The daily life of the Turkoman varied with the category to which he belonged. Those who adopted a nomad existence were styled _Chomry_,[592] and dwellers in fixed habitations _Charva_; but they passed from one stage to the other at their own inclination, wealth being the prevailing factor.[593] The nomads wandered on the banks of the rivers and the limits of the desert where the mountain streams had not been absorbed by the thirsty sands. Their herds were their only wealth, and they rarely pitched their felt abodes for more than three days at any spot. The Chomry, or sedentary Turkomans, dwelt for a portion of the year in fastnesses termed _kal`a_, open spaces crowded with their tents, and fortified with clay walls flanked by towers. Around them spread the fields and gardens of the _aul_, in which barley, juwārī (_holcus sorghum_), rice, and finely flavoured melons were produced in abundance, thanks to the water distributed by the _arīks_, or irrigation canals. In times of stress the fortresses, which had but a single gate, formed places of refuge. At the eve of the Russian conquest[594] the whole Akkal oasis was covered with these strongholds. They stretched in a single line, afterwards in two or more lines, from Kizil Arvat to Askabad. The great stronghold of Geok Teppe, destined to give the Russians so much trouble, was situated in the broadest part of the oasis; Askabad, now the headquarters of Transcaspia, was a congeries of eight of these fortified villages. The physiognomy of the Turkoman betrays the indelible Mongolian type. He is above the middle height, of a dark olive complexion, with prominent cheek-bones, and small almond eyes, shifty, and glittering with intelligence.[595] His nose is generally broad and uplifted at the extremity, his lips thick, and moustaches scanty. The ears are very large, and stand up from the head. The senses of smell and hearing are as strongly developed as those of the Red Indian.[596] In the female the Mongolian strain is even more visible. Their hair is short, but very thick and coarse. In youth they are tall and well formed, with every movement full of grace.[597] Their rosy cheeks give a charm to features destined in early middle-life to become a network of wrinkles. No characteristic of savage life is so marked as the rapid decay of beauty. The Turkoman dress has changed but little since he met the Roman legionaries in battle grip. It consists of a long crimson tunic of coarse Bokhāran silk, with slender black and yellow combined stripes.[598] Over this is worn a loose dressing-gown, termed _jabba_, descending below the knee, of black or dark brown material, which in summer is of cotton and in winter of camel’s hair or wool. The wealthier adopt the Uzbeg costume of several jabbas of coarse Bokhārā silk, confined by waistbands of silk over a shirt and pantaloons of the same material. The legs are covered with thick socks of a checked pattern, and the feet with high metal-heeled slippers just large