I have mentioned that our camp at Shurukhs lay by the shrine of a Mahommedan saint. He flourished 824 years since, under the name of Aboolfuzzul Hoosn, as appears by an inscription on the tomb, and he is yet revered by all the Toorkmuns. If one of them fall sick, he invokes the manes of the saint; if his horse or his camel suffer from disease, he circumambulates his tomb, in the hope and conviction of relief. The Toorkmuns have no mosques; they say their prayers in the tent or in the desert, without ablution, and without a carpet. They have few Moollahs or priests, for the church has little honour among them, and they are but poor followers of the prophet. They have no education to assuage the fiercer passions, which renders the men unsusceptible of pity, and the women indifferent to chastity. The men perform all the out-door employments, and the women work at home. The Toorkmuns are a race of people who court alternate activity and idleness. Abroad they evince the greatest spirit, and at home saunter about in idleness and indolence. They are fond of their horses, and of singing songs in honour of them. At night I have listened to the panegyrics on the feats of the “Chupraslee” and “Karooghlee” horses, the never-ending theme of praise. “Karooghlee” means a warrior as well as a horse, but it describes a famous breed now said to be extinct. “Chupraslee,” though it means but swift, is applied to a particular horse of reputed speed. I longed to record some of these Toorkmun songs, but at Shurukhs we could gather only these few lines:-- ~A song.~ “I keep an Arab horse for the day of battle, I live on that day under his shade, In the conflict I slay a hero,-- Keep an Arab horse, hold a shield of iron. Kurooghlee! “In the day of battle I bend my bow of iron, Erect on my horse, no one can dismount me. I am an only child, I have no brother or sister,-- Keep an Arab horse, hold a shield of iron. Kurooghlee! “If I breathe, the ice of the mountains melts, The water of my eyes would turn a mill, So said Jonas the Puree,-- Keep an Arab horse, hold a shield of iron. Kurooghlee!” ~A Toorkmun house.~