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It was again snowing hard, and the east wind cut through my bourka as if it had been a thin linen jacket. Seeking shelter in the crowded, stuffy waiting-room, we solaced ourselves with cigarettes and vodka till past 2 a.m., when the train arrived.

We continue our journey next day in summer weather almost too hot, in the middle of the day, to be pleasant. Sheepskin and bourka are dispensed with, as we ride lazily along under a blazing sun through pleasant green plains of maize and barley, irrigated by babbling brooks of crystal-clear water. A few miles from Abadéh is a cave-village built into the side of a hill.

Some have scars running completely across the chest, from one axillar to the other, whilst others have merely dotted lines; some have circles and semicircles formed on the apex of the shoulder, others small dots only. The fifth stage is bourka or full man, and is only attained when the individual is getting grey-headed.

Her features are hidden by the "bourka," or veil, which is generally worn, but her beautiful eyes fascinate; nor does the voluminous cloak she wears entirely conceal the dainty, if brilliant, clothing beneath, nor the extreme beauty of her well-shaped hands and feet.

Although dressed in the thickest of tweeds and sheepskin jacket, sable pelisse, enormous "bourka," and high felt boots, it was all I could do to keep warm even when going at a hand gallop, varied every hundred yards or so by a desperate "peck" on the part of my pony. The first stage, Koudoum, five farsakhs from Résht, was reached about three o'clock in the afternoon.

In the Adelaide district, Mr. Moorhouse has observed, that there are five stages to be passed through, before the native attains the rank of a bourka, or full grown man. At from twelve to fourteen, the third stage is entered, by having the ceremony of circumcision performed, which takes place in the following manner.

Some have scars running completely across the chest, from one axillar to the other, whilst others have merely dotted lines; some have circles and semicircles formed on the apex of the shoulder, others small dots only. The fifth stage is bourka or full man, and is only attained when the individual is getting grey-headed.

Under the other garments is worn a shirt of either silk or calico, besides that of mail sometimes put on in war; and over all is thrown in cold weather an ample cloak called a bourka, woven of sheep's wool or goat's hair, and impervious to rain.

Their picturesque costume consisted of tight pantaloons, and a short tunic, which was belted round the waist, and had cartridge pockets worked on the breast; a round laced cap, encircled with a black or white border of long-wooled sheepskin, formed their head-gear. In cold or rainy weather, they wore a bashlik, or hood, and a bourka, or cloak, of impervious felt.

Sunset brings a cool breeze, which before nightfall develops into a cutting north-easter, and we shiver again under a bourka and heavy fur pelisse. Crossing a ridge of rock, we descend upon a white plain, dim and indistinct in the twilight. The ground crackles under our horses' feet. It is frozen snow!