n cities of considerable size, of
which the capital, Bokhara, is most important.

=120. Khiva.= A khanate situated in the valley of the lower Oxus,
bordering Bokhara on the southeast. =ferment the milk of mares.= An
intoxicating drink, _Koumiss_, made of camel's or mare's milk, is in
wide use among the steppe tribes.
[158]
=121. Toorkmuns.= A branch of the Turkish race found chiefly in
northern Persia and Afghanistan.

=122. Tukas.= From the province of Azer-baijan.

=123. Attruck.= A river of Khorassan, near the frontier of Khiva; it
has a west course, and enters the Caspian Sea on the east side.

=128. Ferghana.= A khanate of Turkestan, north of Bokhara, in the
upper valley of the Sir Daria.

=129. Jaxartes.= The ancient name of the Sir Daria River. It takes its
source in the Thian Shan Mountains, one of the Pamir Plateau ranges,
and flows with a general direction north, emptying into the Aral Sea
on the east side.

=131. Kipchak.= A khanate some seventy miles below Khiva on the Oxus.

=132. Kalmucks.= A nomadic branch of the Mongolian race, dwelling in
western Siberia. =Kuzzaks.= Now commonly called Cossacks; a warlike
people inhabiting the steppes of southern Russia and extensive
portions of Asia. Their origin is uncertain.

=133. Kirghizzes.= A rude nomadic people of Mongolian-Tartar race
found in northern Turkestan.

=138. Khorassan.= (That is, the region of the sun.) A province of
northeastern Persia, largely desert. The origin of the name is
prettily suggested by Moore in the opening poem of _Lalla Rookh_:--

"In the delightful province of the sun
The first of Persian lands he shines upon," etc.

=147. fix'd.= Stopped suddenly, halted.

=154-169.= Note the effect the challenge has on the two armies.

=156. corn.= Here used with its European sense of "grain." It is only
in America that the word signifies Indian corn or "maize."
[159]
=160. Cabool.= Capital of northern Afghanistan, and an important
commercial city.

=161. Indian Caucasus.= A lofty mountain range north of Cabool, which
forms the boundary between Turkestan and Afghanistan.

=173. King.= See note, l. 85.

=177. lion's heart.= Explain the line. Why are the terms here used so
forcible in the mouth of Gudurz?

=178-183. Aloof he sits, etc.= One is reminded by Rustum's deportm