THE EASTERN QUESTION.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 4144, 31 May 1875, Page 3

THE EASTERN QUESTION.

Wheuever the Eastern question assumes more threatening proportions {says the Pall Mall Gazette), and llerat and Merv, whicli Sir Percy Burrell seems to tlrnk are on the Indian frontier, are menaced by our enemies, it will lie satisfactory to know that we possess, in the very heart of Asia, a little band of allies whose hearts we may hope will beat in unison with the dwellers ou our own Grampian Hills. A recent traveller to Zans-k-ir, struck by the Scotch pronunciation of these Tibetan mountaineers, has ascertained from a Gaelic scholar that the Highlanders of Scotland and the inhabitants of this Province belong to the same race. Z-mskar is simply Sanquhar. Bonnets, brooches, and plaids arc worn ; and the woollen garments of these Asiatics are checked and striped in brilliant colours after the manner of clan tartans. 11 and n beiug interchangeable consonants, it is possible tliat tartan comes from Tartar, while almost every name in this locality has a Gaelic meaning. The traveller also darkly alludes to another legend not generally known, which was related to him by a learned friend, " who insists that the word tartan obtained its present application when the Assyrian general Tartan (Isa. xx. 1-4) took Ashdod, aud carried away the Egyptians captive in an imperfectly clothed condition, wliich must have made them bear a striking resemblance to Scotch Highanders in their national costume."