will waste two hours before they even start to work. After an hour of pretended labor, in which they have really accomplished nothing, they will have to sit down and smoke awhile. But look at the Kurd as he rides his Arabian steed, gun on shoulder, sword at side and spear in hand--a veritable angel of death. His dark eyes and gloomy countenance are fearful to look upon. These warriors sleep most of the day, and at sunset start on their robbing expeditions. They descend to the numerous villages in the valleys and drive away the cattle and flocks, no one daring to oppose them, as their very name strikes terror to the hearts of the people. Robbing is their business, and they believe that God created them for this purpose only. One who has conversed with many of them, asked them why they steal. They answered that every man has some occupation; one is a judge, one a merchant, one a farmer, and "we are robbers." They make their living in this way. "Why don't you work?" "We do not know how to work." "Why do you kill people?" "When we meet a man that we wish to rob, if we find him stronger than ourselves, we have to kill him in order to rob him." "But you are liable to be killed some day." "We must die at some time," they answer, "what is the difference between dying now and a few days hence?" The Kurds are profoundly ignorant and stupid, with neither books nor schools. Of the whole race not one in ten thousand can read.