[In the Si yu ki, Travels to the West of Ch'ang ch'un, we find a drink
called tung lo.
"The Chinese characters, tung lo," says Bretschneider
(Med. Res. I. 94), "denote according to the dictionaries preparations
from mare's or cow's milk, as Kumis, sour milk, etc. In the Yuan shi
(ch. cxxviii.) biography of the Kipchak prince Tu-tu-ha, it is stated
that 'black mare's milk' (evidently the cara cosmos of Rubruck), very
pleasant to the taste, used to be sent from Kipchak to the Mongol court in
China." (On the drinks of the Mongols, see Mr. Rockhill's note, Rubruck,
p. 62.) - The Mongols indulge in sour milk (tarak) and distilled mare's
milk (arreki), but Mr. Rockhill (Land of the Lamas, 130) says he never
saw them drink kumiz. - H. C.]
The mare's-milk drink of Scythian nomads is alluded to by many ancient
authors. But the manufacture of Kumiz is particularly spoken of by
Herodotus. "The (mare's) milk is poured into deep wooden casks, about
which the blind slaves are placed, and then the milk is stirred round.
That which rises to the top is drawn off, and considered the best part;
the under portion is of less account." Strabo also speaks of the nomads
beyond the Cimmerian Chersonesus, who feed on horse-flesh and other flesh,
mare's-milk cheese, mare's milk, and sour milk ([Greek: oxygalakta])
"which they have a particular way of preparing." Perhaps Herodotus was
mistaken about the wooden tubs. At least all modern attempts to use
anything but the orthodox skins have failed.
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