It Is Only About Ten Years, That The Ryhanlu Have Cultivated The Land; Like The Other Turkman Hordes They Had Always Preferred The Wandering Life Of Feeders Of Cattle.

Agriculture was introduced among them by the persuasion of Hayder Aga, whose daughter having married a chief of the neighbouring Kurds, an alliance took place, which enabled the Turkmans to perceive the advantages, derived by the Kurds from the cultivation of the soil.

The principal riches of the Turkmans however still consist in cattle. Their horses are inferior to those of the Arabs of the desert, but are well adapted for the mountains. Their necks are shorter and thicker than those of the Arab horses, the head larger, the whole frame more clumsy: the price of a good Turkman horse at Aleppo is four or five hundred piastres, while twice that sum or more is paid for an Arab horse of a generous breed. Contrary to the practice of the Arabs, the Turkmans ride males exclusively. The family of my host possessed four horses, three mares, about five hundred sheep, one hundred and fifty goats, six cows, and eight camels; he is looked upon as a man in easy circumstances; there are few families whose property does not amount to half as much, and there are many who have three or four times as many cattle. I have heard of some who are possessed of property in cattle and cash to the amount of one hundred and fifty thousand piastres. Such sums are gained by the trade with Aleppo and by usury amongst themselves.

At the time of their departure for Armenia the Ryhanlu buy up buffaloes and Arab camels, which they exchange in Armenia for a better breed of camels and for some other cattle, for the Aleppo market. The Armenian or Caramanian camel is taller and stronger than the Arab, its neck is more bent, and the neck and upper part of the thighs are covered with thick hair; the Arab camel, on the contrary, has very little hair. The common load of the latter is about six hundred weight, or one hundred and twenty rotolos, but the Armenian camel will carry one hundred and sixty rotolos, or eight hundred weight. The price of an Arabian camel is about two hundred and fifty piastres, that of an Armenian at Aleppo is twice as much. This breed of camels is produced by a he-dromedary and a she- Arabian camel. The people of Anatolia keep these male dromedaries as stallions for the purpose of covering the females of the smaller Arabian breed, which the Turkmans, yearly bring to their market. If left to breed among themselves the Caramanian camels produce a puny race of little value. The Arabs use exclusively their smaller breed of camels, because they endure heat, thirst, and fatigue, infinitely better than the others, which are well suited to hilly districts. The camels of the Turkmans feed upon a kind of low bramble called in Turkish Kufan, which grows in abundance upon the hills; in the evening they descend the mountains and come trotting towards the tents, where each camel receives a ball of paste, made of barley meal and water, weighing about one pound.

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