cu- -- ' yij ~^ * .M'"jcr- -jf\ *} // / / IrCwyi*-*^^' THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA ixcr.umxr, KUL DJA , 1WKHA RA , KHI VA AND MERV HENRY LANS DELL, D.D. M.K.A.S., F.R.G.S. At THOK OF '' I'HKii- ull SII'.KKIA" cLclith frontispiece, ,rtl;ip$, anti Ellustratious /A" /'//'(' /'(>/. r.l/A'.V \'OI.. I. li o n D o n >AML i SC)\ LA)\\', MARSH)X, SKARLH, AND K1\'IX(.,TON iSS. FLKKT STKF.KT BY THE SAME AUTHOR. THROUGH SIBERIA In one Volume, los. 6ci. LIBRARY EDITION, 2 VOLS., 30.?. For further particulars see p. 685. DK r v, I 3! m p e r i a I 3$ a 1 1 e o r p HI., EMPEROR AND AUTOCRAT OF ALL THE RUSSIAS, SIRE, / count myself happy in being permitted to dedicate this work to the august Ruler of an Empire in which I have travelled extensively, and from whose people I have met w'lth unvarying kindness, and attention. Most of my visits to the Continent were undertaken with a view to relaxation and enjoy- ment, but with this lias been blended an attempt to be of religious use to the poor and unfortunate. I was considering lioiv sucJi a double purpose could be effected in seven countries through which I was to pass, in \ 874, when, not knowing the language of Russia, my only course Jor that country seemed to be the distribution of religious literature. This distribution I was allowed to begin in the prisons v whose aid / was enabled to distribute more than 100,000 publications, and to place at hast some portion of Holy Scripture in each room of everv Prison and liospital throughout Finland, the Caucasus, and certain otlict parts of European Russia, as well as throughout the whole estow every good gift may vouchsafe to your Imperial Majesty a long continuance of health and happiness, and I liavr the honour to remain Your Imperial Majesty's very humble Sei'vant, THK Al'THOR. PREFACE. THESE volumes may be considered as a record of the completion of the philanthropic object that originally prompted my first visit to Asiatic Russia as detailed in the work entitled " Through Siberia.' My sources of information have been four : namely, personal observations, carefully noted on the spot ; a series of conversations on a pre- arranged plan with inhabitants of Central Asia ; official statistics and unpublished documents ; and, lastly, the general literature ol the subject. Not many Englishmen have; preceded me in Turkistan, and not one, so far as I know, over the last portion of my journey. The only English writer who has covered the major part of the route is Dr. Eugene Schuyler, oi whose " Turkistan " 1 can speak in terms only of the highest praise. He has treated many subjects so hilly that I have thought it unnecessary to say much about them. This is notably the case with commerce and methods of war; and 1 have regarded politics also as not falling within my province. Thf work of M. I jfalvy de Me/o-Kovesd I hav found quite the best on the vi PREFA CE. anthropology of Turkistan, whilst in historical matters I have been frequently indebted to the " History of the Mongols " by Mr. Howorth, who, as on a pre- vious occasion, has given some of my proof-sheets the benefit of his revision. I have preferred, however, when possible, to gather my materials direct from Russian authorities, and have been able to do so largely, thanks to help in translation afforded by Messrs. Robert Michell and W. H. Cromie, and by Mesdames Telfer, Bell, and Romanoff. From one Russian author, Colonel Kostenko, I have gathered much statistical infor- mation, and with what labour the literature of the subject has been examined, the preface to my Bibliography will show. I need only say here that, when the name of an authority is mentioned, if the reader wishes for further information, he will be directed thereto by turning to the alphabetical list of authors. The knowledge thus acquired I have arranged with a view to the requirements of three classes of readers. The "general" reader may probably not care to wade through the notes, nor, indeed, to read all the chapters. Perhaps, therefore, it may be of use to point out that the narrative portions of the journey, especially in the first volume, will be found in the chapters with titles indicative of movement "From Such-a-place to Such-a-place" ; or, as indicated more minutely, in the " Author's Itinerary." PREFACE. vii Readers of the second class have been regarded as students, who like to know something of the country traversed, its geography, geology, fauna and flora, the characteristics of the people, their govern- ment, language, and religion. These and similar topics are touched upon in the notes, and whole chapters also are devoted to the political economy of certain provinces, to ethnography, and to historical sketches of the Khanates and their conquest by Russia. There is yet a third class of readers men of science and specialists for whom I have en- deavoured to furnish information. I would willingly have seen this department in more competent hands ; but since the greater part of what is known con- cerning the fauna and flora of Turkistan is inaccessible to the major part of the scientific world, because written in Russian, I have added appendices, which have been most kindly revised by eminent naturalists, both on the: Continent and in England. To the former I have expressed my indebtedness further on, whilst among the latter my best thanks arc- due to Professor Newton, E.R.S.. and I )r. (iiinther, E.R.S.. tor help in treating ol vertebrate animals, -Mr. 1 )rcsser, E.Z.S.. also revising the list of birds. Entomology has been undertaken by Messrs. Mac- Lachlan, E.R.S., and \V. F. Kirby. In botany I have received aid from the I\ev. \Y. \\ . Tyler; and, in matters geological, from Professor Bonney, I'.R.S.. and 1 )r. I laii<>'hton. F.k.S. MY neighbour, Mr. viii PREFA CE. Glaisher, F.R.S., has again assisted me in meteoro- logy; and I am gratified that a few chapters have passed under the eye of that eminent geographei of Central Asia, Colonel Yule, C.B. In mentioning these distinguished names, however, I wish it to be understood that their revision has been in many cases of a general character only, and consequently that for any mistakes that may remain, it is I who am responsible, and not they. Turkistan has not many prisons, but in the chapters devoted to this subject I have given an accurate account of what came under my observation ; and I have also answered the few objections, that were raised to my former account of the penal institutions of Siberia so lar as they seemed to claim attention. Biblical students will observe references throughout the work to Scripture texts. Their origin was on this wise. Before commencing my desert journey, I had read all the books in my trunk, and it occurred to me to utilize vacant time by marking in a pocket Bible the passages that might be illustrated from my travels. I remembered that Robert Stephens is said to have divided the New Testament into verses during a journey on horse- back from Paris to Lyons ; so I took a leaf from his book, while on the back of a camel. In the case of some of the texts referred to, my remarks may at first sight seem superfluous, because the Semitic customs of Palestine and Western Asia have long ago been illustrated in connection with Bible PREFA CE. ix history. I would remind the reader, however, that I travelled as far from Palestine on the east as London is on the west ; and among an Iranian popu- lation, many of whose customs are those portrayed in the Sacred Books, especially those written during the Captivity. In China we have; an instance of a colony of Jews losing their religion and language, and, in the course of centuries, becoming so in- termingled with their neighbours as to be undis- tinguishable, I believe, even by their physiognomy. Now, I do not maintain that a similar fate has befallen the "lost ten tribes'' in Central Asia; never- theless, I found Bible customs then!, which, il not traced to some remote: origin common also to those of the Jews, might well be imagined as brought there by children of Abraham. Xo previous traveller known to me has illustrated Scripture trom these little-known regions ; and if I sometimes appear to be over-keen in suggesting resemblances, it is because 1 have regarded them, so tar as they are true, as testimony froui a ncu source. These references have been looked over by the Rev. Canon R. Girdlestone. 1 his addition, however, to the foregoing names does not exhaust my list of helpers. Mr. Hyde Clarke, F.S.S., has given me literary assistance-, and so has the Rev. A. K. Hodgson, B.A., as well as my neighbour, Mr. Slater, F.G.S. ; .UK! there are others also to wh<>m 1 am similarly indebted, but who would prefer then' names not beinL:' mentioned. x PREFA CE. In conclusion, I must not send forth my book without a word of greeting to those who honoured me by perusing "Through Siberia," whether in English or in the languages of Germany and Scandinavia. 1 shall be gratified if the present volumes recall to their minds an old aquaintance, who afforded them amusement, or what is better, imparted instruction. But I take it to be the greatest and best reward of an author, when his thoughts and emotions so enter the soul of a reader as to influence him to action. It was the perusal of a book, more than twenty years ago,* that turned the current of my life, and changed my religion from an educational habit to something very much deeper, which brought, in fact, such joy to myself that I was never so happy as when trying to impart its secret to others. After this, none need wonder at my faith in the distribution of religious literature ; and happy shall I be if, in and beneath this story of travel by land and by water, one and another shall recognize the work of a fellow-labourer unto the kingdom of God, and be encouraged to go and do likewise. H. L. THE GROVE, BIACKHEATH, LONDON, S.E. Marc//, 1885. "The Anxious Inquirer," published by the Religious Tract Society CONTENTS. PAGF. DEDICATION iii PREFACK v INDEX OK TEXTS ILI.UM RATED, OR REFERRED TO . . xxv LIST OF ILLUSTRATION-- IN VOI.UMK 1. . . . . xxviii THE AUTHOR'S ITINERARY xxx OnSERVANDA . XX.xii CHA1TKR I. INTRODUCTORY. Intention to cross the Steppe frustrated in 1879. Considered afre>h in iS.^2. - Distribution of religious literature desirable. Reasons for and against the venture. -The way cleared. -My objects chiefly religious. Help of Bible and Tract Societies. Plans in relation thereto. -Additional objects. Kail ure antici- pated by some. Kears entertained by others.- The start . l Kive routes to Central A-^ia. -Departure for IVter.-bur^. Ka\our- able reception. ---( Itficial letter--, and tax'ours.- -Scientific ac- quaintances and introduction-. Departure for MM-CO\\. National K.xhibition and St. Saviour's (.'athedral. Mr. Alfred Sevier as interpreter. ()ur arrixal at Perm. I'urcha-e \ tarantass and medicine-. Departure for the I'ral-. I'ract distribution. Arre-ted and brought back to IVrni. lv\.iinined and released with api>!o^ie-. M \ o\\ n fault. Kxa^erated report- in ne\\ -papei'-. A tre-h -tail . . . . CONTENTS. CHAPTER III. FROM THE URALS TO OMSK. i AGE Books overtaken : their numbers, kinds, and languages. Acquain- tanceships renewed at Tiumen. Success of former efforts. Books for future supply of exiles. Testimonies to their thank- fulness for Scriptures distributed. Final equipment, and introductions. New Siberian steamer. M. Ignatoff's gene- rosity. River voyage. Sale of books on deck. Interview with Governor of Tobolsk. Visit to cemetery and Archbishop. Voyage up the Irtish. Cheap provisions. Fellow-passengers. Arrival at Omsk ......... 26 CHAPTER IV. THE GOVERNMENT GENERAL OF THE STEPPE AND THE PROVINCE OF AKMOLINSK. ''Russian Central Asia" defined. Its dimensions, boundaries, and divisions. The government general of the Steppe : its dimensions, hydrography, surface, and vegetation ; its popu- lation and communications. Province of Akmolinsk : its surface, rivers, climate, and administrative divisions ; its minerals, agricultural produce, and cattle. The Russian population and medical staff. Towns of the province, their industries, and houses. Conflagrations. Distillation of ardent spirits. Crime .......... 42 CHAPTER V. FROM OMSK TO SEM/P01.ATIXSK. Description of town of Omsk. Cause of its decline. Schools. Visits to inhabitants and institutions. 1 )inner with ( lovernor. Protestant pastor and distribution of books. Departure south- wards. Cossack stations. Summer appearance of steppe. Arrival at Pavlodar. Scriptures sold to Muhammadans, advice to contrary notwithstanding. Cheap provisions. Roads to mining districts. Recruits on the march. Meeting the Governor-General. Skirting the Irtish. Change ot landscape. Improved fauna and flora. Arrival at Semipolatinsk . ^9 CHAPTER VI. THE PROVINCE OF SKMIPOI.A 7'AV.S'A . ITS NATURAL FEA TURES. Dimensions of province: its surface, river basins, mountains, and passes. The River Irtish : its scenery, tributaries, banks, and CONTENTS. floods. Zaisan lake and its Cossack fisheries. Fauna of banks. Geology of neighbourhood and minerals. Mineral springs. Forests of the province. Wild and domesticated animals. Towns of the province, and uye/ds, with their populations .......... i*^ CHAPTFR VII. THE PROVINCE Ol- SEMIPOLATINSR' : 1'IS ECONOMY. Minuteness of Russian provincial statistics. Governor's report for i8Xi. Agriculture and irrigation. Cereals grown, and by whom : quantity sown and reaped. Cossack gardening. Cattle breeding. Agriculture. Facilities for development of trade, and factories. Gold mining. Mechanics and artisans. Trade at fairs and with China. Population according to religions and ranks. Marriages, etc. Number of ratepayers. Location of population ........ 06 CHAPTKR VIM. THE PROVINCE OF SEM IPO LATINS R' : ITS ADMINISTRATION. Taxes: what, by whom paid, and amount. K.xcise duties and revenue from lands. Local rates. Liabilities to personal service - Cossack service. Recruiting statistics. Houses and public buildings. Expenditure of civil authorities. Military buildings. Fires and fire brigades. Public health, medical officers, hospitals and diseases. Violent and accidental deaths. Vaccination. Central Asian statistics and their \\eak points . . . . . . . . . . 1 1 i CHAPTKR IX. HISTORICAL SKETCH Ol- Till: Rl'SSlAN OCCUPATION Ol- Till IRTISH. General history of Central Asia. -Russian OK u pat ion of the 1 rl i-li. Yermak's victories, conquests, and death. Submission ot Barabinski Tatars. --Consolidation of Russian power by arm--, mediation, and trade. ----Uaikof '-- mission through Sun^aria. Ilisioryot Kalmuks : their opposition and submission. Origin of forts along the Irtish. Aggressive designs of Peler tin Gnat. Treaties with ihi- Kalmuks. Fxtinction of Simgarian kingdom. Russian frontier fortitied againM the Chinese. Trading places of Bukhtarminsk. I ">t-Kameno^orsk, and Semipolatinsk. -Growth ol commerce \\ith Chme-e. K;.--ia: administration of ne\v territor\' . xiv CONTENTS. CHAPTER X FROM SEMIPOLATINSK TO SERGIOPOL. PAGE " Semipolatinsk " : its etymology, situation, and meteorology. Call on Governor. Visits to prison and asylum. Schools. Post Office statistics. Trade. Our start delayed.- Departure, roads, and posting service. Sunday at Sergiopol. Distri- bution of books from the capital and onwards. Antiquities and remarkable skulls. Mineral deposits. A previous English traveller. Lake Ala-Kul : its aspect, ornithology, lizards, and fish. The Central Asian " Kulan " . . . 136 CHAPTER XI. THE LAND OF SEVEN STREAMS. Semirechia : its boundaries, dimensions, and orography. Thian Shan mountains : their etymology, exploration, extent, form, ranges, and geology. Height of snow-line, glaciers, and snow bridges. Character of valleys and supposed volcanoes. Rivers and lakes of Semirechia. Lake Issik-Kul : its origin, dimensions, shores, antiquities, and bed. Climate of Semi- rechia. Forests and Mammals . . . . . . 151 CHAPTER XII. THE PROVINCE OF SEMIRECHfA (Continued^. Ethnology of province. Kalmuks and Taranchis. Population of Semirechia, by races and classes : their habitations, agri- culture, and cattle. Cossack and peasant colonists. Taranchi refugee settlers, and Russian efforts for their welfare. The Orthodox Christian Brotherhood : its constitution and missionary operations in Sarkan. Its Kalmuk school in Yierny. Contemplated Issik-Kul mission. Religious and educational affairs of the province ...... 162 CHAPTKR XJII. FROM SJ'.RGIOPOL TO ALTYN-IMMEL. Departure from Sergiopol. Miserable station at I )jus Agach. Desiccated lake-bed near Ala-Kul. Arganatinsk. View of Lake Balkhash : its dimensions, tributaries, water, shores, fish, and harbour. " Ehbi " wind and sandstorm. Lepsinsk station. Lepsa river. Accelerated posting. Branch road to Lepsinsk colony: its agriculture. Sungarian Ala-Tan mountains. Arasan sulphur baths. Kopal. Arrival at Altyn-Immel . . . . . . . . . .174 CONTENTS. xv CHAPTER XIV. FROM ALTYN-IMMEL TO KULDJA. The Altyn-Jmmel Pass. The Ili valley and its mountains. Stations to Kuldja. A sick telegraphist, and Tatar. Nomads of the Province. Borokhud/ir fortress and nursery. Cotton growing. Ruined towns, and Solons. Kuldja minerals, and mining. Chinchakhod/i, and road to Lake Sairam. Com- munications of the Province. History of Ili valley: its colonixation, rebellion, and occupation by Russians. Arrival at Kuldja ...... . i8g CHAPTER XV. THE ETHNOLOGY AND ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE ILI VALLEY. The Ili Valley, midway between Turanian and Chinese races. The Taranchis: their dress, habitations, and amusements. The Dungans : their origin, number, features, and customs.-- Solons and Sibos. Visit to a Sibo encampment. Their house- hold gods, and sick people. -The Kalmuks : their physical and mental characteristics. --Administration under Geluns and Xangs.- -Clerical functions of the ( ielun. - Duties of the Xang. Kalmuk religion, family life, and influence and superstitions CHAPTER XVI. A SUNDA Y IN KULVJA. Hospitality at the Russian Consulate. Visit to Taranchis and Sibos. Crossing the Ili with Cossack escort. Roman Catholics in Kuldja. The Russian Church. -A request trm Roman Catholics for religions service. Distribution ot Script ures. Steadfastness of Chinese Christians. Visit to Buddhist temple. Duncan and Tarancln mos(]ues. Educa- tional affairs at Kuldja. Population divided according to religions and races. Visits to ('hmcsr Police-master, and C'ommissariat officer. Sale of Scriptures . xvi CONTENTS. CHAPTER XVII. TARANCH1 KULDJA, AND THE VALLEY EASTWARDS. I'AGE Taranchi, Chinese, and Sart bazaars. Character of trade, prices, and coins. Native restaurants. Kuldja imports and exports. - Industrial buildings. Visit to a Kalmuk tent. Exploration of Kalmuk camping-grounds. Colonel Prejevalsky's journey to Lob Nor. Severtsoff' s description of mountain sheep. Alpheraky's journey, and collection of Lepidoptera. English butterflies in Kuldja. Russian and English explorers of the Hi valley ........... 238 CHAPTER XVIII. FROM KULDJA TO ALTYN-IMMEL. Proposed return by water. Attempted steam navigation of the lii and Balkhash. A visit to Colonel Mayevsky. Native pre- ference for Russian rule, and why. Kuldja restored to China. Emigration of natives into Russian territory. Our departure from Kuldja. Destruction of cattle by beasts of prey. Suidun. -Three classes of Chinese. Interview \vith Chinese Governor- General. Refreshments followed by questions. Opium- smoking. A Chinese artist. Governor-General's present. A messenger awaiting us at Borokhud/ir . . .2^1 CHAPTER XIX. FROM ALTYN-IMMEL TO VIERNY. Route over Chulak hills. The Ili bridge. Trans-Ili Ala-Tan mountains. View from the steppe. Ala-Tau passes.-- Jelanash plateau. Fort Vernoe ; its site, climate, and diseases. Appearance of town and houses. Diversity of population ; races and classes. Introduction to M. von Ghern. Poor hotel. Mercantile acquaintances and sale of Scrip- tures. Market prices and local industries.- Scriptures fc it- prisons and hospitals. Town schools. Visit to Archbishop. - Need of Scriptures and tracts in tin: vernacular . . 2b'j CHAPTER XX. Tin-: RUSSIAN OCCUPATION OF SEMIRECHJA. Russians on the Irtish not troubled at first by Kirghese. Kir^hrM occupation of Sungaria and submission to Russians. Con- ciliation and trade at Semipolatinsk. Suppression of Kirghesc robbers and annexation of the steppe. Pioneers into Centnil Asia. Foundation of Sergiopol followed by scientific dis- covery. Submission of Great Horde and foundation of KopaL CONTENTS. xvii CA6K Opening up to trade of the Hi valley. Atkinson's travels. Russian advance to Trans- Hi region. Progress of trade and Russian administration. Colonization of Semirechia. Ex- ploration of the Thian Shan, aided by feuds of the Kirghe.se. Consolidation of Russian administration. War with the Khokandians .......... 28} CHAPTER XXI. THE KIR CUE S E. Resemblance of Kirghese nomads to Hebrew patriarchs. Primeval character of the steppe. Existence there of Biblical customs: whence came they ? Authorities on the Kirghese. Etymology of name.- Their sub-divisions, habitat, and numbers. -*-Origin of Kara-Kirghese and Kirghese Ka/aks. Appearance of Kirghese : their physique, diseases, disposition, and character. Their conscientiousness concerning an oath. Their distri- bution, ranks, and governing authorities. Kirghese habitations and tombs. Dresses, ornaments, and weapons . . . 20.9 CHAPTER XXII. THE KIKGHI-'.SE (Continual}. Settled agricultural Kirghese. Semi-Nomads. Xomad Kirghese : their cattle, sheep, and goats. Losses from /out, storms, and murrain. Changing pasture, when and how conducted. Stationary pastoral life. Polygamy. Kirghese betrothal. The Ktilini and presents, with rule- pertaining. Marriage ceremonies. The bride's departure. -Kirghese marriage, a civil contract. Dissolvable by separation or divorce, with laws concerning each.- -Marriage with deceased brother's widow. Laws concerning inheritance. Illustrations of 1 lebrew pastoral life, and suggested source of Kirghese customs . . . ^14 CHAPTER XXIII. THE h'lRGHESE (Concluded']. Visit to Kirghese at Suigati. ---Their tent-. A l\ir^he>e memorial. Milk and other beverage-, with Hour food. A minion tea-!. -Kirghe.se politeness, and ri^ht ol' precedence. C'oiiniiliial arrangements. Myself questioning and questioned. K ir^he-e poetry and son^s. ---Their religii)n; Muhammadan, I'.i^.in. v Maniehean : Kir^he-e re-i-tered .1- Muhammadan-. X< A I'estaments accepted.- -Conversation upnii the state alter death. I ntluence of the mullah-. -Kirghese elect ion ol judicial officers. Xative conn- and tines. jud^meni ami judges. I^lection of a vlost chiet. Law- c.'ncernin^ a.-sault. - -A ti^lit quelK'il ... . > ; i VOL. i. CONTENTS CHAPTER XXIV. FROM VIERNY TO A U LIE- ATA. PAGE Departure from Vierny. Journey to Kastek. Branch roads to Issik-Kul and Kashgar. Old road to Tokmak. Arrival at Suigati. -Nogai Bi's cattle. Kirghese language and litera- ture. Education by mullahs and Russian schools. The River Chu.- An aul of Kirghese. Birth and naming of children. Pishpek botanical garden. Alexandrof mountains. Telegram to General Kolpakovsky. Setting a Yemstchik's leg. Aulie- Ata. Kirghese wares, industries, and commercial customs. Visit to Aulie-Ata's tomb. Muhammadan offerings and religious feasting. Analogies in Christendom .... 352 CHAPTER XXV. THE GENERAL GOVERNMENT OF TURKISTAN. Definition of " Turkistan." Origin and composition of the general government. Its dimensions, boundaries, and surface. Turkistan temperature compared with that of Asia generally. Results of dryness of climate on soil and vegetation. Meteoro- logical observatories and tables. Four vegetal climatic zones. Fogs, aurora boreal is, and earthquakes.- Geology of Russian Turkistan. and minerals. Decrease of mining opera- tions, and why .......... 369 CHAPTER XXVI. THE SYR-DARIA PROVINCE. Extent and boundaries of Syr-claria province. Its mountains and deserts. The Aral depression, and its geological changes. - Turkistan rivers: their peculiarities and direction. Sources of tlie Syr-daria. Its characteristics at Khojend ; from China/ to Perovsk ; and onwards to the Aral. -Its affluents and bank?-.. Communications of the province. The road from Orenburg, and towns thereon. Caravan routes. Turkistan population according to races. Russian inhabitants, and Kuramas. Population according to creeds. Progress and density of settled and nomad communities ...... 383 CONTENTS. CHAPTHR XXVI I. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE RUSSIAN ADVAXCE TO THE SYR-DARIA. PAGE Russia's advance eastwards. Conquest of Tatars of the Golden Horde, 1480, and of Kazan, 1552. -Submission of Bashkirs, 1574. Contact with Kirghese-Kazaks, 1718. Their nominal submission under Abul-Khair. Commencement of Orenburg line of forts, 1735. Feuds of the natives. Mistakes of Russian administration. Khans abolished and Sultans appointed, 1833. Insurrections of Kirghese. Forts planted in the Steppe and on the Syr-daria, 1847. Russians on the Aral Sea. Advance of Russian civil administration. Determination to connect the Irtish and Syr-daria forts ....... 400 CHAPTKR XXVIII. FROM AULIE-ATA TO TASHKEXD. Departure from Aulie-Ata. Ornithology of district, and of Turkistan generally. Birds of prey. Passerine birds. Crows, Finches. Thrushes. Warblers. Gallinaceous birds. Waders, Swans, (ieese, and Ducks. Cattle of Turkistan. Journey along the Aris, and description of the river. Chimkent uye/d. its houses and chief town. Wayside geology. The River Keles. Road through gardens irrigated by canals. Arrival at Tashkend . 414 THE AMC-HARIA ri I lie Amu-daria province: its boundaries and dimensions. The Ky/yl-Kum Steppe: its sands, marshes, anil mountains. 1 )e Maniy on its geologv. Hi> deductions questioned. Lake Aral: its dimensions, climate, and shores. hs islands and lessening circumference. Meteorolog\ of the province and health ot population. Classification ol inhabitants according to races. The Karakalpak.s. Recent statistics concerning habitations. Agriculture of settled population. Improved condition of natives. Difficulties of the nomads. I nt rod net ion of Russian administration. Revenue . xx CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXX. TASHKEND. Asiatic Tashkend : its four divisions, and their characteristics. Its buildings and population. Russian Tashkend : its streets and houses. Population according to creeds, occupations, and ages. Visit to the Governor-General. Arrangements for dis- tribution of Scriptures, and my onward journey. Visits to synagogues and the military hospital. Statistics concerning patients. Diseases prevalent in Tashkend. Dispensary for the natives. Asylum for the aged. The officers' club CHAPTER XXXI. TA S // KE ND ( Continued-). Bible work at Tashkend. Visit to M. Oshanm at the Museum. Antiquities and curiosities. Assistance from Colonel Maieff. Visit to Asiatic Tashkend. Purchase of Sart curiosities. Household commodities. Imports and exports of Tashkend. Spring and autumn fairs. Russian trade in Central Asia. Excess of imports into Russia. Influence of English competi- tion.- Visit to seminary for training teachers. Tashkend schools. Visit to observatory. Climate of Tashkend. Visit to Colonel Serpitzky at the camp. Distribution of religious literature. The public library, and its Turkistan bibliography. Dining with the Governor-General. Arrangements for departure. My carriages and Kamensky .... 453 CHAPTER XXXII. 1-KOM TASHKENT; TO KHOJEND. Central situation of Tashkend. Post-road to Jixakh. The 'Hungry" Steppe. Stations to Khojend. Chirchik and Angivn rivers. Vegetation of Kurama and of Turkistan generally. Forest trees and shrubs. Fruit trees. Garden and dyeing plants. Kurama soil and cultivation of cereals. Journey from Tashkend. Steppe vegetation. An unruly horse. Fortified post-stations. Approach to Khojend . . . CONTENTS, xxi CHAPTER XXXIII. THE PROVINCE OF FERGHANA. PAt.B Ferghana," an old name of province revived. Its form, size, aspect, and boundaries. The Alai plateau and Pamir. Explorations of Eedchenko, Kostenko, and Severtsoff. Pamir climate, flora, and fauna. Rivers of Ferghana. Lakes Kutban-Kul and Kara-Kul. Ferghana climate and dust-fog. Its geology and minerals, turquoise and petroleum. Ferghana vegetation and tobacco. Its towns and sacred places 490 CHAPTER XXXIX'. A A' EPITOME OF KHOKAXD HISTORY. '"erghana under Baber (1504) and his descendants. Its subjection to China, 1/59. Independence and extension under Xarbuta, 1770. Madali and his conquests, 1821. Communications with Russia and England. Ferghana conquered by Emir of Bokhara, 1841. Power of the regent, Mussulman Kul. Accession of Khudaiar Khan, 1844. Khudaiar driven to Bokhara, 1859. Mulla Khan, and the regent Alim Kul.- - Return of Khudaiar by help of Bokhara, 1862. Khudaiar's authority strengthened by Russian treaty of 1808. Revolt of the people ami suppression of the Khanate, 1870. . . CHAPTER XXXV. FROM KHOJEXD TO AV/CA'./A'A Hospitality of Khojend Nachalnik. Stations to Khokaiul. Sur- rouniling mountains and their minerals. Sand barkhans. Native buildings.- -Arrival at Khokaiul. - Lodging in summer residence of Tim Bek. M. I'shakoff our host. -Oriental " politeness." Visit to Synagogue. -In format ion concerning Jews of Khokand and Bokhara. The ha/aar: its jewellery, ewers, and furs. Khokand trade -View trom medresse of Murad llek. -A puppet-show. Inspection of hospital and Khan's palace. I )istribution of Scriptures. - Visit to native merchant. Ferghana communications, and routes to Kashgar and 1 ndia .... ...... si xxii CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXXVI. THE ZARAFSHAN PROVINCE. The province, a triangular valley. Its three mountain ranges, and theirpasses. The Zarafshan river: its source, affluents, canals, and floods. Divisions of the province. Kohistan district : its geology, cultivation, climate, and population. Zarafshan epidemics, and leprosy. Ethnology of the province. Galtchas, or Tajiks of the mountains : their physical characteristics, political constitution, and domestic customs. Tajiks of the plains. Gypsies, Afghans, and Arabs. Population of the province. Towns and roads ....... CHAPTER XXXVII. FROM KHOKAND TO SAMARKAND. Locality of Khokand productive of goitre. Its causes and remedy. Departure from Khokand. Travellers sleeping in the street. Return to Khojend. History and name of town : its divisions, gardens, and public buildings. Climate and trade of Khojend. Stations to Samarkand. Long stage to Ura-Tiube. View of the town. Its sacred places, buildings, and trade. Religious and moral condition of inhabitants. The "Crates of Tamer- lane." The Sart pastime of Kok-bari. Kirghese racing games. Native festivals. Flora of Zarafshan. Its exotic and remarkable plants. Fording the Zarafshan. Approaching Samarkand .......... 546 CHAPTER XXXVIII. THE ANCIENT CAPITAL OF THE TI Ml' RIDS. History of Maracanda. Tamerlane's capital. Ancient ruins. Antiquities of Tamerlane's day. L'lug-Beg's observatory. The Russian Governor's palace. The Gur-Emir: its tomb- stones, history, and relics. Mosque of Shah-Zindeh : its legends, ornamentation, and places of devotion. Ruin of Bibi-Khanum medresse : its architecture, and miracle-working lectern. Bibi-Khanum's tomb. The Citadel Palace and the Kok-tash stone: its legendary history and uses. Timur's palace of Ishrat-Khana ........ 560 CONTENTS. xxiii CHAPTER XXXIX. MUHAMMADAN AND JEWISH SAMARKAND. I Al.K Bird's-eye view of Samarkand. Its former and present dimensions. Khoja-Akhrar medresse, and remarkable enamelling. Koran of Othman. Tradition of Tamerlane's library. The Rhigistan, with medresses of Ulug-Beg, Shir-l)ar, and Tillah- Kari. Varieties of enamelled bricks. A butcher's shrine. Visit to Jewish quarter during the Feast of Tabernacles. Synagogue choristers. Visit to rabbi. Local traditions of Jews in China. Hebrew pronunciation ..... 580 CHAPTER XL. RUSSIAN SAMARKAND. Visit to military hospital. Sart disease : its characteristics and treatment. Hospitals for native women and men. A case of spastic paralysis. -Russian and native education. Turkistan troops, forts, arms, and uniforms. Education and morals of officers and men. Samarkand bazaar, population, and in- dustries. Characteristics of woven products. Public-houses of Zarafshan, and the Turkistan liquor traffic. Governor's in- formation respecting the soil, crops, and trees of the province. Attendants for our journey, and Asiatic interpreter. Pur- chase of antiquities and distribution of the Scriptures. General Ivanoff ........... S96 CHAPTER XL1. THE RUSSIAN OCCUPATION OF 7Y"A'A7.V7^.\'. Khokandian advance to Syr-daria and subjugation of Kirghese. Khivan approach from the West. Russian approach from the North. Ak-AIesjed taken in 1853. Consolidation of Russian advance, iM^-j to 1864. Proposed junction of Siberian and Syr- darian lines of forts. Capture of Turkistan and Aulie-Ata, 1 86.4. The columns united and Chimkont captured. Tashkent! unsuccessfully attacked. Prince Gortschakoff s letter on Russian advances. Tashkend taken. War with Bokhara. - Russian march to jixakh, iSod. Chernaieff superseded by Romanovsky. Bokhariots routed at Irjar. -Xau ami Khojend captured. Russian attacks on I 'ra-Tiube and (i/akh. - Forma- tion of Turkistan general government under von Kautmann, if>d~. Capture of Samarkand. -Final defeat of Hokhanot-, at Zerbulak, 1868. Emir's submission and request for aid in quelling rebellion. Russian interposition in the Hi valley. xxiv CONTENTS. VA.GS. Incompetency of Chinese to repress rebellion. Russian occupa- tion to be temporary, 1871. Russian quarrels with Khiva. Khiva conquered and partly annexed, 1873. Khokand incorpo- rated, 1876. Turkistan general government re-organized in 1882 614 CHAPTER XLII. DO IVE KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT SIBERIAN PRISONS? Different estimates of "Through Siberia." Doubts of sceptical friends. Prisons supposed to have been prepared for my visits. The supposition examined. Opinions of residents in Russia and Siberia. Testimony of a Swede. Examination of state- ments concerning Siberian Prisons in "Called Back." Prince Krapotkine's censure, and its value. The class of facts borne witness to in "Through Siberia.'' ...... 630 CHAPTER XLIII. THE FORTRESS PRISON IN PETERSBURG. Difficulty of obtaining admittance, and facility of misrepresenta- tion. Letter alleged to have been written therefrom in blood. Description of Troubetzkoy Bastion ; its cells, occupants, and diet. The Courtine of Catherine II. Place for visits of friends, and for trials. The library. Cells for military officers, and garden. Inquiry for oubliettes and underground dungeons. Testimony of official eye-witnesses. Testimony of ex- prisoners. Examination of statements in the Nineteenth Century. Insufficient evidence as to alleged torture of prisoners ........... 640 CHAPTER XLIV. THE PRISONS OF RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. Visit to prison at Omsk. Difficulties in providing prisoners with literature. Exaggerated statements as to uncleanness of Russian prisons. Visit to prison at Semipolatinsk. A Ras- kolnik fanatic. -Criminal statistics of Semipolatinsk. Visit to prison at Vierny. Official report of the prisons of Semirechia. Local voluntary committees. My distribution of books. Visit to prison at Tashkend. Alleged overcrowding of Russian prisons. Visit to prison at Khokand. Prison visitation in Samarkand. Lavatory arrangements, and misrepresentations concerning them. My testimony and its limits . . . 06 1 CHRONOLOGY OF RTSMAX CKNTKAL ASIA ..... 677 CENIKAI. ASIAN MOXKV, WEIGHTS, AND MKASURK-, . . 682 INDEX OF TEXTS ILLUSTRATED OR REFERRED TO. ( Vol. I. is to be understood unless other-wise mentioned.) GEN! :sis. CHAT. I'AGK CHAP. PACK CHAP. ,. AI , K xxxviii. 24 . ii. '52 xvii. 3 5 ii 414 xii. 1 1 313! 28, 29 360 xxii. 22 ii. 152 xiii. 7 . ii. 3 so XXXIX. 20 . ii. 185 xxiii. 12 14 ii 414 xiv. 10 542 xii. 43 ii. 79 XXV. 4 . . . ii 7 14 357 xiii. 9 ii. 94 5 ... 33' XV. 3. 4 330 27 ii. 430 xxvi. 28, 29 . 350 xvi . ii. xliii. 31 54 34 xxviii. } / ii. 1 08 xvii. 12 ' 357- 542 1 :XODUS. 65, 66 . ii 1 08 xviii. l6 . ii. 163 xiii. 9 5 '9 xxix. 23 ii 429 xix. I . ii. 127 xviii. 21, 22 3 10 xxx i. 3 659 2 549 xxii. I (> . 350 JOSHUA. -\ J2 / J*T / > } 1 ii. 5- ", 15 - ii 33 ' 19- }O . ii. 57 xxvii. 20 . 568 iii. '5 ii 219 xx i. 8 14- 21 15 . ii. . ii. 542 157 l.i xiii. 539 iv. ix. 20 12. 13 . ii 336 452 1VITICI .}(> . r s. xxii. l 7 . ii. 127 : xx. 10 . ii. 5 2 x. 21 . . 5 '9 / X X 1 . JO, :~ ii xxiii. 2 . ii. ^7 xx in. 36 589 . i ' .1 / ' 10 . ii. 126 3944 589 JUDGKS. xxiv. 33' XXV. 42, 44 557 i. 54 542 1 6 3 '3 xxvii 2-1 . ii. "7 v. 10 ii 1 03 65 3 '3 NUMBER s. ii . . ii 430 6/ 3 2 * x. 2 539 5" 4f)o XXV. i ( ; 332 xi. ^ ii. 4 2') vi. 2 ... ii 322 5, 6 33 xiii. 28 . ii. 35 5 ... ii 521 1 6 . i i . \2\ . xi. 3 s ii i ^7 . XV. \ o . 5 "y . ' / 9 ~ 26 . \UO xvi. 21 . . ii. ^ ~ ^ " , ' * x x i . 4 ii. 421) 27 . ii. 57 xxiii. . ii. 1 08 -'" ii 25'* xxvi. 20 . ii \oO 2 j ii J 59 XXXI. I O xxvii. 15 . ii 57 xvii. .) . . . ii 28" x x x i . 19. i4 218 DKU I'KkONOMY. xix. '5 549 34 . ii 43 i. 19 . . 11. I-' 1 ' 20 ii l()O 4 h 33 () 28 . ii- 55" kl'TH. xxxiii. 1 7 . ii ^ " iii. ^ ii. 55' ' ' u. J ii 374 x x x i v 33 ' i\ . Z 1 1 . 110 ' 20 . ii n) . ii. 4'4 i > \\iri '.i XXXV. I(>, 18 . 300 viii. - ii. 5 v" 1 viii . 1 I Id . ii 57 1 2 I . ii =17 xi. 10, II ii. 555 ix. " . ii 1 7') 2" . ii ^7 2^ . 5 "J xii. 17 . ii 5"" X X XVI 1 T 1 :: xii. 1 8 XVII. ; i . i ^ 11 2 I I xxxiii. 1 -1 . li 34 xvi. 3 ii. i i 7 5 1 ii 4 INDEX OF TEXTS. i SAMUEL. NEHEMIAH. CHAP. PAGE CHAP. PAGE CHAP. PAGE xxiv 3 ii 429 XX - 1 1 "* Q i II n 7O xxviii . 28 . n xxi. i ... ii. 140 ii. 7. 9 ii /y 20b XXX . 24 . . ii 430 xxiii. i ... ii. 322 ii 10 . . ii I 12 xl . 4 . . ii . 169 14 . . ii. 322 13 ii 124 xli . 15 . . ii . 8 2 SAM U El iv 3 ii 124 xliv . 27 . . ii . 420 vi. 1 6 . . ii. 298 21 . . ii 369 xlvi . 6 ii .287 xi 2 ... i i . V. 15 ii 371 xlvii .2 . . ii 325 8, 9 . i ] f ^2- viii. 14 16 . 589 ll . 23 . . ii 2 97 XV i ... ii. 79 16 . . ii 6 liv 11,12 . ii I2 4 2, 3 ii. 126 ESTHER. JEREMIAH. xviii. 4 . . . ii. 126 i. II . . ii. 356 V . 13 . . ii 325 xix. 8 . . . ii. 126 iii 2 . . ii. 127 X .2 . . ii 59 xxii. 1 3 ii. 322 V 9 ii. 127 xiii . 2 9 . . ii 181 i KINGS. vi. ii ii. 30 xiv 8 . . ii . 180 i. 5 ii. 7Q viii. i ii. 80 xvi 4 ii . 64 V. ix. / * * * ii. ii. / J 37 1 08 8, 10 . ii. ii. 34 30 xvii xxii 6 . . ii ii 419 82 xiii. xiv. xix. 24 . . 6 . . . ii. ii. 249 554 ' 412 i. 3 JOB. 15 ii. ii. 256 321 xxix. 7 xxxii. 2 . . xxxvi. 30 . xxxvii. 21 . ii ii ii 520 184 183 iv. V. 2 KINGS. 13 - - '7 ii. ii. xvii. xxiv. 39 ^ xxix 3 ii . . 16 . . ii ii. ii 3&5 323 327 127 xxxviii. 6 xl. 4 . . xlix. 29 . ii ii ii 184 184 497 2 3 ii. 30 - Q 1H 25 ii 39 vii I . 1 1 I2b ' XXXI. / > o . 26, 27 . ii. 4*4 3i ii 154 xiii. xvii. 3 21 . . 6 ... ii. ii. 249 593 xli. ' / 32 . . 5 ii. 549 LAMENTATIONS. 498 iv. 4 . . ii. 179 xviii. ii . . 593 PSALMS. :/EKIEL. xxiii. 16 . . ii. 250 xiv. 16 . . ii. 42 iv. 12 I ? : ; xxv. 19 . . n . i CHRONICLES ii. 22 . . ii. 39 lix. Ixxii. Ixxviii . 6 . . 5 63 . . ii. ii. ii. 92 157 viii. 8 . . 16 . . xiv. 10, ii . ii ii. ii. 327 414 285 XV. 2 9 ii. 5 cxiv. 3 ii. 419 14 . . ii. 285 xvi j ^ cxxii. '54 cxxix! 4 . . 8 . . ii. ii. 97 374 DANIEL. 2 CHRONICL ES P ROVERBS i 4 ii. 39 xi. 21 . . ii. I S" - 23 ii. 43 xxiii. 35 ii. 145 12. i, 1-8 TV ^, 6 11 497 308 xxiv. xxvii. 22 . . ii. ii. 126 446 ii. 20 . . 49 . . ii. 593 126 xviii. 26 . . ii. xxvi. 10 . . ii. 61 SONG OF SOLOMON. vi 17 . . ii. 34 sxxiv. 1 8 . ii. 34 i. 4 n. 82 viii 14 . . ii. I 10 EZRA. 8 . . ii. 432 xi. 35 ii. 8 i. 4 ... ii. 206 iii. 3 ii. 9 2 HOSEA. iv. vi. 18, 23 4 ... ii. ii. 34 206 V. / n. ii. 20 92 vii. 8 . . :. 62 vii. 14 . . ii. 30 ISAIAH. II . .1. o 24 ii. 271 i. 23 ii. 358 AMOS. V111. 22, ; 11. 206 43 INDEX OF TEXTS. XXVll MICAH. CHAT. I'AGE CHAT. I'AGE CHAI'. I'AGE xxviii. 19 . . ii. 302 xi. 38,39 i ; . 249 iii . 12 . ii. 340 MARK. 48 . . ii. 189 NAHUM. i. 2 . . ii. 169 xii. 6 . . ii. 181 i. 4 ii. 419 V. 6 . . 38 ii. 357 2SO xvi. 4 33 ii. 1!. 183 8 HABAKKUK. vi. 29 . . ii. 183 xviii. 3 1 ii. 388 i. 8 . . ii. 6 4 vii. 3 340 xix. 3 1 ii. 183 MATTHEW i. IQ . ii. ix. xii. 42 . 19 . . ii. 325 331 XX. 41 . . i j ii. ] : 249 249 iii. V. 7 4 25 ii 235 359 xvi. xviii. 15 6 . . ii. ii. 302 325 V. ACTS. 18 . . li. 184 36 . . ii 499 LUKE. viii 2 . . ;1 183 41 . . 47 ii ii 205 79 ii. iii. 8 ii. ii. 432 187 xii. 7 20 . . ii 184 496 vi. 19 . . 30 . . ii ii iv. xi. 29 . 6 ii. ii 152 179 XV xvi. 3 24 . . ii ii 163 183 viii. ix. 28 . . 23 ii ii 250 250 21 ii 323 34 xviii. xxi. 15 5 ii i : 359 163 X. 9 10 ii 459 52 xvi. 48 : 6, 10 . ii ii 335 285 xxii xxvi 3 2, 3 ii ii 121 388 xiv. 12 . . ii 183 21 ii '79 xxviii. 20 . . ii 184 20 . . ii 179 xix. 8 ii 187 ROMANS xxii. 13 ii 321 20 ii 183 i. 26 . . ii. 158 xxiii. xxiv. 5 16 . . 520 542 XX. 2 7 . 28 . 579 26, 27 . 554 41 . . ii 325 xxii. 12 ii 6 1 JAMKS. XXV. 3 11 320 : 1 i ii. 62 xxvi. 34 11 369 JOHN. xxvii. S8 . . ii 183 V. 2 ii 97 REVELATION. 66 . . I! 34 viii. 5 ii 152 xxi. 19 . . ii 124 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS IN VOL. I. PAGE THE AUTHOR IN KHOKAND ARMOUR WITH SADDLE-CLOTH PRESENTED BY THE EMIR OF BOKHARA ........ Frontispiece MAP OF RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA, INCLUDING KULDJA, BOKHARA, KHIVA, AND MERV, WITH AUTHOR'S ROUTE To face I OMSK FROM THE GARDEN OF THE GOVERNOR GENERAL . . . 6 1 A TORGOUT KALMUK . . . . . . . . . . .125 A KIRGHESE CAMEL-CART .......... 140 A TARANCHI l68 A POST-HOUSE " CHAMBRE-DE-TOILETTE " 175 THE PICKET POST-STATION AT ARGANATINSK . . . . .178 A CHINESE P'AI FANG, OR MEMORIAL ARCH, AT SUIDUN .... 2O4 SIBO MILITARY COLONISTS . . . . . . . . . .211 A SI HO WOMAN . . . . . . . . . . . 21 j A KALMUK BEAUTY . . . . . . . . . . .219 THE CHIEF TARANCHI MOSQUE IN KULDJA 23! MINARET Or THE TAKANrill MOSQUE ........ 2J3 "SHOP-STREET'' IN WINTKU, IN KULDJA 240 A KALMUK WOMAN WITH NATIVE EARRING ....... 244 OVIS POLII, OR THIAN-SHAN SHEEP ........ 245 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. xxix PAtiE THE MARKET PLACE WITH DUNCAN MOSQUE IN KULDIA .... 255 A DUNCAN PUBLIC CONVEYANCE 263 APPROACHING VIKRNY ........... 268 A STREKT IN VIERNY 273 A RUSSIAN COLONIST ........... 2Q2 A KIRC.HESE ............. 308 A K1RGHESE TENT IN SUMMER PASTURE, NEAR THE SOURCES OF THE RIVER KORA . . . . . . . . . . . -3-1 A TRAVELLER'S HALTING-PLACE IN THE COUNTRY OK THE KIRGHESE . . 334 SUMMER RESIDENCE OF THE GOVERNOR OF SEMIRECHIA .... 354 THE BUAM PASS ON THE ROAD TO 1SS1K-KUL 355 A SART 3<>3 A JEW OK CENTRAL ASIA .......... 44" SARTS IN THE HA/.AAK ........... 457 A SART IN TIHETEIKA AND KHALAT ........ 460 Till! PALACE OF THE LATE KHAN AT KHOKAND ...... 527 PRISON IN IHI: PALACE OK THE LATE KHAN AT KHOKAND .... ^2<) THE AUTHOR IN A KHOKANDIAN SUIT OF MAIL ...... 548 THE SHIK-DAR MEDKKSSE AT SAMARKAND ....... ^JJD A JEWESS OK CENTRAL ASIA .......... ^()I THE PRISON CHAPEL IN VIERNY . . (><>" %* M?t i if t/usc IKI-,;- IHI u cn^raral funn tlic Author'* />hoti'gruf>lif t and /u;;< appi'itrcd, c/s nlfu hn* the *u/>.-~//ti/ft' /' snuii' nf tin' /ui'/i^ciii^ (/;-//'/<;>, /;; the pa^,- of tin " ('fitfihn, " "J.i ;,-;< limn ," n:t,/ " .^im/i'iv <;/ //"/;;,." w J3 JS 1 g 1 S 13 : : : c > bO O C .1 : : : : Q *C i : : : : 2 * " t""* * ^^ t^* 04 OO ON r^ *O NO OO r rt i X H. N W 3 S kt c ^ ^ . S tS T3 S a -c ti fO = ro TJ- IO CO M O *O ^" W S- "C .-= X? J2 ; ; ON CJ u-)i-i rt ^ rt 'v rt t/i M 01 QJ J? > S, rt rt"3, ^t N ^S : :--.--- 3 M ' "l-c o c J5 -C " ' N. ' S S . S . . '' ^ ^^O^O ^^ *S ^^ tN.Os^O^ ^ (\j f\j CV-j 'Q \}s (r\ XA t^s, ^ >^* irv 3 t/3 ,<; 1 V-S t/r 1> >~ 1/3 _C rt cu VH 1/2 K n ^ -^ u- i/l "oJ vr, rt T3 JiH'KNKVS AND WIIHKIJ DESCKIHE London to Petersburg . Vol. ' Petersburg to Moscow . , Moscow to Nijni-Novgorod , Nijni-Novgorod to Perm , To the Interior and back , C n ^ hr c ' Jd -S, " " J ^ " ' " "EPS w ^ T3Ccn.- .gs.3 _.^ ^ ||i| rQO^" 1 rtX ' C o rt -^ rt rt ^ -C 2 ^ ^ 2 c"-^ ^ 2 ^: ^ ^ 2^ | c o'^-^1 o o2 S c g^^o^.S^-H-2^^^ O I** OJ*j*- > O /^ T3 i i C rt C WrtC-O^-^^Cgrttf^ x 2 '?, S ^ 2.rt.>,^ S^-r-p rt r - 1 O r- ^ XZT' c -^ P *^ ^ jl ^ i '^ "3 "1 -C 2 "rt p c 2 ^- ro 1) u-) rocxD M rc*^ -t M fj 72 OO 1-1 c 4 i_i c S^ - _o -2 O -^ Q ^ fj O ON to vo >-" >-* 10 cj to C" 5 5 3 - ~ ' r r 3 - - - o - - -" " - r- 1 ^ - ffi ! .H S : 5? O M M ''I f> N ' M o c r= O < ' o^ri^.^ rt S^rt A rt rt a - J= T.- > - 7 - ~ ^ -^ rt -i;-- - D_*-II:' O .ti -j - '-* rt S t ^ ^ I i s 's ^^ C 1 O ^: o "- 1 ^ f- OBSERVANDA. IN proper names the letters should be pronounced as follows : a as in father ; e as in th^re ; i as in ravme ; o as in go ; u as in Izmar ; and the diphthongs ai and ei as / in h/de. The consonants are pronounced as in English, save that kh is guttural, as ch in the Scotch loch. Unless otherwise stated : 1. The dates are given according to English reckoning, being in advance of the Russian by twelve days. 2. English weights and measures are to be understood. 3. Degrees of temperature are expressed according to the scale of Fahrenheit. The ordinary paper rouble is reckoned at two shillings, its value at the time of the Author's visit; but before the Russo-Turkish war in 1877, it was worth between half-a-crown and three shillings. The Russian paper rouble (or 100 kopecks) equals 2 shillings English. ,, silver ,, ,, 3 ,, ,, ,, vershok ,, 1*75 inches ,, ,, arshin ,, 28 inches ,, sajen ,, 7 feet ,, verst (500 sajens) ,, '663 mile ,, ,, desiatin (2,400 sq. sajens) ., 2'86 acres. sq. verst '43949 sq. mile. ,, zolotnik (96 dols) equals 2*41 drams avoirdupois pound J 4'43 ounces. ,, pood ,, 36 Ibs. garnet 34 peck. vedro ,, 2-7 Imperial gallons, or 3-25 gallons of wine. ,, chetvert ,, '72 quarter. For Asiatic moness, weights, and measures, stf p. 682. KULDJA, BOKHARA, KHIVA, AND MKRY. CHAPTER I. IN TROD UCTOR V. Intention to rros> the Steppe frustrated in 1879.-- roti-ideivd at'resh in i.SSj. Distribution of religious literature desirable. -i\ea>i>;is for and against the venture.- '1'he \\av rleareo!. -My objects ehietlv religious. Help of Bible and Trad Societies. - l'i.m-> in n-liMou tliereto. Additional objec'ts. Failure anlieipated by some. hear-- entertained by others.--- The .start. "\ "1 7 I I K X passing through I'^katcriiu-hur^ in \^~(>, V V I heard <>1 a people in the smith, wandering alxnit in so primitive a condition \\ith then' Hocks and herds, that, when anioni^ them, one mij^ht lancy himself on a visit to the Hebrew patriarchs. 1 hi> so tar interested me that I determined, on my way luck, to pass through the l\in_diese country trom ( )m--k to Orenburg. luit 1 \\ p as pre\'eiited trom dom^ th;-> In journeying all across Asia, making a circuit ol tin- world. ( )nce more sale home, so iar was it trom my wish to trax'el e.\tensi\-ely a^ain, that 1 had a>ked my \'UL. I. I 2 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. friends to look out for me a suitable sphere of parish work. My Siberian experience, however, had fostered in my mind another idea, which, on the Pacific, came to maturity. I had taken notes to serve possibly for public correspondence, or for a book, and during the voyage between Japan and San Francisco, I read my experiences to some of my fellow-passengers in the saloon. Among these evening audiences was Sir Harry Parkes, K.C.B., then our Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary in Japan, who, seeing that my story was so different from that commonly believed respecting Siberia, thought that such testi- mony, if published, might do something towards softening the asperity which then existed between England and Russia, and his Excellency further re- minded me that there are important means of doing good, and many " missions " in life, other than those of our religious societies. This thought reconciled me, on my return, to the expenditure of the inside of many weeks in writing my book, whilst on Sundays 1 officiated at a neighbouring church. When the book was finished, I was invited to the pastoral charge of a contemplated parochial district, and whilst this was under consideration, I was pounced upon to be editor in a proposed religious literary undertaking. Thus 1882 dawned upon me, seemingly, with an open door on either hand, whilst the desire to journey through Central Asia was smouldering in my breast. Neither the pastoral nor the literary undertaking was carried out, and it then remained for me to consider whether I should Qfo to Central Asia. O I gave a day to weighing the question, and, taking the Russian kalendar and the post-book, elicited from IX'fR OD UCTOR Y. 3 them that a traveller passing from Orenburg by the post-road round Russian Central Asia (without entering Kuldja, Bokhara, or Khiva) would traverse eight provinces, with a total population of 4,908,000,* and that he would pass through upwards of 20 towns with populations varying from i ,000 to 80,000, besides 300 villages and post-stations. Ot all these towns I knew of only one (or perhaps two) to which the British and Foreign Bible Society had been able to send a con- signment of Scriptures, and, judging from my experience in other parts of the Empire, I fully anticipated that the prisons, hospitals, barracks, and schools would be insufficiently supplied, or not supplied at all, with the Scriptures or other religious reading. It seemed to me, therefore, that a general distribution of such literature would be a blessing to the people, and remembering that, according to Russian law, no foreign missionaries may labour in the Empire, there appeared to be the greater reason, from my point ot view, ior spreading the written Word where the spoken word could not go. Having thus made out a case of need, the next question was, "Am / tin: man to go?" Towards an answer in the affirmative- the, following considerations pointed: I. My previous experience had been a training, and I possessed certain preliminary advan- tages tor such a work, because, having been live times on a like holiday errand, and so become known to the Russian authorities, it might be that, though they have restrained others from going to Central Asia, they * I'ralsk . . . }^,m)o Srniinvhia . Tun^aisk . . <>}(>, OOM I-Vn^hana in^k . . }S-'."" ' Xarat'shan .j,'joH,ooo 4 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. would perhaps allow me to do so. 2. The condition of Russo-English political affairs favoured the project being attempted at once, for the " Eastern Question " raised again might cause the Russians to object. 3. If I did not go, I had no reason to suppose that anyone else would. The first of these reasons weighed with me heavily, all the more so perhaps because of a short extract from Carlyle which had come under my notice a few days previously. It was this : -" Modern majesty consists in work. What a man can do is his greatest ornament, and he always consults his dignity by doing it," and when I looked at the third consideration in the light of a higher teaching, " To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin," I telt that my disinclination thereto must give way if I saw anything like an outward call to the work. If my thoughts were providential leadings, and not mere cogitations, I thought I might reasonably expect that my outward surroundings would in some way be adapted to the work before me. Xow I calculated that, if the journey could be accomplished in from tour to five months, it might cost at least ^400, and, though I did not see it to be my duty to bear the whole expense of the undertaking, yet I resolved that if the cost of travel were forthcoming, from whence I did not know, I was prepared to give my time and energy. And in this direction my way was cleared in the next feu- days, for, having put my project on paper, I showed it to a friend, who urged me to go, and offered /so towards the expenses. I then submitted my plans to the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible Society, who had been wishing to extend their work into Siberia especially since my return from thence), and who INTR OD UC'l ORY. 5 desired also to penetrate to other new regions as opportunity offered. The Committee had on several occasions given me introductions to their agents, and grants of books for my holiday tours, together with a sum of money on one occasion towards the cost of carriage of the books, and they now hailed with thanks my new proposal. In fact, so hearty was the reception accorded to me, that my courage rose to the occasion, and, instead of asking for a grant of ^ 100, as I intended, I asked for ^"200, which was given me, and as I lett the room a member of the Committee, to whom I was a perfect stranger, offered me ^50 more. I then told my story to the Committee of the Religious Tract Society, whose generous grants have encouraged me to distribute more than 100,000 of their publications, and they gave me ^"100, which, with /,io sent un- asked for by another friend, led me to decline with thanks another proffered cheque, on the plea that I thought I had enough. Mere, then, end the esoteric antecedents of my journey to Central Asia, which I have been telling the reader in my sanctum. If in so doing I seem to have obtruded what may be regarded as private affairs, I would urge that I have; thought it right that the societies which gave me help should receive a public recognition thereof, whilst, as for my personal motives, 1 see no good reason to withhold them. ( )ne of tin- critics of " Through Siberia " wrote : " The utmost commendation must be given to the reverend author, not only lor his personal work, but tor the good taste- that has impelled him to describe; his religious labours in language understanded of the laity." That this was written by a kindly pe-n 1 am sure ; but, 1 suppose, a perverse mind might misinterpret it to mean that I 6 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. had said too little of my religious labours. Some of my friends thought so. But I did not then set out to write a missionary's report, nor am I doing so now ; though I wish it to be clearly understood that the religious character of my journey was paramount. It heightened every pleasure, and softened what perhaps I may not call hardships, but my every inconvenience and fatigue, whilst, in reviewing the whole, it is incom- parably that portion of the expedition which affords me the greatest amount of present satisfaction. The object, then, of my journey, so far as the Bible and Tract societies are concerned, was fourfold : 1. In 1879, besides distributing more than 50,000 tracts and other religious publications, I gave to the authorities more than sufficient copies of the New Testament and the four Gospels, to enable them to place one (sometimes more) in every room of every prison and every hospital in all Siberia, so that, where my directions have been properly carried out, every prisoner and hospital patient ought to have within reach at all times of the clay, and without having to ask for it from the library, a copy of some portion of the Word of God. In 1882 I wished to do the same for the prisons and hospitals of Russian Central Asia, thus completing my work for the whole of Asiatic Russia. 2. Besides supplying the prisons, hospitals, and other public institutions with religious literature, I was anxious to do something of a similar character for the many thousands of Russian exiles, who are compulsory colonists, or who, after a short term in prison, are released to colonize in remote parts of Siberia, where it is all but impossible for them to procure religious books. I hoped to effect this by making some arrange- ment of a permanent character, by which books might IXTR OD UCTOR I ' 7 be distributed to these exiles as they pass through Tiumen, the general depot, whence they are forwarded to their far-distant destinations. 3. As I should be passing through regions where the Bible is all but unknown, and religious tracts unheard of where, moreover, the people might not have another opportunity of procuring them locally for many years I wished generally to sell and dis- tribute as many as possible. 4. My route lying through new countries, I was to inquire what need there existed for making new translations, and to see what openings presented themselves for promoting generally the objects of the two societies. These were my religious aims ; but if I had in- tended to make them the boundary of my horizon, un- friends were determined that they should not remain so. One asked me: to make a collection of flower seeds, botanical specimens, beetles and butterflies. 1 replied that I should not remain long enough in tin- different places for this, and that it would be a curious telegram to send on ahead to a stranger, " Please have in readiness tor me, on such a day and hour, half-a-dozen horses, the sautoi-ar for tea, and a collection ot the butterflies, beetles, and plants oi the neighbourhood!" My friend, however, urged that the pursuit ot the required game would be a healthful recreation for the parties concerned, and ! accordingly gave a vague promise that I would see what could be done. Then, my friend Mr. Henry Howorth, learning that I was going among his dear " Mongols," of whom he has written so voluminously, not only tried to interest me in them, but set on me,- /t/s friend, Mr. Augustus I- ranks, F.S.A., who 8 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. honoured me by a request that I would collect for him ethnographical specimens and antiquities for the British Museum. Added to this, I thought I might perhaps search with success for Hebrew manuscripts in Bokhara. My neighbour, Mr. Glaisher, F.R.S., of meteorological fame, as on a previous occasion, lent me some of his instruments for taking observations ; and, besides all this, I had sundry editorial friends, who wished me to see and take notes of everything possible, and write to them something thereon. Of course, there were not wanting those who thought my project a hopeless one. Had not other Englishmen tried in vain to penetrate to Russian Central Asia? And was not one of them a clergy- man, too, who proceeded by stealth as far as Tashkend ordered to be off within four-and-twenty hours ? Did I then expect to get to Bokhara ? to which, on one occasion when I answered in the affirmative, my questioner sank back in his chair with a look indicating that he deemed it utterly useless to have anything more to say to me. But, besides these of little faith, there were some of my older friends who looked back 40 years, and recalled that the last two Englishmen who entered Bokhara were put to death, and that Dr. Wolff, who went to ascertain their fate, nearly lost his life. By them I was thought to be entering on a dangerous enterprise ; but I was able to assure them that I had not the slightest intention of putting my head into the lion's mouth merely for the satisfaction of saying that 1 had done so, and that, unless I had not only the permission, but the cordial support of the Russians, I should probably not enter Bokhara. If, however, I am to be candid, 1 must admit that I was not without AVTtf OD UCTOR Y. 9 fear. I realized it to be the most dangerous journey I had undertaken, to this extent, at all events, that as our worthy forefathers used to make their wills before setting out on a journey from York to London, so I copied their example, and set my house in order. I then committed myself into His keeping in whose name I was going forth, and started. CHAPTER II. FROM LONDON TO THE URALS. Five routes to Central Asia. Departure for Petersburg. Favourable reception. Official letters and favours. Scientific acquaintances and introductions. Departure for Moscow. National Exhibition and St. Saviour's Cathedral. Mr. Alfred Sevier as interpreter. Our arrival at Perm. Purchase of tarantass and medicines. De- parture for the Urals. Tract distribution. Arrested and brought back to Perm. Examined and released with apologies. My own fault. Exaggerated reports in newspapers. A fresh start. THERE are at least five routes between London and Russian Central Asia. The most southerly of these would be by the Mediterranean to the Tigris valley, through Persia to Meshed, and then across the desert by Merv and Charjui to Bokhara, and Samarkand. By this route I thought perhaps to have returned, but was assured, by Russians and natives alike, that it would be next to impossible for me to escape the Turkomans between the Oxus and Merv. The second route is that by which I came back ; namely, Odessa and the Crimea, across the Caucasus and Caspian to Krasno- vodsk, then by camels to Khiva, whence there is a caravan road to Bokhara, or another on Russian territory through Petro-Alexandrovsk and Jizak to Tashkend. He should be a sturdy traveller, however, who would attempt this route. A third way would be by rail to Orenburg, and then following the post-road FROM LONDON TO THE URALS. n along the Syr-daria to Tashkend. This is the best route in autumn, but a difficult one in spring, by reason of floods and lack of horses. The fourth route,', which I thought at first to follow, is from Orenburg to Omsk and Semipolatinsk, and so past Lake Balkhash and Yierny to Tashkend. My plans for the exiles, however, rendered it necessary that I should go to Tinmen, and I therefore followed the fifth route, which, though longest, is, in spring, decidedly the easiest, namely, by rail to Xijni Novgorod, by steamer to Perm, by rail and post to Tinmen, whence steamers ply on the Irtish to Semipolatinsk, and so onwards by posting as in the previous route. I left London on the evening of the 26th fune 1882, and, three; evenings later, reached Petersburg, to find at the terminus the English tutor of the Grand Duke? Michael, uncle of the Lmperor, whose wife, the- Grand Duchess Olo-a, had thus honoured me bv semliiv'' to O i* i IK 1 1 nrc. when I could come out to the Michailoi'sky dacha, or summer palace;, to lunch. I nameel the: morrow, and was then privileged to renew an acquaint- anceship formed two years previously at P>orjom. when I askeel permission of the- Grand Duke Michael to place: copies of the- Scriptures in the prisons ami hospitals of tlie Caucasus. His Imperial Highness heard with interest of my projected journey, warne-d me: that I should be- unable to pass from Charjni to Merv (though I might reach the- latter, he thought, from the Russian side-), and kindly gave me a letter of introduction to Count Tolstoy, the Minister of the Interior. I had sent to tin's statesman, as head of th<- prison department, a few days previously, a copy of mv "Through Siberia," so that with him the tongue ol 12 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. gao4-repor.L-liad already been heard in my favour ; and upon presenting my letter on the ist of July, the Count's opening words to me were of thanks for the book, which, notwithstanding the pressure of official duties, he said he had found leisure to peruse, and had done so with the greatest pleasure. The Count then listened to the story of my projected tour, asked what I wanted, and said, " I will do all that I can to help you." Thus, providentially, I had leaped into the right quarter at a bound, and within eight-and-forty hours of my reaching Petersburg had virtually obtained per- mission to do what I wished. A few days later I received an official letter of thanks for my book, and also a separate commendatory letter (not one circular document, as in previous years) to the governor of each of the provinces through which I was to pass. The Count had thus redeemed his promise, but I made bold to ask another favour, and a great one, so great, indeed, that I did not until afterwards realize its magnitude. I begged to be allowed to see the political prison in the fortress of SS. Peter and Paul. Count Tolstoy at first said " No," but subsequently I was allowed to do so, and I shall give hereafter an account of what I saw ; but I may acid that, as I was leaving the prison, I asked one of the officials it visitors like myself were often thus admitted. He replied that he had been there 22 years, and had never seen one before ! But there were other magnates to be seen, especially one who happened to be in Petersburg 1 mean General Tchernaiefi, then recently appointed Governor-General of Turkistan. Here I have thankfully to acknowledge the help of a letter from our Foreign Office to the FROM LONDON TO THE URALS. 13 English Ambassador, Sir Edward Thornton, K.C.B., who had left the capital a few days previously for the country, but who was represented by Lord Frederick Hamilton. Lord Frederick most kindly procured for me, from the Asiatic department, a letter to the Governor-General, which, on being presented, was duly honoured, and I was furnished with an open document that made me the envy of several would-be travellers in Turkistan. After this a letter was given me from the Post Office authorities to assist me in procuring horses, and thus my official papers were complete. But I could not yet start for lack of an interpreter, and I wished to procure numerous introductions. Here the letters of my scientific friends, and my preparations for the execution of their commissions, stood me in good stead. The Grand Duke Nicolai, eldest son of the Grand Duke Michael, is an ardent lepidopterist, and has a magnificent collection of butterflies. His Imperial Highness introduced me. to his curator, Dr. Gustav Sievers, who gave me sundry hints and aids, as also did Dr. Strauch, the Director of the Zoological .Museum, to whom I was introduced by Mr. Vessilovski, the Secretary of the Academy of Sciences. The Imperial Geographical Society is an influential asso- ciation in Russia, and extends its operations over a wider held of science than its name implies, brom Mr. Vice-President Semenoff, and the obliging Secretary, Mr. \. b de Sreznevski, I obtained many introduc- tions. I made, too, the acquaintance of Baron < )sten- Sacken, Director of the. House of the Genera! Stall ; Baron Rosx-n, Professor of Oriental Literature; Dr. Regel, the Director of the Botanical Gardens; Dr. Albert Harkavy, of the Imperial Library: and Private 14 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. Councillor Grimm, an antiquarian, whom I found in the department of coins in the Hermitage ; as also of several literary gentlemen, all of whom received me kindly, and most of whom gave me or put me in the way of procuring information respecting the little- known parts w r hither I was proceeding. But to Petersburg, indeed, was a " far cry " from Central Asia, and I hoped to feel nearer at Moscow, as there was the chance of meeting persons from the East, and, as I hoped, about to return. This anticipa- tion was fulfilled on the first evening I was there, for whilst in Kamensky's office, arranging about the carriage of my books, there came in two men of dark complexion, whom I ventured to ask from whence they hailed. They said they came from Bokhara, and told me of two others from the same place staying in Moscow. Afterwards, strangely enough, as I was leaving the office, there passed by a Jew, whom I saluted and found that he, too, was a dweller in the city of the Emir. These men gave me sundry pieces of valuable information, and cleared up several obscure points, so that already some of the clangers I had supposed to becloud my way began to dis- perse. There were two sights at Moscow I wished to see in passing, namely, the National Exhibition, and the new Cathedral of the Saviour. I had the advantage of visiting the former with our obliging \ ice-Consul, Mr. N. \Y. Hornstedt, who had intended to draw up a report with a view to giving such information respecting the exhibition as would be interesting to English men of commerce. The exhibition was sup- posed to be restricted to manufactures and productions of the Russian Empire, upon which feature the Mus- FROM LONDON TO THE URALS. 15 covites plumed themselves duly, though the boast would not bear too rigid an investigation, for one wickedly disposed might twit his Russian friends by reminding them that some of the things they claimed for their own were in reality the outcome of English brains and hands, as, tor instance, an excellent boiler made in the Baltic Provinces, and so admissible to the exhibition, but fabricated of English plates by British workmen. I must not be tempted to enlarge upon details, but will only add that the sight, as a whole, interested me exceedingly, illustrating, as it did so vividly, the enormous size and immense fecundity of the Empire. The products of the frigid stood side by side with those of regions near the torrid /one, and there seemed to be no variety of human wants which Russia was unable to supply either from above or below ground. As for the Cathedral of the Saviour, built in Ancient Russian or rather Grseco- Byzantine style, a remarkable- fact in my eyes was that it had been erected in a single lifetime, and that there was given to the people of .Moscow, what falls to the lot of few generations to see a grand cathedral new in all its parts. The building, covering an area of 73,000 square feet, awaited consecration, and was rigidly closed to the public, except by special order of the Governor, with which I was favoured. I will mention only a tew data to show on what magnificent lines it has been built. Thus, on the exterior of the building, 900 Ibs. of gold were used for overlaying its live cupolas. ( )f its 13 bells the largest weighs halt as much again as "Great Paul" in London, and the: doors ot the temple, of which the largest weighs 13 tons, cost ,.{,02,000. As for the interior, I have seen most of the celebrated 1 6 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. cathedrals in Europe, but I know of nothing so exquisite as St. Saviour's. It reminded me most of the interior of Santa Sophia, at Constantinople. The floor is of marble, and the walls are lined with exquisite varieties of the same material, the entire cost of marble alone having exceeded ,300,000. Round the cupola are two rows of 1,240 candelabra, placed there at a cost of nearly ,40,000, and nearly as much as this was expended on the materials and workmanship of the altar space, without reckoning its ikons and pictures, of which latter the church is full. This costly fane has been erected at a cost of two and a quarter million pounds sterling, and is said to be capable of accom- modating 10,000 worshippers. I was able, in Moscow, to add to my store of intro- ductions, and would gladly have pushed forward, only that I had not yet lighted upon a suitable interpreter. Thanks to the kindness of friends who had been on the look-out before my arrival, I found several in Petersburg who were willing at first to go, but sub- sequently some were alarmed at reports ot Turkistan tigers and fevers ; others were weak in Russian, in English, or in health ; whilst a fourth, who would have pportunu\ VOL. I. 1 8 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. to make a few purchases, whilst Mrs. Parsons kindly added to our eatables a valuable store of cherry jam. Mr. Alfred Hynam Sevier, M.B., proved to be a physician who had just finished his studies at Edinburgh, Paris, and Vienna. It struck me accordingly as highly proper nay, also having Scriptural precedent that the practice of divinity and medicine should go to- gether, and I therefore commissioned my companion to invest a sovereign in drugs, so that we might physic right and left as occasion might require or oppor- tunity might serve. We were then ready to proceed, and on the evening of the 3Oth, Mr. and Mrs. Parsons, in Russian fashion, accompanied us to the station to see us off. The occasion was almost a grand one. I was introduced to the station-master, \vho showed every disposition to make us comfortable. The manager of one of the steamboat companies was there, and gave me sundry pieces of advice respecting my journey. So, too, was the principal doctor in the town, whom I had met in 1879, and he had brought with him a worthy notary, who wished to give me a box of beetles and butterflies, whilst I was besides presented to a general officer, the brand new Governor of Irkutsk, on his way to take up his appointment ; and all this before the dlitc of Perm, who, in their best attire, were promenading the spacious platform. One result was I fear that, for the time being, I lost my head, and forgot to mention to the authorities a little plan I had in hand, the disastrous results of which omission will presently be seen. Moreover, as, by some means un- known to me, an allusion thereto got into the Russian and English newspapers, 1 shall give my narration somewhat in detail. Mv books and tracts, as already hinted, were sent FROM LOXDOX TO THE URALS. 19 before me to Moscow, and as I found on arriving there that I could send them by heavy transit to Tiumen, I did se>, intending to make no distribution in European Russia. I determined thus fejr two reasons ; partly because of the unquiet state of the cemntry, and the temporary trouble; and delay I might bring upon my- self by distributing pamphlets ; but more out of deference to what I believe I may call the conviction of the Committees of the Bible and Religiems Tract Societies, that in localities where their colporteurs are at work, the profuse and indiscriminate distribution of Bibles and tracts is a hindrance: te> the; success o( their agents, inasmuch as the people decline to buy, anel sometimes fail to value religious reaeling, which they can now and again get without so much as asking tor it. An amiable frienel, however, had suggested, anel I readily consented, that I shoulel take: a small bag of bundles of tracts, neatly wired together, supposed te> be suitable: for ottering to thoughtful pe-rsems here- and the;re, rather than tor scattering by handfuls every- where ; anel these were; te> be- distributeel on my way te> join my boxes gone; before. Accordingly I commenced operations at the first railway statiem out e>t Perm, but warily ; tor, from experience:, I anticipated that it, whilst the tram were standing, 1 commenced distribution, I should be sur- roundcd with applicants, and the contents ot my bag left nearly all in one village. I therefore waited till the: train was on the move, leaned out ot the window, and place-el a bundle: ot tracts in the hand of the gen- damn; on eluty. At the next station I acted similarly, e)tte'i"ing the packet to the red-capped station-master, whe) ran forward to take it, but suddenly stopped. 20 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. whereupon I threw the parcel at his feet. After this it became dusk ; so we arranged our cushions and " turned in " for the night. All went peaceably enough till the train stopped at Chusovaia, 80 miles from Perm, about two o'clock in the morning, when a gendarme, on the track of a supposed Nihilist, put his head into the compartment ; but, over-awed, I suppose, by the respectable appearance of the persons within, withdrew and closed the door. Presently he came again, but, his heart still failing him, he once more retired. On his third attempt, however, he caught sight of the tracts on the rack and asked it we had any books. Thinking, in the innocency of my heart, that he was in quest of spiritual food, I said " Certainly," and graciously offered him some. But he looked severe, and said that we and our baggage must all come out to be examined. I laughed, and showed him, and the station-master who had entered, my official permission to distribute religious literature. The station-master seemed to see that all was right, but the gendarme stuck to his prey like a leech, and pulled from behind his cuff a telegram sent from a previous station by one of his fraternity. I then went to the General, who was in another carriage, and asked his influence to set me right. His Excellency came, stood at his full height (which was not diminutive), and intro- duced himself to the station-master as " the Governor of Irkutsk." He also read the telegram, but, shaking his head, said he could not help me, for it was written in the despatch that "proclamations" (that is Nihilistic pamphlets) had been found in the tracts I had given away. I replied that it was all " stuff and nonsense." " That is precisely what you have to go and prove," he answered. " But it will lose me four- and -twenty FROM LONDON TO THE URALS. 21 hours," I said. " Better that," he replied, "than four- and-twenty days " : upon which I gave in, and allowed my hand baggage to be brought into the waiting-room, whilst our tarantass, with portmanteaus, etc., went forward. \Ve had now to wait for " the next train up," due in about two hours, thus giving us time to telegraph forward to a friend to look after our coming luggage, and to Mr. Parsons, to say that we were returning under arrest to Perm. As we sat in the restaurant we were curiously eyed by the public generally, and a posse ot gendarmes, who at length suggested that we should change our quarters, tor that it was "injra ( )msk, his tuture residence, but making official inspec- tions cu route. I had a letter tor him, that an otlirer at Moscow, who knew the country, had strictly counselled me on no account to tail to present, in order that I might receive the proper papers where- with to enter Kuldja; "lor, said he, "so prejudiced are the officials down there, that an autograph IfUer from the Kmpcror himselt will not gain you admission 32 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. to Kuldja, if you have not one from General Kol- pakovsky." Accordingly, when one day Mr. Ignatoff called on us to say that the Governor-General had left Vierny only the day before, and that, travel as fast as he would, he could not reach Omsk before the date on which the steamer was due, I determined to save the shaking of my bones over that much of post-roads, and to glide to Omsk on the Irtish. This Mr. Ignatoff strongly urged, not, as will hereafter be seen, touting for passengers, nor with an eye to business, but with desire to perform a generous deed. Our stay being thus prolonged, we had time to visit the new commercial school, built at the cost of Mr. Padaruyeff, the mayor, and in it the museum, where was a good number of specimens of butterflies, beetles, bees, and moths, collected locally by Mr. Slovtsoff, to whom I had an introduction, but who happened unfortunately to be away. We saw also a good deal of the Wardroppers, who had just astonished the natives with a steamer they had built, of 200 tons displacement, measuring 170 ft. by 22 ft., a hold / ft. 6 in. deep, and drawing only 28 in. of water.* On the loth of August we were to leave Tinmen, and Mr. Ignatoff gave a dinner in my honour, placing * She- had compound condensing engines, cylinder steam jacketed, and fitted with Corliss gear, which Mr. Hdward \Vardropper had seen in I'Xgland, though not on steamers, and which he had adapted to that end. The high-pressure cylinder was of 21 and tin- low-pressure 38 inches in diameter, the stroke 48 in., and the nominal horse power 80. All the working parts were of Bessemer steel, and the boilers made of Siemens' steel, worked to a pressure of from 90 to 100 Ibs. The engines had been made at the Government steel factory, 500 miles away, at Perm, but otherwise the whole was built in Siberia, where, as regards her fittings of steel and Corliss gear, she was regarded as a noveltv, whilst owner and builders alike were pleased that she could tug against stream in 2 lighters, 16 tons to each horse power. FROM THE URALS TO OMSK. 33 me at the head of the table,* and Mr. Sevier opposite; and when, later on, I wetit to the ticket office, there was handed to me a free pass securing, as far as the steamer could go, a first-class cabin with three berths, free transport of my two vehicles and the whole of my baggage ! This I thought a proof of Mr. Ignatoft 's sympathy with my work, and the more observable because I was told that he was Russian to the back- bone, and hated foreigners ; moreover, that he would probably rather have seen my work in the hands of his own countrymen, but that as they did not do it, and I did, he rose above his prejudices and acted in the handsome manner I have described. \Ve left Tinmen in the small steamer h'apitaii, that carried us 60 miles down the shallow Tura to its confluence with the Tobol, where we arrived on the morning of the following dav. \Ve were- O O * then transhipped into the Scrapolcts, a large, con- venient, and comfortable boat. 1 Hiring the process ot shifting, 1 observed a man looking steadily at me, whom I recogni/ed as the captain of the Bcljctchcnko, in which I made the voyage three years previously from Tobolsk to Tomsk. I was glad to liml he had not forgotten " Mr. Missionary," as he then called me, I recogni/ed also, among the. passengers, the 1'ivnch master at the Gymnasc, whom I hail met on my previous visit to Tobolsk. I he holidays were drawing to a close, and several masters and more scholars wen- returning for the open- ing term. This gave me an opportunity, which I embraced on the morrow, to sell some hiblesand tract <. 34 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. Opening a couple of boxes on deck, I was speedily surrounded with purchasers of all classes, and among them several ladies and ardent schoolboys. One little fellow bought of me almost wholesale, and I am afraid nearly emptied his pockets. The masters of the gymnase bought copies in French and German, as did some of the scholars, whilst the old-fashioned orthodox took them in Sclavonic. There was a demand, too, for Polish copies. The light in which my purchasers re- garded me evidently varied widely. Some understood that I was conducting a labour of love, but others treated me as a merchant pure and simple. One matter-of-fact old lady, of commercial principles truly Russian, caused much amusement to the bystanders by trying to beat me down. Having fixed upon her book, she asked the price. " Twenty-five kopecks," I replied. "But can't you take twenty?" she said; and, heedless of the laughter of the crowd, went on haggling, till I, more anxious as to her future possession of the book than the sum she paid, allowed her to have it at her own price. When the sales began to grow less brisk, and the poorer passengers saw what their richer friends had bought, they came asking for the books at reduced prices, and this I allowed in cases that appeared genuine. This caused the ship's stoker, who had bought at catalogue price, to inquire why others were served cheaper than he ; and when we said, " Because they are poor," he wished to know what means we had of divining the contents of their purses. Thus, on the whole, I did a capital morning's trade, and in the afternoon the boat arrived at Tobolsk. Here 1 had five things to do : to visit the Governor ; to present an introductory letter ; to visit an exile's tomb, with a view to getting it sketched ; to pay my respects FROM THE URALS TO OMSK. 35 to the Archbishop; and to look at a collection of coins and all this in the two hours during which the steamer would wait ! I had communicated with the Governor, reminding him that I had received no account of the O books I left with him on my last visit, to be distributed in the hospitals, prisons, schools, and public institutions of his province, and asking that I might be so favoured, if possible, on my expected arrival. As we drew near the citv, his Excellency was steaming about on a ^ ' * O pleasure trip, with band playing and colours (lying ; but seeing our boat arriving, and knowing, as he said, I was on board, he caused his craft to turn back and come alongside to welcome me. The police-master then handed me a detailed report in writing, and the Governor thanked me for the books he had had to distribute, adding that he should be glad to give a tew more, especially in some of the country schools. He then ottered to be of any use in his province that he could, put me into the hands of some of his officials to help me to what I wanted in the town, and steamed away. This occupied about 15 or 20 minutes, and we then drove quickly, under the charge of the police- master, to Madame Znamensky's, who, knowing my haste, accompanied me at once to the cemetery on the heights in the outskirts of the town. Here were buried \Volffand Mouravieff, two celebrated I Kvem- brists, political exiles who took part in the insurrection in 1 )ecember, 1X25, and I had been asked by a relative ot tin- latter to visit, if possible, his grave, and look to its condition. Thanks to the care of Madame Znamensky, who had been governess to the exiled nobleman's daughters, the tomb was in good condition, save only that the iron railings were broken, and these. 36 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. could not be mended, because there was no foundry in the district. I asked as to the possibility of getting a photograph of the spot, had the Russian epitaph copied into my note-book, and then, without loss of time, hastened away. We presented ourselves next at the palace of the Archbishop, whose good-will I was anxious to gain with reference to the books I had left to be distributed at Tiumen ; for, although his Eminence might not have absolute power to forbid their dissemination, he might put difficulties in the way, and it was in any case better that we should have his benediction. Having sent in my card, we were shown into a chamber spacious and lofty, with shrubs and flowers in the windows, remind- ing me, in one respect at least, of Lambeth Palace, in that the walls were hung with portraits of Archbishops for many generations, though the number at Tobolsk was much fewer, and the pictures mere daubs compared with some of the portraits at Lambeth. I learned that the present Archbishop of Tobolsk had only recently been appointed, and that it was not he who ap- proved my books and tracts as left before. I had. therefore, to explain the object and character of my mission, and told him of the books I had left lor distri- bution. He seemed at first to be somewhat suspicious that we were actuated by sectarian motives, but ulti- mately expressed his pleasure at what we were doing, and wished us God-speed ! We then drove to the park close by to peep at Siberia's one monument that of Yermak, the robber chief who added Siberia to the Russian Empire. The present monument is a stone column standing in a garden. The former one consisted of a wooden figure, to which the Tatars set fire out of revenge ; but the FROM THE URALS TO OMSK. 37 remains of it are still preserved in a shed within the grounds. We afterwards descended the hill to look at a private collection of copper coins and medals, the value of which, however, we thought exaggerated, and hurried on to the boat to find that the captain had kindly been waiting only for us. Thus far my journey from London had been over old ground, save that in 1879 I followed the post-road from Tinmen to Tobolsk. I was now to wander into fresh fields, and make way up the Irtish to Omsk, a voyage that occupied live days. The regular service of steamers running fortnightly, or thereabouts, from Tinmen to Omsk, and (when the water is sufficient) to Semipolatinsk,* had been started about two years only, the chief demand for it being the annual transport of young soldiers on their way to Tnrkistan. They travel on a large barge tugged astern of the passenger steamer, both proceeding slowly, and helping to make a dull journey somewhat tedious. * The following' is ;i table of stations between Tinmen and Semipola- tinsk, with approximate distances between, together with the fares for tir.it, second, and third-class passengers and bau^a^-v :- - Tinmen - Artamanova . Tobolsk . I '-,t- l.ihim I'ara Kartashevo Omsk Jelif/enka l'e>chanoe 1'avlodar Semiyarsk Semipolatinsk 4 < 5 < ; 2 ; IS i J 1 1 I ( 38 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. The banks of the river possess no beauty, and little interest. When Yermak pushed his way into Siberia at the close of the sixteenth century, he took a small fortress on the banks of the Irtish called Sibir, the ruins of which I was under the impression were still to be seen ; * but in answer to my inquiries it was said to be unknown, as also the spot where Yermak fell into the Irtish and was drowned. We passed very few habitations, and not many cattle. On the second day after leaving Tobolsk we arrived at Ust-Ishim, a selo, or church village, with only 14 Russian houses, but with a large number of Tatar habitations. It derives what little importance it has from being the centre of the corn trade for the surrounding district, the grain being gathered there for the market at Tobolsk. We stopped, of course, at wooding stations, the steamer burning 6 cubic fathoms, or 1,296 cubic feet, of logs per day, at a cost on the river's bank of $s. per fathom. In Omsk the cubic fathom costs ^s. ; and in Petersburg 50^. These delays for taking fuel were not altogether unwelcome, because they allowed of our going on shore to look at the villages and to see what the peasantry had to offer in the way of raspberries and other fruits, cucumbers and curdled milk, called prosto- kiasJia. We were able to exchange commodities in offering them Scriptures and tracts, which usually they took readily. At a certain church village we called and sold books to the priest, who was glad to purchase though at Ust-Ishim, where I sent parcels of * In Chap, ix., p. 1 10 of 'Through Siberia." London: Sampson Low & Co., Fleet Street; America: Houghton, Mifflin, iY Co., Boston; German Translation, Hermann Costenoble, Jena ; Swedish Transla- tion, Albert Bonnier, Stockholm ; -Danish Translation, O. H. Delbanco, Copenhagen. FROM THE URALS TO OMSK. 39 tracts to three ecclesiastics on the hank, one of them, I suppose from fear or misunderstanding, declined to accept them. We sold several publications also at a cheap rate to the officer on the soldiers' barge, for distribution among the men. On the 1 5th- 1 6th of August, in the middle of the night, we reached Tara, a town ot 6,000 inhabitants, and 460 miles from Tobolsk. I remembered the name of this place, because I had read of its prison, from which the exile Pietrovski escaped, made his way over the Urals to Archangel, and thence to Western Kurope. I myself was awaked Irom my slumbers there, to learn that the police-master ot Tara had come on board and asked for me. I dressed of course in haste, with the chance possibly of being again arrested and taken back. Hut all was right this time, the Governor at Tobolsk having telegraphed to the police-master to present himself on my arrival, and inquire it there was aught I required. Everything, however, was going smoothly, if not rapidly, enough. My time was occupied in reading books of the region whither we were going, and the steward provided an excellent table. Thus our dimu r on the day atter leaving Tobolsk consisted of, first, clear soup made.- of sterlet a fish at largest about two feet long, and weighing 10 Ibs., with pale pink flesh like, that of a Loch Leven trout, remarkably tender, and almost tasteless I thought ; but the flavour of which is so highly esteemed in Petersburg, that th<- soup there costs ^\. a plate. 1 he second course boiled nc/itia, a bigger fish than the preceding, with firm, white flesh, and, as I thought, rr/'i' good. Tin- third course consisted ot tclicrka, and a good, dr\ - tasting garnet the Russians call glnkha)'* or capercail/ie. The fourth course was of prottoki'iishci, made ot .sour 40 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. milk and cream. Such a dinner ordered a la carte costs from is. 6d. to 2s. ; and I heard that at Tara other provisions were equally cheap.* I need hardly say that among our fellow-passengers were no tourists. Travellers for pleasure are rare indeed in Siberia and Turkistan. We met with only two in all Central Asia. But there were upper-form " gymnasts " returning to school at Omsk, who on Sunday evening hymned to me on deck some Russian Church music, whilst I in turn sang them in Latin the " Agnus Dei " in Mozart's " First Mass." So, too, there was a Russian merchant and his wife, who spoke English, and who, it was easy to see, had travelled. They were going home to their children at Tara, having, since they left them, accomplished the circuit of the world. The husband's business establishments were at Hankow and Foochow, to which places the lady had twice crossed the Mongolian desert from her father's house in Kiakhta; but this time they had preferred crossing the two oceans, America, and Europe, instead of returning westwards through Siberia. We became very good travelling friends, and as they left us at Tara, they gave me a cordial invitation, should I come near them in China, "just to look in," which I expressed myself forward to do. Thus we lost at this second station two pleasant passengers, but we gained other two ; for there came on board a lady and her daughter, who spoke excellent * Thus geese in autumn cost y/. a couple, and are frozen in threat numbers to be sent west to Russia, and east to Irkutsk. Riabcliiks (hazel grouse) and tcticrka in summer cost yt. a brace, and milk \\ti. a pint; good fish, such as sterlet and nclma, cost from \\/i. to 2.W. per Ib. ; whilst beef in autumn, when it is cheapest, costs from \s. yt. to is. M. the pood or about \d. per Ib. Mutton is not much eaten about Tara, sheep being scarce. FROM THE URALS TO OMSK. 41 Frendh. They were accompanied by two gentlemen who appeared to be " in attendance," which was explained when I discovered that the lady was the wife of the Governor of Akmolinsk, who for the time being was acting for the Governor-General. The fact that I had a letter for her husband was of course an introduction, and when, after passing the third station, Kartashevo, we arrived on the 1 7th at Omsk, I was introduced on the landing-stage to the Governor, and invited to dinner on the following day. CHAPTER IV. THE GOVERNMENT GENERAL OF THE STEPPE AND THE PROVINCE OF AKUOLINSK. "Russian Central Asia" defined. Its dimensions, boundaries, and divisions. The government general of the Steppe : its dimensions, hydrography, surface, and vegetation ; its population and commu- nications. Province of Akmolinsk : its surface, rivers, climate, and administrative divisions ; its minerals, agricultural produce, and cattle. The Russian population and medical staff. Towns of the province, their industries, and houses. Conflagrations. Distillation of ardent spirits. Crime. BY " Russian Central Asia," as read in the title of this book, is meant the Tsar's dominions lying between the Oxus and the Irtish, and between Omsk and Samarkand. This territory measures from west to east 1,250 miles, or the distance from London to Petersburg, and from north to south 1,100 miles, or the distance from Petersburg to the Crimea.* On the * Its area exceeds half a million square miles, or as much as that of England, France, Prussia, and Spain together: PROVINCE. Extent in square miles. Population. Persons to square n.ile. Akmolinsk 2I3.30I 45 9 '3 1 9 2'I Semipolatinsk 190,456 538.385 2-8 Semirechia I,H,4IO 55i. 6 79 4' 1 Svr-daria 182,000 1,094.557 6 Ferghana 28,000 729,690 26 Zarafshan 10,000 348,413 35 Amu-daria 36,000 107,209 3 794,167 3,829,252 Average 5 THE STEPPE AND THE PROVIXCE OF AKMOLIXSK. 4.5 north it is bounded by the government of Tobolsk, on the west by one of the Ural provinces, the Sea of Aral, and Khiva ; on the east by the government of Tomsk and what was Sungaria; and on the south by Bokhara and Chinese Turkistan. Russian Central Asia has a population of nearly tour millions, or five to the square mile. For administrative purposes it is divided into the governments general or vice-royalties of Turkistan and the Steppe.* The general government of the Steppe forms the eastern portion of Russian Central Asia, and the boundaries of the two on the north and east coincide ; whilst the vice-royalty has on its west the province of Togai, and, on the south, Russian and Chinese Turkistan. Its extreme length from Omsk to the Thian-Shan mountains is 1,000 miles, and its extreme width on the 49th parallel 900 miles, with an area of 5 v vS,i6j square miles that is, as large, as 1* ranee. Prussia, Spain, and Portugal. Its entire population is 1,549,583. or 5 to the square mile. In the north the plains do not rise: to a thousand feet, though then- is a range of hills attaining to that height, com- mencing 1 60 miles west of the. town of Semipolatinsk, and running across the territory in a north-westerly direction. Further south, on the 4gth parallel, stretch westward across the vice-royalty from the Chingi/- 'I an, the Suk-bash-Tau mountains, less than 5,000 * Russia has possession-, in Asia south of tin- Caucasus and eaM "I tlii' Caspian, including Merv; also part of the provuu i's ot IVrm. Orenburg, and 1 ur^ai extend east ot' the Crals ; hut all ilie-e po---.e-.- sions are governed from Kumpeaii centres, so that, for administrative purposes. Siberia and what I ha\e called Russian Central A--:a make up the whole ol Asiatic Russia. I did not enter Yakutsk :n i N 7'j; hut with this exception I have travelled in all the other pro\inces. so th.i! " Through Siberia '' and the present work describe \\ ith more or les- comjileteness the whole. 44 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. feet high. In the western portion of the range they do not exceed 1,000 feet, and form the watershed of several streams running south into the Sari-Su. South of the Suk-bash-Tau range is the basin of the Balkhash, that, with the valley of the Hi, has an altitude of less than 1,000 feet, though on the north of the Hi about Kopal are mountains attaining to nearly 5,000 feet, whilst on the south, behind Vierny, the Trans-Ilian or southern Ala-Tau range far exceeds that height. The principal rivers in the vice-royalty are the Irtish and I shim, flowing into the Obi, and seven rivers, of which the Hi is the most considerable, flowing into the Balkhash. Others, notably the Sari-Su, the Chu, and the Nura, lose themselves in the Steppe, or some of its small lakes. Of these lakes there are several in the plains, such as Lake Dengiz, into which flows the Nura, but none of them are worth naming in comparison with the Balkhash. In the mountains are lakes Zaisan, Ala-Kul, and the famous Issik-Kul at an altitude of 5,300 feet above the sea. In the climate of the Steppe is experienced every degree of temperature between - 5 2 '42, the greatest cold in February, 1879, at Omsk in the north, and + 99^5 of heat in the south at Vierny. The general government or vice-royalty of the Steppe is divided into the governments or provinces of Akmolinsk, Semipolatinsk, and Semirechia, of which the surface consists mainly of mountains, deserts, and steppes. In the north the steppes afford abundant pasturage for cattle ; to the west and south of the Balkhash are a few patches of sandy desert ; and in the south and south-east are the mountains. For the most part the territory is poorly wooded. A clenclrological map of Akmolinsk and Semipolatinsk shows a narrow belt of deciduous trees, about 70 miles THE STEPPE AND THE PROVINCE OF AKMOLINSK. 45 in width, stretching across the territory west of Omsk, and a small area of a like character about the town ot Akmolinsk. Likewise to the north of the town of Semipolatinsk is a forest of conifers about 100 miles square, and a few small forests of this character are met with south of Petropavlovsk ; but when comparing these with the immense belt, 400 miles wide, of coni- lerous trees about the affluents of the Obi, or even the lesser deciduous forests between Tobolsk and Omsk, the northern part of the general government of the Steppe may be called bare of trees.* The character of the vegetation of course varies considerably. As we approached Omsk we were thankful for raspberries, rather sour currants, and other berries; but at Yierny we feasted on luscious melons, grapes, and nectarines. So again, about Omsk, the people ate black rye bread ; at Yierny it was as easy, or easier, to get wheaten bread; whilst, further west, rye bread can with difficulty be procured at all. The vice-royalty is peopled by a comparatively small number of Russian soldiers, Cossacks, and colonists in the towns and along the principal high- ways ; but all over the province are the nomad Kir- ghese and Kaxaks ; Kara-Kirghese in the mountains, and Kaxaks in the plains, though both arc usually spoken of as Kirghese. The chief towns besides Omsk where lives the Governor-General are Akmo- linsk and Semipolatinsk, capitals of the governments of the same names, and Yierny, the capital ot Seinire- 46 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. chia. Each government is divided into uyezds, each of which has also its capital town. With regard to communications, the Irtish is navi- gable for steamers in spring. There is also a post carriage-road and telegraphic communication from Orenburg, skirting the northern boundary of the vice- royalty to Omsk, and then turning south, following the river as far as Semipolatinsk, alter which, passing through Sergiopol to Kopal, it makes a curve in a. south-westerly direction to Vierny, and continues into Turkistan.* Having thus briefly sketched the general govern- ment of the Steppe, I proceed to treat of Akmolinsk, the largest of its three governments. When penning my " Through Siberia," I wrote : " Western Siberia is divided into four provinces namely, Tobolsk, Tomsk, Akmolinsk, and Semipolatinsk," which was then true, but territorial arrangements have since changed ; Siberia is pushed farther to the east, and the two provinces of Akmolinsk and Semipolatinsk were cut off in 1882 to make, with Semirechia, the general government of the Steppe. Akmolinsk is bounded on the north, west, and east by the provinces of Tobolsk, Turgai, and Semipolatinsk, and on the south by Turkistan and Lake Balkhash. Its length extends to 700 miles, or the distance from O ' Paris to Rome, its breadth to 330 miles, and its area * This main road is joined on the east and south by live carriage- roads from Ust-Kamenogorsk, Marlady, Lepsinsk, Kuldja, and Lake Issik-Kul, but it gives off only one to the west, from 1'avlodar to the Orenburg road at Petropavlovsk. Besides the carriage-roads there is a great caravan route, that, entering the territory from the south-west, skirts the bed of the Sari-Su for 300 miles, and branches off on the right to Akmolinsk, and on the left to Atbasar ; whilst there are several less important roads for caravan traffic from the south that strike at some half-dozen points the Orenburg route. THE STEPPE AXD THE PROVINCE OF AKMOLINSK. 47 is 210,961 square miles that is, the size of France, which, with a population in 1880 of 459,319, gives an average of 13^ persons to the square mile. In the extreme north of the province, about Petro- pavlovsk, the surface is chiefly of undulating ciiernozom, or black earth, intersected by deep hollows, and traversed by ranges of hills gently inclined towards the north, but abruptly scarped towards the south. These hills do not rise to an altitude of 1,000 feet until we come to the northern bank of the Ishim, along which runs a higher belt 60 miles in width. South of the river the surface is again depressed as far as to the Suk-bash-Tau, where, for a small area, the east of the province rises in some places to 5,000 feet. Still further south, in the east are hills rising to 1,000 feet, but in the west the surface is depressed and partly occupied by the Golodnaya, or Hungry steppe, whilst north of this is a desert of sand called Peski-M uyun-Kum, covering an area of 2,000 square miles, or about the si/e of Northumberland. The principal river in the north is the Ishim, an affluent of the Irtish, which latter skirts the north- west corner of the province. The Ishim rises about So miles south-east of the town of Akmolinsk, or the " white tomb,'' as ^-Ik-iuoli signifies in tin- Tatar tongue. Mowing westwards tor 100 miles, the Ishim receives several tributaries on its right bank, but only one on its left, and at length forms a junction with the Athasar, that gives its name to a small town at the continence. About So miles west of this town the; Ishim meets a range of lulls separating Akmolinsk from the neighbouring province, and which diverts its course northwards 300 miles, to Petropavlovsk, beyond which it passes on 200 miles further to the. Irtish. RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. Of a different character from the I shim are the streams in the south of the province, for all of them may be said to be abortions, since they fail to reach the ocean or any great body of water like the Sea of Aral, into which some geographers assert they once ran. Thus the Sari-Su rises 200 miles south of Akmolinsk, and, running in a south-westerly direction, receives many affluents from the north, but none from the south. For the last 1 50 miles of its sluggish course it forms the boundary of the south-west corner METEOROLOGY BAROMETER. TEMPERATURE. 670 21-j -4'54 -20-3 17-96 ' -7-8 29-12 -f6 50-18 ro'i 6674 19-3 68-18 2O'I 64-94 I&3 52-52 11-4 38-48 3-6 22-64 1 '9 28-76 -/ miles eastward, is another marshy lake called the Saumal-Kul, into which teebly flows another river of similar character, the Chu, that also helps to form the; southern boundary ot the province. Other rivers, rising in the same region as the Sari-Su, expend their waters without II 9 9 io S 4 6 10 () 2S 7 4 27 14 o 10 4 in 1-' 5 I? 2 4 2 II II) J i i) S 17 1 ') 4 i) 12 IJ 17 1') 2 IS IJ d <| M 5 14 I.; 1 7 io d 12 ' 5 i ; j 5 H 7 4 - - '5 '( T 12 5 4 4 ''4 4 15 .>" 2 5 .i S J) M S JS ; j i i io j i 27 i; 4 .;<) i; o 10 (i i i 50 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. attaining to the Syr or the Aral. The Xura, for instance, runs through a closed basin, having for a central lake a sheet of water of small dimensions, bearing the name of " Denghiz," or Sea, which may perchance testify to its having covered a larger area at some former period. The climate of the province is decidedly cold, as we were reminded by some officers travelling from the south, who met us near the Irtish, and who ran into the post-house to put on underclothing, and exclaimed that they were approaching Siberia ! At Omsk, in 1879, the ice of the river did not break up till April 1 2th,* and froze again on October 28th, and the I shim at Akmolinsk and Petropavlovsk was open only from April 6th to October 26th, and April 3rd to October 28th respectively. Again, at Omsk the temperature ranged in the same year between a minimum in December of 43 '6, and a maximum in July of + iO2'2O; whilst at Akmolinsk the thermometer sunk lower in December, namely, to 50*3, and rose in August only to +977. t The province is divided into the uyezds of Akmo- linsk, Atbasarsk, Kokchetovsk, Petropavlovsk, and Omsk, of which the populations may be grouped into 120,000 settlers, and 340,000 nomads, the former occupying i 1,000, and the latter no less than 200,000 square miles, or an area the size of Spain. The density of population varies considerably in the different uyezds, as does the proportion of nomads to settlers ; for whereas in Omsk there are more settlers than nomads, and in Petropavlovsk they are about equal, in Kokchetovsk the nomads double in number the * All these dates are (). S. + For Meteorology of Omsk, 1-^77, see pp. 4^-49. 77 fK STEPPE A. YD THE PROVINCE OF AKMO/.1NSR'. 51 settlers, and in Akmolinsk and Atbasar lor every settler there are 28 and 47 nomads respectively. L YK/ll. Ar Settlers. L'a. Nomad* Population. UciiMty o lion t'.. s Settler^. I'opula- ' Q( 1- " lllc - Nomad to 1 \'Mli:nU ^-lfl.-r So.imles." S.| ; iiiiit-. Akmolinsk 206 '2 4o67 I2I.2(>5 21-17 '"3 27-8 Atlusar>k 1 ID'S 5 .534 1.324 01,041 lO'OI i -o 40-:, Kokcla-tovsk . 2,3 2 4'5 25,671 27,129 62,984 93 2 2 - '3 1'ctropavlo-, >k. 4.310-9 22,471 42,683 57.251 97 2'5 ''3 < >m.,k 4,072-0 I 3- ( '74 44.312 35.5 ()2 10-8 2 '5 o-* 1 1,030-7 199,904 1 1 9. S 1 5 339,003 60-98 9 '5 The minerals of the province are coal, copper, gold, and salt. There is a coal mine in the; valley ot the Xura, near the source ot the Sokur, and some tew other mines about the sources of the-. Sari-Su.* With regard to agriculture, the Russians cultivate r\e, wheat, oats, barley, buckwheat, a tew other kinds ot corn, and potatoes. The total quantity ot seed sown throughout the province in i SSo amounted to 3 i ,ohh quarters, which yielded 148,845, being in the; proportion ot i to 4'~, or nearly a fivefold harvest.* This agricultural produce, however, would not suffice to supply the Russian In iSSo thr quantity obtained of coal \vas in,~~i Inns, of cupper j ,~ |o tiin^, and of ij/ilil ()_> ll)s. ^avoinlupois), \vliich, as comparcil \\itli llic previous year, represented an iiu-rease i>f. 1,715 t ;| n-* in coal, and u, r ul(l jS ll)s. , hut the coppi'r a decrease ol' I , 2 |u toils. ' A comparison ol'the preceding 10 years sho\\-- tile ratio hetuven sM\vinu;' and reaping to have been lowest in I s 7'i. i to 2'<> ; and hi^heM in tSj-o, I to -_' ; the average of tile ten years beiil^' }-. It may also he oljserx'ed that \\hilst, in i>So, the uve/d "t Atlia^ar \ielded a tenfold, and Akmolinsk nearl\- a ninefold, Omsk hardy attained to a fourfold harvest. The following shows the mi m her of quarters ol various products sown and reaped tliruii^huiit the province in i^s,, : Sown Reaped 52 RUSSIAN CENTRAL AST A. population alone of the province, to say nothing of the Kirghese; but it so happens that whilst in Akmolinsk and Semipolatinsk there are only two uyezds that supply more than the computed requirements of the population, there are in the neighbouring governments of Tobolsk and Tomsk only two uyezds that supply less. In Akmolinsk and Semipolatinsk. as elsewhere in the Empire, the Crown provides storehouses of corn for the nomads, and as a preventive against famine, there being in 1879 in Akmolinsk 91 storehouses, with 27,946 quarters ; and in Semipolatinsk 69 storehouses, with 6,232 quarters of grain, rye, oats, wheat, etc. Besides the cultivation of cereals and potatoes, mention may be made of tobacco, of which in 1880 there were in the province 1,192 plantations, covering an aggregate of 11,515 acres. The manufacture of tobacco in Western Siberia, in 1879, amounted to 313 cwt., of snuff to 3.^- cwt., and of cigarettes to the number of 6,503,000. The province, as might be anticipated, is rich in domestic animals. To every hundred of the settled population there are 155 viz., 41 horses, 46 horned cattle, 62 sheep, 4 pigs, and 2 goats ; whilst to every hundred of the Kirghese there are 694 namely, 208 horses, 57 horned cattle, 28 camels, 372 sheep, and 28 goats. Throughout the province in 1880 there was a total of 2,525,917 domestic animals. 7///: 1 sr/-:rpE AXD THE PROVIXCE OF AKMOLIXSK. =3 Turning now to the Russian population, in iSSo we find in the province 13.653 births (of which 131 were illegitimate) and 0,043 deaths, leaving an increase ol 4,613. The medical staff numbers 47, but this includes doctors' assistants, called teldshers, veterinary surgeons, and midwives.* All the towns ot the; government, except Omsk and Kokchetovsk, are on the banks of the I shim. Akmo- linsk. situated 1,004 f cet 'ibove the sea, and not far from the source ot the river, has a population of 6,000. This is the market town tor the nomads of the district, and the capital of the province;. Akmo- linsk is not the residence of the; Russian governor, however, whom I met at ( )msk, ami from whom ! learned that the: inhabitants ot the capital are chie;lly Kirghese. To the: west, at the distance ot 150 miles, is Atbasar, having less than a thousanel inhabitants. It was formerly a Cossack stanitsa. or village, dominating the surrounding nomads, but has now become the dwelling-place ot agriculturists and merchants. About i 20 miles north ot Atbasar is Kokchetovsk, with a thousand inhabitants, and at about the same distance further down the Ishim, on the road from Orenburg. is Petropavlovsk, with 12,000 inhabitants. This is the most populous town in the valley ol tin- Ishim. Situated above picturesque rocks, on which are the rums ot a fortress, i oo leet above the river, it com- mands a line view ot the Steppe, over which the nomads come in crowds to procure commodities and 54 RUSSIAA T CENTRAL ASIA. to sell their cattle. More than 3,000 of the Kirghese have become sedentary by the side of the Russian inhabitants. The houses of the Russians, as in Siberia, are built of logs, quickly put up, and by incendiaries still more speedily destroyed. The number of fires in the province during 1880 amounted to 47, destroying 151 buildings of the value of ,10,293.* The industries of Akmolinsk in 1880 were repre- sented by 139 factories, employing 1,408 workmen, and yielding products to the value of ,203,096, namely : Factories. Workmen. Mineral 33 Vegetable .... 1 1 Animal . 146 I 9' I ^ The factories in Akmolinsk and Semipolatinsk, in 1879, were: distilleries for making vodka grinding and preparation of flour, bricks, leather, glue, oil, soap, copper ; preparing sheep-skins, wool, beer and mead, wax and tallow candles, and melting tallow. Business was transacted for ,357,189 at the three principal fairs of Constantinovsky, Petrovsky, and Tain- chinsky.f Business done in 1879 at 12 fairs in the Akmolinsk province amounted to ,532,895. t L L Cattle Cattle products (hides, hair, fret, skins, etc. ) .... 66,427 66,427 6,350 6,350 l-'.uropcan snoods or settlers' produce (utensils, flour, candles. soap. etc. ) 47,7->5 16,540 18,128 8,549 8,520 2.9^0 Asiatic snoods (khalats, quilts, silk and cotton materials, saddlery and dried fruit.-i . . 13,500 3.737 5.650 1,72^ Totals TFfK STEPPE AXD THE PROVIXCE OF AKMOLfXSK. 55 The corn and forests of Western Siberia are largely used for the distillation of ardent spirits, which forms a prominent industry. The general report includes the statistics affecting Akmolinsk, though it should be observed that from the paucity of corn grown in Akmolinsk and Semipolatinsk, their part in the manu- facture of spirits is much less than in the neighbouring provinces ot Tobolsk and Tomsk. In 1879-80 there were distilleries working in the provinces of Tobolsk. i i ; Tomsk, 15 ; Akmolinsk and Semipolatinsk, 2 ; in all, 2(S, and using a total of 33,386 tons of corn. From this were manufactured 2,774,476 gallons of pure spirit, or 6,936,190 gallons ot rodka, reduced to 40 per cent. of spirit,* some ot which is exported to Kuropean Russia. The price; ot corn purchased by tin: distillers varied, according to locality, from 2s. to 3x cv/. percwt., and was computed at ,.{,92,655 for the whole ot \\ estern Siberia. Vodka sold from the cellars, without duty, at from 5lin-k produ Semipolatinsk J^i.jou ; and ^om in \VeMern Siberia m.iv be formed l> 5 6 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. The excise duty for 1879 from Western Siberia amounted to ,455,961 namely, wine and spirits, ,402,084 ; additional on vodka, ,6,609 '> beer and mead, ,1,458 ; and licences, .45,809. Whether or not this amount represents all that ought to have been paid admits of a doubt ; for Baron Nolde,* speaking of the whole Empire, goes so far as to say that ,20,000,000 yearly find their way by fraud into the pockets ot the distillers. I heard, when passing through Western Siberia, of a remarkable method of keeping the supply of spirits down and the prices up. The principal distillers of the district met, it appeared, from time to time, to arrange the maximum of their products each should bring into the market, one result of the conference being that small distillers were offered a certain sum to make little spirit, or even none. If they chose to be independent and go their own way, the great distillers combined to ruin them by under-selling them ; and, on the other hand, I heard of one distiller who received from this party of monopolists the sum of ,2,000, simply for keeping his factory closed for a year. Up to 1863 the manufacture of spirits was re- stricted to persons called otkupscliiks, usually rich merchants, who paid heavy sums to Government for the privilege. From that date private distilleries were set on foot; dramshops, which up to that time had been limited in number, have, according to the Baron, in- creased tenfold, whilst the price of the Ikjuor decreased to a third (though it has been rising since), thus tending power! ully to that wholesale demoralization of Russia which the Government at length is beginning to realize. I am not rich in statistics bearing exclusively upon THE STEPPE AXD THE PROl'lXCE OF AKMOI.IXSK. 57 Akmolinsk, but it appears that in Western Siberia, in 1879, there were sold 5,363,166 gallons of vodka, of which 216,729 gallons were exported. The remainder was disposed of in 3,232 retail shops, including 120 wholesale at the rate, that is, of 12-} pints of vodka, or 5/o pints of alcohol to each inhabitant of \Yestern Siberia.* In the United Kingdom the consumption ot alcohol was, in 1876, at the rate of 26 pints per head ot the population. + Russia is sometimes spoken ot as a drunken nation, but if the foregoing statistics be trustworthy, it should not be England that should cast the hrst stone at her. In Akmolinsk, as elsewhere, it is only a step from drink to crime. Concerning this connection it may here suffice to point out generally that in those: parts ot the province where the Muha.mma.dan (and, therefore, teetotal) Kirghese abound, crime is less apparent ; but where Christian Russians assemble, crime is more; manifest. I believe this to be generally true, both from the figures below, as well as from my general experience in travelling through Central Asia. 1 have been careful, however, to say thai crime: is less apparent : because the real criminality of the nomad population must be greater than indicated, since the figures here given relate to crimes which came before the Russian courts, whereas the misdeeds of the Kirghese (with some lew exceptions) are judged by their own native tribunals, statistics of which are not forthcoming. I hroughout the province in iSSo were committed 831 '' In Tobolsk ami Akinulin-k \\vn- disposed <>f ^ population df i .' <'i'i,h ^. nr ij. 1 , pints pi-r hr;nl Semipulaiinsk j.ui.jo*-; gallons to a population pints to each man. \\ninan, and child. i- " Arc we a Sober 1'coplr:" p. S. bv |ames \ [olm Hevwood. 5 8 XrSS/A^Y CENTRAL ASIA. crimes and misdemeanours, or i to every 552 persons, who are thus distributed : in the uyezd of Akmolinsk, less than i person in a thousand is a malefactor ; in the uyezcls of Atbasar and Kokchetovsk the proportion is also less than i in a thousand; whereas in the uyezds ot Petropavlovsk and Omsk, which are more largely Russian, crime is committed by nearly 4 persons in a thousand. It must be remembered, moreover, that the homeless working class are largely attracted to the towns that afford greater facilities for evil-doing, so that usually in proportion to the density of population of a district is the proportion of crime committed. If we confine our attention to the towns of Petropavlovsk and Omsk, we have, in the former, 161 crimes, or 44 per cent.; and at Omsk, 226 crimes, or 74 per cent, of the whole of the crimes committed in the uyezds.* Having thus brought before the reader some of the characteristics of the new general government of the Steppe, and statistics regarding its population, we shall now proceed on our journey southwards. Akmolinsk Atbnsar . . ) Kokrhetovsk . j Petropavlovsk . . Omsk CHAPTI- R V. FROM OMSK TO SEMIPOLATfXSK. Description of town of Omsk. Cause of its decline. Schools. -Visits to inhabitant^ and institutions.- 1 tinner with ( lovernor. Protestant pastor and distribution of books. I )eparture southwards.- -G>s>ack stations. --Summer appearance of stoppe. Arrival at I'avlodar. Script tires sold to .M uhammadans. advice to contrary notwithstand- ing. C'hea]) provisions. Roads to mining districts. Recruits on the march. Meeting the Governor-General. Skirling' the Irtish. -Change of landscape. Improved fauna and tlora. - Arrival at Semipolatinsk. OX arriving at Omsk I noticed trom the deck ol the steamer an officer on the landing sta^v, \\'hosc face; seemed familiar to me. lie turned out to IK- the police-master who, three years before, had shown me the prisons of Tomsk. lie reeo!_mi/ed me, and kindly sent men to look after the bai^'a^e, by whose help ere lont/,aostrovsk 2& i-f. Peschana . 15. Prasna . . i(>. Chernorietsk 17. Chernoyarsk. 26 29. Bielokammena 1 8. Pavlodar . 2d : ]n. (Jlukhovsk . 19. Podstepna . 22 31. Staroscmipolatin 20 20. Yamveshevsk 30 ! 32. Semipolatinsk 25 21. Cherna . . 22 j 2(S 22. Lebvaj . . 31 Total Verst 2.] 23. Podpuskna . 25 ! FROM OMSK TO SEMI POL A TIXSK. 6; saw in 1879 along the right bank of the Ussuri. The approaches of the Kirghese are now no longer to be feared, so that these Cossacks have practically lost their local raison d'etre, but Russia has by their means colonized a fruitful terrain, and planted a succession of villages, many of which have upwards of 400 inhabi- tants, some of them even possessing churches. The male inhabitants of these Cossack villages are bound to serve in war, and are instructed in the handling ot arms by Atamans, who are drilled for the most part at Omsk, and who sometimes preside over the Cossack communities. The Cossacks have themselves to pro- vide for the erection of their houses, their uniform and horses, receiving irom the Government only weapons and munitions, and a pay so small, that for a captain it amounts to only 28^. a year. On the other hand all Cossacks are exempt from taxation, and every head of a family has a grant of about 100 acres of land for cultivation. Should more be required a small rent is charged, which doubtless is more than recouped by th<: sums for pasturage paid by the.' Kirghese to tin- Cos- sacks, to whom the land for about 20 miles on eith<-;- side of the line belongs. These warrior-farmers culti- Horses Honied rattle Sheep and Lju 68 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. vate in the fields rye, wheat, oats, barley, and millet, and in the gardens tobacco, potatoes, and water- melons. They make also a quantity of hay, that in this region must be cheap, for the director of the tele- graph station at Omsk told me that most of his clerks had horses, one of which could be kept for from 8^. to i os. a month. \Ve travelled well at setting out, covering in our first 22 hours 138 miles, and one stage of 12 miles was accomplished in a little less than the hour. The post- master's letter doubtless helped us to some extent, but there was an amiability about the Cossack station- masters and y-euistcliiks, or postilions, who needed little persuasion to do their best. At each station I offered Scriptures for sale and distributed tracts, the former of which were gladly purchased, and the latter thankfully received. I suppose it was this at the second station that caused the Cossacks to offer me gratis some of their horse-hair rope that I wanted to buy, and for which, when I insisted on payment, they took only the trifling sum of 4c/. At Cherlakovsk, the seventh station, a caravan route branches oft to the town of Akmolinsk, and at Urlyutyupsk, the ninth station, 120 miles from Omsk, we passed out of the Akmolinsk into the Semipolatinsk government. \Ye were now well on to the Steppe, whose straight unbroken horizon so frequently reminds one of the ocean. The soil is yielding, stoneless, and sandy, thus making the smoothest of roads, on which our horses dashed along. The country is nearly treeless, and the Ground, almost without vegetation, so that one had rs o only to picture the surface covered with snow to see the necessity for the roadside wickerwork erections to mark the route in winter. \Ve were crossin in FROM OMSK TO SEMIPOLATIXSK. 69 the month of August this steppe, parched by the summer sun; but Dr. Finsch, who, in 1876, travelled over the same route in spring, speaks with more appreciation of its appearance.* The steppe is not indeed a grass-covered ilat, for the verdure is found only in patches, and then forms no turf, but grows, like the bunch or buffalo grass of the prairie, in separate clumps, although the steppe grass is longer. For great distances the steppe is covered with thickets ol the Spinca, or Meadow-sweet. Here and there too are gooseberry bushes, inter- mixed with feeble-looking birches, generally less than O O * live feet high, whilst everywhere, when the road ap- proaches the Irtish, we catch sight on the opposite bank of a more or less extensive vegetation ot well-grown trees, such as willows, poplars, oaks, birches, and pines. Alongside the river are frequently lound hill-like chains of sand resembling downs, with wild oats and other grasses. Another characteristic of the steppe is seen in numerous ponds and lakes, unconnected by streams. They are for the most part isolated, and. what is more remarkable, arc; in some; case's tilled with sweet, in others with salt or brackish, water. Thus it happens in their neighbourhood that one meets now with sandy downs, and then with those deposits o( salt that have been caused by evaporation, and frequently impart to the ground the appearance ot hoar trost or snow. In such quarters the appro- priate salt flora is met with. It is not until the end of April that this steppe, near Omsk, begins to present a verdant appearance, and then among the 70 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. first harbingers of spring are seen the beautiful blue Anemone, a yellow Draba, the universal Ranunculus, or buttercup, and members of the garlic family. We had left Omsk at noon on the igth, and on the morning of the 2ist we arrived at Pavlodar, accomplish- ing the 260 miles in 44 hours. Here we found no less than 45 horses reserved for the Governor-General, whose coming was watched for hourly. We had there- fore nothing to do but to wait, and to congratulate our- selves in having to do so at such an excellent station. All along the line, however, the Cossack post-stations had been good, reminding me of the best of those in Siberia, which are comfortable indeed compared with the hovels one met with further south. The Cossack stations were clean, the floors sometimes painted, and the rooms not unfrequently beautified with flowers and creepers, especially ivy. There were, of course, the usual ugly but often expensive pictures of saints in the corners of the guest-rooms, and the miserable Moscow pictures, and portraits of the Imperial family and other notables. These I tried to outshine by nailing to the wall, usually under the ikon, a handsome engraving representing the return of the Prodigal Son, with the story in Russ printed around, similar to those I nailed up in so many ot the post-houses throughout Siberia. This operation constantly opened up the way for the sale of my books, and did so with the post-master at Pavlodar. lie was a man evidently well-to-do, as seen by the Central Asian carpets hung on the walls, and a silk kJialat in which, with lordly gait, he walked about. I brought to his notice a handful of New Testaments, Gospels, Psalms, etc., at various prices, from which he miiiht take his choice ; but, like a man of means, he O FROlf OMSK TO SEMIPOLA7INSK. 71 bought the lot at a stroke for his son, about whose education he was evidently solicitous. There was a young woman bustling about the premises, whom I took to be his daughter, at work, indeed, but dressed better than an ordinary peasant, as also was the wife, whom we were glad to ask to prepare us some dinner. She brought soup, cutlets, and pancakes, with a melon for dessert; and if we had not cause to complain of such fare in the wilderness, we had still less reason to murmur at the charges. I have already mentioned the cheapness of provisions on the steamer between Tinmen and Omsk, where my steward's bill for the best food the ship provided, and plenty of it, for two persons for 7 days amounted to only 35^. ; but the prices of food in the Steppe appeared to outdo even this, lor I copied, in one of the post-stations, a scale of charges as follows : " Use oi samovar, 2\d. ; portion ot bread, 2\d. ; pair oi chickens, 6<>-,( carna^'i- n>ad rmitintii's furthrr srcms dniihtful. At ''"riling In the IK ---I Ru-^ian map I have, pmvhasrd 1:1 i^ s .', in IVtiT>lmri, r . and supplied in lie rornvtrd up to dale, tin- pnMal n>.id is rtintinurd tVt.m Ka rk.iralv t brunch Akin"l;a-k. and Atha^ar In IVtm- pavlnv>k : lint in tin- map attarhrd In mv p.'M-bu.ik, pulili-lird in io, tlii 1 n-M-road L't'asi'.s at Kaikaral. 74 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. This may be called the mining district of the Steppe, in which are situated some rich metallic deposits. About 27 miles from Baian-aul are several mines called after the name of their owner, Mr. Alexander Popoff, of Petersburg, yielding coal and metals. About Karkaraly are other mines bear- ing the same name, and two further west called Ushakoff. In these are found silver, copper, and iron in rich ores, though mining affairs are not in a flourishing condition owing to the want of necessary roads and sufficient capital. The district is interest- ing to the mineralogist, more particularly from the occurrence of the rare Dioptas, or copper emeralds, that are met with in beautiful crystals of an intense emerald preen colour, but onlv, it seems, near Altvn- o j ; tube, about 70 miles from Karkaraly. The Russians denominate the Dioptas " Aschirka" after their dis- coverer Aschirit, a native of Tashkend. All the way hither from Tiumen, there had been following us, more or less closely, a company of soldiers, towed in a barge by our steamer to Omsk, and now brought forward to Pavlodar, whence they were to march into Turkistan. Large numbers of young recruits are every year thus sent to Tashkend, and one person in Tiumen mentioned to me signi- ficantly that he saw many soldiers going thither, but few coming back ; which afterwards I thought largely accounted for by a somewhat heavy mortality, and also from the fact that Russian labour being scarce in Central Asia, and their return home not being without difficulties, they prefer to stay in the warmer climate to which military duty has introduced them.* FROM OMSK TO SEMIPOLATIXSK. 75 I believe the soldiers at Pavlodar were to be inspected by the Governor-General on his arrival, for which, however, we discovered in the afternoon that we need not wait, as tidings came to the post-master relative to his Kxcellency's whereabouts, and knowing that he did not usually travel at night, we were told that we might have the necessary horses for our two vehicles, proceed, and meet the General some stations ahead. Accordingly we set out towards evening, and after driving through the night a distance of 50 miles, found ourselves in the early morning at Cherna, where, not- withstanding the rain, the people were in the white heat of expectation awaiting the Governor-General. The post-house was brushed up to its maximum pre- sentability, and everyone was getting more and more excited. Some unhappy man in the room adjoining ours, who seemed to be out of the fun, was talking loudly and boastfully what he would do under the circumstances, whilst every man, woman, and child in the hamlet appeared to have turned out to bear a part in providing or changing horses, or to perform the all-important business of "looking on." It was the first time General Kolpakovsky, (jna Governor-General, had passed, and who could resist the desire to get a <>f vv5<>j examined in Western Siberia in iSj- () , it would appear that i) s per cent, were Russians, nearly i per cent. Tatars, the remaining i per cent. heiiiL;' made up in decreasing proportions of |e\vs, I.itiic- Riissians, Monlvins, Poles, I'liukhons, Knis. Mongols. I .it huamans, < ivpsies, ( 'huvashes, Cherkess, and Jmtidi. Some ot them were nut LM'eat lit" stature, for out <>f ivi;~ men approved, tuo did not exceed .|j iiii lies in height. '1 here were, however, 1,572 measured 5 tt. _' in., and the numbers went on increasing to the maximum ol ).'));, uho measured ^ It. <> in., alter \\lia h the numbers decreased to 1,'M ] at ; ft. ii) in., and so on to 2 I'robdin^na^'ians, ulin had each attained to t> ft . ; in. ; the average Mat lire i >f the men be in:; ; tt. ;.l in. \\ i; h regard to si/r round the c'lii'M, the bi^^est man measured || in., the least jiij in., the average measurement bcins^'Ji] in. ;6 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. peep at the Viceroy ? As for our humble selves, we, for the time of course, were nobodies, and I was content to do my best, under difficulties, to procure for myself a clean face and hands, from my india-rubber basin, under a shed in the yard. Presently two outriders dashed into the village, as if on their speed depended their lives. And now there was hurrying to and fro, shouting, talking, haranguing, and bawling, whilst I, with the calmest nerves I could command, took up my stand in the guest-room. At last appeared the first carriage of the viceregal cortege,^ tarantass like our own then a second, a third, a fourth, and so on to the eleventh, to each of which fresh horses had to be attached in an incredibly few minutes. Soon there walked into the station a youth, who I was told was an aide-de-camp. To him I addressed myself in French, ex- plaining who I was, and what I wanted of the Governor- 1 O General. He replied that his father was coming in, and would speak to me. Unfortunately for me, his Excellency had not enjoyed the education he was giving to his sons; for he was one of those Turkistan officers who had risen from the ranks to the highest position and respect, like another I afterwards met, but who also had to speak to me through his interpreter. Another son entered the post-house with his father, and interpreted for me in French, with an ability that I thought I had never seen excelled. The General had heard of my coming, and expected to see me at Pavlodar. I explained that I was anxious to get on as last as possible, and presented a letter from the Minister of the Interior, accompanying it with a request that I might be furnished with a " courier," or a " Crown " podorojna, and be saved the possibility of FROM OMSK' TO SEMI POL ATIXSK. ;7 coming to a standstill in the Steppe for want of horses. Nothing could have been kinder than his Excel- lency's attention in listening to all I had to say, and promising to telegraph along my route to facilitate my journey. I hardly supposed that he could give me a formal letter during this few minutes' stay at the post- station ; hut I had provided writing materials, paper, ink and cards, even to a stylographic pen, with which the General wrote on his own card that all and sundry were to show us attention, and accord assistance if needed. This was to serve us to Semipolatinsk, and when I reached there I iound awaiting me this mag- nanimous telegram : " Recommendation to local authorities. " I desire that all administrative authorities and postal contractors in the general government of the Steppe show hospitality, provide, interpreters and guides, and help forward without delay the English traveller, Pastor Eansdell, who is travelling through the Semirechia O O oblast to Kuldja and Turkistan. " (Signed) Governor-General " 1 ,ii:t"T.-Gi:N. K< >U'.\K< >\ >KV." Gentlemen of England, who live at home at ease, or who, when they voyage to the south ot I'Yance, tele- graph to Paris lor compartments reserved, and write to the '1 iiuc* il they are not satisfied,- velvet-cushion travellers such as these can only feebly appreciate the value ot such a telegram in the steppes oi Central Asia. 1 o say that it was worth its weight in gold is only (aim praise; but perhaps I had better not be too lavish ot my superlatives here, because:, when returning to the same subject, I shall want them further on. Suffice /8 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. it now to say that, after a hearty shake of the hand and the kindest of farewells, the General sped on his way, but not before he had thoughtfully remembered that he was taking away more than 40 horses, which might have left us high and dry, had he not bade the starosta to supply our wants, and send us on as quickly as possible. This magic word exalted us speedily from nobodies to somebodies, and the men dashed at our vehicles to equip them for our immediate departure, as if they thought we were going to tear after the Governor with the rest. We now posted on to the next station, Lebyaj, where the Viceroy had spent the night, and where, in the guest-room of the station, the blooming oleanders, and ilowers in tubs and pots, bore witness to the welcome his hosts had provided. At this point another caravan route crossed our road, extending on the right to the Russian colony of Karkaraly, and by dusk we found ourselves three stations further on, at Semiyarsk, where there was just light enough to see the outlines of a somewhat pretentious mosque, no longer used. At this station also was another caravan route joining that from Lebyaj. We posted on through the night, or at least wished to do so, but on arriving at the next station the horses were found to be turned out for the night, and to collect them from a pasture where hurdles and bounds are unknown was not to be done in a minute. For five hours we had to wait (my longest delay, let me thankfully add, that I anywhere experienced in the vSteppe), during which it seemed utterly vain to storm at the post-master, whose heart and conscience were doubtless hardened, lor his complaint book was lull of the lamentations and threats of preceding travellers. I have spoken of the Irtish steppe as sandy and FROM OMSK TO SEMIPOLATINSK. 79 stoneless ; but after passing the nineteenth station, large, isolated stones are here and there visible, and between Grachevsk and Cheremkhovsk, the approach- ing station, are rock deposits, and limestone, that is burnt in kilns near the village. Pallas mentions this stone quarry, which in his day supplied the material for the new fortification at Omsk, in which, besides the exiles, 100 Cossacks laboured. All the way from Omsk the road had kept company with the river, which we never lost sight of very long. As in other northerly flowing rivers of Asia, the right bank is tolerably high and the left Hat, the numerous islands of the Irtish being covered with thickets of willows and reeds. The banks are of sand, in which are lound pockets oi impure gypsum occasionally of crystalline shapes. The Cossacks burn this gypsum in ovens, and employ it to whiten their rooms. Another gain to them from the river is an abundance of fish. for the capture of which they employ boats of poplar, brought from I'rman, a boat 30 feet long and 5 broad costing about /, 2. Among the lish they take are Pike (/:s().v /.iiciiis}, Xielma Salmon (Corc^ovus Lcncichtlivs}, Yass (Si/tta lilts (V;vV/<7;'///f), Perch (/ \TCII I'lni-iatilis}. Nalym (Lota I'n/o-aris], and Tschcbak or bream. Of Sturgeons the Sterlet is most frequently taken, but larger descriptions are also met with. \\ e breakfasted at Cheremkhovsk, and found that the character of the landscape had completely changed. On leaving Pavlodar the aspect of the country was bare in the extreme, and hardly a tree was visible, but now, although the soil continued sandy, it was occupied by tall pine-trees, which occasionally were so numerous as to present a forest appearance. Indeed, we had on our left a triangular forest district of conifers, extending 8o RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. to 100 miles at the base, and I observed also along the road poplars, Scotch firs, and willows. The vegetation also improved, though there was little grass, and that little mixed with rushes. We found clover and immor- telles, and at the next station, Dolonsk, bought a melon for 5^., five times what it would have cost further south. With improved vegetation came a greater develop- ment of animal life, and I noticed the appearance of Hooded Crows, Magpies, various kinds of Hawks, and birds that I took to be Plovers. In crossing the Irtish steppe in spring, Dr. Finsch frequently met with Whooper Swans (Cygnus Musicus] in flocks, sometimes of 20 or more, which he supposed to breed in the locality. Both Winter and Black-headed Gulls (Larns Cauus and Ridibundus] are frequently seen soaring above the deserted Steppe, iar, very far from water, looking doubtless for insects and worms as food. The Oyster- catcher (Hezmatopus Ostralegus] is also occasionally met with, and the Yellow-headed Wagtail (Motacilla Citrcola). In the sandy banks of the Irtish are found numerous nest holes of Sand Martins (Cotilc Riparia}, which nest here in common with the House Martin (Chclidoii Urbicd). These last, however, do not exca- vate nest tunnels, but only shallow holes. In April White-winged Larks (Alanda Sibirica) show them- selves in large (lights, and the sweet trill is heard of the Skylark {Alanda Ari'cusis], notwithstanding the frequent showers ot snow and hail. By erecting boxes on poles, the Cossacks provide nesting places for house and tree Sparrows, and sometimes Starling's ; but Magpies, Crows, Jackdaws, and Ravens have to make their own arrangements for nests on the bush- FROM OMSK TO SEM1POLATINSK. 3i like dwarf-birches.* I noticed about the villages of the Steppe, as I constantly did through Siberia in 1879, a variety of Hawks and Kites. Of the Brahminy Kite (Milvus Govindd] several specimens are seen. The charming Red-footed Falcon (Fa/co Vespertinus} holds its quarters particularly along the telegraph line, that possesses, I have frequently noticed in treeless regions, so much attraction for all birds of prey, the wires and poles being so readily adapted by them for resting points. On the poles are often seen perched the Osprey (Pandion Haliactns), and, further south, other Eagles. The Lesser Kestrel (Falco Ccnchris) is not rare. Now and again a Little Bustard (Otis Tctra.v} dashes by the traveller with heavy wing, soon, how- ever, to settle again, as also does its larger congener (O//s Tarda}. On the downs of the Irtish is seen the Willow Ptarmigan (La^opns Albus}> and keeping near * I was able to pure-base at Omsk, besides butterflies and bet-ties, a small collection of birds' e.i^fs found in tbe neighbourhood, which last Mr. if. ]'.. Dresser, the well-known author of the " Birds of Kurpe." has kindly determined for me thus : Oran^e-Iei^ed Hobby . . . I-\i!c<> } 't'sfierf inns. Red-spotted Blue-throat . . ( '\'iiin i c;ilii Siifdcii. Booted \Varbler 7/'.yW,//.v Cn//&r/,t. Tawny Pipit ..... A:it/\::s Ciinificstis. Tree Pipit ...... A in '/ins I'nriitlis. Yellow \\'a-tail JA/A/r.V.V /;'/;,/. Reed Hunting ..... J-'.i:;!'(i'!\,i Sen- nidus. KaMern Bullfineh. .... /'v;v//,v ',/.!/,//,//-. Swallow ...... l/iruii'i'ii /\:t\.':r //. (irey Shrike ..... /.iiu;it\ l-'.\i'n''';:<'. ( '.olden Oriole ..... (>r.-r,.';^ (,',!. '/,it/,i. jay ....... (iii rrit ! us /'>>'iiii\' banks. Geology of neighbourhood and minerals. Mineral springs. - Forests ot the province. Wild and domesticated animals. Towns of the province, and uye/ds, with their populations. TH K province of Semipolatinsk forms ;i rude triangle, whose flattened apex touches the government of Tobolsk on the north, the east and west sides oi which are bounded 1>\ the governments ot Tomsk and Akmolinsk, whilst its irregular arbitrary base is contiguous to the Chinese trontie.r, the province of Semirechia, and part of the Balkhash lake. Its extreme length from north to south is about 050 miles, its greatest width about 550 miles, with an area of iSS,^^^ square miles, or about the si/e ol Spain. To the north the country is a low flat steppe, without any marked watersheds. Proceeding south, little hillocks are met with, capped with blocks oi red and orange stone, and there: appear in the distance the sharp blue outlines of the Altai ran ( ''e, approaching which the soil O 1 i [partakes oi a more rocky nature, with blocks ot quart/, 84 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. slate, and porphyry. Scattered among the green grass of the Steppe are coarse, brown, dry and saliferous patches, the country in some places being clothed with incrustations of salt, looking like snow-fields. Near the town of Semipolatinsk high sand-dunes are prominent, whilst close to the mountains the character of the landscape presents considerable variety. The steppe is clothed with coarse high grass, and is dotted over with yourts or tents, around which wander camels and horses with galloping Kirghese horsemen. On the reedy banks of brackish streams, wading birds strut about, whilst in the background rises the sharp, jagged outline of the Arcat chain, consisting of piles of granite, with needle-like peaks, and fiat terraces apparently formed of gneiss. The division of the province into river basins would be, first, the south-western or Balkhash, bounded on the north-east by the Djenghis-Tau or " hills of the lakes" ; next the Upper Irtish or Zaisan basin, bounded on the south and west by the Tarbagatai mountains ; and lastly the Lower Irtish basin, bounded on the north- east by the Altai, on the south-west by the Tarbagatai and Djenghis-Tau, and having the north open. The chief mountains of the province, apart from spurs of the Altai and the comparatively small Kalbinsk range in the south-east, are the Tarbagatai, a mass about equal to the Pyrenees in length and height, rising in H space about 250 miles wide, that separates the massive eastern extremes of the Thian Shan and the western Altai.* * The mountains of the Tarbagam, or "marmot," consist of three branches : one running west by north, called the Djenghis-Tau, with an average height of 4,000 feet ; the north-east branch, separating the Upper and Lower Irtish valleys, with an average height also of 4,000 feet ; and the south branch, with an average of 6,000 feet. In this last THE PROVINCE OF SEM1POLATINSK. 85 The greatest gaps in the mountains are : The valley of the Kara Irtish where it enters the Zaisan, at an elevation of about 1,400 feet ; the valley of the Irtish proper above the town of Ust-Kamenogorsk, about 1,300 feet; and that of the Urzubai at about the like elevation. Besides these wide depressions, showing by heaps of stones, such as are seen in moraines, that glaciers have existed, there are several defiles, and passes to the number ol 14 in all, by which the Tarbagatai is crossed.* The one great river of the province is the Irtish, of which the Mongol name is " Ertchis.'' According to Tatar traditions the name of this river was given by the Tatar Khan Irtyshak, who ruled over Siberia late in the fifteenth century. If the etymology be Tatar. " Ir" means earth, and " tysh " fissure or crack, perhaps because the chief of the two branches of the Irtish falls in a cascade out of a mountain gap. It is sup- posed to rise at a height of 10,000 feet amongst the Chinese Altai snows. It llows in a straight course tor branch are found the highest peaks of the uhole ranye, those of ih,- Mux-'I'au, or ice mountain, 11,000 feet hi.^li, and the Saur, both beiny snow-capped. The line of perpetual snow on the Tarbayatai is 0,01 o feet, and on the Saur 10,700 feet. The .southern branch of the Tar- bayatai is clothed with fore .-its of iirs and poplars, and In-low ilie forest /one glaciers, in several places, extend into the valleys. On the southern slopes of a I a rye portion of the western Tarbagatai no sno\\ i-; seen the whole year round, except on the Tas-Tan '.n,~<'> feet ; Khahar-AsMi. MI the middle of the ratine, .v^" feet ; .Met. at the west of the rani;'-. ;. < ; U-et ; and that oi Seryioj)ol, crossed by the |iost-road, i.jm leet. 86 XL'S SI AN CENTRAL ASIA. 130 miles till it approaches the eastern end of Lake Uliungur.* From this point the stream is called the " Kara," or " Black" Irtish, under which name it has a course of 373 miles, the entire length of the river being 2,0/5 miles. Just before entering Russian territory its mean depth is 10 feet ; its breadth 686 feet ; its volume 793,000 cubic feet per minute, or about three times as much water as the Seine rolls under the bridges of Paris.t During its course towards Ust-Kamenogorsk, it receives on the right bank the Altai tributaries, the Karaburek, Kalgut, Kurchum, Kainda, Narim, and Bukhtarma, after which the stream becomes more rapid and the mountains close inwards, perpendicular rocks rise out of the streams, on one of which is * There are strong reasons, however, for supposing that this stream is only a tributary of the Uliungur that rises on the Kobdo plateau, ii< w- south till it rounds the promontory of the Tsin-Guntee mountains, and then, completing a course of 300 miles, flows north-west at a low gradient into the lake. Between the eastern shore of the lake and the so-called Irtish, already mentioned, runs a low ridge, which disappears towards the north, where the lake and the Irtish are only two miles apart, and where the Kirghese point to a dry watercourse, said to be tilled in spring by the overflow from the lake. (Sec> "Recent Russian Explorations in Western Mongolia," Markham's Geographical j\Ia^aziiH\ July, 1875.; At this point there is, in the opinion of Captain Miroshnichenko, a subterranean communication between the lake and the Irtish ; tor whereas the volume of the river is 36,000 cubic feet per minute at a spot 13 miles above the lake, it is 125.000 cubic feet, or more than three times as much, below it. f Thus far the two large tributaries on the right bank have been the Kran and the Burgum, besides which may be mentioned the Koba, Alkabek, Kaljir, and Tokyr. whilst on the left bank How in the Suptu- kurt, Ku-l rtvs'n, Burutogoi, and the Temir-Su. The river now enters Russian trrritorv, and receives the Kalba and the Koldjur, this latter bringing the drainage from a mountain lake, the Marka-Kul, about oo miles distant, 1.3(10 feet high, measuring 27 miles long bv \~j wide, and with an area of 154 square miles. Further on the Kara Irtish divides into three brunches, with marshy banks, and Hows gently across the THE PROVIXCE OF SEMfPOLATIXSK. 87 poised a huge granite boulder overhanging the water, the landscape presenting for rock scenery one of the most picturesque of views, compared with which, Mr. Atkinson says, the scenery of the Rhine is small and tame. In some parts the mountains rise to an enormous height above the water, and are so nearly perpendicular that no man could climb them. Some of the rocks are jasper of a dark reddish brown, others of a deep purple, contrasting beautifully with the yellow and green mosses and lichens growing thereon. Hut no luxuriant vegetation is visible ; no forests, no fields. Every now and then appears an islet clothed with poplars and willows, but that is all except a few grey bushes on thj rocks. There are many rapids, but not tooswitt for navigation. Further down, terraces about 25 feet above high water mark show that of old the Irtish had a higher level either from having a greater volume of water, or because in course of time the river has worn for itself a deeper bed. At Ust-Kamenogorsk the long stretch of rapids ends abruptly, tin- river, now at an altitude of 1,128 feet, opens out widely, and enters on its path across the steppe in a broad clay bed, winding about among numerous large islands, several of an area of from 10 to 40 square miles.* l5osati.L;ir flats into the Xaisan lake. On emer^ine; at an altitude ,i I , })^ feet, the river, now called the " White " Irtish, that has hitherto had a straight course, becomes very \\ hiding, flowing north till it rounds the " I5olshoi " or (ireat Altai ratine, then north-east till close to the S|th meridian ot east longitude, then north-\\est past I'st- KamenouMirsk, within about ^n mile-, ot whieh town the ^radient ot the ri\er is ,, ,' or about } teet in a mile. " On the left bank also there are several tributaries not yet alludi 1 to: the Kenderlik. foaming and thundering down the ro.'ks t 1 8th 24(11 ,, Tobolsk . 8 22nd 25111 THE PROVIXCE OF SEMIPOLATINSK. 89 in July and August, the Irtish is lowest in summer, at which time the shallovvness, caused by drought, lays bare rocks in the bed at Semipolatinsk, so that whereas Dr. Finsch mentions that the men had diffi- culty in spring in rowing across the dashing stream a ferry such as would carry tarantass and horses, I was able to drive through the river without even wetting the bottom of the carriage. In 1864 a steamer ascended to the Black Irtish as far as Ak-tube, below the confluence of the Koldjur, and a great stimulus to trade was given by the establishment, in 1880, of steamboat traffic in spring between the capital and the lower river. The Irtish, as stated before, is rich in hsh, as also is Lake Zaisan. It is believed that by cross-breeding of the fish of this lake with Furopean species, the latter might be greatly improved. A piscicultural effort was made some time since by Lieutenant Friedrichs to stock the Balkhash with fish transported by land trom the Irtish, but the experiment failed. The two principal lakes of the province are the Balkhash, or rather a portion ot it, which I sighted, and shall describe hereafter, and the Xor-Zaisan, situated in the south-eastern corner of the province, in the midst of a vast steppe, whence one sees the snowy peaks of the Altai to the north, and ot the- Saur on the; south. The; Siberians ot the seventeenth century called the lake Kyxalpu. The Mongols euphoniously named it Kun-Bloti-Xor, or the Lake ot Bells, on account ot its waves producing, when striking against some parts of the. shore; overgrown with we-eds, a sound that resembled from a distance the tinkling ot bells. Its present appellation was given by the Kalmuks in i6;o, when, durinir a period e>t famine, \J ' t> 1 9 JRUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. they supported themselves from its fish, and called it Zaisan,* meaning " noble " or " honourable." The following kinds of fish are found in the Zaisan : The Sturgeon (Accipenser Sturio), Sterlet (Accipenser Ruthenus}, Nelma Salmon (Salmo Nelma), Grayling or Taimen (Salmo Fluvialis], Trout (Salmo Lena}, Pike, Roach, Perch, Carp, and Burbot. The Sturgeon are of two species. The flesh of the first is tender, and of rich flavour ; the second has a dark shiny skin, firm, coarse flesh, and so hard that even long boiling will not soften it. The head is large, nose obtuse, and bent upwards ; the body thick, and out of propor- tion to the genera] size. The weight of the Tainieu reaches 144 Ibs., with large but watery and tasteless roe. It is a ravenous fish, that preys on its own species, and on anything it can secure. The Sterlets of the Nor-Zaisan may be divided into three species : " Zaisanki," a dark-greyish fish, with half as much fat as flesh, and that dry and coarse, and equally uncookable as the black-skinned Sturgeon ; its * Of oblong- shape, its entire length is s6 miles, the mean width 13 miles, and its area 700 square miles, or three times that of Geneva, though, unlike the Swiss lake, its depth extends only from 22 to 26, increasing in some plaees to qo feet. In former years the lake was of greater extent, as indicated by the existence of sand hillocks a\t a considerable distance from the present shore, rind by the low neigh- bouring land being" largely overgrown with reeds. Its level rises from the middle of June to the end of July. The waters of the /aisan are transparent, fresh, soft, and good for cooking purposes, but of a reddish colour in deep pools. The bottom of the lake is in some parts clay, and in others mixed with small pebbles, with white, yellow, red, and blue varieties of quartz. The shells of small mollusks are lound in the sands of the shore, and between certain points large quantities of stone, of the size of a pigeon's egg, are washed up from the bottom of the lake, and overgrown with fine green moss. About a do/en head- lands from the mountains run out into the lake, which has three islands, bearing names, and many nameless ones besides, all covered with reeds. The lake receives the drainage of ten rivers. THE PROVINCE OF SEMIPOLAT1NSK. 91 weight is generally from 36 to 72 Ibs. " Golovashki," similar to the preceding, weighing from 6 to 20 Ibs., and, like it, caught in the Upper Irtish, but rarely met with in the Lower. The third, which is the ordinary Sterlet, weighing from 5 to 20 Ibs., has a light-greyish skin, and its flesh is sott, rich, and of agreeable flavour. The Sturgeon and Sterlet remain in the lake during winter, and descend the river to spawn in the middle of May. They are then caught at the mouth of the Irtish until the I5th June; but from that date to the 2;th July, the quantity taken is inconsiderable. The great catches are in April and May.* Lxcept for fishing and hunting there is no navigation on Lake Zaisan, and there are tew habitations on its banks. In the reeds around arc: numerous wild boars, which teed on the roots ot the Ariindo Calania^rostis, a coarse grass called Koga by the Kalmuks. Otters are also numerous, and large herds of Saigas {Ant ilopu Saiga], whilst the immediate neighbourhood ot the lake is frequented by Swans, Geese, Ducks, Cormorants, Pelicans, Snipe, Plovers, Bustards, and Pheasants. Concerning the geology and mineral products of the neighbourhood ot the: Zaisan and the province gene- rally, it may be remarked that 13 miles from the Koldjur river stands a large rock called the tiictash* * ; So I'lii^" a.ui'o a Xor-/,tisan, the ti May and ending, roe were despatched for sale, ire-cellar.-* and depots bein t'.ir tlii-> ]>ur|nc at KiM^iiHi.uxk, I ">t- KainiMiu^iir.sk, S and ()in>k. '1'lic rrviMHU 1 derived tnr llic 1 ln-ndit ut' tin 1 l_' I s ]- to i^l^, amounted to _/"jo,ooo ; in I S 'K, ilie proti' ti'oops trom their monopoly wa-, /."i.^oo; and, later. the ' caisse des C'osaijue.s " ;i> ^'IVIIIL;' the annual rateh tuns. 92 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. that presents from a distance the appearance of a camel. Near this there exudes a slight stream of petroleum, containing sulphuric acid, with earthy and resinous matter. Again, seven miles below the Koba rivulet, that falls into the Upper Irtish from the right bank, stands a hill bearing the name of Achudasta Mountain, formed of horizontal layers of ochre, varying in colour from dark red to yellow and white. The local Kirghese prepare achudas or alum from the red ochre, and also find the alum in a crystal- lized state (alumen nativum cristallisatuni}. They use this mineral in colouring their wares. Saltpetre also is said to be found in the neighbourhood. Hillocks of varied stratification, like the Achudasta hills, are numer- ous, particularly in the direction of the Altai, along the right side of the Irtish, as well as along the Kurchumu rivulet, near the Irtish, and on the right side of the Zaisan. Near the source of the Ku- Irtish is said to be a hill of solid stone, from which naphtha is discharged, and about 10 miles from the Kara Irtish, between the rivers Burchun and Koba, is a small saline lake, the salt deposited on its banks being used for cooking by Kalmuks and Kirghese. Between the same rivers, but 20 miles from the Irtish, is a hill of mica, the gleam of which in fine weather may be seen for half-a- dozen miles. In former years this mica was trans- ported for sale to Semipolatinsk and elsewhere. There are no volcanoes now active in the district, but L)r. Finsch thinks that the Manrak rocks show distinct signs of plutonic origin. In the extreme south-east corner of the province the chief constituents of the hills are porphyry, argil- laceous ironstone, and diabase, or some kind of green- stone. In the precipitous gorges and narrow ravines THE PROVINCE OF SEMIPOLATIXSK. 93 may be seen veins of quartz, displaying white, green, and red bands. The spurs consist of yellow sand and marl, from which issue warm springs. Mineral springs also exist at the southern extremity of the Makran hills, and near the springs stands a Buddhist temple. The Chinese at one time had recourse to this spot for curing various maladies, and likewise held in great esteem two mineral springs issuing from a small mound near the source of the Arasan Koba rivulet. The water of both is cold and white as milk, one spring being used by men and the other by women. Gold is worked in the Kalbinsk range, and the mineral O products of the northern part ot the province are silver, copper, rich iron ores, and coal, whilst about Semipola- tinsk the formation is quart/, and, higher up the river, ot slate. Alexander Schrenk mentions felsite and hornstone porphyry, as well as greywacke. Tin- ordinary formations on the Tas-Tau are sandstones and schistose rocks belonging to the Carboniferous period. Its peaks are of dolomite, whilst the rocks are largely composed oi granite, syenite, and porphyry. Russian explorers have found in the ravines oi the southern slopes of the Tarbagatai great blocks of copper ore and veins oi iron ore. The forests of the province of Semipolatinsk occupy about 4,000 square miles, or 2^ per cent, of the wlvle superficies. 1 he- conifers are distributed in six prin- cipal groups widely apart,* but the foliterous trees, chiefly poplars and willows, do not grow in woods, but ' i. I'etween the ri^ht bank of thr Irtish IV. 'in Semipolatinsk to Pa\ lodar and the Tomsk frontier are pine woods, sometimes sparse, ^Towiii!^ in sandy MM]. This i^ronp constitutes the chief wood re-erve ot the province. 2. In the upper valleys of the I'.ukht.irm.i and Kurchum rivers, principally on the northern slopes of the mountains. are dense larch woods. . In the eastern part of the Kalbin.sk muun- 94 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. in small groups and lines on the banks and islands of the rivers. Near Lake Zaisan are arborescent shrubs with almost white leaves, resembling Eleagnus hortensis, and roses, and in the salt soil abundance of Tschingin, a long-stalked plant, the favourite food of the camel. Bulbous plants, especially of the Iris tribe, are very common. In the same neighbourhood wild animals abound, including the Tiger, Leopard, Lynx, Cat, Bear, Wolf, Fox, Corsac Fox, Wolverine, Badger, Beaver, Marten, Squirrel, Siberian Weasel, Mole, and Ermine. The domestic animals are : low set, but extremely hardy Horses, two-humped Camels, fairly large horned cattle with short horns, goats, and sheep. The last are both white and black, and of that peculiar genus known as the fat-tailed sheep. The weight of the animal varies from 140 to 180 Ibs., the cushion of fat weighing about a fourth of the whole. This pad of fat disappears by cross-breeding with Russian sheep. The nose is arched, the ears pendent, and the fleece, that is less used for weaving than making thread, is coarse, and the wool hairy. The horns of the rams are spiral. The chief races inhabiting the province are Tatars, on the right bank of the Irtish, north of Semipolatinsk ; Kirghese on the left bank, and to the south-west of that river, and along the banks of the water-courses ; and between Semipolatinsk and the Altai, Russians ; the average number of persons of both sexes in 1879 being 2-] to the square mile. tains are here and there pine woods, principally on the almost inacces- sible granite rocks. 4. Sparse larch woods occur at the sources of the rivers Djemeni. Kenderlik. Chidone, and Chogan-Obo, also on the Saur mountains, and at the Zaisan station. 5. In Baianaul stanitsa, and 6, at Karkarali, are small pine woods growing on the granite rocks. THE PROVIXCE OF SEMIPOLATINSK. 95 The towns of the four uyezds,* into which the pro- vince is divided, and that give their names to their respective districts, are, with one exception, on the banks of the Irtish or its affluents. Pavlodar I have already alluded to. The others are Semipolatinsk, the capital, 597 feet above the sea level ; Karkaralinsk, in the south-west, at an altitude of 2,698 feet ; and Ust-Kamenogorsk, at an altitude of 711 feet, in the south-east. Besides these should be mentioned in the mountains, the town of Kokpeti, 1,927 feet high, Zaisan Post, at an altitude of 2,200 feet, and Bukh- tarma, alluded to by Atkinson as a somewhat imposing town, and where one of the early Russian forts was built, but which seems now to have declined in impor- tance. Thus far I have dwelt upon the natural features of the Semipolatinsk province. I have now to treat of its economy. * The four uye/ds and one sub-district are said to be peopled as follows, but the totals, in every case but one, are wrongly calculated : Semipolatinsk . l'a\lodar . I 'st-Kamenoj^orsk Karkaralinsk Zaisan station . TOWNS OF 1 Semipolatinsk 1'avlodar CHAPTER VII. THE PROVINCE OF SEMIPOLA TINSK : ITS ECONOMY. Minuteness of Russian provincial statistics.- Governor's report for 1881. Agriculture and irrigation. Cereals grown, and by whom : quantity sown and reaped. Cossack gardening. Cattle breeding. Agriculture. Facilities for development of trade, and factories. Gold mining. Mechanics and artisans. Trade at fairs andwitli China. Population according 1 to religions and ranks. Marriages, etc. Number of ratepayers. Location of population. WHEX crossing Siberia in 1879 I had no concep- tion, until I reached the end of my journey, of the minuteness with which the governors of provinces transmit to head-quarters the affairs of the most distant corners of the Empire.* The statistics first accorded to me in the govern- o ment chancellerie, at Vladivostock, were to my mind *They report, for instance, as to I. Agriculture, the system pursued, and by whom, together with the kinds and quantities of crops sown and reaped; the kinds, number, places, and circumstances of breeding of cattle; the sustenance of the people, their industries and manufactures; trade, with the number, kinds, and value of wares purchased and sold : together with the increase or decrease, ranks, and religions of the population. 2. Taxes, duties, and personal liabilities with their administration. 3. The social welfare of the people, public morality and public buildings, fires, and-post houses. 4. Health of the people, number of hospitals, doctors, patients, diseases, epidemics and epi- zootics, together with circumstances attending violent and accidental deaths ; prisons and benevolent institutions. 5. National education, schools, etc. THE PROVINCE OF SEMIPOLATINSK. 97 little short of a revelation, and I began to suspect that I was learning secrets ; but when I asked for the like information in Central Asia, the usual courtesy of the Russian officials granted my request ; and not only so, but the new report for the government of Semipo- latinsk for the preceding year (1881) being not quite ready at the time of my visit, it was subsequently forwarded, most obligingly, to my English address, so that I became supplied with the latest and most trust- worthy statistics relating to the province. Should these statistics appear, here and there, to overburden this and the following chapters, I would beg the reader's indulgence, promising that it shall not occur again, if only ior the simple reason that lor no province to be described hereafter do I possess equal stores of in- formation. I hope, moreover, here to give my readers such an illustration as I have never seen in English, of a part of the economy of what was, till quite recently, an ordinary Siberian province, with the fulness of which information he may perchance be as much surprised as I was. To begin, then, with agriculture. In the extreme west of the Kirghese Steppe, about Orenburg, the 5Oth parallel of north latitude is the' southern limit of agri- culture without irrigation. To the east, in the province of Semipolatinsk, this limit is on the 5,}rd parallel, north of which there is only an unimportant part o! the province, consisting chiefly of basins enclosing saline lakes, where the soil is too much impregnated with salt to be profitable for tillage.* he remainde cantilv uatered, \\ith the exception of the districts aiul certain vaM tahl-'lain entl the formation of river.s and brook 9S RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. The Kirghese learnt from the Chinese how to irrigate the land by damming up the mountain streams and drawing off the water in canals. The nomads thus water about 75 per cent, of their fields, and with better results than the settlers obtain who occupy those parts of the province suited to ordinary agriculture. By both the land is left fallow to recuperate its powers, and neither uses manure ; the settler because his fields are usually too far distant from his homestead, and the nomad because manure is his principal fuel. The pre- dominating cereal grown throughout the province is spring wheat, and next oats, then millet (chiefly among the nomads), barley, and spring rye. In the year of my visit, it was intended to sow at the Zaisan station winter wheat obtained from the Chinese in the Emil valley, with the hope that it would yield a better crop, being less exposed than spring corn to the ravages of grasshoppers and locusts. These latter, according to Lebedour, belong to the species Grillns Biguttatus and Grillus Clavimaints* Agriculture constitutes the chief pursuit of the settled rural population of the districts of Ust-Kamenogorsk, Zaisan, and parts east of the capital, but in the re- watered districts are those 1 of LJst-Kamenogorsk, with its Alpine scenery to the east, and the Ivalbinsk range to the west. The Tarbagatai range induces an incomparably smaller deposit of atmospheric moisture, and the soil of the scattered eminences in the western and south- western parts of the province is too rockv for agriculture, hven in the vicinity of the mountain peaks and high .-dopes, where more rain falls, the surface is often either rocky or else too much exposed to the early autumn winds, whilst at the foot of the mountains, when 1 the soil would alio\v of tillage, the rainfall is insufficient, without the assistance of irrigation. " In the Alexandroff volost alone, during the season of iSSo, the locusts destroyed more than .|.|oo acres of corn, and grasshoppers appeared in large numbers in the l.'st-Kamenogorsk district and at Zaisan station. THE PROVIXCE OF SEMIPOLATINSK. 99 mainder of the province it is little developed. The corn raised is almost entirely for home use. The fairly satisfactory harvest of 1880 provided a normal quantity of seed for iSSi ; but the small snow-fall told badly upon fields not irrigated, because in so dry a climate the successful germination of the spring corn chiefly depends upon the abundance of moisture from the melting snow. During the spring and first half of the summer, little rain fell, and to make matters worse, in some districts, the locusts and caterpillars appeared, so that throughout the whole province there was only a 3 \ -fold harvest of wheat, and a 3:] one of oats. The total wheat harvest amounted to 52,4X4 quarters (40,626 less than in 1880), and of oats to 22,548 (12,017 less than in 1880), of which total a full half was gathered by the nomads. Of potatoes (planted exclusively by the settlers) a seven-told crop was reckoned '--itis- lactory.* About the capital the harvest barely sufficed lor seed : in Pavlodar less corn, was harvested than was sown, whilst the highest average was less than a live- fold crop a difference verily from Kngland, where a farmer in the Weald of Kent tells me they sow 2\ bushels to the acre, and in a good year look tor a twelve- ld! Things, however, in Semipolatinsk right inj ivpiv.-M'nlh thr Miuin^ and reaping in tlu piMviiuv in ioo RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. themselves by the convenient circumstance that just over the south-west frontier, in the neighbourhood of Biisk and Barnaul (the happy land where, in 1879, I found good black earth letting at $\d. an acre), the peasants can easily grow, in a year, five times as much corn as they can eat, and when, in 1881, the crop ot their neighbours so completely failed, the official report says it " had no particularly bad consequences." The reserves of the Tomsk district amply sufficed for the emergency, and " there was not even an extraordinary rise in the price of corn. 1 '* The Cossacks are great gardeners ; or, at least, their wives are ; the husbands also being sometimes driven thereto by lack of other work. They grow tobacco, water and other melons, and hemp. The crop for 1881 was 197 tons of tobacco; of hemp, 53 tons; seeds of fiax and other oleaginous plants, 16 tons ; and 1,298,300 melons. The tobacco is of inferior quality, but suited to local taste. In 1879 the province yielded 292 tons ; and in 1880, 243 ; but the official return for 1881 was only 194. This last figure, however, is judged to be too low, because ot the male Kirghese and Cossacks, the former all 'snuff,' and the latter all smoke, and, since no importation took place, their estimated requirements of 486 tons must have been supplied by local culture. The Cossacks make much of their hay, selling the surplus in towns, especially in Pavlodar, or to the Kirghese. The poor or thriftless Cossack sells his crop on the ground; but the rich reap for themselves, or with the help of the Kirghese, paying * The Cossack and settled populations even storked their corn re- serves, as usual in other parts of tin 1 Kmpire. as a precaution against famine. In iS^o there were in the province 69 store-houses, and at the end of i*Xi there remained available 2,354 quarters of corn, besides 0/M-i quarters due on account of loans or arrears. THE PROVINCE OF SEMIPOLATINSK. 101 in wages, or in kind with a third or half the crop. The dry season of 1881 was unfavourable for hay, and though 65,000 tons were cut by the settlers, which was one-fourth in excess of the preceding year, it did not suffice to feed the herds without breaking in upon the reserves. Cattle-breeding constitutes the chief means of subsist- ence;, not only of the nomads (who form more than 89 per cent, ot the population), but also ot a certain portion of the settled inhabitants of the; province, espe- cially about Karkarali and Pavlodar, where, to a great extent, the climate and soil are unsuitable for agricul- ture. \o attempt is made to improve the breed ot the Steppe cattle, the settlers conducting their operations partl\" on the Kirghese system, with this difference, that instead ot sheep, which constitute the first article of Kirghese management, their attention is chiefly devoted to horned cattle, though making less ot milk produce than the nomads. According to official information, the number of beasts in tin; province in i8So amounted in all to 3,08 i ,oS2. But only in regard to the herds of the- settled popula- tion are these data even approximately correct. 1 he. otticial report says the figures for the Kirghese herds are tar too small. This statement is based upon the calcu- lation that, according to the Kirghese returns, computed with reference to their population, it would appear that thc\' profess to have only tor each kibitka, or tent, o(>4 head ot large, and 21 head of small cattle, the equivalent, that is, to 48 sheep; whereas, tor food alone, each nomad family require yearly not less than 102 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. 54 small cattle.* With the breeding of cattle should be noticed the keeping of bees, that has long existed in the Cossack villages of the Ust-Kamenogorsk district, where, however, notwithstanding numerous facilities, agriculture has not progressed so much as might have been expected. The year iSSi was favourable to the interests of 1 80 beekeepers, who had 5,217 hives (1,830 remaining over from the preceding year), from which were taken 2/J tons of honey and 2\ tons of wax. The abundance of live stock, copper mines, glauberite and common salts in the province would suggest a * The untrustworthiness of the figures is further apparent if the districts be taken separately ; for then in the Karkaralinsk district, the richest of the province in cattle, each kibitka is returned as possessing only at the rate of 44 sheep. Information respecting the number of the Kir- ghese herds is collected triennially, on the enumeration of the tents, and is based upon the reports of the Kirghese themselves, without any check. Now up to 1869 a tax, called the yasak, was imposed upon the herds in Akmolinsk and Semipolatinsk ; the nomads therefore found it advantageous to return as few heads of cattle as possible, and though the impost no longer exists, the nomads do not yet believe fully in the irrevocable abrogation of the yasak, and so retain the practice of under- statement. Hut whilst a Kirghese gives the smallest figure for his own herds, he has no objection to tell the truth about those of his neighbours, so that it is not difficult to find out on separate occasions to what extent the official figures differ from the actual. After comparing all available data regarding this difference in 1881, it was judged by the Russians that, in order to have figures nearer the truth concerning the Kirghese herds, it was necessary to multiply the nomad returns by three to increase the number by one-half. The following amended table for the province in 1881 is compiled with reference to the above considera- tions : Cossacks and Peasants Camels .... Morses .... Horned Cattle . Sheep .... Goats .... Swine .... Number of families (or tents) Large beasts to a family. IlO,6l6 Small ,,,,.. 7 50 104,680 1,101 ,600 483,600 |- 5,529,000 ntK PROVIXCE OF SEMIPOLATINSK. 103 possibility of the local development of tanning, fur dressing, stearine, soap-boiling, soda, and copper smelting trades ; but up to the present, from want of enterprise, not one of these branches of industry has been vigorously commenced. Skin-dressing is carried on in a lew works resembling trade establish- ments, but both the quality and quantity of work are of small account. During iSSoand iSSi the produc- O A tion of hides decreased 45 per cent. Copper-smelting, which began to acquire a certain development 20 years ago, has fallen away of late years, and in 1881 ceased entirely on the winding up ot the affairs of Messrs. Popoff, who for a long time: kept in their hands the greater part of the mines in the Pavlodar and Karkaralinsk districts.* The gold industry that has long been carried on in the Kalbinsk mountains was as productive as usual in 1 88 1, notwithstanding the constantly decreasing find ot gold, that at present consists there of io_l dols to the: i oo poods of sand, at which rate eight tons of sand would need to be washed for enough gold to make a sovereign. So poor a sand is worked with profit only by reason of the cheapness ot Kirghese labour, and ot provisions brought to the mines from the neighbouring villages of P>iisk.f * In iSSi there were in activity workmen, and producing merchandise to the value ol /,.( }, J57, or i .01 i more than in i^o. t In iSSi were worked \\ mines, and =u ; d,- id tons o!" sand \\.ishe,! (jS.i~.| tons more than in iS^nl as much, that is. as \\ould cover 'I ratal -a r Square to a depth of ^ feet --and i here from extracted \ \ .: lh-. ot slich Lj'old ( _'s Ibs. more i han in iSS> i . The number ot u orkei s \\ ,is; .',o'ii men, ot whom !,(,<)> were Kirghese ; i ~S umnen. ot whom j.'unlv were not Kirejioe. and u- children. ( )f the Workmen eiiL;'a.i;ed ' 1:. .m a distance] ^o did not think tit to put in an appearance at the mines. 104 SS f A 2V CENTRAL ASIA. In the towns of the province in 1881 there were 1,526 master, journeymen, and apprentice artisans, or i to every 1 2 of the male inhabitants ; among the Cossack and peasant populations there were 571 arti- sans, or i to every 19 males; and among the Kirghese were 4,155 artisans, which is i to every 62 males.* and 31 left the work, of whom 16 returned ; the monthly pay of a work- man with food being from 8 to 12 shillings. To these workers should be added 641 horses and 31 oxen. '" The following were their occupations : TOWNSPEOPLE. Bakers ..... Pastry Cooks .... Butchers ..... Tailors ..... Shoemakers .... Dressmakers .... Leather Cutters Masons and Stove-builders Carpenters and Cabinet-makers Coppersmiths and Blacksmiths Harness-makers Carriage-makers Clock -makers .... Silversmiths .... Carriers ..... harriers ..... Masters. Journeymen. ; Appren 18 i 6 I 9.? 89 41 12 4 200 IO 5 9 40 2.S 4 112 22 369 COSSACKS AM) I'KASANTS. Blacksmiths and Locksmiths Carprnters and Cabinet-makers Stove-builders and Ma>on-> Tailors Shoemakers . .I/ 2 - Total THE PROriXCE OF SEMIPOLATIXSK. 105 The trade of the province is to some degree indi- cated by the number and quality of the trading certifi- cates granted in the year preceding my visit to 3,217 persons, of whom only three took first-class guild merchants' licences and 34 first-class tickets, the remainder being licences and tickets of the second guild and for retail traders, carriers, etc., the whole at a cost of ,"3,148, which was ,352 more than in 1880. The trading waggons, or movable shops, that wander about the Kirghese vollosts, numbered 268, and the shops in the towns and villages 526. At the 10 fairs of the province, merchandise changed hands to the value of ,245,082.* ' The 10 fairs are held on the following dates 'O. S.) : 1. Charsk, in Semipolatinsk district, ioth May to io]i [une. 2. Hotovsk (Kuiandinsk), in Karkaralinsk, ,, i^th May to i^tli June. .}. Charsk, in Semipolatinsk district, ioth Sept. to ioth Oct. .). [oanno-Xlatoiustovsk, in Pavlodar district, i^tli Xov. to ist Dec. 5. Kkaterininsk, in Semipolatinsk ,, 241)1 Xov. to 2nd Dec.. t'. Kkaterininsk, in Ust-Kamenogorsk ,, 2-]th Xov. togth Dec. 7. Xikolsk, in ,, ,, oth Dec. to joth Dec. S. SpiridonotV, in Pavlodar ,, 12th Dec. to _ Camels ......... ,\V> Horses 10,505 1 lorned Cattle ....... 2^0,. .'05 Sheep ........ io6 RUSSIAN CENTRAL AS/A. The fair trade consists chiefly in the exchange of manufactured articles, and the handiwork of the settlers for the beasts and animal products of the nomads. In 1 88 1 the nomads brought animals and their products to the value of ,153,392 (,32,088 less than in 1880), for which they took away goods to the value of ,87,898 (,8,148 more than in 1880), the remaining ,65,494 being received from the settled population in money. An increase of purchases by the nomads, as compared with the previous year, was observed in grocery and colonial goods, metallic wares, corn, and Central Asian textures and fruits, and a decrease in dressed hides and peasant productions. Ol local pro- ducts, there was an increased demand tor oil and tallow, felt, camlet, sheep's wool, horse-hair, and corn- chaff, but a decrease in undressed hides. The herds sold were considerably smaller (except camels) than in 1880, the decrease being due to the fact that the Pavlodar dealers bought a large number of llocks, chietly sheep, direct from the nomads, so that the price of sheep was considerably raised at the (airs, and fetched on an average 6s. ^d. each, as against 5\. in 1880. For horned cattle the average selling price was $6s. 6(f., and for horses 48^. 9^. each, being \s. and 3-s-. 2d. respectively less than in iSSo. It should be borne in mind, however, that the trade at fairs em- braces only a small portion of the commerce with the Kirghese, but it deserves attention because it furnishes the population with the means of effecting trade exchanges independently of the powerful " middle man.'' With regard to export trade, the- year [SSi not only saw the apprehension of war removed between Russia and China, but also the conclusion of a tre:itv advan- THE PRO r IXC E OF SEMIPOLATIXSK. 107 tageous to Russian commerce. Notwithstanding this, the returns of the Semipolatinsk merchants did not show much increase, in all probability because tran- quillity was not completely restored in those parts of the Chinese Empire bordering on Russian territory, where, moreover, the Manchu officials showed them- selves by no means favourably disposed to the increase of Russian sales.* The population of the province of Semipolatinsk in 1881 consisted of 290,312 males and 248,073 females, The majority of Semipolatinsk merchants trading with Chu.yucnak take out their passports in Semirechia, so that their returns do not appear in the statistics of their proper province. Apart from these, however, }2 passports were granted ^41 in i8^o\ and a like number of caravans set out } for Chui^uchak, ] for (iuehen, } for Kobdo, I for Shiklio, i for I'rkashar, and 21 for the valley of the Black Irtish. The value of the .yoods exported was __^,^HK which, notwithstanding the unsettled state of affairs and fewer caravans, was / \]] more than the exports of iSSj. The snoods crossing the Chinese frontier.-, and their \'alues respectively were. : Manufactures . ( iroceries .... Tea and Suyar . . .j7< locwt. of hair Trunks and small wares . 7i|X j.j c\\'t. of Boat's hair. 1 )|'essed hides . . . 2,.)2(> s tolls of slice] >' s wool iron and copper yoods . .);') .((15 pieces of hair rop( ('enlral Asian products . ;o^ >(>> Bays . Stays' horns . . . 200 25 Raw hides On the other hand, llie value of the imports \v;i^ le-.s than the exports |i\- ^, iv () 7v I hi-, sum, toyei her wit li _/,' 1 1 i,2oS protit reckoning at .^> per cent. , or a total ot ^,2}.SS[, should ha\e bei'ii received in silver cur- rency, hut the merchants showed onlv a total receipt in silver of _^" }. 220. According, however, to private informal ion. i.).', tons ,,t Chines,' silver currency were .sen I toSemipolatin.sk, representing _/,~iu I'l'e.in . ,,)' \\hich about ii tons were sent to Kiakhta, and ihe remainder tu the lairs of 1 rbit and Kivs;o\ sk. io8 xrSSfAiY CENTRAL ASIA. or together 538,385, being an increase on the previous year of 7,665. Divided according to religious beliefs, 496,150 (or 92 'i 6 per cent.) were Muhammadans, 41,875 (or 778 per cent.) were of the Russian Ortho- dox Church, and the remainder ('06 per cent.) con- sisted of 75 Raskolniks or dissenters, 86 Romanists, 13 Protestants, 180 Jews, 3 Karaim (Jews), and 3 Pagans. Again, divided according to ranks, there were of the nobles and aristocracy, including regular and Cossack officers, 1,448 ; Russian clergy, 171 ; Muhammadan mullahs (exclusive of those in the Kirghese vollosts), 82 ; upper-class citizens and mer- chants, 1.352 ; bourgeois, 9,979 ; peasants, 4,762 ; Cossacks, 23,177; ordinary soldiers, 4,732; reserved, 244 ; retired, with their families, and the families of soldiers and reserved, 2,647; Kirghese, 489,134 (of \vhom 45 were nobles and 2,489 descendants of "sultans"), and ot others 657. Hence, of the entire population, the classes ranged as follows : 90^85 per cent, were Kirghese ; then followed the Cossacks, 4 '3 1 per cent.; bourgeois, 1*85 ; peasants, S8 ; and soldiers, 8S. Of the Kirghese little more than one- third were-, pure nomads, having no other dwelling than their tents, whereas the remainder do not wander in winter from their fixed quarters. The remaining 57,431 (or i 0-67 per cent.) constitute the settled popu- lation, of whom 34,547 (including 8,1X0 Kirghese) hve in towns, and 22,8X4 in rural districts. The number of marriages throughout the, province in iXXi was 2,131 ; births, 5.665 males and 4,570 females, or a total of 10,235. of whom 59 were illegitimate ; deaths, 6.6X0 males and 4,457 females, or 11,137, leaving a decrease ot population in the province of 902." * The fore;n>inLr fibres are founded, so far as the town of Semi- THE PROTIXCE OF SEMIPOLATIXSK. 109 Among the orthodox population there were 419 marriages, 2,019 births (58 being illegitimate), and 1,401 deaths, or 3 '5 5 per cent. Among the Muham- madan town population there were 1 66 marriages, 13 divorces, 443 births, and 606 or 4^23 per cent, of deaths. Owing to the inaccurate method of registra- tion among the Muhammadan population of the districts, their returns are not worthy of credence ; but they stand at 1,546 marriages, 15 divorces, 7,773 births (including i illegitimate), and 9,130 or i '68 per cent, ot deaths. The number ot ratable persons in the towns of the province at the? end of the year was 4,534, and of those exempted 364 : a total of 4,898, or 162 more than in 1880. The number of peasants was 1,103 ratable and 8 exempt a total of I, III, or 8 less than in 1880, whilst the Cossack population was augmented by 4 men and decreased by 2. 1 he settled population of the province, excepting the few inhabitants stationed in pickets, farms, mills, etc., inhabit 57 Cossack villages, 5 peasant hamlets, polatinsk is concerned, on a census taken bv the statist ieal committee on one day in March, i^Sj; for the oilier towns and settled rural populations, on the lists compiled a month or two earlier by the local police authorities; but for the Kir^hese population of the- districts, from the data deduced from the vollost family lists compiled in i^o. These la^t data, says the report, particularly for Zaisan Mat ion, cannot be complete. In several sfii rr/iinsf , '<>s or sub-diM not s, |,,r instance, the number of females is returned at less than hall the number of males; so that these data would show throughout the province only \ \i persons to each Kir^hese kibitka, wh. re. is on a',1 oci a^ions \\hen an actual census of the Steppe population ha- been taken, the average number of Kir^'he^e of both sexes to each kibitka has been ;. Reckoning, then, the kibitka at 5 persons, the Kirjdiese population of the province should amount to =;^,oSo. and so the total population to do^oii of both sexes. Ou this compulation, the population oi the diMricts (excluding the towns and urban settlements' w:ll be; Semi- polaiiiisk, ijs,--j ; Pavlodar, 112.55'): ! "M-Kameno -;orM<. ;j.- s ; K.irkaraluisk, i^S,S-i; and Xai-an station i5 14 104 2 5o 12 21,189 29,939 T 3- 2 9 2 20,884 CHAPTER VIII. TffE PROriXCE OF SEMIPOI.A T1XSK: ITS ADMIX1STRA TIOX. Taxes : what, by whom paid, and amount. -Kxcise duties and revenue from lands. Loral rates. Liabilities to personal service. -Cos- sack service. Recruiting statistics. Houses and public buildings. - -K.xpendituiv of civil authorities. -Military buildings. l'"ires and fire brigades. - Public health, medical oilicers, hospitals and dis- eases. -Violent and accidental deaths. Vaccination. Central Asian statistics and their weak points. TH K province of Semipolatinsk enjoys the repu- tation of having been punctual, since the 1 establishment of the present n'^nnc in 1869, in the payment ol its taxes. This is attributed to the class ot which the settled population is composed, and to the convenient system adopted with regard to the nomads. The unit of tax -ition amon^ the- Kir^hese is tin; kilutka, each ot which pays Ox a year, and the enumeration ot which is performed every three years by selected men, who arc 1 paid tor the work at the rate of ~\ii. per tent. The towns- people pay a tax on property, besides which tl e peasants pay a land tax and a capitation tax, and there are certain taxes levied besides Irom the bourgeoisie. 1 he kibitka tax for i SS i amounted to ^,^0,417 ; property tax, ,{, 1,011 ; peasants' land and capitation ii2 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA sum total for the whole province of ,32,187; in addition to which there remained in arrears ,807, or ,536 less than in the preceding year. Besides this there were rates raised for local purposes to the amount of ,239. The different kinds of excise duties collected amounted to ,28,738, made up of ,26,478 for wine duty, ,1,968 for licences, and for tobacco and stamp licences ,292, amounting in all to ,8,367 less than in 1880. This decrease was attributable to the alteration of the excise on salt, otherwise the returns would have shown an increase of ,2,465 as compared with 1880. The lands in the province paying rent to the Treasury consist of three portions near the capital --503 acres in all bringing in an annual rental of 12, and for timber felled ,792, or ,192 more than in 1880. An important extent of land, chiefly on either side of the Irtish, belongs to, or is occupied by, the Cos- sacks. The emit rents of these holdings are paid into the Cossack fund.* Besides the taxes just mentioned there are the vollost, or local rates. In 1881 the Kirghese paid O 1 ,14,958, to the expenditure of which I shall allude hereafter. In the peasant vollost, of 1,111 souls, ,275 were expended thus : for the maintenance of * ]-'rom tliis source then- was collected in i8Si, rent for land, /".>(> 2 ; rent of mills and works. ,205 ; licences for fishing on Xaisan lake, ^"^79; and ^,'92 also were paid into the Cossack reserve fund as salt duties. The total. n^, is little more than half what it was in the previous year. In the eastern part of the province is situated the Bala:_ r ach Steppe, a locality specially favourable to hushandrv, that is readily rented by agriculturists in the capital, in the surrounding Cossack villages, and by peasants ot the Alexandrov.sk vollost, who have no arable land. In this district and the mountain land generally, the annual rent is _}(/. per acre In iSXi, ^2,000 acres were let. but on account of the failure of the harvest the rents collected amounted to j/.'^oo only, as against ,?e winter quarters, comprising 04,208 buildings, namely, 12,372 of wood, ,51,7*1 of stone, and 20,055 * el ay. + The more noteworthy of these works were the building of two stone commissariat magazines for corps in Semipolatinsk (^'1,200;, the con- THE PROriXCE OF SEMIPOLAT/XSK. 115 heavily in 1881 from 71 fires an increase of nearly 50 per cent, on the previous year. The destruction of 315 houses and yourts (270 more than in iSSoj and 2 forests involved a loss oi ^15,426 an excess of ,13,641 over the preceding year.* The health of the people was cared lor throughout the province by a staft of 18 ph) sicians and 49 assistant surgeons, ot whom 13 and 37 respectively were military ; and by 7 midwives. The medical establish- ments were 9 in number, there being under civil jurisdiction in Semipolatinsk two hospitals, one being free ; and under military jurisdiction, 6 hospitals and a " rest." t version of a coach-house into a stable for the horses of the mounted mountain battery in I 'sk-Kameno^-orsk (,201 ), the construction of a wooden equipment-store at Xaisan Post (^,"^5<) . and the construction of a wooden stable for the horses of the West Siberian li.L, r ht batterv at Xaisan Post (/.".> 07), etc. As connected with these expenditures in the province may be noticed the following sums received and expended during the year in its four principal towns : Bui. met 1 from 1880. K Semipolatinsk . . . .v.su.S Ust-Kamenogorsk . . 2,u<)0 Pavlodar . . . . i , jo ^ Kokpety .... ijoH /;s,o62 jfa.fw jt * Of the 71 fires, 10 took place in winter, V in spring, iS in summer, and 7 in autumn, their alleged causes bein^ : from faulty construelion of chimneys, 7; from carelessness, jS, which includes the burning of 2 forests; from lueifer matches, ^ ; anil ^i from cause^ unknuun. It would a[>pear that throughout the provincr the only town-> that ha\'<' anything like a tire brigade, are Semipolatin--k. l'st-Kameno^'or>k, and 1'avlodar, the former two .spending thercMti in iS-M the >um of _*',.].<>, whilst the (ire-extiniLfuishinif paraphernalia of the six town-, in the province amounts to j under-officers. j^ workmen, j^ liorsr^, i | juimp-,, I '> hose, ^n summer and 2.) winter vehicles, j^ tubs, .j j pail-, i J ladder-. 5,i hooks, j() axes, and 2s screens or sails. 'i" The military hospitals were: at Semipolatinsk, for -;S bed- ; Zaisan Post, ^S beds ; I 'st- Kamenoi, r orsk, 22 bed-; Pavlodar. n beds ; Ka:ka- n6 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. The Semipolatinsk town-hospital commenced the year with 9 patients, Si were admitted later on, 67 discharged, 13 died, and 7 remained, whilst 454 out- patients paid 554 visits. When I was at Semipolatinsk the free hospital had been opened a little more than a year. During the first seven months of its existence there entered 226 male and 205 female patients, of the following social grades : Upper classes, 20; clergy, 18; merchants, 8 ; bourgeois, 186; peasants, 80; Cossacks, 14 ; soldiers, 77 ; Kirghese, Sarts, and Tatars, 28, amongst whom the chief diseases were in- o termittent fever, mucous diarrhoea, rheumatism, catarrh of the respiratory organs, diseases of the abdominal organs, inflammation of the jaws, abscesses, eruptions, etc.* I have already alluded to the number of young recruits who are sent every year to Turkistan. Of these there were in the hospitals of the Semipolatinsk province, at the commencement of the year, 2 ; there were added during the year, 122 ; discharged, 120; died, 4 ; whilst of the lower ranks of the reserve army there was in hospital, at the commencement of the ralinsk, \.\ buds; Kokpety, 4 beds; and Koton Kara^ai, h bods. In the military hospitals at the be^innin^ of the year the patients, a certain proportion buini^ civilians, numbered 124. and there were subse- quently admitted 2,0,17. Of these 2,S~^ were discharged, ^'j died, and 107 remained in hospital at the end of the year. The number of out- patients attending the military hospitals was 12,047; the number of their visits, 25.274. * The chief diseases in the town hospital were: typhus and typhoid fever, ij ; intermittent fever, 7 ; tuberculosis. 7 ; venereal diseases. 6 ; and from excessive drinking, <>. Of i ; deaths, there occurred from tuber- culosis, 7 ; typhus, 2 ; burning, i : frost, i ; drops}-, i ; and old ai^e, I. The patients admitted to the town hospital were: nobles and merchant". 5 ; bourgeois and peasants. 19; postal employes, } ; soldiers, reserve and serving". 14 ; Kiridiese, iS; and. in addition. ^ children and 17 women, of the last of whom 4 were suffering trom syphilis and 4 from intermittent fever. THE PROl'IXCE OF SEMIPOLATIXSk'. 117 year, only i patient : 7 were added, 6 discharged, and 2 remained.* The greatest mortality among the hospital patients resulted from typhus, and next from inflammation of the lungs. The total mortality was 2^4 per cent, of the number of patients. In connection with the foregoing might be mentioned 1 08 violent and accidental deaths, occurring throughout the province, which were 44 less than in i88o. + A large number of deaths by burning is a speci- ality of nomad life, many ot the Kirghese children being scalded by the overturning of kettles, or burnt by the ignition of their clothes from the tire in the midst of the tent. The number of children vaccinated by physicians, surgeons, and vaccination pupils was 6,104, tne operation being successful in 4,259 cases. This finishes, then, for the present, the ample informa- tion I ventured to promise the reader concerning the Semipolatinsk province, in which I have endeavoured to do justice to the minute-ness with which statistics are gathered and forwarded to Petersburg from the re- motest parts ot the Kmpire. Ot course the question may be put, Are these figures trustworthy ? The answer must be both " \ es " and " Xo. \\hen asking a governor further south tor statistics, he replied that they had been able to gather none, the Russian popula- * The chief diseases in the military medical establishments were: intermit tent fever, o^y ; local tli>ea--e> of the urinary organs, \\ _\ ; acute and mucous, and in some case-, bloody, diarrhcca, i \<> ; acute catarrh of the respiratory organs, i_}o; rheumatism. i|>: venereal ilisea>e>. i.jj ; typhu-v i,'>; and intlammation of the hme;> and pleurisy. u(>. ' Of violent deaths, =; were murder-- iu less than the year preceding , n were Miicide--, and , ilead bodies of infant-- were found. ( )f jj >udden death^, s were from sickness, and iJ trom unknown caiiM--. ; whilM of -_' accidental death--, the'v \\ere killed by li^h'nin^. i : by lailitiL;', i) : tlroniietl, Ji; tVo/eii. i, ami burnt, ji. ii8 RUSSIAA T CENTRAL ASIA. tion being so small as compared with that of the natives, and, moreover, that some of those statistics I had already received were of little worth. This admission from the mouth of a particularly intelligent Russian General at first rather startled me, but, when properly explained, seemed to amount to this. The Russians, being tew in number in the recently annexed provinces of Central Asia, are obliged to depend for information upon the natives. Now in a trustworthy informant we look for two things : that he should be able to speak the truth, and that he should be willing to do so ; whereas the natives are neither one nor the other, as I speedily dis- covered, when surrounded by them after crossing the Russian frontier. In one of the tribes in the north- east ot Siberia, a man wishing to express the number 20 would count on his hands and toes, but beyond this number he would call into requisition the hands and toes of a second man, and so on ad libitum; and though I do not affirm that the Central Asiatics are so simple as this, yet they have very vague ideas of high numbers. Said I to the Bokhariot officers sent out to meet me as I approached Charjui, " How many inhabitants does that town contain?" "A million!" was the reply; whereas, had the man said 30,000, I believe he would have exceeded the mark-- not, I think, from design, but lor lack ol power to grasp the meaning of a million. So, when some old aksakaL or white-beard, is brought in from the mountain or the steppe to appear before a Russian officer, and is asked the number ot tents in his district, and the cattle, it is no great wonder if he often gives an unsatisfactory answer. But besides the question ot incompetency, 1 have already mentioned the unwillingness of the natives to let the Russians know their attairs, and their suspicions THE rRQ]'IXCK 01- SEMIJ'OLATIXSK. 119 that the ofatherino; of statistics is only a prelude to O } > 1 further taxation. " How many cattle has your father? " said I to the son of a Kirghese dignitary, and forthwith the answer came, " i 50 horses, 500 sheep, 30 cows, and 20 camels," which probably was not far wrong. Hut shortly after I mentioned it to the Russian officer, who referred to his books to see what official return the father had made, and found it to stand, " 50 horses, 150 sheep, 10 cows, and 6 camels," from which ex- ample it will be seen how native statistics are to be taken cum gnuio sa/is. CHAPTER IX. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE RUSSIAN OCCUPATION OF THE IRTISH. General history of Central Asia. Russian occupation of the Irtish. Yermak's victories, conquests, and death. Submission of Bara- binski Tatars. Consolidation of Russian power by arms, media- tion, and trade. Baikofs mission through Sungaria. History of Kalmuks: their opposition and submission. Origin of fortsalongthe Irtish. Aggressive designs of Peter the Great. Treaties with the Kalmuks. Extinction of Sungarian kingdom.-- Russian frontier fortified against the Chinese. Trading places of Bukhtarminsk, Ust-Kamenogorsk, and Semipolatinsk. Growth of commerce with Chinese. Russian administration of new territory. THE history of Russian Central Asia may be con- veniently treated under the general divisions ot ancient and modern. Its ancient history includes the struggles ot Asiatics, whose rude conquerors approach- ing the fray, whether from the highlands of the east, or from the lowlands ot the west, brought to the con- quered a method of wartare, and manners and customs, not oreatly dissimilar to their own. What these were o / the reader will better understand and appreciate when in the course of our narrative we: have travelled further south. The modern history of Central Asia, however, brings on the scene a conqueror from the north, a European, with a strange language and a new mode ot warfare, who advances not at the head ot a devastating cavalry ArSS/.LY OCCUPATION ()/' THE IRTISH. 121 column, hut in the persons of, at first, a mere handful ot Cossacks, who make their way up the rivers, build- ing forts as they go, engaging in trade, and so turning to their own advantage the internal tends ot the enemy, that he is at length surrounded and bidden to surrender. In this chapter I purpose to treat ot so much ot the modern history of Central Asia as will cover the Russian occupation of the Irtish, or, in other words, the country through which, thus tar, we have; travelled. The history of the Russian occupation ot the: Irtish commenced with the conquest ot the Tatars, about the mouths of the Tura and Tobol, and was followed by the series ot events that brought the Russians in contact successively with the Kalmuks ot Sungaria, the Chinese of Western Mongolia, and to some extent the: Ka/aks ot the Steppe. It was in 1579, during the reign ot John the Terrible, that Vermak crossed the I'rals, to tnul him- selt opposed by Kuchum Khan, ruler of tin- Siberian hordes ot the Irtish, Tobol, and Barabinski Tatars, a lineal descendant ot Jinglns Khan, and a prince ot some note, who had been the first systematically to introduce Muhammadanism into Siberia. This ruler \ermak conquered, in 15X1, in a series ot battles, one with :hree petty Tatar princes near the mouth ot the 'I ura, another near the mouth ot the I'obol, and a third on the Irtish, alter which Kuchum tied trom his tort Sibir, and on the ~\\\ ot November \ermak took possessi< in ot his eapit.il. Several ot the surrounding chiefs tendered their submission, and the Russians sai ed down the Irtish, capturing numerous torts; but in the >prmg ot i ;S.j the enemy besieged the invaders in Sibir. \ermak defeated them, and then .sailed up the Irtish, where 122 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. he gained possession of several strongholds, and was returning on his way to Sibir, w r hen, having learned that a caravan from Bokhara was crossing the I shim Steppe on its way to Kuchum Khan, he halted near the River Bagatai, and on the evening of the i /th August, unaware that his enemy was near, lay down with his companions to sleep, without so much as posting sentinels. The troops of Kuchum attacked the sleepers, and though Yermak cut his way to the river, yet in the endeavour to step into his boat he fell into the water and was drowned, whereupon his followers recrossed the Urals, and left the field to Kuchum. When news reached Moscow of the ease with which Yermak had gained his victories, it was determined speedily to send an expedition to recover lost ground. On the loth July, 1586, a new Russian force reoccupied Tchingi-Tura, one of Yermak's first conquests, and founded thereon Tiumen, which became the first per- manent Russian settlement east of the Urals. In the following year Tobolsk was founded near the Tatar Isker. and was made the residence of the first voyevode, or governor of Siberia. The Cossacks had little diffi- culty in subduing the neighbouring tribes, but Kuchum, -' O O O though weakened, was not dead. Me had been living with the Tatars in the Barabinski Steppe, east of the Irtish, and in the summer of 1590 marched to the neighbourhood of Tobolsk, to be beaten again, how- ever, the next year, and deprived of a son and two of his wives. Shortly after this, in 1594, and in order to overawe the district of the Upper Irtish, and the Barabinski Steppe, as well as to restrain Kuchum, Tara was built on the Lower Irtish and fortified. At the same time, according to instructions from Moscow, letters were sent to Kuchum Khan, invitino- XL'SS/AX OCCUPATION QI- THE IRTISH. 12.? him to come to terms, but since he remained obdurate the Russians determined to crush him. Accordingly Cossack troops were sent against his remaining forces, with the result that eight of his wives, five sons and daughters, and five princes fell into the hands of the victors, after which the Tsar Boris Gudunofl was informed that the Russians were now masters of Siberia. Kuchum escaped to the Upper Irtish to the Kalmuks, and from thence he went to the I shim steppe, where it is said he was put to death by the Xogais. Thus closes the first period of my history, a term of 20 years, during which the Russians were chietly employed in the conquest of the Tatars. The fame of these successes brought every year new subjects to the Russian Tsar. Among others came Tayan, prince of the Barabinski Tatars, from the: upper banks of the Tom, who proceeded to Moscow in 1004, and presented to lion's Gudunofl a petition, asking to be received with all his family as Russian subjects, proposing the construction of a Russian town in his territory, and promising to assist in inducing the neigh- bouring peoples to submit to the Tsar's sovereignty. 1 avail's proposal was accepted, and the said town founded the same: year on the right bank of the Tom, and hence called Tomsk. The road thereto lay through Fara, which dominated the Barabinski Steppe, and served as an intermediate station between I obolsk and Tomsk, as also a means of communication \\ith the advanced posts up the Irtish, where lived the Sungarian Kalmuks, the next people whose: contact with Russia we are to notice. Tor fully a century after the conquest of kuchum, the invaders on the Irtish did little more than hold what they wen: pleased to call their own, lor the natives i2 4 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. did not leave them alone. In 1609 the Tatars, Voguls, and Ostiaks endeavoured to plunder Tiumen, and in the following year the Nogai Tatars devastated the country around. Nor was the onslaught of arms the only difficulty with which the Russians had to contend. Three times in the century the wooden town of Tobolsk was destroyed by fire, and in 1638 it was inundated by Moods. The native tribes, nevertheless, continued to offer submission, and Russian influence was strength- ened by the opposing native factions, each of whom bid for Russian help. Another factor that helped to consolidate the Russian power was the opening of trade with the natives. In 1648 the merchants of the Central Asian Khanates were permitted to trade in Siberia. The Bokhariots brought furs to the country about Tiumen, and half a century later a considerable exchange had sprung up, concentrated at the Yamyshef lake, east of the Irtish, between the Russians, Kalmuks, Bokhariots, and Tash- kendians. This intercourse with Central Asiatics could not but furnish the Russians with information as to the interior ot the continent, of which they took advantage in 1665 to send the Boyar Theodore Baikof, byway of Sungaria, to China. Starting from Tobolsk, he reached the camp of Taishi Ablai, a Kalmuk chiel, and passed the winter there. In spring he proceeded to the Beska rivulet, near which Ablai was then erecting two stone palaces, now known as " Ablai's Malls." This spot he left on 24th July, and by the ;rth August arrived at the camp of the Kontaisha, or emperor's sons, from which another 10 days' journey brought him to Xor Zaisan, whence he journeyed for 17 clays to the sources of the Irtish, and then proceeded to China. This journey would appear to have been undertaken at a A'CSSSA^Y OCCUPATION OF TIIK IRTISH. 125 favourable opportunity, for 30 years later we find Ysbrant Ides at Tiumen, journeying on a political mission to China, and dryly remarking, " If it were safe to travel the Kalmukian country, the most expeditious way would be to pass the Jamuschowa (Yamyshef) lake " ; and then he adds, " Strolling incursions are very frequently made by the Kalmuks upon their czarish majesties' frontiers, but are repelled by the Tobolskians." Accordingly, like a discreet man, he gave- the Kalmuks a wide berth, and journeyed on by way oi the ( )bi. In the fifteenth century some of the Mongol tribes formed a union, known as the HiD'hcn (V/w/, or " four allies " ; of which, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, some of the petty chiefs endeavoured to make themselves independent, and came to the Russians tor help. Batur-kun-taitsi, son of Khara-kul, one of the sove- reigns of the ( )irat, thus entered into relations with the invaders in 1040, and was succeeded, lirst by his son 126 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. Galdan, and in 1697 by his grandson, Tsevan Rabdan, the latter of whom was recognized by both China and Russia. He subdued many petty princes from the Altai to the Balkhash, and exacted tribute from Eastern Turkistan, as well as Samarkand, Bokhara, and even Balkh. He married the daughter of Ayuka, Khan of the Torgouts, a branch of the Oirats living along the Irtish, but fell out with him, and compelled the Torgouts to move westwards to the lower regions of the Volga, where they were known as Kalmuks. and whence they returned, on the invitation of the Chinese, in i//i. Tsevan Rabdan also conquered another branch of the Oirat in Tangut, attacked Tibet, and even opposed the Lama.* He was likewise suc- cessful in a war with China, and left his son, Galdan Tsyran, to pursue, from 1727 to 1745, a similar career of war and bloodshed. The power of Galdan's sons was overthrown by two tribal leaders, named Davatsi and Amursana, whose quarrel with each other led to Amursana being beaten and driven to Pekin, whence with Chinese help he returned, and overthrew his oppo- nent to become ruler of Sungaria, in 1755. Such were the Kalmuks, whose incursions against the Russians began about the time of the fall ot Kuchum Khan, whose people they assisted. The Kalmuks claimed that the Turkish tribes about Tara had been their subjects from time immemorial, from whom accordingly they had the right to collect tribute. When they appeared to assert this claim in 1606, the Russians beat them, but failed to drive them entirely away ; after which the Kalmuks laid claim to the salt mines in the neighbourhood of Tara. Finding, how- * On these transactions in detail see Howorth's ''History of the Mongols," i., pp. 614 646. X CSS/A -V OCC (.TAT/OX Of TIIK IRTISH. 127 ever, their policy to he unwise, they feigned submission to the Russians, till having been worsted in a contest with Alum Khan of the Mongols, several of them in 1621 came wandering along the banks ot the Irtish and Obi, and in 1634 ravaged the neighbourhood of Tara, and besieged the town. They were again re- pulsed ; and in 1638 they promised not to molest the Russians further. These transactions and struggles on the frontier oo were no doubt carried on by small detached tribes, largely on their own account ; but, meanwhile, the Russians had determined to penetrate into the enemy's country. For the defence of the Barabinski Tatars, who had become; subjects of the Tsar, from the hostile irruptions of the Kalmuks, as well as the plundering^ ot the Kirghese, the Russian Government determined at the beginning of the seventeenth century to occupy the Upper Irtish, and to build along it a line, ot torts, added to which a less justifiable motive; urged the invaders towards Central Asia; for, in 1713. Prince Gagarin, Governor of Siberia, reported to the Great Peter, who had now ascended the throne, the possi- bility not only of constructing a line; of forts along the Irtish, but ot continuing it through Sungaria as tar as \arkand, where golel was said to abound. I his e;.\e:iteel both the; cupidity and the aggressive spirit ot Peaer the Great, who, in 1714, directed Colone-1 Bukholts to take a detachment ot 1,500 men to Yamyshe;! lake;, the-re to build a fortress and occupy it until the; spring, and thence to proceed - building redoubts tor depots and communications as he; went to the Irket, whence was supposed to be brought the gold. Bukholts built a fortress at Lake Vamyshef, in 1715, from which. howeve;r, he was 128 R CSS IAN CENTRAL ASIA. driven with oreat loss bv the Kalmuks, so that he O J had to retire towards Tobolsk, but halted on his way at the mouth of the River Om, and there in the following spring built the fortress of Omsk. In 1718 the first fortress was built at Semipolatinsk, and in the following year two officers Urasof and Somof having received the Emperor's orders to proceed on an expedition to Yarkand, surveyed the shores of Lake Zaisan, and the banks of the Upper and Lower Irtish. In the same year Prince Gagarin was ordered by an ukase to survey the Kalmuk lands, to ascertain the number of troops, and to induce the local chiefs to take the oath of allegiance. With a view to this, and to build a fort on Lake Zaisan, General Likhareff was despatched in 1720 up the Irtish, with 34 fiat-bottomed boats and 440 soldiers. He reached Nor Zaisan, and was ascending for 12 days the Upper Irtish, beyond the parts visited by Urasof and Somot, when he met with Galdan Cheren, son of Tsevan-Rabdan, who, with 20,000 Kalmuks, was watching his frontier against the Chinese. Likhareft, alter a skirmish, managed to hoodwink the Kalmuks as to his intentions, and then turned back, building on his way Ust-Kamenogorsk, in 1720; after which the Tsar, disappointed again of his gold-dust, sent orders next year, according to Zemlianitsyn,* th.it the Yamyshef fortress was to be strengthened, that they were " to make; peace with the head of the Kalmuks, and take a company of mer- chants to him, to the Chinese towns Selim and I )aba, and to the dwelling of the Dalai-Lama; further, that these merchants were not to labour tor L{ain, but that AV.V.SY.-LV occrr AT/OX or THR IRTISH. 129 skilled persons were to accompany them to purchase, or even to examine the gold, where it was found, and in what quantity, also the roads leading thereto, and finally, even though it should be with difficulty, to seize that place." Peter the Great died before his gold robbery could be carried out, but in this way was commenced the line of forts on the Irtish. In 1722 another small wooden fortified building, called Ka'insk, was erected on the Barabinski Steppe ; and 1 5 years later a line of forts was extended, under the name of the New Siberian or I shim line;, westwards all across the Steppe to the advanced posts of Orenburg, which line was connected with the Irtish in 1752. Semipolatinsk was no sooner founded than there Hocked to it, as to Yamyshef, Kalmuks, Bukhariots, and other Asiatics, for the; purposes of trade, which so increased that in 1735 commissioners were; appointed tor the; Semipolatinsk Customs. In the; previous year the Russian Government hael se-nt an ambassador te) Galdan Chere;n, the; rule;r of Sungaria, the;n living on the; Hi, with proposals respecting the: abolition e>l Customs between the two natiems, whereupon Galdan Che;re;n se;nt an e;mbassy to the Russian capital, which relumed through Tobolsk in 1730. with prese-nts, besides goods purchased in Me>sce>w, to the 1 value of ,{,1,300. Ten years late;r another Sungarian embassy we-nt to Moscow, whereupon the Imperial (love-rnme-nt repeated its desire tor continuance ot trade, and onlered the- Siberian Imntier authe)rities to maintain trie-nelly relations with the Kalmuks, and not to give them any offence- ; but when the- ambassadors returned, it was explained to them at Tobolsk th.it Sungarian subjects could cemte only tor traeling purposes to the torts ot \amyshel ami Semipolatinsk. \ 01.. I. 130 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. Thus it will be seen that, at the time of the gradual occupation of the Irtish by the Russians, they had to contend with an enemy of some importance. At that time the Khan of Sungaria ruled over Tashkend, Turkistan, and Sairam, all of which he had taken from the Khans of the Kirghese Kazaks, and he had carried on war so successfully with the Chinese as to drive them to the Russians for succour. The end of the Kalmuks, however, was near. I have already mentioned that Amursana, with the help of the Chinese, became ruler of Sungaria in 1/55, in which position he expected to reign independently, whereas he found that he was merely to hold an honorary rank under the Chinese, who proceeded to divide the Oirat territory into four provinces, to be placed under Chinese administration. Upon this Amursana incited his subjects to rebel, and the Chinese, bent on getting rid of the troublesome Kalmuks, de- termined to slaughter them wholesale. The massacre was so indiscriminately pursued that, of a population in 1/56 of 600,000 souls, scarce one Sungarian re- mained, those few not killed having lied to the Russians or the Kirghese. Thus perished the Sungarian kingdom, of which now almost the only memorials in the country are tumuli or circular mounds, from 10 to 100 feet in diameter, that are found in numbers between Sergiopol and Kopal. They are surrounded by rows of stones, and in some cases have on them rudely-carved figures of recumbent warriors. The figures represent men with thick mustaches, but without beards, holding in the right hand a cup, and grasping with their left a double-handled sword stuck into the belt, whilst at the back of the head are a number of small plaits of AV\S\S'/.-/A' OCCLT ATI ON OF THE IRTISH. 1.31 hair, quite unlike the long tresses worn by the Mongols of the present day. \Ye come now to the third of the peoples with whom the Russians were brought in contact in an- nexing the Irtish. At the time just mentioned, when the Chinese were committing everything in Sungaria to fire and the sword, the Russians deemed it prudent to place their frontier in a defensive condition ; espe- cially as it was observed that, it the Chinese junks sailed out ot Lake Zaisan with hostile intentions, rheir progress could not be checked by the torts along the Irtish, nor was there adequate protection either for the Altai mines, or tor the Teleuts who nomadized in the vicinity of the Teletsk lake. It was decided, therefore, to extend the line along the Irtish from Ust-Kamenogorsk to the River Bukhtarma, to which it was thought the Chinese could not object, if the Russians did not establish themselves on the Zaisan. The Bukhtarminsk fort accordingly was erected in i 760, and in i 7^4 an expedition was despatched tor the survey of the Zaisan, the othcers returning with the conviction that a Chinc^se flotilla was not dangerous to Russia from that quarter. Nor did the Chinese otter hostilities, though they appear to have; kepi an eye on the Russian proceedings. Many years afterwards, in 1X22, the Cossack fisheries were extended to the Zaisan, and subsequently established to the exclusion ot all others. It was tnought by the Siberian authorities that the torts ot Bukhtarminsk and Ust-Kamenogorsk would answer as good central points tor trade with China, India, and Tatary, and certain immunities were: granted to merchants on goods passing through Bukh- tarminsk, but the result was not satislactorv. \Or 132 JtrsS/AA* CENTRAL ASIA. was Ust-Kamenogorsk, opened as a trading place in 1765, destined to be a flourishing place of commerce, although the Chinese in 1804 professed a wish to come there with goods for barter with the Russians. It may very well be, however, that the crafty Celestials merely hid under this declaration their desire to watch the Russians, who were consolidating their authority on the Kirghese Steppe ; for here, as also at Bukhtarminsk, where trade was ordered to be carried on in 1/97, and a custom-house established six years later, these would- be merchants were constantly coming to every house offering brick tea and copper pipes, not apparently with the desire to find customers so much as to observe whether there was any collection of Russian troops or military preparations. At Semipolatinsk, however, a considerable trade sprung up, Chinese soldiers coming there as early as 1757 to sell silver and Sungarian captives ; but the war of the Chinese with Sungaria caused a great falling off of commerce, an end being thereby put to the caravan track- across the frontier, so that the custom-house staff had to be reduced. In 1776 the commercial exchange of Semipolatinsk was moved to a new site, which was regarded as advantageous from both a strategic and commercial point of view, since it attracted the Asiatics to bring their goods, and also to purchase Russian wares tor sale in Western China, thereby competing with the trading establishments the Chinese had built near the present Urjarsk station and at Chuguchak. Kntrance to these places was prohibited to the Rus- sians, who could trade there only under the.: disguise of Asiatics. This barrier had to be removed, and in FiSii. when Chinese, merchants began trading at Bukhtarminsk, General Glasenap despatched from xrxs/A.v occrpATiox OF THE IRTISH. 133 thence his interpreter, Putimsof, to Kuldja, with the result that Russian caravans were allowed to proceed both there and to Chuguchak. This seems so to have diverted the stream of commerce that in 1839 the custom-house at Bukhtarminsk was transferred to Omsk. Meanwhile the Russian export trade with China increased, but with one serious drawback. All com- merce at first was carried on by barter, but the subsequent appearance on the bazaars of gold, first in coin and then in dust and bars, had an injurious effect on the exchange of Russian goods. Such was the commercial condition when the Minister for Foreign Affairs at Petersburg proposed to establish Russian factories within the Chinese territory. In August, 1851, a treaty between the two Governments was concluded, and the presence of Russian consuls at the factories put a stop to the open trade; in gold, but its contraband sale could not be prevented ; and from this cause the Russian trade was still suffering in 1850, at which date the exports amounted in value t /, 75,000, and the imports to ,{,07.000, when the commerce ceased altogether, owing to the- destruction by tire of the factor)" and all the goods it contained. The consulates were re-established two years afterwards, but in 1 80 1, according to M. Abramol. the trade still languished. In 1871 the Hi province passed tempo- rarily into the: hands of the Russians, but as it was to revert to the Chinese in 1883 the newly-appointed Russian consul, whom I met in passing through Omsk, was on the eve of taking his departure to Chuguchak, and I subsequentl)" stayed in the house of the Russian consul at Kuldja. Thus I have brought down to the present day the transactions oi 134 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. the Russians with the third of the peoples they encountered on the Irtish. Let me not omit to mention, however, that whilst the Russian Cossacks and merchants were pushing further southwards, the Government was planting institutions and strengthening its administration in the rear. In i 744 a road was constructed from Tobolsk, the capital, to Tara, and 10 years later posting was esta- blished from Moscow to Tobolsk. Tara does not seem ever to have become a place of great prominence, but Omsk and Semipolatinsk forts both grew in im- portance, the latter being made a " town " without a district in 1764, and in 1782 an uyezd town. In 1804 Omsk and Kainsk were exalted to the same municipal rank, and at the former, five years later, was formed an infantry regiment. This necessitated, in 1813, the establishment in Omsk of a Cossack school, that was subsequently united to and afterwards incor- porated with an Asiatic school that had been set on foot there more than 30 years before. Further changes were made, however, in 1846, when the school was adopted for the Siberian cadet corps, and from it, in the following year, the teaching of Asiatic languages was transferred to the town school for soldiers' children. The whole oi Siberia having been placed under two Governors-General in 1822, the district about Omsk was formed into an oblast, or province, of that name, and a Cossack cloth factory established in the capital for the employment of exiles. The new oblast, however, did not at first flourish very well, for in 1823 the capital was destroyed by lire, and in the following year, through lack of funds from its own resources, the neighbouring provinces of Tobolsk and Tomsk had to expend in the oblast upwards of OCCL'PATIOX OF THE IRTISH. 135 ,12,000. This poverty seems to have lingered awhile, for in 1826 the Cossacks were allowed to engage in trade. In the following year an institution for granting public assistance was opened in Omsk, to which town, also, in 1838, were removed from Tobolsk the resi- dence of the Governor- General, and the whole staff of the chief administration of Western Siberia. The oblast was then suppressed, and instead of it there was constituted a "frontier administration' 1 ; Omsk, Petro- pavlovsk, and the Cossack villages ot the I shim line being added to the Tobolsk province ; and Semipola- tinsk and Ust-Kamenogorsk, with the Cossack villages on the Irtish, being added to the Tomsk province. There was yet another people, the Kirghese, with whom the Russians were brought in contact during their occupation ot the Irtish, but of these I can better treat in connection with the Russian occupation ol Semirechia. CHAPTER X. FROM SEMIPOLATJXSK TO SERGIOPOL. ' Semipolatinsk " : its etymology, situation, and meteorology. Call on Governor. -Visits to prison and asylum.- Schools. Post Office statistics. Trade. Our start delayed. Departure, roads, and posting service. Sunday at Sergiopol. Distribution of books from the capital and onwards. Antiquities and remarkable skulls. Mineral deposits. A previous Knglish traveller. Lake Ala-Kul : its aspect, ornithology, lizards, and fish.- The Central Asian " Kulan." THE town ot Semipolatinsk (pronounced Semi- palatinsk), at which I arrived on the 2_|th August, derives its name from " Sempalati " seven palaces or buildings, the ruins of which were seen in 1734 by Gmelin, who called the place "Sempalatnaya-Krepost," or fortress. These buildings had served as temples for the Kalmuks, and one of them still contained two idols of bears, and on the walls of another were partially discerned representations of men, whilst not far distant in the valley of Ablaikit were found the ruins of another temple ot Buddhist origin. The present Russian town stands on the lofty right bank of the Irtish, i i miles from the original site,-, now called "Old Semipolatinsk," my last post-station, and whence one or more migrations had been found necessary by reason ot the: eating away of the river's bank, and the encroachments of the- sand- dunes. It has a public garden with 14 fountains. On FROM SEMIFOLATIXSK TO SERGIOTOJ.. 137 the left bank stands the rare spectacle of a Kirghese town, where these settled children of the desert dwell in houses of wood, with curtained windows. Surrounded by a desert of sand, Semipolatinsk has all the disad- vantages of a continental climate, with few corresponding advantages. The Russians established here a meteoro- logical station, where, as in other stations in Central Asia, observations were recorded thrice daily at seven, one, and nine.* It was not my intention to stay longer in Semipola- tinsk than was necessary, and I accordingly sallied forth betimes in the morning on the typical Russian droshky to pay my respects to the Governor, General Protzenko. His Excellency had already heard ot me, and was prepared to help me in every way possible, regretting only that his household was all but broken up, because he was on the point of departure; to a distant portion of his province. He gave me permission to visit the prison, where we found an Afghan prisoner ; rainfall fur the Arctic ( )cran ri\ r nil the I n ish at Seinipnlatinsk was only Vs^s inches, as i -. 'in pa inches in 1^77 at (Jreenwich. The number of days f<>r il 1.^77 \\iiii I'ain \va> Si ( ; \\ith >no\v, |S ; hail, i ; 1 hunilei \shil>t --onie indication nf (lie aspect of the skv mav he ^athei' the registration of 70 days clear, , and nn tVum ;he >outh. I . ; came from the nortli-east and north-u'est. each I'nrnisliin^ ^ if^:-''. whilst .jijj- obsiM'vat ions \\eiv recorded as , aim. ^r withoiil uni'i barometer rose in I leceniber. i>77_ ashi^h as v .->.) ini h'---. a:id the minimum nt the year in |ul\- to j>'i" ( , ih,' mean ti>r the \'rar _' . i ' \ 1 1 , or 1 1 '_> i 1 e s > than at ( 1 reen \\ : i ' i . 138 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. then we made our way to a small i( prioot " or asylum. It contained only 11 children and 3 old men and women, who were maintained by a ladies' society for the care of the poor. During the preceding year 3 girls and 4 old people had left the institution, to be received by their relations or by tradespeople as apprentices. It was interesting to find this little almshouse so far away in the heart of Asia, and it spoke well for the prosperity of the capital, that, although the funds for maintaining it were so ample, yet there were so few needing such a refuge.* The children of the asylum were taught in the various schools of the town, of which there are 4 for the Russians (one each for upper- and lower-class boys and girls, and one parish and one smaller school), one for 15 Jewish boys, and 8 Tatar schools for 549 male scholars, presenting for the capital a total of 13 schools, attended by 904 scholars, of whom only 116 were girls.t After our visit to the asylum we called on Mr. Michaelis, who was learned in statistics respecting the province, and then upon a gentleman given to scientific pursuits, after which we made our way to the post and telegraphic office, to find awaiting me the valuable telegram (already alluded to) from General Kolpakovsky. * The receipts for iSSi were _/"iS i , of which , 1^,2 was a balance from 1 8^0 ; ,20 was given by tin- Town Council ; ^~2S .subscribed by members, and/^o was from other sources. Besides money donations, tin- society received materials for clothing, etc. The maintenance of the asylum cost only ^~, and 2$ were distributed to the people, leaving a balance to carry foruard to iSIS2 of ^169. T Taking the places of education throughout the province, it appeared that in 1*^1 there were S_} schools 'including one technical school, and others for Kirghese, Tatars, and Jews], in which were taught 2,12" boys and 293 girls, being 99 of either sex less than in the preceding year; this decrease, however, being traceable to the hick of data concerning Tatar girls. The number of Russian pupils increased. FROM SEMIPOLA TIXSK TO SKRGfOPOI.. 13.^ The last opportunity we should have for awhile for purchasing post cards and stamps was in this head office ot the province. Some idea of the postal affairs may be formed from the fact that in its 13 post-offices and stations for the reception of correspondence \ ,504 were expended ior maintenance and administrative expenses, and ,3,771 received.* The buildings of Semipolatinsk did not strike me as remarkable. There were, however, many large ware- houses, a reminder of the fact that the town was long celebrated for its commercial relations with Central Asia. The Russian and Tatar merchants of Semi- polatinsk sell in the bazaars tea, sugar, and other groceries, cotton stuffs, Chinese silks, porcelain, furs, wax, and honey. The principal trade is carried on in winter, when the Cossacks and peasants come in from the neighbouring districts, bringing skins, ropes, and other produce. The Kirghese also some on horse- back, and others in camel-carts bring cattle and camels' -hair, which they dispose of to purchase grain, flour, tobacco, iron ware, and wooden boxes. After this flourish of trumpets respecting the trade of the capital, it will sound somewhat strange that our departure was delayed by reason of our being unable to purchase throughout the town a sufticiency of white bread. Foreseeing that we should have to travel man\' miles before, we could reckon on the possibility of replenishing our stores, we purchased sundry pro- visions, leaving the article oi bread to the last, so that J ' The intal number of lctlcr>, rtr nil Mil ^ i it" i he | m * vim e t luring the \v. Ordinary letter-- . . ^o.ij^S Stale p;irki'ts . . . 110,51 i-> ke--l>teivtl leiier-. . . I.io7^ ! n \\ rapner> . . . . ,v ' i- 140 CENTRAL ASIA. it might be new ; but we could find only one baker of white bread, a German, who inveighed against the badness of the local flour, and said that he should leave the place. He could promise no supplies till next morning, and thus we were prevented starting on Thursday night. The incident tended, however, to evoke a well-known trait of Russian character. The Governor-General's telegram commended me not only to the good offices in general, but also to the "hospi- tality" ot the authorities, and this proved to be no empty form, for when in the evening, after a call from Mr. Michaelis, General Protzenko did me the honour of a visit, and I mentioned that we were delayed for lack ot bread, his Excellency expressed his regret that his own cuisine was already packed and started, and asked Colonel Ilyinsky, chiel of the staff, to come to the rescue. \\ e had already tried to purchase from FROM SKMIPOLATIXSK TO SERfrlO/'OI.. 141 one or two private persons, but they had only sufficient bread tor the day. Marly next morning, however, good things were showered upon us in abundance. Not only did the baker bring his tale of loaves, but Mr. Michaelis added to their number, and Colonel Ilyinski himself brought us bread, butter, cakes, and jam, and wished us bon voyage ! At half-past nine, therefore, with a full commissariat, we started tor Sergiopol, a distance ot i 80 miles, com- prising i i stations and 10 changes ot horses, being accompanied by a subordinate sent by the police- master to see us safely over the Irtish.* I had heard dismal complaints ot the road south of Semipolatinsk, owing to the paucity of horses. Kven in the official report for i SS i it appeared that 136 complaints had been lodged at the stations by passen- gers, and it was said that General Kolpakovsky himself had found the posting accommodation in the-, southern Steppe not to his liking. This, no doubt, was partly owing to the increased traffic consequent upon the breaking down ot the postal service from Orenburg to Tashkend, which caused the post to be brought all round by the Irtish, and necessitated an increase in the number ot horses. t * Hu 1 stations bi'tvvren Semipolatinsk, Ser eaopol. and Kopal. \\itli the di-tanres between ill Ver-t-, arc as follow- ; Semipolatinsk Ka/yl-Mulin-k . _"> Ah\ n- K.il.i: . j ^ riuc;ii/-k . . _'-, Arkadskiy . j- Sergiopol Arkalyk-k . . 22 Alehan-adyrsk . J | A - 1 1 1 1 1 1 k u 1 - k . 2~ I / u n - 15 1 1 1 a k . _' | I (jcn.it-k . . _> i Kmvkeiskiy . 2~ ' In tin- province of Snnipolatin.sk the i.-i-T niiic- nt post-road- v ot wliit li inn mile's were highways to the Akniolin-k, Seinirechia. and 1'oiiisk |iro\ iiH-rs, the remainder hein^ com mini :ca: ion- wii h I he interior were served trom S^ station- and picke:-, .it \\hich \vc-i~e ma"i I - I pairs of post and 10 pair- ot farm hor-e-. a " pair " In ':!. : -ed. I suppo-e, ia the kn-sian p''-ial -en-col a tro;k.i or. '':,-,, anana!-. |-o; 1 42 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. It was to me, however, a source of great comfort, that I was now kindly supplied with a Crown podorojna, so that I might fairly reckon upon doing as well as could be expected under the circumstances. During the first 24 hours we covered 127 miles. The road to Sergiopol lay almost due south from Semipolatinsk, and for the first two stations presented a bare land- scape, relieved only here and there by a few auls or collections of tents, and cattle of the Kirghese. Arka- lyksk stood in the middle of a desert, at an altitude of 950 feet, whence we passed on over vast plains without a sign of life, and across a low range of hills, rising to 1,280 feet. We descended to i ,000 teet at Ashchikulsk, and rose to 1,300 at Djertatsk, which we reached in the evening, and then posted on through the night past Kazyl- Mulinsk, 1,450 leet high, and then gradually mounted to 1,700 feet at Arkadskiy (or Arcat). In the very early dawn we passed the seventh station, and break- fasted at the eighth, after which the road was so intolerably dusty that we sometimes could not see the horses' heads. In the afternoon we approached Altyn- Kalat, the frontier station between the provinces of Semipolatinsk and Semirechia. Count \Valdburg- Zeil computed its height to be 2,133 ' c:ct > so th at -since leaving Semipolatinsk, 750 feet, we had ascended 1,400 feet, and had reached the watershed of the Chingiz-Tau, the western spur of the Tarbagatai, which together send the rivers flowing north into the Zaisan and Irtish, and those; flowing south into Lakes FROM SEMIPOLATINSK TO SERGIOPOL. 14,5 Balkhash and Ala-Kul. One of these latter, however, the Ayaguz, has small pretensions in summer to a river, tor Sevier going to bathe therein found the water only ankle-deep. On reaching Sergiopol, on the hanks of the Ayaguz and surrounded by sands, we found that the good offices of the Governor-General had preceded us in the form of a telegram that horses should be in readiness. It was Saturday night, however, and I had determined to spend the Sunday there, expecting a larger town than it afterwards proved to be, and intending to visit the hospital and prison. Having, therefore, called upon the chief military authority overnight, we slept at the post-house, and went atter breakfast to see the military hospital prison, and barracks. In this last establishment I was pleased to find a modest library of what seemed to me rather antiquated Russian books, probably the remains of former days, when Sergiopol had greater military significance' than now. I was glad to add thereto some copies of the Scriptures and other publications, SOUK; of which I also distributed in the hospital and prison. News of this spread, and I was speedily visited first by the Russian priest, who came to buy a Kirghese New Testament to present to the mullah, and then by a Cossack school- mistress, in pretty Russian costume, and wearing the national head-dress known as the /v/w////// 1 , with which I fell in love. ; so, when the young lady's purchases were completed, I ventured to ask her to sell it to me tor a curiosity. She gracefully declined my request, but ottered it as a gift. According!}', I made up its value in printed matter, which here I found highly prized, .is everywhere else along my route. At Semipolatinsk 1 could not learn th.it the ( lovernor i 4 4 It C SSI AN CENTRAL ASIA. had received any of the books I sent in 1879 to the Governor- General KaznakofF for the prisons and hospitals of the Semipolatinsk government. General Protzenko, however, was willing to accept a New Testament for each room of every prison and hospital throughout his province, estimating the net number at about 210 rooms in all, after making allowance for the number of Kirghese prisoners and patients who could not read Russ. With the Moslems the Governor did not like to attempt much, but consented to accept 10 copies of the Kirghese New Testament, to be used as opportunity might serve. Accordingly I sent with these 100 New Testaments, 65 Gospels, and 50 Psalms in Russ, some German, Hebrew, and Polish Scriptures, and about ^oo tracts, etc. This clone, I repacked some of my boxes, so as to have as few as possible on my second conveyance. At the stations as we came along I continued my plan of nailing up in the post-houses the engraving of the " Prodigal Son," and offering my books for sale. Blessings indeed they must have been, I should think, in these solitary houses in the wilderness, and the post-masters seemed so to regard them. At the last station before Semipolatinsk an old man said, " The Lord must have sent these books tor us," and his delight was great at getting them. Between Semipolatinsk and Sergiopol almost every post-master purchased books, and some bought at a stroke all the selection I offered, as at Uluguzk and Uzun-Bulak. Kven this did not satisfy my customer at Altyn-Kalat, tor he wanted another rouble's worth. The Russians took up their position at Sergiopol, previously called Ayagux. and subsequently named after Sergius, a younger son of the Emperor, in 1^31' since which date, their frontier having advanced south- FROM SEMIPOLATIXSK TO SERGIOPOL. 145 wards, the place has greatly declined in importance. The inhabitants number 1,000. The town is situated within sight of, but at some distance from, the post- station, near which is the fortress containing the church, the house of the nackalnik, or chief, and the barracks. About 1 6 miles from the town, in the Saikemir defile, beside the River Badpak, Mr. Ujfalvy states there have been lound cut in the rock rude representations, resem- bling those found by Pallas and Spasky in Siberia, of wolves, stags, camels, dogs, snakes, etc.* 7 There should also be mentioned, as existing within i 20 miles of Sergiopol, several mineral deposits, such as silver and lead, to the south-east near Chuguchak; graphite within 20 miles ot the town ; oil in four places to the south, and copper on the southern slopes ot the Tarbagatai, in the neighbourhood ot Abket, where lie three beds belonging to Mr. Permikine, who formerly worked them.-f- During my short stay at Sergiopol I heard of a fellow- countrman, Mr. I)elmar Moran, who has laid the author, one of \vhost i principal functions \vns thi 1 measurin utter am a /c tni 'in . and metimes terror. of the livin i\'incr of Srmi ]>olatinsk (irrx-nt a rrmarkahlc, tlic jirdtuljt-ranccs a thi- >cparatinn brtw l)i'ii\vs' lifin-- unusua the i' i an l \ IO 146 RUSSIAN CEXTRAL ASIA. English public under obligations by his many transla- tions from the Russian. He had preceded me in 1880 to Sergiopol, where, arriving early in April, he was detained for three weeks by the impassable state of the roads. Not till the 6th of that month did the water- fowl begin to arrive in the lagoons on the left bank of the Ayaguz, and opposite the town the ice of the river did not move till the I4th. He was then preparing to start for the Russian frontier town of Bakhta, opposite Chuguchak, when he was hindered by a telegram summoning him to Vierny. The distance to Bakhta is 174 miles, with six picket stations to Urdjarsk, a small village, and afterwards four other stations, with a post- road all the way, and not turning into a caravan track at Urdjarsk, as represented in General Walker's map. This last-mentioned station, on the Urdjar river, is probably the best starting-point tor Lake Ala-Kul, the third largest lake in Central Asia. The Ala-Kul, or variegated lake, is thought to have' been joined at one time to the Balkhash, but is now an entirely distinct basin without effluent, and receives the drainage of the circumjacent Barlik, Ala-Tan, and Tarbagatai mountains/'" 1 )r. 1'insch has given the best account I have met * It consists properly of three lakes. Tin- lar-v eastern part contain.- bitter salt water; the western, called Sa--vk- Kul, fresh water; whilst the central part of the basin is called 1 'yali. On the I'hinese map-, the whole lake bears the name Alak-t u^'ul-nor Lake of the Variegated Ox) The normal altitude of Ala-Kul is 1,200 feet, but according to Kir^he-< traditions the water of the lake rises at times, and then subsides. X<>i many vears a.^'o it was possible lor caravans to pa-s aloiiL;" the isthmus of l"/unai and Xarvn-Uxiak, but now both these strips of land dividing the lakes are covered in the middle with water. The lake is supplied bv at lea-t four considerable rivers, their mouths bem-- transformed into a series of small reed-^ r rown lake-.. In -prmj; the water submerge-, he reed-; these rot in summer and emit a putrid smell, whence th a.uiu "Sissvk," or stinkri ;', ^iv.rn to the western lake. FROM SEMIPOLATIXSK TO SERGIOPOL. 147 with of the fauna on the shores of this lake, and of the district through which he passed. Along the post- road in autumn I saw but few birds or living creatures of any kind, but his more practised eye discerned the Red-footed and two other Falcons, Great Buzzards, and Harriers. Wheat-ears (Saxicola Ocnanthe] were to be seen everywhere on the stone-covered hill-tops, whilst in the thickets of Spinca the Bluethroats (Cyanccnla Suecica] were building their nests. The cry of the Quail was heard on every side, as well as the note ol the Cuckoo, whilst high in the air fluttered the Chimney Swallows (Ifiniudo Rnstica], the Skylark (.-[lauda Arrcnsis], Pallas's Short-toed Lark (A. ]*ispolctta . the Kastern Shore Lark (O/ocorvs llrandtn, and, most common, though most remarkable of all, the Black Lark (A. Yeltonicnsis], whose; uniform velvet black plumage, pale yellow beak, and large size make it both remarkable and interesting. It loves to sit on stones by the roadside-, or perch on the bushes, with drooping wings and tail erect, singing there, as well as in the air, its melodious song. When in flight it appears even more remarkable than when silting, for in this respect it differs from other larks. Clapping together the points of its wings, and whipping about, now regularly and then in an irregular manner, its flight may be likened to that of a bat. To these may be added in the larbagatai, the I )emoiselle Lrar.e (dnts I'irvo], the Masked Wagtail (.Ui>/(?t'///ii /\r siv/d/d], and the Black Stork (Cic.inia A /_//. I 1 rom a b.ire knoll on the banks of the lake near Ak-tube, nothing can be seen in the direction <>l tin- great Ala- Kul but forests of reeds, which shelter abun- dance of Bird-life.* 148 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. Some of the species of the fish taken by Dr. Finsch in the Ala-Kul were new to him. That of the com- monest occurrence was a species of Perch (Perca Schrenkii, Kessl.), which grows to the length of a foot or more ; then the Schizothorax Orient alis, Kessl., called " Marinka " by the Cossacks, a species belonging to the group of Barbels ; and, further, two species of Diplophysa belonging to the Loaches, the last named Pctstrak (D. Labiata, Kessl., and D. Strauchi, Kessl.). The Perch were greedily eaten by the Cossacks and Kirghese, but the Marinka, supposed to be poisonous, were thrown aside. Dr. Finsch, however, boiled a fine specimen, two feet long, and ate of it (the roe ex- cepted) with enjoyment, and without ill-effects. In tact, the meat of this species is generally used as food A-'occtta], Stilt \o\ers(Ffimanfopus Candidas'], Redshanks {Totanus Cd/i'/ris], Cranes (Griex Communis), and Lapwings {Vanellits I'nl- 3\ir/s). Coots {Fnlicti Ah' a) may also be observed, and numberless ilucks of Ducks and (lulls. Amongst the latter, besides the Black- headed CJull {Larus Riitilnntdits) appears its gigantic relative, the Great Black-headed Gull L. fchfhyaefi/s}, whilst of Ducks, besides the common \Vild Duck, the Teal, the Pintail, and the. Gadwall (A/ttis J-!rah- miny Kites (J///rv/.v (jo:'inf/ti}, and a Crow, which cannot be easily approached, but whn.~.e wings in the sunlight shimmer of a peculiar brown. Amongst the smaller birds are the Black-headed. Grey headed, Common White ( J/ic<>lks (Liunuea Planorbis, Bithinia, ct I'a/rata), which, with a Land Snail (Helix Semenoni\ has been attributed only to the Thian Shan. Before taking leave of the fauna of the Ala-Kul district, mention must be made among Mammalia of Arctic Hares (Lcfius Variabilis], the Kara-biruk Anti- lope (Autilope subgutturosa), the Ibex (Capra Silu'n'ca], the \\'ater Shrew (Crossofius Fodicns)< the Prickly Hog, and the Wild Ass. This last is found in several parb: ot the Central Asian steppes ; " I\ntan " is the; name by which the animal is known to the Kirghese. The Mongo's call it " Dschggctai." It is probably the same species described by Pallas as /-Lynns Ilouionus (with shorter ears, and consequently more horse-like appear- /.lm:r:i!uT. mav he re- marked two other species. One species is of a li^hl broun rolour uith dark -pots (l-'rcim'tis l'n ridlnlis, 1'all.l, tlie other /'/'ir\'tiM 'n/>// .v, 1'all.) is smaller, witli very flatly-pressed h,:id c|tiar;er-=, and short round head, wh it'll, wit h a generally hro\\ ni-di Colour, is di-,; :u- L;uished hy beautiful li^h' sky blue and rose i oloiired --i'"'^. the latter colour extending to the lower side of the tail. The>e lifl,- re|M;ie-. '.vliich I)r. I'ln^ch thinks may fairly be regarded as :lic ri-jire-eiita; :\ e l.i/ardsof the Southern Stefipc region, as well a-~ part-- ot Mongolia and China, ha\'e their abodes in holes appareniU scratched out <; enlarged by thenisrlxes., above which are found httie l.e.ip-- ''i earth like mole-hills. The passages are said to be freqneni Iv si aiul iiuariably terminate in a .small ch ambei" si an elv t\\o inches hie.!;, tilled with drv L^rass. They feed fliietlv upon P.e'-;lc-. anion^ \\;;i, n I),ircaii:'as (At>iiiukt>:-i, '/','tunis. / o,'i: :t >u , l)olm.) are mo-,; treqiie:-,;. and around their subterraneous dwelling's are found -I'l.ili \\.-'ih' Iiaii- enclosing the elytra and other rejected fragments o! bee; ' uin^s, t DViTiniJ's, and lesJ's- 150 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. ance), which is distinguished from the species from Persia called Kulan (Eqnus Onager] by the absence of the black cross-stripe on the shoulders. The " Ktang" (Eq mis Kiang) from Upper Tibet would appear to be nearly related, although larger. The Kulan is said to be untamable, but Dr. Finsch had the opportunity at Omsk of describing and sketching two specimens that had been received from the Bekpak-Dala Steppe when quite young, and had then been suckled by a young mare. Both the wild animals became so accustomed to this new phase of existence, that they grazed with her and other horses, and although the one was two years old and the other as much as three years, they still had recourse to the paps of their foster mother.* Having thus described the Ala-Kul district and its fauna, of which latter so little information is within reach of English students, and having brought my readers to the frontiers of the Semirechia province at Sergiopol, I shall now proceed to describe generally this " land of seven streams '' * Tin; prevailing colour of these animals was a pretty yellowish brown, but the nostrils, lower jaw, throat, belly, legs, and spots on front of the thighs were white. The ears were also internally white, with black-edged points, and these were better formed than those of the a^s, but longer than those of a horse. The black, bushy, erect mane reached from the back part of the head to the withers, and on either side of it was a stripe of white running down the back and dwindling a\vay at the tail, which terminates in a tuft of stiff hairs reaching to the point of tin 1 hough. In winter the animal bears a long and almost shaggy pelt, while its measurement mav be taken as follows: From tip of nose to end of tail, 10 ft. ; height of shoulder, ; ft. loin. ; of crupper. ] ft. 1 1 \ in. ; length from nostril to point edge of ear, i ft. m middle of the shoulder to root of tail, _} ft. 9.', in. ; of the tail root, i^.l MI.; of the entire tail, 2 ft. ~.\in.; the longot hair in the tuft, i'j in. ; longest hair of mane, 5.4 in. ; height of the hoof in front 24* in., and behind, i }, in. CHAPTER XI. THE LAXD OF SETEX STREAMS. Soniirecliia : its boundaries, dimensions, and orography. Thian Shan mountains: their etymology, exploration, extent, form, ranges, and ^volo^v. Height of snow-line, glaciers, and stvnv bridge-;. Character of valleys and supposed volcanoes. -Rivers and lakes of Semirechia. Lake Issik-Kul: its origin, dimensions, shores, antiquities, and bed. Climate of Semirechia. Forests and Mammals. SKMIRKCHIXSK, or "seven streamed," is the euphonious adjective prefixed to the southern- most of the three provinces that now make up the General Government of the Steppe. Hounded on the north by the 1 provinces ot Akmolinsk and Semipola- tinsk, and on the west by the Syr-daria government, the- south and eastern frontiers ot Semirechia are con- tiguous to Chinese; 1 urkistan and Sungaria, the area of the wholes being 134,410 square miles, or the si/e ot Belgium added to the whole ot the British possessions in Kurope. Part ot its western surface consists of tracts of shitting sands and salt plains, but in the east arc; rich mountain valleys with fertile black earth, and mountain gorges lying deep in forest recesses. Most remarkable, however, is the southern portion, the mountainous region of the Thian Shan, which, after the' Himalayas, contains some of the most gigantic 1 52 XL'SSSAW CENTRAL ASIA. mountains in the world. Contiguous to the mountain region is a narrow strip of clayey soil, that, when well watered, is unusually fertile. Beyond this, stretching _ out into the plains, is the limitless, almost fruitless, and sometimes sanely steppe. The three principal basins of the province are those of lakes Balkhash, Ala-Kul, and Issik-Kul, formed by the following mountains, namely : in the north, the Tarbagatai, already alluded to ; the northern or Sungarian Ala-Tau, between Lake Ala-Kul and the River Hi ; and, south of that river, the Trans- Hi Ala- Tau, which is, in fact, only the northern ridge of the huge system known as the Thian Shan this com- jound name signifying in Chinese the " Celestial Mountains," called by the Turks Teiigri-dauli, and by the Huns, Kiliau. This mountain system, whether regard be had to its area or its length, the height of its crests, the abundance of its snows, or the massiveness of its cjlaciers, is the grandest on the northern slope ot the; o o I Asiatic continent. It is not long ago that we had only the most confusing and obscure information regarding it. Mr. Semenofl, whom I mentioned as having seen in Petersburg, was the first traveller, not a Siberian, who explored the Thian Shan. This he accomplished in 1856, but since that date a number ot Russian scientists, and a lady among them, have pene- trated as tar as the Pamir irom the north, whilst Kng- lish explorations, long ago commenced, have reached the same point from the south. Thus, thanks to the. labours ot sa-rants of the two nations, tin's portion of the geography ol Central Asia is now fast emerging Irom obscurity and conjecture. Under the name Thian Shan we must understand THE LAND OF SEVEN STREAMS. 15? the vast mountain system that forms the watershed of the rivers Syr-claria and Chu, of lakes Balkhash, Ala-Kul, Ebi-Xor, and Ebi-gesun-Nor, on the one side, and, on the other, the Upper Ainu, Lake Lob-Xor, and the River Tarim Gol. Its entire length is about i, 660 miles, and its highest peaks everywhere rise far above the snow-line. The average height of these dominant peaks varies from 16,000 to 18,000 feet, and some of them even exceed 21,000. The entire mass is estimated by Reclus as 25 times larger than the Swiss Alps, and as forming a protuberance upon the earth's surface considerably larger than all the mountains of Europe put together. Reckoning their average width at 250 miles only, the total superficies ot this orographic system would cover 400,000 square miles, or as much country as the whole of E ranee and the Iberian peninsula. The Thian Shan range begins in Mongolia, some- what to the east of the Chinese towns Barkul and I lami, in a simple ridge ot rocks rising up trom tin- bed ot a dry sea, the: Ilan-hai ot the: Chinese; but to this ridge, which advances west-south-west, is added a second, then a third, fourth, and more ridges united by intervening plateaus. The mountains continue to rise, enlarge their base, and finish by occupying trom north to south a space ol about eight degrees ot lati- tude. 'I he peculiarity ot the range is that the system on the: east extends at tirst almost along an even parallel, whilst as it advances westwards it opens out tan-like, and forms many groups. Between Barkul and 1 bum the: intervals between the several ranges scarcely exce'eel j\h miles - that is, Ironi the toot ot one slope to the- toot ot the: one: opposite- -but to pass north trom Kashgar to the 111 vallev, a distance ot 2^0 miles on v. J 54 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. it is necessary to traverse no less than eight snowclad ridges. Towards the middle of these mountains, the width of the plateau upon which the ranges rest diminishes, and the ridges become fewer in number. Its more extensive ramifications are noticeable at the western end, beginning at the sources of the Syr-daria ; and the colossal Thian Shan, that already has lost its name at its western extremity, finally sinks, like a vast ruin, into the plains of Turkistan in the form of rocky spurs, surrounded by salt marshes and sands. Kostenko * gives a separate description to nearly 40 ranges f forming the Thian Shan, some of which will be alluded to hereafter. * In his " Turkestanski Krai," of which 1 have largely availed myself in this description. f- They are as follows : Ak-Shiriak-Tau (eastern range). Jitim-Tau range. Son-Kul Plateau. Mountains to the Range Bogdo. Katun-Daba. ,, Narat-Daba. ,, Kaitu-T.ag. ,, ]ungar Ala-Tau. ,, Boro-Khoro (J'alki). ,, r/un-Tau. ,, Muz-Tag. ,, Sari a si. Kok-Shal. , , Borkoklai. At- Bash-Tan range. Mountains to south of River Ak-Sai. Xariu-Tau range. System of the Vaman-Tau ("Kvil 'Hills "). Ak-Shiriak-Tau (western range). Ak- I eke mountains. Ferghana range. Mountains to the north of the River Xarin, the Terskei-Tau range. south of the Karakol river. Mountains between the rivers Narin and Talas (the Susamir). Trans- Hi Ala-Tau. Range Alexandrof. ,, Urtak-Tau. ,, Kara-Tau. ,, Chatkal. ,, Alai and the roads crossing them. Alai plateau. Range Turkistan. ,, Shaikh- Jeli. ,, /aralshan. ,, Hissar. Pamir plateau and its system. Tarbayatai ran ye. THE LAXD OF SEVEN STREAMS. 155 The rocks of this system are chiefly metamorphic and crystalline.* In height the Thian Shan range, as already hinted, may be reckoned among the chief mountains of the globe, and the snow- line is generally at a great alti- tude. In the northern, or Sungarian Ala-Tau, it is about 10,000 feet above the sea ; on the 43rd parallel it generally rises to I 1,000 feet, and in the southern groups, about the Zarafshan, to more than 14,000 feet ; whilst on the mountains of the Pamir it exceeds 15,000 feet. Almost throughout the dominant ran^e, and in o o certain of its spurs, there are glaciers, the number of which is computed to be not less than 8,000. Espe- cially grand are those found in the principal range, called the Mux-Tag, crossed by the famous Mu/art Pass. Snow bridges in the Thian Shan are often met with much below the glaciers, namely, at 5,000 feet or lower. These sometimes attain to a mile- and a third in length, and 100 feet in thickness. They * Mushketoff, \vlio has told us more, I believe, than any one. of the i^eolo^-y of Turkistan, divides these crystalline rocks into three cate- gories. To the first category belongs the granite ynmp ; and to the second category, the dioritic or porphyrit ic i^roiip. including diorites, aphamtes, and various porphyries ; whilst to the t hird. or most important category, belong the amvi^daloid rocks. The mountains formed of rock-- ot the granite i^roup are the most ancient, and the most massive, and have fairly smooth, or at least but little ja^vd. ridges, whilst their direction bears west-north-west. The second i^roup, the dioritio rock--, are, in comparison with the preceding, less widelv distributed. The ranges composed of these are far inferior in si/e and continuity to those of the granite L;T<>up. They lie principally in a south-westerly direction. Their outline is sharper and less regular, whilst thev have d'-ep rocky ^"ori^es tilled with masses of if( : hr:\ brought do\vn hv the torrents that in small cascades fall from height to height. The moun- tains formed of rocks of the third category lie ehietlv in a north-westerly direction. As a rule they seldom reach the snow limit, ami their outlines are smooth and cupola-shaped. 156 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. are produced by avalanches, and therefore the snow in them is mixed with rubble, brought down together with the snow from the surrounding crags. The valleys of the range are of two principal types, the transverse with side windings, and the vast longi- tudinal valleys, which may be considered one of the most characteristic features of the Thian Shan.* It was thought for a long time that the range con- tained many volcanoes. The burning mountains of the Thian Shan were among the "Traveller's Tales" of the last century. Mr. Semenoff, however, declared that Mount Kullok, south of the Hi, was not, as alleged, of volcanic origin, and that the solfator of Ketu, in the Ili valley, proceeded in all probability from the combustion of coal.f Hyclrographically the Thian Shan belongs to the continental drainage of Asia, and in this respect is of less importance than the neighbouring but inferior Altai mountains, whence flow the great rivers of Siberia. Confining our attention for the present to such of its streams as descend from its northern slopes in Semi- rechia, I may observe that there is some difference of opinion as to which are the seven rivers whence comes the name of the province. Of those now flowing into the Balkhash the most important are the Hi, the Kanitol, * The longitudinal valleys generally extend in ;i direction parallel to the main range for sometimes hundreds of miles, and besides their direction these valleys have ihe peculiarity that their beginnings or heads are formed of vast river basins, whilst their mouth.-, form ragged gorges or defiles. In them arc nearly everywhere noticeable the most recent lake deposits, taking the torm oi horizontal conglomerate and sandstone. t Other explorers, after Semenoff, have denied the existence of volcanoes in the alleged localities. AI. Mushketotf also ha*, come to the same conclusion, and he supposes that the other pseudo-volcanic centres of the Thian Shan, that have not yet been examined by Euro- peans, ma}' be placed in the same category of su /future . THE LAXD OF SEVEN STREAMS. 157 and Leps;i, all of which I crossed, and to which I shall allude in the course of the narrative, whilst there is another belonging to the province, namely, the Chti, that ranks next in importance to the Hi. The principal lakes of Semirechia are the Ala- Kill already alluded to the Balkhash, and the Issik-Kul; the last being the most interesting as having become scientifically known to us only during the present generation. The origin of Lake Issik-Kul is very problematical. Some suppose that, in a distant geolo- gical epoch, it was part of the general system of the basins of the: Caspian, Aral, and Balkhash. Again, from the fact that, at the bottom of the lake, buildings have been discovered, some have supposed that the locality has subsided, and that the hollow thus formed has filled with water. Profes :or Romanoff, however, in his careful investigations, found no traces of subsi- dence of the ground, though the terraces on the shores show that the waters have receded by evaporation. Their former level was at least 200 feet higher than now, and the volume of water is lessening yearly. Popular traditions say that in the now submerged to\\ n was a well, that one tine day burst forth, such a <|iiamity of water as to engulf both the city and its inhabitants. '1 he lake is fed by at least I streams from the south and i^ from the. north, but has at present no visible outlet. A Kirghese tradition says that the natives, wishing to rid themselves of its waters, dug out the canal of Kutemaldi, three miles in length, at the \\esteni end of the lake, thereby connecting it with the River Chu. It so, however, they made a mistake in their levels, tor instead of letting the waters <>l the lake into the river, the reverse took place. 1 he waters of the lake are now held, as in a cup, in i 5 8 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. a gigantic hollow formed by branches of the Thian Shan, the dimensions of the hollow being much larger than the surface of the lake, which, at a height of 5,300 feet, covers 3,104 square miles, or ten times the extent of the Lake of Geneva. The northern shore is known as Kungei that is, " the side turned to the sun," and the southern shore as Terskei, "the side turned to the shade." The shores of the lake are desolate and barren. Its pellucid waters, blue on the shore and of a deeper shade further out, extend beyond the circle of the horizon. The distant shore is hidden by the curvature of the surface, but the mountains rise above, their bases half hidden by vapours reddened in the sunlight, and lifting snowy peaks into what is usually a cloudless sky. An eternal silence reigns supreme, whilst on the reddish strand there is scarcely a hut, or on the waters a skiff, to indicate the existence of man. There are certain localities, however, for the nomads, and also for agriculture, the eastern shore of the lake; being more suitable for habitation than the western. Hence, during the last few years, this has been dotted with some half-dozen Russian settlements. Issik-Kul is considered to be more than 1,000 feet deep where the shores are precipitous ; but where the banks arc: low a man can wade into it two-thirds of a mile. The water is brackish and almost unfit for use ; cattle do not drink it. The lake has no islands, but numerous shoals. In consequence of its general free- dom from ice, the Kirghese call it /ov'/'-AW, the Chinese fc-Hai, both meaning "the warm lake." To the Mongols and Kalmuks it is known under the name Temuru-Nor, or the ferruginous lake, because of the large quantity of black ore covering the bottom, THE LAXD OF SEVEN STREAMS. 159 that is thrown up on the shores in the form of sand. The Kara-Kirghese collect the ore, and extract iron therefrom. A knife thus made, of extremely primitive manufacture, was given me in Yierny, but I unfortu- nately lost it. The Russian Bishop of the diocese showed me, too, among his antiquities, a bronze instru- ment, found in the lake, somewhat resembling the head of a large hammer, but probably made for a small hatchet. Its upper surface measured ^\ inches long, by ij in. wide, and i in. deep in the thickest part, through which was driven a longitudinal hole large enough to admit the fore or middle finger, but it was not easy to see how it would be hefted. Besides objects of this kind, the waves cast up human bones and skulls, as well as household utensils and bricks. Dr. Schuyler observes that on the- shores of this lake' old Chinese: maps place the city of Tchi-gu, and on the Catalan map of 1375, there is marked on the southern shore a Xestorian monastery, containing the bones of St. Matthew. These ruins have not yet been scientifically investigated, but General Kolpa- kovsky, besides tracing brick walls under water in the lake, drew out a large stone: e)ii which was carved a human face:. Also it may be: notice-el that, in 1^47, before the: advent of the Russians, two ornamented copper kettle:s we-re founel by the: Kirghe:se: on the south shore, and presented to the Khan of Khokanel. ( >nly four kinds of fish, Carp, ( siiiiiu, MarniL\ and Bream, have as ye:t be:e:n found in the lake, but of these: there' is abundance, though neither Kirghese nor Russians catch them. 1 he climate of Semirechia is not so dry as some other elistricts of Central Asia. The northern portions of the province, abeuit Sergiopol and Kopal, have a 160 RUSSIAN CENTRAL AST A. climate fairly cool not sufficiently warm, in fact, for the more delicate vegetable growths though further south the heat is sufficient for apricots and vines. In the plains trees, bushes, and grasses grow only by means of irrigation, but in the mountainous region, where are streams, woods appear. Still, even here, there is an insufficiency of moisture. Hence the forest growth extends only to certain spots along the northern and north-western slopes in the gorges of streams that issue from beneath the snow. Peaks, not snowclad, and the southern slopes are bare.* Numerous wild animals inhabit Semirechia, and much credit is due to Russian naturalists for their classification ot collections of fauna made by various scientific travellers.')" To confine ourselves here to the mammals of the province, we may notice that there are found therein seven species of Bats, the Long-eared Hedgehog, and the White-clawed Bear. * The commonest and most widely distributed tree is the spruce fir, extending from the western limits of the province to the eastern end of the Thian Shan. Its straight stem attains a height of from ~o to 90 feet, and its branches, gradually shortening towards the top, give the tree th. 1 appearance of a pyramid. Its cones, the size of one's fist, are of dark blue, and hang at the end of long stems quite verticallv. J>y far the most richly wooded portions of the province, and, indeed, of the whole Thian Shan, are those known under the name of the Muz-Tag. Here, besides the tir. are the birch, the apple, willow, mountain ash, and poplar. Hut tlu; deciduous trees are completely lost among the conifers. The tir forests in Semirechia sometimes extend for lens of miles, but, in the Kuropean sense ot the word, they ca n be hardlv called forests. The trees stand apart, seldom afford the pleasing shade of woods, and even - where allow pedestrians and horsemen room for free passage. The tir --rows in a region 0,0'jo to g.ooo feet above the sea; the birch between i.O'jo and S.ooo, and the juniper between =;,ooo and IO,OHD, except in the Alai, Turkistan, and Hissar ranges, where it is found a thousand feet higher. r()ne of these travellers is Dr. X. Sever! soff, whose "Mammals of Turkistan" was translated in the Amui/s <, clever horsemen, and roam about the Vierny and Issik- Kul districts. They easily bear a severe climate, con- tinued cold, and general poverty, numbering throughout the province about 25,000. They are Buddhists, and the women go unveiled ; but one whose acquaintance I made in the tent was anything but beautiful. The Taranchis are of Turkish origin, and agriculturists, deriving their name from taran, millet. They were de- ported from Chinese Turkistan to the number of 6,000 families, and settled in the Hi valley a century and a half ago. In 1^34 the number had increased to S.ooo. whilst now as many as 56,000 families are living in Semirechia alone.* The Paranchis are Muhammadans, but their women, nevertheless, are not veiled. Their language is said to be an offshoot from the old l.'igur dialect, and to be more purely Turkish than any Turkish book printed in Constantinople. I heard of no books printed by the natives, but there tell into my hands a Taranchi pamphlet, issued, I think, by the Russians, which, on presenting .it the British Museum, I was told was in Kastern Turki. Their manner of lite resembles that of the Sarts, to the ethnological characteristics of whom, as ol other mu>t hi- added what a l\u-.-dan writer calls -arlic, >mit'i". and >weat." The Kalmuk- ar usually timid, ^nod-tempered, and generous labiiiir. arc excessively indolent. The T;iranehi i> .it' --,,..,1 lici-'ht, the t'ordirad tuli-rahly widr, with a marked pn itubrranct 1 over th peciall 'h 1 64 RUSSIAN CEA T TRAL ASIA. nationalities residing in the province, I shall have occasion to refer hereafter. A census of the population of Semirechia had been taken four years before, but not printed. I was favoured, however, with an official copy of statistics in manuscript (though apparently incomplete so far as the Taranchi settled population is concerned), from which it appears that in 1878 the inhabitants numbered 609,000, of whom the males exceeded the females by 36,000 ; the most populous districts being those of Vierny in the south, where the Russians form 8t| per cent., and Sergiopol in the north, where they form i\ per cent, of the entire population.* The occupation of the nomads of course is chiefly connected with cattle, but necessity has compelled some, and opportunity induced others, in certain places to cultivate wheat, barley, and millet, to which the * In the districts of Tokmak and Issik-Kul, the Russians form less than i per cent, of the population. If next we- take the social stand- ing of the settled population, we find the landowners number 7,396 ; Cossacks, 21,085; peasants, 14,128; clergy and their families, 168 ; nobles or upper classes, 960 ; merchants, 3,203 ; mechanics and handi- craftsmen, 1,166; agricultural labourers, 5,628 ; and of other labourers, 2,055. ' m ' upper classes among the nomads are ranged as follows : Sultan, or ruling families, 1,884 > Telengutes, 1,139 ; Iginchis, 35,858 ; and of mullahs or priests, 1,6^9. The great disproportion between the settled and the nomad populations will be apparent when it is observed that the former live in 8,000 houses, and the latter in 126,000 tents. Whilst, therefore, the nomads roam over the whole province, divided into 78 volosts, the settled population is found in a few towns, of which the principal are Vic-my, Tokmak, Kopal, Sergiopol, and Karnkol, each the chief town of one of the five uye/ds into which the province is divided, also I.epsinsk and Iliisk, whilst my statistics give the names besides of 64 villages and hamlets. The houses are of stone and wood in about equal proportions, and. apart from dwelling-houses, there are throughout the province 9 caravanserais, or native inns, 33 schools, 5 Muhammadan colleges, 24 churches and monasteries, 8 mosques \-ilso o hospitals in 1869). There were besides of industrial buildings, 341 windmills, 24 stamping mills, 2 tanneries, 3 tallow and 2 soap THK PROVIXCE OF SEMIRKC/flA. 165 settled agriculturists add rye, oats, and clover.* The seed sown in 1878 all over the province amounted to 5,300 tons, and the harvest to 47,000, thus yielding on an average nearly a ninefold crop. Of this amount the nomads raised only 7,211 tons, the major part being produced by the settlers ; but when we come to factories ; i match factory, 3 wine factories, i brandy distillery, i brewery, and 13 bazaars. The following details I i^ive in full, as, 1 believe, they have not appeared elsewhere : . .. V t ,; j = ; SETTLED I'OK I.ATJOX. 'i. J "rt j j ~5c Jr. 1,202 56 141 1,034 162 1,411 231 170 '"'f / ^ 1 1 J j Vierny iiye/d Issik-Kul Kopal ,, 3,328 12,452 713 2,841 1,454 4,983 11,252 2,372 4, 1 02 539 28 10 ... ! 20.698 619 < 3,728 7,196 Tokmak ,, 675 4,906 4,705 2,541 442 23 500 229 772 10 ... 73^ 3,256 2,919 8,003 3> Sl 7 24,972 1,019 2,372 3,608 3,875 44,177 55,789 55-7*'' ayc/il . 34, ' 36 102,707 96,142 19: .J ,, . 14,909 32,396 28,497 5< * , 2", 3.57 02,590 56,091 1 1> .1 ,, . 24-5 '5 4^,734 39.724 8> : ,, 26.559 45,221 41.005 8(, 120,456 291,648 261,519 54; 1 66 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. cattle the tables are reversed, the nomads possessing ten times the number of animals owned by the others, out of which, however, during the year no less than 39,000 died.* The Russian settlers in Semirechia are of two kinds, the Cossacks and the colonists, some of the latter being Russians and some natives. The Cossacks were brought, at the time of the Russian conquest, both to till the soil and to defend it. They were, for the most part, from Siberia, descended originally from Great Russians. The Russian peasant colonists, on the other hand, are descended from Little Russians, though coming immediately in large proportion from the government of Tobolsk.! * Cattle in Semirechia, 1878 : Camels. Horses and Asses. Horned Cattle. Sheep. Total. Settlers 741 }O, ^08 20, S^O 2S 1^7 8s, 426 Nomads 15 7^6 90 817 6;~?2 68- isi 8^7,4-4.6 Died during the Year . Remainder 16,097 1,125 14,972 121,215 3.445 117.770 93,252 6,833 86,419 712,308 27,598 684,710 942,872 38.97 1 903,901 * The localities occupied by the emigrants have followed the advance of the Russian armies from Semipolatinsk to Sergiopol, then to tin- districts about Kopal and Lepsinsk, and so on past the slopes of the northern and southern Ala-Tau to the eastern shores of Jssik-Kul. The flow of new settlers year by year has rendered it difficult sometimes for tile local government to set apart land for their use, and it is now pro- posed to send the colonists further south into the rich valleys of tin- interior of the Thian Shan. The proportions of the emigration towards Semirechia may be estimated from the fact that since the establishment of the Turkistan district in 1867, the number of Russians has increased from 30,000 in 20 settlements, to 44,089 in 65 settlements. Of these 20,641 belong to the Cossack element, who form the militia of the province, and live in military posts or stations, by the side of which there sometimes happens to stand a peasant settlement, but the charac- ter of the buildings is as distinct as are the personal qualities of the inmates. THE PROTINCE ()/' SEMIRECHIA. 167 The exterior aspect of the stations is very much like that of a Russian military colony elsewhere, the houses of piled logs, possessing no gardens, and on the whole presenting a dreary appearance. The peasant cottages, on the other hand, are almost hidden I O amid orchards and gardens. The colonists, on arriv- O ing, soon settle down and habituate themselves to their new circumstances, and, as a rule, become as wealthy as the Cossack militia remain poor. One serious inconvenience with the Semirechia colonists is their ceaseless strife with the nomads about water and about land, and the local government is much taken up with keeping the peace. Questions relating to boundary lines between the nomads and settlers lead to numerous feuds, the opposing parties in which, however, do not foster lasting enmity, sc that serious collisions betwixt them do not often ensue. Of late the local government has endeavoured, with a view to increasing the army of the: province, to induce the peasants to enter the: Cossack militia, and certain exemptions have been ottered, but with only To jud^e bv \vh.U Colonel Kt >st enki > savs i if t lie Semi reeh ia colonists in LTeneral. ami by what Mr. l)elmar Morgan writes of those in the \iemity "I I.epsiiisk in part irular. il would appear that the-e latter hail the opportunity of making of their terrain an earlhly paradise. On emi^'ratini^ troin Russia they ivi eived t'ree grants of land, with immu- nitv troni taxation and military service tor i^ vear>. 'I'iiey felled timber, and built them-elve- iinizdiikits, or homesteads, raided corn, and. kept bee-., iheir ehief eoinplaint bein^' that they could not always t;i:d a market t'or tin ir Mirplus produee. I'.ut ot late years \\ inters have lii-eii seven T part !y , perhap-. from the indisereet ami \\ hole sale de-: ruc- tii'ii ot forests, \\hich is no\\- forbidden', liar\ - e-.is have t.uled. and eom- I'laints, Mr. Morgan says, ha\'e been made; a --imilar eondition things, 1 siispeet, to that 1 heard of on th enloiii.sts \vere L,i\eii land, immimiiv trom ta stoek and farming implement- to start in life, their state of tutelage so \\ell that, on MS be^X'inC that it mi^ht be relieved. i68 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. for volunteers have been few in partial success, number. But besides the Russian peasants who have become colonists by choice, and the Cossacks, who are some- times made new colonists without their choice, there is a third class of settlers in Semirechia, natives from the neighbouring countries, who, sensible of the greater security to life and property, as well as lighter taxation, choose to be under the government of the Tsar rather than that of their Asiatic rulers. The Taranchis are a noticeable instance of this, and their treatment by the Russians presents many points of interest. During the civil wars of the Kuldja district in 1867 some hundreds of Taranchis crossed the Russian border for protection, to whom the authorities gave land as to their own colonists. One of the spots chosen for this purpose was the Sarkansky district, where some 800 took up their abode, each family receiving agricultural implements and seed, and /^6 los. in cash, with the result that, thanks to their semi- Chinese THE PROVINCE OF SEMIRECHIA. IOQ industry and good tillage, they developed into a thriv- ing colony. The Russians determined, moreover, to seek their intellectual and spiritual welfare. Taranchis, to the number of 800, were speedily baptized, and so became what the Russians call " converts " ; not that they understood the new religion they had embraced, but professed to have done with Buddhism, and were will- ing to be instructed. Accordingly an association was formed in Vierny, called the Orthodox Christian Brotherhood,* and in 1868 a priest-schoolmaster sent to Sarkan. The priest's affairs, however, seem to have gone badly, for his miserably small stipend of ,{"70 a year for some reason did not reach him, and he was well-nigh reduced to beggary. After establishing a school and a chapel he left, and was succeeded by another priest named Pokrovsky, who, in spite ot many obstacles, was able to make some little headway. * The following i.s a condensed account of the rules of this Brother- hood : 1. The Orthodox Brotherhood imposes upon itself the ta-k v T ot spreading and developing moral and spiritual enlightenment, and useful knowledge amon^ the population of Semirechia ; (2] of helping the clergy in arrani^ins^ and decorating" churches, and providing book--; ; f ]} supporting missionaries and teachers; (.jl helping the old and orphans, and hurvin^ the poor; and v ';) constructing industrial schools. 2. I'he Brotherhood is established in connection with the I'hurch ot the Holy Martvrs, Kaith. Hope, and C'harity, and tlieir niotlier Sophia. in the town of Yierny. In this church the Brotherhood has a banner with paintings, with historical data connected with Semirechia, where prayers for the Brotherhood are continually said. 1. The Brotherhood i.-, under ihe care of the bishop and tin- civil head ot the province. 4. Persons of orthodox faith, irrespective of sex or callia.,. ;nav become " brothers." The ri^ht of voting is restricted to annual >r i:te subscribers. 5. Its attains are entrusted to an honorary ci)iincil ot fr::i -:x i" e : _;ht brothers, with a president. 6. ~. S, '). I hese rules refer to meetings of the Council, tile 1 70 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. I am indebted for information concerning this Sarkan colony to the independent testimony of a Russian officer, Friedrichs, published in a Russian pamphlet respecting the Taranchi emigrants, and given me in Vierny. The colonel speaks of the neat- ness of the cottages built in Chinese style, and of the industry and good moral conduct of the people. In the garden they cultivated some plants unknown to him, and their fields brought forth so abundantly that the Cossacks went to Sarkan for supplies. There were two schools for boys and girls, where the children (for the most part Taranchis) were taught the Russian language and arithmetic. The colonel adds that these emigrants received the orthodox faith without hesita- tion, and he argues thence in favour of extending such efforts to the Kuldja province. I am not aware that the Brotherhood ever extended its operations into Kuldja, but in 1871 it was deter- mined to open a school in Yierny for Kalmuk Christian boys ; and in connection with it was established a home for ten scholars, sons of recently-baptized Kalmuks. This was mainly due: to the energetic co-operation ot Archbishop Putintseff, whose example was soon followed by Father Bielajarsky, the priest of the town church. He established the asylum in part of his own house, iniLf of its correspondence, treatmt.'iH ol chums, and the annual meeting of the Brotherhood, at which the accounts an- to be prcsi.-ntt.-d after examination by auditors, and after presentation to the military governor of the province. 10. The fund-- to be maintained by voluntarv contributions, to which a note is added that the Brotherhood does not refuse donations from professors of other religions interested in the work. 11, [2. A collecting box having been placed in the church, and books distributed to the members, these rules look forward to the possibility of the Brotherhood acquiring real property, and provide for it, as also for possible surplus funds, to be placed in banks ; u interest. THK PROVINCE OF SEMIRKCHIA. 171 and opened the school under his own supervision, his daughter Catherine being the teacher. The military governor of the province approved the rules drawn up by the priest, the aims of which were to regulate religious and practical education for the scholars." This work, however, was not continued for long at Vierny, nor am I aware whether anything of the kind now exists at Sarkan. Various accounts of the labours of the priest Pokrovsky in this latter district were communicated by him to the Turkistan papers from 1871 to 1875, but I read of Mr. Pokrovsky as priest of the hospital church in Tashkend in 1877, from whose notes and papers the pamphlet to which I have referred was compiled. Its author, Mr. X. P. Ostroumoff, states that when he returned to Vierny in 1878, he. heard from the bishop the: sad news that the Kalmuk school was closed, and that the- Brotherhood existed only on paper. This latter remark, I presume, is not to be taken ' The course comprised writing and arithmetic, theolo^\. pra\e:>, and sin^m--, reading in Russian and Sclavonic ; and instruction in handicrafts was t<> be added when the means < >t t lie Society would allou . Teaching was carried on dairy, from the 1 middle of September to the be^innin^;' of | line Saint >' days exce|>ted '. I 'or two In >urs in the morning , this time brin- apportioned lo two lessons, with the practice ot gymnas- tics between. After dinner the time ua.s de\-oted to preparation and repetiti.in of lessons, and to recreation. In summer the pup:!-, uere. !>:' the most part, en^'a^vd in learning;" useful occupations and trade--. I he rules provide that the children shall read the ordinary prayers mormn^ and evening, before and after .study, and betore and alter dinner : and alsoat'o-iid church on te-~ii\-als, \veather permitting. Nothing detm:t' is laid do\\n in the rules, but it was believed hv the auilior ot :lii pamphlei that the children also observed t.iM-. aMended confes-;on. and recei\'ed i he Sacrament according to the re^ulal inn-, ot t hi l\ ; :---:. i: I'hurch. 1 he maintenance of this school and home was i ontnbiMed t by th-- I irotlu'rhood, \\'ho |).iid the teacher a small -~,dar\. ]iro\:di-d clothes for the inmate-., and allowed lor each i,\. < '. p.-r nion:h t-: board.. At the publii 1 examination m |une. i s ,~-. the pr>'^ res- pupils not only i^avi 1 satisfaction, but siirpas-ed exp.-i tat:"::. 1 72 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. quite literally, though it appears that the income of the Brotherhood in 1878 amounted to ^165 only, and in the following year further decreased to ^120, out of which latter amount a small sum was sent to Sarkan for poor Dungan apprentices. I heard, during my stay in Semirechia, of no existing church missions. Archbishop Alexander told me, however, that they had in contemplation the establishment of a mission at Lake Issik-Kul. The missionaries were to be monks, who ate no meat, and their efforts were to be directed to the nomads, who ate no bread ; and thus the neighbourhood of the lake had been chosen that these spiritual pastors might largely subsist on fish. At first their mission was to be of a scientific character, and afterwards religious ; the Kara Kirghese, according to the Archbishop, being not real Muhammadans, and not knowing the Koran, though they register themselves as good Mussulmans. I have no further details concerning the religious and educational affairs of the province in general of a recent date, but observe that, in 1869, there were in the Kopal uyezd 8 raskolniks. Perhaps they were Dukhobortsi, for I observe a statement in the pam- phlet about Taranchi emigrants at Sarkan, that a Cossack who had become one of the Dukhobortsi had destroyed his ikons, and told the newly-baptized emigrants that in them they worshipped demons, and not God. Also in the town of Karakol, in 1869, there were 5 Romanists and i Armeno-Gregorian ; but otherwise all the Christian population appear to have been oi the orthodox faith. Further, trom the Titr/ci- slan Annual for 1872, it appears that the schools of the province were of three kinds, and kept by the T/fE rROTIXCE OF SEMIRKCIHA. 173 communes, by religious houses, and for the poor.* Having thus treated generally of the " Land of Seven Streams," I shall proceed to describe my journey through it. * In 6 town schools 20 teachers instructed 33 } boys and 82 skirls ; whilst in 11 district schools 1 6 teachers instructed ^2(1 boys, but only 6 ^ r irls ; g-iviiii;' for the province 17 places of education, ^4 teachers. 659 boys, and 88 skirls. CHAPTER XIII. /ROM SERGIO POL TO ALl'YN-IMMEL. Departure from Sergiopol. Miserable station at Djus Agach. Desic- cated lake-bed near Ala-Kul. Arganatinsk. View of Lake Balkhash : its dimensions, tributaries, water, shores, fish, and harbour. " Khbi" wind and sandstorm. Lepsinsk station. Lepsa river. Accelerated posting.- Branch road to Lepsinsk colony: its agriculture. Sungarian Ala-Tan mountains. Arasan sulphur baths. Kopal. Arrival at Altyn-Immel. OX trotting out ol Sergiopol towards evening on the 2;th of August, the road lay along the valley of the river, that gave its name to our first station. Middle Ayagux, where we drank tea, and ' The stations between Sergiopol and Yierny, with the distances between in versts, are as follows : Sarabulakskiy . . .26 32 Yvselok- Karabulakskiy . . 2t 2() Djangvx-Agachskiy . . 22 24 Tsaritsinskiy . . . .21 20 Kugnlinskiy .... 20 2(1 Altvn- Immelskiy . . - 2^ 31 Kuian- Kuxskiy . . .28 29 Karachekinskiy . . 2^ 3-| C hingildinskiy . -1 1 20 Iliisky . . 24 2* Kutentaiskiy . . . 2 } Karasuiskiy . . .22 Yierny . . -24 {'ROM SERGJOPOL TO ALTYX-IMMEL. 175 then pushed on to Taldi-Kuduk. Here a few soldiers, with a handful of prisoners on the march, had put Lip tor the night, the soldiers stretching themselves on the ground in Central Asian fashion outside the post- house. At the first station the post-master bought the whole of the books I offered for his selection, and now these soldiers readily purchased more ; after which, our horses being ready, we posted all night, passed Kyzyl-Kiy and Little Ayagux, and in the morning reached I )jus Agach. It was a picket of the most desolate: character the most miserable station we had seen a tumbledown house in the desert. Here we breakfasted, and took our morning wash, but both under difficLilties. ( )ne of the inconveniences ot post travelling in Asiatic Russia is the: absence ot good lavatory accommodation. The common method among the Russian peasants of washing the hands is to i;6 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. place them beneath a bowl of water fixed at a height, out of which a stream trickles. One accustomed, there- fore, to the orthodox "tub" wherein to splash about finds himself inconveniently restricted in his toilet. Moreover, as these washing contrivances in Asia are frequently placed out of doors in the yard, it will be understood what a comfort it was to have brought with me an indiarubber basin. Some travellers had arrived before us an officer, I think, and his wife who consequently occupied the guest-chamber ; and, there being no room for us in the inn, the post-mistress brought the samovar outside the stable and spread for us a table in the wilderness. All around was a barren steppe, without a blade of vegetation the horses could eat. It was truly pitiable to see them crawling around us almost starved. It appeared that their usual supply ot corn had not been brought, and the poor creatures were trying to pick up the handfuls of chaft lying about. I offered one of them a piece of white bread, but he would not eat it, and I began to wonder how we should get on. It was needless to ask whether the post- master had horses. There were plenty before us, out they were reputed to be sick, and they certainly looked so. Xor did they possess at this station tar enough to lubricate the wheels of our wagonette. A fine place, truly, to be " stuck fast " at the mercy of a Cossack post-master till his horses could be fattened tor work ! Hut, most fortu- nately, the news ot our coming had preceded us, and the\' said that we should have horses. And so we did, though they were anything but hery steeds to pull us over the next stage, which was the worst we had had, the road lying sometimes on rockv hillocks, and sometimes over sand, in which the MOM SERGIOPOL TO A LTYX-I.M M El.. 177 wheels occasionally stuck. Driver and fares accord- ingly descended, and walked, which gave us the opportunity of examining the tall dry assatoctida plants by the side of the track, and to catch a few butterflies and dragonllies. Hut even in this fashion our sorry horses made slow work of it. \Ve were, however, passing over ground of geographical interest, it being none other than what is believed to have been the dry bed of a sheet ot water, connecting what are now the lakes Balkhash and Ala-Kul. Only 50 miles to the left of us lay the once little- known Ala-Kul, conjectured by Humboldt to be the centre of the subterranean forces of Central Asia, though subsequently shown by Schrenk, its tirst explorer, to have no traces of volcanic rocks, either on the islands or round the lake;.* This region has also a touch of historical interest. The Franciscan monk, Jean de Piano Carpini, sent by Pope Innocent IV. to Mongolia in i 245, gives no clue to his route across The absolute altitude of Ala-Kul is i,_>oo feet (according to Semeiioff 7 yards trom the shore, were joined thereto. Subsequeutlv the water bewail to rise, and continued so to do l<>r some years. The belt of desert now separating the Ala-Kul and the 1'alkliash is about do miles in extent, and con.sis.ts of the beds of lormer lakes and sand waves. The soil is of sand, or clay, encrusted \\ith salt. \Vhe:i 1 crossed it the summer sun had parched evervihine. . but Mi- I )e]mar Mi'i'^'an speaks ot [oti^'h iM~ass, lieaths, and scrub wormwood impartiiu to the surroundings in spring a tin^e nt ^reen. \\liil-: vast she,--, ,t w.iti i" then indicated that the traveller had reached the lowest p :' 1.1 the countrv. 178 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. the Steppe till he mentions a lake, that is believed to be Ala- Kul, with islands and a violent wind. It seems also to have been visited by \Yilliam de Rubruquis and Tch'ang Te, both travelling hereabouts within the following 20 vears. o j A drive of 20 miles from Djus Agach, the latter portion of which was over rising rocky ground, brought us to Arganatinsk. By this time the sun was at its meridian, and the thermometer in the tarantass rose to 85. The post-house stood, according to nix- aneroid, at 1,000 teet above the sea, and on either side rose two bare rocky hills covered with loose shingle, up one: ot which 1 had determined to climb, to have the satisfaction of getting a peep, 20 miles off, at the famous Lake Balkhash. This lake was called by the Kalmuks luilkatsi Nor, (ireat Lake, and by the Kirghese Ak-Dcu^his, or FROM SF.RdlOl'OJ. TO ALTYX-LMMFJ.. 179 \Yhite Sea ; Ala Dcng/iis, or mottled sea, on account of its islands ; or simply Dcng/iis, the sea. To the Chinese it was known as Si'/ia'i, or Lastern Sea, and it is in their records that the earliest information about the lake is to be found. In shape Lake Balkhash resembles the body of an ant without the legs, the head pointing east. Its length is about 400 miles, its width varies from 5 to 53 miles, its circumference is 900 miles, and its area 1 2,800 square miles, or about 36 times larger than the Lake of Geneva, though M. Reclus estimates the volume of water in the Balkhash to be only two and a half times as much as that of the Swiss lake, the- greatest depth of the Bal- khash being 70 feet, whilst in the centre: and southern portions its depth is only 35 feet, and in certain places on the southern side it is so shallow, and the shore: so shelving, that a strong wind sometimes lays bare tor a time a portion o\ its bed.*" Many Kirghese pass the winter on the- sandy shore, the- surface yielding a limited pasturage: tor their flocks. The reeds, 16 feet high, shelter them from the north Through the northern or Semipolatinsk shore not one perennial stream makes its way; even the lar^v stone, the Tokrau. falling short of the lake in drought, absorbed by the sands. So it is also with sueh wadys on the south as have their sources in the Steppe : but the majority ot the streams o'ininu;' from the snow mountains reach the lake, carrying down such quantities of earth with them as threaten to divide the lake into separate basins. The banks on the north and part ot the south-east are mountainous, whereas on the south are broad sand-hills, and in many places the change from land to water is so gradual that it is hard to sav where one ends and the other begins. The rocky promontories on the north side, where the water is deepest. can be approached only when the lake is smooth, whilst the low reed- covered peninsulas on the south, tor lack of \\aiet-, cannot be appro, n hed at ali . Ihe bed is sandy, except w here the shores are rock\ . and then it is stony, though alon^ the south-eastern and eastern shores, the bottom The surface of the Maikhash rises trotn mid-April to the end of |ul\, i8o ACSSJAiV CENTRAL ASIA. wind, providing at the same time a haunt for wild boars, wolves, and tigers, and in the spring a breeding- place for myriads of wild birds. Little rain falls, and the summer heat is unbearable. Winds blow almost daily over the lake, but not steadily, sometimes raising- very high waves. There is abundance of fish in its waters, especially Marnik, Usniau, and Perch. In summer and in windy weather they keep to the shallows; but in winter go to the open lake. On a promontory on the north-west coast, a harbour was constructed in 1850. Though navigable throughout, the Balkhash can be continuously navigated only in vessels with deep keels. The harbour was intended as a depot for goods to be despatched to the trans- Hi district, but endeavours to carry on navigation have not thus far met with adequate success. There are, moreover, no places adjacent to the edges of the lake that are lit for settlements, and the whole district seems likely to remain a wilderness. As I stood at Arganatinsk, on the top of the hill, whither I had clambered 400 feet, I was surrounded with deserts that, with clay beds, salt steppes, and during the melting of the snows, and the overflow of the rivers flooding the surrounding 1 country creates pestiferous swamps. At this time of year the water near the mouth of the Hi is almost fresh, while at the north-east end it is brackish all the year round, though usable ; and at the southern extremity the water is so salt as to kill animals that drink it. Hence there it is called by tin: Kirghese lf~-iclmiiz, " not lit fora dog." The soil around Lake Balkhash is principally rock and saml. On the north and north-west the land is elevated, barren, waterless, and therefore a complete waste. On the opposite shores, whence the lake is fed by the so-called "seven rivers," rocks occur only in two places, and for many miles along its margin there is not a stone to be found. This sand)' region stretches from the lake for 200 miles to the foot oi the Ala- I au mountains. Across this vast extent there grows scrub forest, fit only for fuel, called by the natives Sd/.'\ beekeeper--, who, during the 15 years from 1X50-1871, collected p tons ot honey, and 10 tuns of wax, of which amount }- tons of honey and -.1 ions ot wax were sold. '! I he main rani;'e of the system corresponds neai'ly with the .j^th parallel ot latitude, and here are snow-clad peaks for a distance o) nmre than i }o iniK-s, with but a very limited number ot passe-,. Mr. Morgan calls this Ala-Tau the first step in the series ol ascents to the highlands of Central Asia, approached from the north, and describes its appearance in the distance as like a massive rampart \\r.h snowy parapet extending to the west as far as the eve can reach. T.u' on closer acquaintance it is found to consist nf several nearl\ parallel chains, considerably lower than the main r.in^v, though adding much to its width. The average height of the I'an^'e readies 0,000 teet. but isolated peaks attain to 12,000 and more. The limit of perpetual sii"\\ wa- computed by Schrenk to be IU.-OD feet . The outer hill-, compos, ,; lar^viv of Jurassic formations, are cut by the rivers l.ep>a, lla-kan. Sarkan. and Ak-Su, \\hich issue from dee]) and almost impa--<,ibK 1 86 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. On leaving Abakumovskiy we found ourselves ascending a mountain path, named the Hasfort pass, after a former Governor-General of Western Siberia, that called to my mind the sides of one of the Cali- fornian canons, and it was not till far on in the night that we reached the station Arasan, where I was too sleepy to see much, but I heard that the station- master was a Pole, who, understanding that I was a foreigner, asked whether I came from Paris. What gaieties I should have seen, had it been daylight, 1 know not, for we were now at the fashionable bathing place of the neighbourhood. Here are hot sulphur springs (whence the name Arasan}, much frequented in summer. There are bathing houses, a pretty garden, and a small hotel.* From Arasan we posted into a temperature uncom- gorges into the plain bclo\v. From the summit of the first ascent are to be heard distinctly the roar of cataracts in the higher ice-bound granite cliffs. To the west the range falls almost at once to the picket-station of Ak-Ichke, where there are only some low hills that soon mingle with the plain. To the east a like phenomenon occurs, forming the boundary of Kaptagai, except that here the contrast is more striking. Between the points named there is an interval of 200 miles, and in this are the more or less accessible passes of Tentek and Lepsa. Ik-sides these passes connecting Lepsa with the south should be mentioned two caravan routes to the north striking the main post- road, one at Arganatinsk, and the other slightly north of Little Ayaguz. Such a peculiarity of surface, says Colonel Kostenko, makes an ex- cellent state boundary for Russian Central Asia, and the abundant water supply on the plains to the north admits of the possibility of maintaining on the limits of this frontier line a large settled population and great numbers of armed men. * Other thermal springs are found east ot Ala-Kul ; also in the Borokhoro range are hot sulphur baths, with a temperature of 122", as measured by Mr. Morgan. In both the latter localities cold springs occur by the side of the hot ones. In the Borokhoro natural baths, resorted to by the natives, a thin, cold stream issues from the rocks, and has been so adjusted that a bather may have a jet of water trickle- on his eye. This has been devised as a cure lor ophthalmy, a prevalent complaint in this region. FKOM SERGIOPOL TO ALTYX-1MMKL. 187 fortably cold, till sunrise found us 3,900 feet above the sea at Kopal. This town was formerly the capital ot the province, and has a population of 5,000 souls. It was founded in 1841, and is finely situated in a valley. It has two schools, two churches, and a mosque, but is now on the decline, since the business formerly done in the Steppe has now been largely transferred to the new capital at Vierny. As we drove through the. town before its inhabitants were astir, it looked well-built and clean. I would gladly have purchased some new white bread, but as this would have delayed us some hours, and necessity did not compel me to stop, we posted on past Ak-Ichke, and breakfasted at the next station, Sari-bulak, beyond which the way lay through tall herbage with hollyhocks. Here we met our lirst camel caravan and signs of increased animal life. Thus tar, apart from the stations, we had not seen, I think, all the way since leaving Semipolatinsk a single collec- tion of houses that could be called a road-side village. At \ yselok-Karilmlaksky was a village, and something much rarer, a church, whilst the cultivated land around recalled OIK; of the Siberian villages, so closely planted along some of the post-roads. Mere I observed, Hying about, my first 1 loopoe, with its gay yellow crest and speckled wings. l. T p to the next station, I )jang\v- Agachskiy, the road had made a considerable di'tonr to the west in order to skirt some spurs ot the Ala- Fau, and beyond this station we ascended among barren mountains to the height ot -(,500 feet above the sea. At the following station, I'santsin, we had reache 1 a point jo miles in a straight line from I\o:al. 1>i;t which had cost us double; that distance to attain to. Here was a telegraph station, the otlicer of which in his loneliness eajjvrlv asked tor books. 1-rom this 1 88 RUSSIA ^V CENTRAL ASIA. point the road divides, one branch making a ddtour to the left by Kok-su and Ters-agan to Kugalin, whilst the road to the right goes to Kugalin direct. This latter way we went, starting after tea, and arriving in the middle of the night two stations further on at Altyn-Immel. So cold had it become during the last two stages that, despite my Ulster coat and Maude shawl, I had to descend from the tarantass and run to warm my feet. Altyn-Immel to us was " Kuldja junction," where we had to re-arrange if not to "change carriages." From this point we turned off to Kuldja, that was to be our next resting-place, whither it seemed unnecessary to drag our wagonette, laden chieily with Russian books, but rather to take the Mongolian and Chinese Scrip- tures, and leave the rest till our return. We arrived in the small hours of the morning at Altyn-Immel, where, being unable to find anyone in the post-house, I entered the guest-room, and began writing till day- light should bring someone on the scene. At length the post-master, a Tatar, emerged from his sleeping- place, that was none other than an empty post-cart in the yard, after which, our boxes left in his charge, we hurried off towards Kuldja. CHAPTER XIV. /-"/? OM A L TYX- 1. }/. MEL TO KL 7. /)?.- 1 . The Altyn-Immel Pass. The Hi valley and its mountain--. Stations <) Kuldja. A sick telegraphist, and Tatar. Xoinad-, of the Province. Borokhudzir fortress and nursery. --Cotton ^ro\vin^ r . Ruined towns, and Solons. Kuldja minerals, and mining. C'hin- chakhod/i. and road to Lake Sairam. Communications of the Province. -History of Hi valley: its colonization, rebellion, and occupation by Russians Arrival at Kuldja. SOON after sunrise on the last day ot August, we left the post-station with our stock of Chinese and Mongolian hooks piled on the tarantass in three cases, and thus heavily laden we gradually ascended for seven miles to the gorge or pass of Yakshi-Altyn-Immel, or the " good golden saddle, ' so-called in distinction from the " Vaman " or "bad" Altyn-Immel pass in another part of the range. \Ve had attained a height ot alumt ^,500 feet above the; sea, and had a line, view before us. The length of the gorge is tour miles, and the road passes through clefts in the overhanging nicks. At times the cliffs recede, and then in front there opens out a vast plateau shut in on the south by the central course- of the 111. Inert; now lay before us a district that has played a prominent part in the history of the Kast. It is the most accessible depression by which the great plateau of Central Asia may be reached from the Turkistan plains. Hence the Kuldja oasis has '90 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. served as a resting-place for the vast hordes whose migrations, conquests, and defeats have formed so important a chapter in the history of Asia. The Hi valley is a continuation of the Semirechia country running east in the shape of a wedge between the Ala-Tau and Thian Shan mountains, the base of the triangle being open to the Steppe whilst the apex, where the Hi has its sources, is closed by lofty moun- tains. The eastern portion of the valley, which, together with the Baratol valley, constituted at first under the Russians the Kuldja rayon, or province, occupies an area of 25,000 square miles, or half the size of England, and is bisected by the River Hi, formed by the Kungess, Tekess, and Kash, and having a course of not less than 750 miles. The mountain range, known as the Borokhoro, on the north of the valley, does not exceed 9,000 or 10,000 feet in height, but the southern range rises to an absolute altitude of 15,000 feet, covered with a dazzling, continuous mantle of snow, the skyline being broken by an endless succession of giant peaks, some of them upwards of 20,000 teet above the level of the sea. \Ye had a very fine view of distant snow peaks, and of bare rocky mountains near at hand, before we descended by a rapid and almost dangerous slope into a stony, level, and arid plain. On reaching the first station,* Bash-chi, we had ' The station^ between Altyn-lmmel and Kuldja, with number of ver.-.ts between, are : Altyn-lmmel - Khnr^os . . 22 ]'a>h-rhi . . .28 Alitnptu . . 15 Aina-Rulak . . .25 Chirn hakhod/i . . 20 Konur-l.'lcn . . . 21 Suidun . . . .18 K'libyn . . 25 I.an^ar Baiandai) . 18 Borokhud/ir . 2^ Ak-Kend . 28 268 FROM ALTYX-1MMK1. TO Ki'LDJA. 191 come down more than 2,000 feet, and found a poor picket station, where we were told that the horses were " in the field," or, better said, in the wilderness, and the time it took to catch them made us resolve to send forward an cstaphct to announce our coming, and so, in future, prevent delay. By tea time we had reached Konur-Ulen, and met in the station an invalid telegraphist, who had just arrived to live a month in a Kirghese tent and undergo the Kumiss cure-. He had brought with him of the fruits of the land, and gave us a melon, which added a relish to our meal, coming, as we did, from the fruitless steppe. Tea over, we watched a Kirghese woman putting up his tent, the hire of which tor a month was to cost i 2x ; and whilst we were thus employed, the post-master, entering the name from my podorojna in his book, read the words, "The English Pastor, Henry Lansdell, Doctor ho^os- loi'ic" literally, doctor of the Word of God or Divinity. The "bogoslovie" probably puzzled the post-master, for he was a Tatar; but, thinking that "doctor" had something to do with medicine, he came to show his tongue, covered with sores, and affected. Mr. Sevier feared, with cancer. My companion applied some caustic, and promised to see. him again on our return. The man bought a Kirghese Xew Testament, and we departed over at first a fair road, though afterwards it proved atrociously stony. On arriving at Koibyn we- found that we had sent forward an cstaplic! to some, purpose, tor Mr. Sevier. on springing out ot tin- carnage and asking tor horses, was told that he could not have them, for they wen- being kept lor a general the "general" proving to be none other than m\ humble sell, whom the post-master seemed to anticipate to be of exalted rank, since such kind attention wa> 192 K CSS IAN CENTRAL ASIA. being shown me by the authorities. From Koibyn we proceeded up a mountain gorge that is described as pretty by both Schuyler and Ujfalvy, who speak of the varying yellow, red, and purple hues of the steep and scarped rocks, as also of bushes covered with blue, white, red, and yellow flowers; but we passed this place in the night, and by dawn came within sight of Vyselok Borokhudzir. In passing the 60 miles from Altyn-Immel to Koibyn, we had met more than one party of nomads flitting to new pastures. A prominent individual among the first cavalcade was a stout old lady riding astride a iat ox. Other females of the party were all riding in the same fashion, some on camels, with children in front, and some on saddled oxen.* We saw in the distance as we drove along Kirghese auls, with their flocks and herds, which form their chief means of subsistence, though some of the Kuldja nomads do, to a certain extent, cultivate the soil.f \Ye had reached Borokhudzir, 3,900 feet above the sea, prettily situated on the right bank of the river of I was subsequently favoured with a MS. copy of the latest statistics (for 1878) of the numbers, grades, domestic economy, and places of resort of the nomad population of Kuldja ; from which it appears that in tin- live vollosts of the northern, and live of the southern, divisions of tlie province there were 1.5,000 tents, with a population of 51,600 males, and 26,400 females. Of these, 56,000 were Kir^hese, and the remainder Tatars, Kalmuks, etc. So far as there are any grades amon^ the nomads, Dili; may distinguish in the province \\ sultan or .aristocratic families, 4,000 i^in feints, or poor, and 1,000 mullahs. t In iSjS the)' sowed of wheat, barley, and millet, Sicj tuns; ami reaped 2i.<)2^ tons, or a twenty-seven-fold harvest. To this mav be added the wheat, barley, rice, millet, and clover of the settled inhabi- tants of the province, sown to the amount of 5,0^0 tons, with a result of 107,652 tons reaped, or nearly a twenty-told increase. Kostenko states that, about Kuldja, crops of wheat return 50 per cent. The cattle of the nomads numbered 750,000 (of which 107,000 are reported to have died during the year) and the cattle of the settled inhabitants 1X2,000. FRO.}/ AI.TYX-fMMKL TO ATf.D7A- 193 that name, on September ist, and had I been a devotee of" Saint Partridge" there would have been no need for me to long for the turnip fields of Old England wherein to keep the festival, for the surrounding woods were full ot game, including not only Partridges, but Phea- sants, greyish Hares, and abundance of Deer. For some years previous to the Russian occupation of Kuldja, Borokhudzir was the Russian outpost in this direction, and during the Dungan insurrection a corps was sta- tioned here to prevent infringements oi the Russian boundary. Here, too, were stored up, alter the: sei/ure 01 Kuldja, the arms taken from the Dungans and Taranchis. After the annexation of Kuldja, the force stationed here (in 1877) consisted of 100 men and 2 guns ; but at the time of my visit I am under the impression there were more, in prospect of Kuldja being ceded to the Chinese, and Borokhudzir becoming again the frontier tort the "fortress" meaning, it I mistake not, a defensible barrack of four long- buildings, in the form of a square, and not a defence with ramparts. Peasant colonists from the: Tomsk province of Siberia have built a settlement near of about 50 whitewashed houses ot unbaked bricks, where is a post and telegraph office, and a nursery garden, planted in iSot;, lor the purpose ot showing the natives how to develop the vegetal capabilities of the country. ( ieneral kolpa- kovsky, we heard, took great interest in this experiment, and on our return journey we inspected the nursery. It was watered by irrigation, and in the season furnished occupation for from 30 to ^o men. 1 he vines were trained in bowers, of which there were many and long, but the cheapness of fruit may be gathered from the fact that a Sari paid only ,{, i S for all the season's VOL. i. i ; 194 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. grapes. The number and variety of young trees and shrubs was very considerable, and included pears, apples, walnuts, peaches, and sundry other fruit-trees, besides large numbers of karagatch. The hard timber of this last, when well seasoned, possesses enduring qualities that are highly esteemed. Some of it also was growing in the form of well-cut hedges. Other trees were the thorny acacia, and among poplars a silver species with a light-green smooth bark. I noticed, too, raspberry canes, artichokes, cabbages, cauliflowers, cucumbers four spans long, and a plant resembling a large turnip with cabbage-leaves coming out of the bulb. The products of this nursery are highly esteemed by the natives, and are distributed as far as Kopal. Besides this, I should mention that cotton has been successfully grown in the valley of the Borokhudzir river. It was introduced in 1867 by Chinese emigrants, who considered the clayey soil of the valley, and the long, dry, hot summer, with a short snowless winter, as fairly good for cotton culture.* In the years 1868-9 an attempt was made at growing cotton at Borokhudzir ' The soil is prepared as for sowing corn, the ploughed land being formed into regular beds, not more than seven feet square, and sur- rounded by small clay dykes to preserve the seed from the dampness of the canals. The beds are then inundated from the ary/cs, and remain so for about three days. When the surface is quite dry, little iurrows are made in the beds with the finger; into these the seed is dropped anil lightly covered with earth. Two weeks after sowing, the plants come up, and, if nor frostbitten, the stems grow rapidly to the height of two feet. A rainy summer or immoderate watering spoils the cotton, but in the middle of August germinal pods appear, and subsequently increase to the si/e of a walnut. The shell hardens, and at the beginning of October bursts, when through the fissures may be seen the white fibres of cotton ; this at length hangs out of the pod, and is then ready to be gathered. Cotton culture in weeding time and harvest requires despatch, and. consequently, the employment of many hands. The cotton is freed from the pods and seeds by the clumsiest ot contrivances, such as tax the patience even of a Chinaman ; and the preparation of thread, 1-ROM ALTYX-LUMEL TO KUJJJJA. 195 by the Russian soldiers, under Chinese superinten- dence, but the climatic conditions of those seasons happened to be unfavourable, and I did not hear that the cultivation was being carried on to any considerable extent at the time of my visit. From Borokhudzir we drove out by the wide street, fringed with canals and willows, very early in the morning; and, having crossed the river that gives its name to the village, we traversed a vastly improved region, where on either hand there met us tokens of culture, in the form of well-arranged canals, but all in ruins, and the land overgrown with weeds. The road entered the remains of a considerable forest of prickly shrubs, pines, willows, and karagatch trees, said to have extended in former times as a cultivated forest nearly all the way to Kuldja. Chinese settlements were scattered throughout, and the ruins of them are still visible, but the trees, no longer cared tor or irri- gated, are fast dying. Nine miles from Borokhud/ir we crossed the River I'sek, on whose bank ( /a)'} are situated the ruins ot [arkend. and weaving it, is carried on by machines equally primitive. Compar- ing the lengths of three kinds of cotton LJTOWII in the 1 'orokliud/ir valley, it was found that the " Tashkentl " measured ;.', inche> ; the "American" upward.-* of - inches; but that Chinese cotton of the " 'I a-dikend " sort was >horter. 1 he Chinese cultivate cotton as aa accessory to corn u;'rowin^ r , but seek to produce only so much as \\iil supply the family with clothing, and not for export like tea. I hi-* remark, however, \\ould not apply to the native.-, of xmiark.md. uhere cotton i> ^TOWII under more favourable condition-*. In a paper tran^- mitted to the American (ieo^raphical Societx oi New York, in 1^7^ by M. r.nulo\\>ky, on the Cotton of Central A>ia, the author >;ate- tliat. :n iSii^, Ru>sia manulai'tured ^,"u, id~, |oo \\ ort h of i ot ;on ; that --lie roii- stune> yearly -]S,nu ton> of raw cotton, and more than _/." | ;i ... .. n i worth ot Hi)L;'li>li yarn; that of this ijiiantity IJ.IMIH ton-- ( or one-tifth of the whole come from I'entral Asia, ami i,_'uu ton-. Iroin 1'er-ia. There-- i> bought in Liverpool. 2,* H,<> tons bein^ of Ame: i. an. and i*..on. . ,.:;-, i 'f i'.a-.! I mlian ^ri iwth. 196 RUSSIAA T CENTRAL ASIA. The remnant of a people called Solons live near. They are not an old race in Sungaria, but are a section of the Manchu race living in North-Western Manchuria, and forming some of the most warlike of the banner- men. They were planted largely by the Manchus in Sungaria, when they conquered it. Mr. Howorth met one, he tells me, at Petersburg, at an Oriental Congress. At Jarkend they live in scattered mud houses in winter, and in summer pitch their tents on the river banks ; but they are few in number, some having removed to the neighbourhood of Chuguchak, and others having become Christians, and settled at Sarkansk. The place, however, is likely to regain importance from the Taranchi and Dungan emigrants, who have settled there since my visit in order to be under Russian government, in preference to staying in Kuldja under the Chinese. In the Usek our carriage stuck fast for about an hour, till some Cossacks came to the rescue and got us out. I>y breakfast time we reached Ak-Kend, where a comfortable Chinese house had been converted into a Russian post-station. Here we met a travelling Russian priest, to whom I sold some tracts and Scrip- tures. The station is in the midst ot a once flourishing, but now ruined, Chinese town, the one semblance of commerce that we could discern being two or three stalls for the sale ot melons and vegetables. We speedily purchased some of the former, and proceeded on our way, now meeting clumsy Chinese carts, and passing here and there a field under cultivation. On reaching the River Khorgos, which is the boundary line of the Russian and Chinese empires, we found en- camped a number of Cossacks, who bought some of my books, and then proceeded to help us to cross the I- ROM ALTYN-1MMEL TO KL7LDJA. i,,y stream. In spring this is sometimes impossible for weeks. On the present occasion a memnteel Ce>ssack preceded us to find the shallow parts of the bed, whilst another rode by the side of the tarantass, with a rope attacheel, to keep us from toppling over. On emerging safely from the rive:r, we passed ere: long the walls ot Tchimpantzi, once a flourishing industrial anel commercial centre with 50,000 inhabitants, but where not a single house had been left standing. Formerly the town was surrounded with irrigated fields, but since they had been visited with the: curse: of civil war the land had reverted to a barren steppe. Over this Steppe we drove ior some miles, passing the Taranchi village oi Ma/ar, lying off to the left, whilst three: miles further could be- seen the Solon village of Dabir. On arriving at Alnnptu theTe: were: no post-horses, though the chief strove to comfort tis by saying that, had our estaphet only arrive:el e:arlie:r, he would have stopped the: pe)st in emler that we: might have: the: ste:eds. Whether this was perfectly genuine; I know not, but there: were: abundance of Cossack horses in the: stable ; anel whe-n we aske:el the- Cossacks whether they could not take' us forward, they graciously consented, but aske:el for tour times the- normal tare! This the\' abated, Russian like, to a triple charge, which we paid rather than wait longer than sulticed tor a meal. In the station yarel was a stone lion with curly inane, similar to those placeel by the Chinese at the' doors ot their temples, or ot persons ot high rank, the lion be-mg usually represented in a sitting postim- with the right paw on a globe. 1 his post-house was kepi by a brother and good-looking sister, who struck me as superior to the ave:rage ot their class, anel who were, we atterwarels found, chilelrcn of the post-master 1 98 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. in easy circumstances at Chinchakhodzi, where we arrived the same afternoon. All the morning, as we had driven along through ruined towns and desolate fields, we enjoyed by contrast a strangely beautiful view of the distant mountains, their bases being hidden by mist, whilst their snowy peaks seemed to Moat on the bosom ot the clouds. This was especially the case with those on the right, and those on the left at their summits were also sprinkled with snow. These mountains of the Hi valley contain numerous minerals, but it is doubtful whether any, except perhaps coal, are valuable. Gold is found only in the right affluents of the Hi, which spring from the syenitic-granite spurs of the Borokhoro range. When the Russians took possession of Kuldja they instituted an inquiry into the mining operations of the natives, and found things in a condition truly primitive. Coal has been worked in the valley for more than half a century, though not used in other parts of Central Asia. Chinese labourers worked in companies of 8 on co-operative principles, or Kalmuks in gangs of 12, hired by I )ungan or Taranchi capitalists. They sought a spot, when possible, where they could sink a vertical shaft sometimes 300 feet deep, and at the same time advance thereto by an inclined one, the former serving to raise the coal, and the: other as a means of communication. Up to the coming of the Russians the price ot coal at the pit's mouth was :^/. per cwt., by reason of the cheapness of labour, materials, and food.* FROM ALTYX-IMMKL TO KULDJA. 199 The station at Chinchakhodzi we found in the midst of an excellent garden, with numbers of standard peach trees, and a bower of vines with grapes beginning to turn colour. Here was another fair sister and daughter of Russia, whose mother, the post-mistress, told us that it was her son and daughter whom we had seen at the previous station, and she further informed her guests, with some satisiaction, that she had another son a post-master, and a third who held the appointment of Russian and Chinese interpreter to General Friede, Governor of Kuldja. But though the happy mother ot five thriving sons and daughters, the good woman halt this sum. For extracting coal ho hired 20 labourers on the same terms, who raised about S tons a day, procuring 1,300 tons in if>o working 1 days. Deducting 1 , in addition, cost of mining apparatus, and one-third of the produce for tax to the Khan, selling the remainder at I//, per c\vt. brought the coalmaster about 10 per cent, upon the capital laid out. The miners' wa^es in Kuldja would not delight tin- heart of a Northumbrian, for they are often paid in the form of old clothes; and if the results of their work supply the miners with tin- barest necessities, they are content. The approximate annual output of coal in the neighbourhood of Kuldja, previous to 1^73. was from 10,000 to 13,000 tons. I he iron mines were worked also by means of vertical and inclined shahs, and sometimes galleries were constructed in the deepest parts tor seeking lodes of ore. The ore was roasted and then smelted in furnace-- made of bricks air bein^' introduced by hand-bellows. For the preparation of i cwt. of iron were required 7 cut. of ore, and i> c\st. of coal ; the cwt. costing in production 2\. .)'/.. and selling at Kuldja, in 1^73. for _|.v. io'/. The quality of iron was of the worst, and the industry generally at a very low ebb. Silver mining \\ould not appear to have been much better, for Mr. I )avidoff reported that a band of .] Chinamen extracted in 3 years f> v,/w/'v of silver, thereby earning for themselves only /3 each. Copper mining under ihe natives was still less satisfactory. From a cwt. of ore were received 5 Ibs. to S Ibs. of black copper, afterwards smelted in crucibles an The Taraiichi sultan, when in power, was \\ont to order a levy Kalmuks or Chinese, make them li.^'ht tires, extract the or conduct the smelting, for which thev received their food. !>;; any waives. In i^7> copper Mneltin^' had been I^OMIL;' on j or ; and the production for that period was said to have been about i 200 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. had a "skeleton in her cupboard," even in the Hi valley, for she had also a child idiotic, and, reading " Doctor'' on my podorojna, she supposed there might be a physician passing by, and brought her boy of eight, saying that he had never spoken since he was three years old, that he had fits, was never still, and seemed like one possessed. Sevier, for some reason, could not dispense for her satisfactorily out of our medicine chest, but promised to bring on our return some iodide of potassium, and gave hope to the mother that her child mi^ht outorow his maladv. O O .* Chinchakhodzi is inhabited by Dungans, and, being a Mussulman town, escaped the general destruction at the time of the war. It is surrounded by a wall, and wears an aspect unmistakably Chinese, as did the maize and harvest fields we next passed through. From Chinchakhodzi there branches off a road by which the traveller, after a journey of about 30 miles into the Borokhoro range, reaches Lake Sairam, 6,000 feet high, and about 300 square miles in area, above the southern shore of which is situated the Talki pass. The road in some places passes over steep declivities, and in others upon cornices hanging over precipitous cliffs, whilst here and there are preserved the ruins ot Chinese pickets or military posts. At the bottom of the gorge whirls, amidst roar and loam, the Talki stream, and, in ascending, the appearance of the- grey and red piles of rock becomes wilder and grander. As one mounts higher, the vegetation peculiar to a \varm climate-, such as apricot, dwart elm, and apple, is replaced by the hawthorn, mountain ash, and willow ; higher comes the birch, and, higher still, a wide belt of red iir, beyond which the road ascends a bare rocky slope, and, when the crest is reached, there is presented l-'ROM ALTYX-IMMKL TO Kl'LDJA. 201 to the view a majestic and peaceful lake, held in its mountain basin as water is held in a cup, or like a sheet of clear glass softly reflecting the azure blue ot the heaven above. Skirting this lake is the great Chinese " Imperial Road," connecting Kuldja, Urumchi, and Pekin, by which some of the mediaeval travellers made their way now to the Court of the Mongols, or further to the land of Cathay.* Our next station to Chinchakhodzi was Suidun. As we approached we saw the Cossacks exercising, and coming nearer found the Chinese strengthening the walls of the town. About 10 miles distant were- the ruins of what was the Chinese capital, variously called Hi, Xew Kuldja, and Manchu Kuldja, in which 75,000 people were butchered in one day. \\ e did not go then: nor had we yet seen the last ot the ruins by the roadside:, concerning the origin ot which 1 have as yet said nothing in detail, though I think an outline: the:reof will better enable the re:aeler to understanel the heterogeneous elements ot which the Hi population is now composed. I he: history ot the Hi valley elates back as tar as the second century before the Christian era, when the I 'suim wen: elriven by the 1 Inns to settle there from Mongolia. (.'oncernitiL;' the road-- of thi-- region the principal artery i> the ^reat e'hineM' carriage road leading from Nanking bv way ot llankou, .\L;an---i-ohow, and llami to Turfan. Here' it divide-- north and -outh of the Ili province, one branch proceeding through I "n::nt --'., Mana^--, and ( niii^uchak to Semipolatinsk (with the branch described above, over the Talki pa-> to Kuldja), and the other pa-^in^ by uay ot Kara>haar, Krla, Kucha, and Ak-Su to Ka-h^ar. I'M. two bridle pa>-rs from Kuldja to the carriage road-- north ar.d -oi:;h of the mountains, one bv the River Kun^ess to the Yuldti- plateau, and the other by the Tekess river to the Mu/ai't 1'a---- near Kh m I ' n^ri : but that over the Talki only is construct, d tor \slieel ;rat::< . a-;. 1 hi-- one in i S- ^ wa-^ in so ruined a cotidit ion t !i i' Mr. 1 );ik --poke , it a> not passable tor art illery. 202 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. Here the Usuim became a powerful people, till in the fourth century they again migrated, and their place was occupied by the Uighurs, a Turkish tribe that had descended from the north and occupied the slopes of the Eastern Thian Shan. China, however, had long before made her power felt over Central Asia. Chau- tsian, in the second century B.C., journeyed from China and commenced relations with ''the Western Country." Annexations followed, and in i;.c. 59 the country north and south of the Thian Shan acknowledged the suzerainty of the Celestials. This sway was only nominal for some hundreds of years, but in 627 the second emperor of the Tang dynasty despatched an army to strengthen the wavering allegiance of the Uighurs, whereupon the western country was divided into departments, and placed under a viceroy. Later on the Chinese power in Central Asia declined, and the " Western Country " tell in succession under the Tibetan tribes, the Arabs, and the Kara-Khitai, and then under Jinghiz Khan. After the time ot finghiz Khan, Sungaria, ot which the Hi valley was a part, was possessed by several tribes, called Kalmyks, who formed a confederacy, and were termed Oij'a/s. Their influence spread over all Mongolia, and in 1450 they conquered the Chinese, but subsequently their power declined. In the beginning of the seventeenth century internal dissensions began to lead to secessions of tribes, and in the following century the Sungarian throne was seized by a usurper, who recognized the suzerainty ot China, and then repudiated it, conduct which was punished in 17^6 by the Chinese massacre of 600,000 Kalmuks, so that Sungaria was completely depopulated, and, becoming once more a Chinese province, was divided into seven I- ROM ALTYX-IMMKL TO KULDJA. 203 districts, of which the Yiceroyalty of Hi consisted of three Tarbagatai, Kurkara-Usun, and Hi or Kuldja. China now proceeded to repeople the country by sending there her own convicts and vagabonds, by planting military colonies of Solons and Sibos from Manchuria and Dauria, by causing to migrate thither J O O from the western provinces of Kan-Su and Shen-Si, Chinese Muhammadans called Dungans, and by im- porting from Kashgaria other Muhammadan settlers, who became known as Taranchis. Besides all these, in 1771 there began to return irom the Volga region a number of the Torgout tribe of Kalmuks, who had migrated thus far before the destruction of their kins- men, and who had been invited by the Chinese to come back to the haunts of their ancestors. For the purpose of keeping order in the country, the city of Hi or Manchu Kuldja, south ot Suidun, was built as a seat of government and settled by Manchus. Six other iorts were erected, one with a Manchu garrison, the: others being defended by Chinese soldiers. In course of time the officials so oppressed the Mussulman inhabitants that in 1804 the Dungans rebelled and killed the Manchus and Chinese about I'rumtsi to the number of 130,000. '1 he wave of rebellion rolled on to Kuldja, where the Taranchis joined with the Dungans, and completely overturned and massacred the Chinese and Manchus. Mien the Dungans and Taranchis fell out with each other, met in battle in April, 1X67, and the Dungans, who had everywhere murdered, robbed, and pillaged, were badly beaten, and so the Taranchis became rulers of the country. Meanwhile the Russians had been (juietly looking on during the insurrection, refusing help to the Chinese authorities, and declining to enter 204 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. into relations with usurpers. Numbers of refugees Bed to Russian territory, and were kindly received and located as colonists ; but when the Russian border was crossed by marauding Kirghese from the Kuldja territory, and when, moreover, it looked possible that Yakub Beg, Governor of Kashgar, fighting successfully FROM ALTYX-IMME1. TO KULDJA. 205 with the Dungans, might proceed also to Kuldja, the Russians stepped in and seized it first, and promised the Court of Peking that, so soon as the Chinese Emperor could restore and maintain order, and pay the expenses incurred by the Russians, the province should be \\ the\' ha\'e recourse to medicine ami doc tors. In:; ne\ After a death the mullah and the a-ed as-einble corpse is wrapped in white linen and tliea bur: On returning from the interment the mullah and tile elders partake ol bread and meat. To saints the erect monument- V( 'I.. 1. 14 210 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. They are more manly than the Chinese, and de- cidedly superior in morals. Batchas* are unknown among them, though they are fond of gambling and the dance ; but the two sexes dance apart, and the women never in public. The Dungans dance to the sound of the dunibra, a sort of guitar, and the sabas, or cymbal. This people never ceased to be Muhammadans, though their fanaticism has been somewhat modified by contact with idolaters. They follow the Mussul- man laws, but have generally only one wife. On the death of a husband, his mother inherits, or if there be none, then the eldest brother, and afterwards the widow, even though she may have contracted a fresh marriage. The Dungans clo not take oaths, but the deposition of witnesses is admitted. It is assumed, according to Mr. Hyde Clark, that a man is bound to speak the truth. If doing otherwise, he is by law subject to the penalty that would have been incurred by the subject of his false testimony. The Dungan weights and measures are Chinese, as also the usages for the purchase and sale of property. The towns are always fortified, their villages not, and the houses are built at a distance from one an- other. Dungan carts are large, with immense wheels of 1 8 spokes, and drawn by three or lour horses. The smaller vehicles have peculiar wheels covered with large nails. The people burn coal, candles, and oil lamps. They eat five times a day, but never horse- flesh or pork, and like Chinese vinegar in their plates. Thev are particularly fond ol a Iruit the Chinese call baisa, a kind of red berry the size of a raspberry. It ETHNOLOGY AND ETHNOGRAPHY Ol- ILI VALLEY. 211 is sown one year and eaten the next, after cooking in large saucepans. To the two settled peoples of the valley, who are Muhammadans, should be added 34,000 of their nomad co-religionists, the Kara-Kirghese. Of these I shall speak in a later chapter, also of the Manchu and Chinese as 1 met them during my stay. The Solons and Sibos, as already stated, were brought to the Hi valley as military colonists trom Kastern Manchuria. 1 remember hearing, it not seeing, something ot a Tunjnise tribe called Solons when on the Amur m 212 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. 1879, and as Dr. Schuyler says the Sibos speak a Tunguse dialect similar to the Manchu, I presume they come from about that locality. The colonists were divided into 14 banners or sumuls, afterwards in- creased to 1 6, the Solons being settled on the right bank of the Hi, and the Sibos on the left. We passed through the Solon district between At-kend and Borokhudzir, but their numbers were so reduced by the war that only 800 were left in 1877, and these, by the immoderate use of opium, appear to be doing their best to destroy themselves. The Sibos number 18,000 souls, the sexes, numeri- cally, being about equal. I had been recommended to visit a Sibo sumul as one of the sights of Kuldja, and we accordingly did so. Of the eight Sibo sumuls we drove to the second, and arrived at a rectangular walled town, o with a chamber over the gate. In this room were some idols, brought thither from a destroyed temple. \\ e drove through a long, and fairly wide, but dirty street, to a building that corresponded to a town hall or house of public business, the walls of \vhich were written over with stories in Manchu. \\ e were next taken to a "tan/a,'' or house, as I supposed, ot a dignitary. The principal room was spacious and clean, but the furniture and ornamentation were principally confined to the western side, where were a hieroglyphical- looking representation ot a tiger, and the paraphernalia of a Buddhist altar, on which were placed \.\\v. penates or household gods. I should have; liked to have purchased some of their bur khans, or idols, but they would not sell them: in fact, I think the proprietor was not there. I had taken some Scriptures, in Chinese: and Mongol, but they could read neither one nor the other. They said, however, that the men of the sixth sumul could ETHNOLOGY AND ETHNOGRAPHY OF ILI VALLEY. 213 read, and that books should be sent to them through the Russian Consul. \Ye then went into other houses looking- tor curiosities, when my eye fell upon a man's belt with a clasp, fastening with a hook and eye cut in jade. There was also suspended from the belt, of the same material, a carved lotus, or sacred flower of the Buddhists. I bought the whole, and it is now in the British Museum. We inquired, like-wise, if any in the town were sick, and were taken to a miserable hovel little better than a shed, where was an old man, somewhat ot an idiot, with lever, but not ol an eruptive character, and opposite to him a young man. Mr. Sevier carelully examined him, sounding his swollen and dropsical stomach. His ribs were dilated, the liver pushed up, heart out ol pi, ice, ami arms wasted, whilst his pulse was beating last, and he \\as sutlermu' Irom bronchitis.* \\ e had not the necessarv 2i 4 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. instruments for tapping him, so that directions only could be given that he should be brought into Kulclja. The Sibos are said to be excellent gardeners, and when we repaired again to the town house to drink tea, they not only crowded round to see us eat and to partake of what we offered, but they brought us melons, after which we returned to Kuldja. There remains one more tribe to be noticed in the present chapter, who are, in some respects, the most interesting in the Hi valley, because they are the least known. The Russians have long had the Turanian nomads under their rule, but not so in an equal degree the nomad Kalmuks. I have alluded in early chapters to the migration of one of their tribes, called Torgouts, to the Volga towards the close of the seventeenth cen- tury, and how, after the annihilation of the Sungarian Kalmuks, the Torgouts were invited by the Chinese to return. They did so in 1771, and were allowed to pasture the rich lands on the Kungess and Tekess rivers, considerably to the east of Kuldja, where they still wander under the name of Torgouts. In 1876 they numbered 9,600 males and 6,400 females. I met with some of these people in Kuldja, from whom it was easy to see that they represent the Mongol type in comparative purity, reminding me of the Buriats, another Mongol tribe, I saw in 1879. They arc; anything but good-looking.* It should be added that they are good-tempered and generous, but exceedingly indolent. They arc: credulous, and dearly " The Mongol has a flat face, cheek -bones prominent, but nnt M> wide apart. 1 think, as with the Muriats, retreating chin and ("creliead, small eyes like narrow .-Tits, and obliquely placed. Their lips are colourless, set in a strange, almost idiotic, and at the same time inexpressively sad, -mile. The teeth of the men arc' lar-v and white, whilst thoxj of the women are stained with black. The hair is straight, coarse, and ETHNOLOGY AND ETHNOGRAPHY OF ILI VALJ.KY. 215 love anecdotes and stories. Artificially produced gaiety, however, is followed by deep melancholy. Usually timid, they become very angry if irritated, and though not remarkable for severe morals, they excel the morally corrupt Chinese, than whom they are more generous, frank, and hospitable. They use no (lour food unless it be gruel ; and their brick tea they boil with milk, fat, salt, Hour, and millet. I remember being treated to a cup of this mixture in a Mongol dwelling in Siberia, and my " accident done for the purpose " in upsetting the cup and declining with thanks to have it refilled. I he cares of domestic management all tall upon the women, who, according to M. Ostroumoff,* are not noted for conjugal fidelity, in connection with which it should be mentioned that a very large, proportion ot the males are lamas, and therefore celibates so-called, so that, the proportion of males to females being increased, polygamy is encouraged. I" or administrative purposes before- the Russian rule, and now again I suppose under the Chinese. the Kalmuks are divided into squadrons (sumuns. or sumuls), each ot 200 tents. They constitute the Chinese irregular cavalry. Kach sunuil is under the direction of a cleric called a gcliin, and a laic railed a :arse hair that is left unshaven at the back of the head is t \\JMed by the men into a lun^ queue. ' ' Chinese Kini^rants in the Semirechia Oblast," etc.. by N . I'. Ostrounioff, to whose able paper I am indebted tor information con- cerning the Kalmuks, that I have seen nowhere eNe. 216 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. a third clerical grade. The gelun must be a celibate, must shave his head, fast on the 8th, I3th, and 2Oth of each month, abstain from wine and tobacco, and not wilfully kill an animal, even an insect. The gelun wears on ordinary occasions a long robe, enveloping him trom head to feet, above which is worn a yellow gown with wide sleeves, and a yellow hat. When conducting religious ceremonies he wears many other and multiform garments. The gelun's tent is always placed in the centre of the sumul, and is distinguished by its white, thin felt, and prayer-inscribed banner floating from a staff at the door. Here live the gelun and his disciples (shabi), usually five, who are not less than 12 years of age. Some of the disciples are simply servants, who look after domestic arrangements; and the third class, called get sill, assist in the performance of religious worship. The gelun's tent is also the house ol prayer, as well as a dispensary, whence the great man administers medicine. His tent, like a chemist's shop, is accessible at all times to all persons, whether to a man with a sick cow or seeking a strayed horse, or one about to go on a long journey. On entering, the suppliant places his hand on his breast and bows, whereupon the gelun lays a holy book on the head of the visitor and pro- nounces a blessing. The gelun is maintained partly at Government expense (,4 165. a year), but chiefly by his scattered "parishioners," some of whom he visits weekly, accompanied by one or two ot his disciples. On arriving at a collection ot tents he is joyfully received by the Kalmuks, who regard it as an honour to entertain him with their best, and give a feast usually of fresh mutton, tea, and kumiss. He says prayers in his tent at the prescribed hours, as if he ETHNOLOGY AND ETHNOGRAPHY OF I LI VALLEY. 217 were at home, and the whole of the aul, men, women, and children, come and ask for his blessing. o As a cleric the gelun is subject to his spiritual supe- riors, but not to civil jurisdiction. He: is supposed to take no part in the secular affairs of the people, but simply to render a quarterly report of births in the sumun to the cau^\ with whom he is considered to be on an equality. Indirectly, however, he can influence secular affairs through the lamas, who are numerous, since one of every three brothers in a family adopts the clerical calling. All the lamas in a sumul live by themselves, and are in constant relation with their gelun, and receive from him personal assistance. The: gelun's superiors are the heads of monasteries, who may fine, and even inflict corporal punishment on the geluns, which is not often done, however, on account of the tolerance- of the Kalmuks tor the frailties of their pseudo-virgin geluns. The :tf;/;', or civil administrator of the sumul, ranks with an European major. His tent is better than, but not otherwise different from, the rest. The sole dis- tinguishing mark of his costume is a hat with peacock's feather, and dark blue button. It is his duty to arrange the turn of military duty on the frontier pickets, and to mount guards over government horses. He also inves- tigates non-capital crimes committed in the sumul, and may award from 27 to 54 blows with a whip, but not more. I he people are not on such intimate terms with the xang as with their spiritual ruler. They appear before the xan^ only when .summoned, and kneel on one knee. No one dare sit in his presence without permission, or criticise his orders. I sually he connives with the rich and oppresses the poor, who uncomplain- ingly submit. The faith of the Hi Kalmuks \\h<> emiijTated to 2i8 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. Semirechia and were baptized was that of Buddhistic- Shamanism, which the lamas diligently propagated among the Solons, Sibos, and Manchus, very similar, I presume, to what I found among the Buriats, where old Shaman customs still lingered, though the people had accepted Buddhism. The larnas are teachers, medical sorcerers, and priests. Hence their services are continually called into requisition : at a birth to read prayers over the mother, who for a month is considered unclean, and to name the child ; later to instruct the boy, to marry him when grown up, to treat him when sick with prayers and drugs, and after death to decide whether the corpse shall be buried, exposed on the Steppe, to be eaten, I presume, by dogs as at Urga, or burned. The lama, in fact, appears as chief counsellor and teacher in all the important events of life, and supplies his parishioners besides with amulets and inirkJians. The Kalmuks had special oratories in Kuldja, and a monastery on the Tekess. In their tents they have movable burklians, or idols,* and round their necks they carry amulets made: of short prayers sewn on pieces ot cloth. When journeying they wear, besides the ordinary amulets, a burkhan in a leather purse. t Family life among the Kalmuks possesses greater freedom than among the Solons. A Kalmuk girl is a shepherdess. She: is married early, without much attention to her predilections, even without her consent, * Reminding one of Laban, Gen. xxxi. i<), }|. * Some of the burklians an: painted in oil colours on ('loth, sonic arc carved on copper, or cut on wood and stone, baked in clay, or some- times printed on paper. The printed burklians on cloth arc often rolled on a wooden cylinder, and tied, but unrolled and hun^ in tin: tent during prayer. On fete davs the Kalmuks place before the burklians small copper cups, tilled with Kunjut oil, and ignited. They have also various perfumes, one bein^ prepared from a finely-broken brushwood. IVsides ETHNOLOGY A XD ETHNOGRAPHY OF I LI VALLEY. 219 but she is at liberty to leave her husband and return to her relations. Whether she likes a suitor is known by her leaving the tent as soon as the marriage negotiations commence, or the reverse, by her staying during the whole conference. The parents, however, seldom regard her taste, and the aspirant, with their consent, watches for an opportunity of seizing the girl and carrying her oft by force, the parents considering their duty towards their daughter fulfilled if onl\ man carry her otl without their seeing it. A K;il widow may marry three months after her hu>l>, death, or even alter one month s mourning. I he Kalmuks, who lead a nomad lile. cordially the settled Faranchis, I)ungans, and especially thr hurklians, religions iv-pcri i-, >hn\vn ID littlf l>l.i< k jiyr.nnii M/c ot' a pi^con'^ C^'L;'. with Til tan Irttrr-- in ivliiT. I'lir^i 1 arc - (dim- trom 1'iliri, |)i\-parc(l iVum a inixtiiri 1 "t < la\ - \\rli the a- pioii-. i'udtlhi.sts \\liDsi 1 i-nrp^L 1 -. lia\c ln-c n luirncil. lhi']nrann carried liy Kahnuk> in roppi-r nr --ilvi-r I'ri^o en ihfir lid^cni ,1- amulrts. til.- 220 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. Kirghese. Consequently they have come very little under foreign influence, and preserve their national languages, both written and spoken, remain faithful to their national traditions, and love their own peculiar songs. The women are particularly fond of singing, and take parts with the men. What foreign influence reaches the Kalmuks does so through Buddhist teach- ing, which is concentrated in Kalmuk monasteries and disseminated by means of the lamas. The learning of the lamas is almost limited to the ceremonies of the Buddhist religion. As a mundane element in Kalmuk- Buddhist literature may be mentioned a certain kind of medical knowledge, which, however, is not the heritage of the people at large, but only of the lamas, in whose hands it assumes a form nearly akin to sorcery. The manner of regarding the appearances of nature was borrowed by the Kalmuks from Buddhist writings, in harmony with which they explain eclipses of the sun and moon, rain, hail, thunder, and lightning. The Kalmuks con- sider an eclipse of the moon portends general poverty over the whole land, and endeavour, by cries and drumming, to frighten from the moon the evil spirit that is shading the light. In a whirlwind they recognize the soul of a suicide. The Kalmuks endeavour to get out of its way, or, if that be impossible, they think to evade its influence by spitting, as if shrinking from contact with an unfortunate soul reproved by God. I have thus described some of the; tribes of the Hi, my remarks upon their government applying rather to the Chinese than the Russians ; but having now intro- duced to the reader the inhabitants of the valley, I shall be the better understood, I think, in detailing my experience during our stay in Kulclja. CHAPTER XVI. A S( '.\7)A )' /.Y Ki '/J)JA . Hospitality at the Russian Consulate. -Visit to Taranchis and Sibos. Crossing tin- Hi with Cossack escort. Roman Catholics in KuUlja. The Rus.sian Church. A request from Roman Catholics for religious service. -Distribution of Scriptures. Steadfastness ot Chinese C'hristians. Visit to Buddhist temple. Duncan ami Taranchi mosques. -Kducational affairs at Kuldja. Population divided a eo inline to religions and races.- -Visits to Chinese 1'ulice- master, and Commissariat officer. Sale of Scriptures. A A ^ K had arrived at Ixuldja on Saturday morning, \ V September 2nd, to find that most ot the persons to whom I had introductions were a\\ay. I he Governor, General I'nede, was busy on the Iron- tier, the line ol which was then l>ein<_;' settled ; the Commander ol the Chinese forces, to whom we had a letter from the Chinese Legation in London, was not in Kuldja, nor was the Chinese Governor-General, who lived, it appeared, in Suidim, which we had passed, so that \v<- should have to see him on our \\a\ lack. 1 he next on our list was Mr. I'adenn, the Ku-^ian Consul, to whose house accordingly \\ e dro\'e. 1 [ere, ai^aiii, \\'e \\cre disappointed, for the Consul wa-> a -^o at the frontier; l>ut on presenting m\ letter, hi> secretary sa\\' at once that it was written 1>\ a Iriend, and l)C!-':'ed us to sta\ at the Consulate. 1 h-' praises 222 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. of this house have already been sung by Dr. Schuyler and Mr. Ujfalvy, both of whom were guests therein when it was occupied by Colonel Wartmann. The building is pleasantly situated in a garden and shrub- bery, and its spacious rooms were furnished with such taste as, together with English books lying about, made one long to converse with the owner. What advance modern conveniences had made in this out-of- the-way part of the world was visible in the drawing- room, where there was a telephone communicating with a distant part of the town. Mr. Paderin had been Consul at Urga, in Mongolia, and when transferred to Kuldja, came not by the hum- drum way of the post-roacl, but went across country, visiting the site of Karakorum, the ancient capital of finghis Khan, and thus deepened his knowledge of Northern Mongolia, making him probably the first European authority upon that part of Asia. An Imperial order had been published in the previous March that a consulate should be established at Kuldja, with annual pay to the consul, in sili'cr, of 5,000 roubles (^750); secretary, 2,500 roubles (^,375); office allowance, 1,000 roubles (^150); and convoy 850 roubles (^127). The secretary's office and quarters were in a villa in another part oi the grounds, so that \ve were; to be lodged in the great house: alone, save for the caretaker, and the secretary was to take his meals with us. One: of the first things we askexl to be allowed to elo was to visit the Sibo sumul, or encampment, I have referred to ; and fineling that it was seven mile:s out of the: town. I rather foolishly declined to go on horse- back, and be^ggeel that we might drive in our carriage- Horses were found us, and a Russo-Chinese interpreter. A SUNDAY IN KULDJA. 223 and off we started at the dashing pace with which a Russian coachman thinks it proper to begin and end a drive, however he may lag in the middle. Old, or Taranchi, Kuldja was founded about a century ago, and is a rectangular town with clay walls, 30 feet high, sufficiently thick for two carriages to be driven abreast on the top, and measuring 4 miles in circumference ; the work, it is said, of 2,000 Kalmuks, driven to the task by the Taranchis. Two large streets crossing each other divide the town into quarters, which are subdivided by smaller streets and alleys. \Ye made our way through the Taranchi ba/aar, along the: street of which runs a water-course from one of the two rivulets, Pensin-Bulak and Pilechi-Su, that water the town. The Taranchi ba/aar, in the: citadel, has shops some- what more roomy than those: of Central Asia generally, and the street is not covered from rain or sun. It is paved with small stones, and the shops are kept by stolid Mussulmans. Here we bought our first ripe grapes and nectarines. Apricots ripen at Kuldja .it the beginning of July, and we were, therefore, loo late for them, but of late peaches, thai ripen early in August, we came in lor the last, flat m form, about an inch and a halt in diameter and halt an inch m thickness. They tasted lairK well, bin there was little tlesh on the stone. Most of the Kuldja fruits, including pomegra- nates, apples, pears, and mulberries, besides those 1 have mentioned, are small, since the trees, through neglect, may be said to be almost wild. In Suidun ihe truil is much better, so that alter the arrival ot the Russians the natives ot Kuldja began to gratt their stocks with Suidun cuttings. As we drove trom the ba/aar towards the 111 ( /// 224 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. means a river), we passed through the Taranchi gardens and fields,* to find a swiftly-running stream, 700 feet wide, just the width of the Thames at low water at London Bridge ; and when I saw the clumsy ferry into which our heavy tarantass had to be lifted, it was easy to see why the secretary recommended our going on horseback. On account of the velocity of the current, especially when it is windy, the process of crossing is slow. Usually there are three ferry boats, owned by a Russian merchant, and at the time we crossed there were large numbers of cattle waiting to do the same. They were accordingly tied by the head to the ferry, and made to swim after it, the barge being filled with vehicles and passengers. Having landed safely on the opposite side, we drove across a low, ilat country, almost without roads, sometimes through ditches, and over crazy bridges, that kept us in doubt whether or not we should be let through into the stream below ; but having at last reached the sumul, we inspected it as I have described in the previous chapter. The chil- dren thronged around us full of curiosity, but people seemed pleased to see us, only that our interpreter did not speak their dialect particularly well ; and as our ideas passed successively through English, Russian, and Chinese, not to add Sibo, it may be supposed that * The soil ir. the neighbourhood of tin- to\vn is sandy clay, and very fertile. This is characteristic of the ri^'ht bank of the Hi, though there are parts with rich mould, and extensive marshes nyer^rown with jungle. '1 he climate, too, is suitable for ^ardenin^, and is warm and healthy. The summer hears ^ () U p to 106' in the -hade, but the sultriness is considerably reduced by summer rain-.. Thanks to the spring showers, i^rain can be raised about Kuldja without the aid of irrigation. Snow lasts for about six weeks. This mild climate is accounted for by the sheltered situation of the valley, the Px>n>kiioro ran ire protecting it from the north winds. The prevailing wind is from the lowlands of the Hi on the west, brin^in.^ to^s and rain. A SUXDAY IN KULDJA. 225 we conversed with difficulty. Just as we had finished our tea, totir mounted Cossacks came to the place, saying that the Commandant having heard of our intended visit to the encampment, though he did not apprehend otir being harmed, yet thought it better to send us a guard, and they had arrived at the: Hi just after we had crossed, and so tailed to catch us up, but that they were now ready to escort tis back when we pleased. \Ve therefore started speedily, for evening was drawing on, and we did not reach the: Hi till dusk. The embarkation from this bank was more difficult than it had bee:n trom the other, and the:re: was much aelo to get the Cossack horses on board, tor they hael to walk in the shallow water and then jump over the side of the barge. One: little horse:, at a word trom his neleT, sprang ove-r the: gunwale with the- agility of a cat, although the: others hael te) scramble up in a fashion that 1 shoulel think only Cossack horse's woulel do. It was elark before we reacheel the- Consulate, but we: hael spent an enjoyable elay, anel we-re quite re-aely to turn into beel, tor this had not be-e-n vouch- sate-el to us more than twice: for a fortnight. The: morrow be-mg Sunday, I had thought whether there was any clerical work 1 cemlel elo. 1 he Mussul mans anel Buelelhists had their mullahs, and the Russians had their priest. I heard of no Pmte-stants, but I had both heard and read of a small colom of Chinese Roman Catholics .it Kulelja, amongst whom Christianity was introduced by I'Yench missionaries who came: from 1'eking, some say a hundred vears ago. in accordance with \\hicli Mr. I jlalvy states that he found among them Latin and 1'ivnch bonks <>t the last evntury and beginning of the pivseni. Mr. Ashton 1 )ilke- in iSj\; state-el that In-fore the insurrection these Y< >l . I. Is 226 XL'SSJAJr CENTRAL ASIA. Christians were nearly 400 in number, but that 300 ot them, including their priest. Father Thomas, were then massacred. The remainder of these Christians, according to Dr. Schuyler, w r ere among the first to welcome the advent of the Russians. The Jews, how- ever, have no dealings with the Samaritans, nor have the Greek Catholics with the Roman. Consequently there was a little flock surrounded by Russians, Mussul- mans, Buddhists, and Pagans, who spoke enthusiasti- cally to Mr. Dilke of their murdered priest, and compared Christianity with their former religion, much to the disadvantage of the latter, still holding fast to the only form of Christianity they had ever known, yet doing so without a shepherd, and notwithstanding that they had been unvisited by one of their missionaries, or, so far as I could learn, had any communication with head-quarters, for seventeen years. The case seemed to me both interesting and pitiable, and I wondered if there were anything I could do. We had no spoken language in common. Mr. Dilke spoke of their accent in pronouncing Latin as Italian, but said that some could translate it. Dr. Schuyler thought the pronun- ciation "at least singular," and some years later Mr. Delmar Morgan had found the pronunciation "wholly unintelligible to a European ear." Mr. Ujfalvy men- tions, indeed, that some- of them could read Latin and Erench, but then, he adds, " without understanding it," so that it seemed clear I could do nothing in the way of preaching. I mentioned the matter to our host on Saturday, and begged him to make; inquiries of the Roman community if there, was anything 1 could do for them. The secretary, however, did not see his way very clearly in the matter, and when we returned in the evening he had another plan to propose namely, A SUNDAY IN KULDJA. 227 that we should accompany him to the Russian church in the morning, and visit the Romans in the; afternoon, and to this, though disappointed, I agreed. There is but one Russian church in Kuldja, and that some distance from the; Consulate, on the outskirts of the town. Two Cossacks came to ride behind the Consul's carriage, in which the secretary drove to service, and when we reached the church I saw, tor the first time, 1 think, a Russian church that departed from the usual style of architecture, and that was built to look on the exterior a little like- a Chinese pagoda. Inside there was a long nave with aisles and wooden pillars, and the building approached more nearly in form to the; interior of an Knglish church than anything 1 have; seen in Rtissia. The choristers wen; soldiers, as also those attending on the priest, and the full congregation appeared to comprise the: ttifc of the; Kuldja world. After the; se-rvice; I gave; some; Russian tracts w the- Protoierea (or Mean) Bieloiarski. As we; re-turne-el, the- military band was playing the national anthem. At lunch the secretary had invited to meet us a Polish doctor, whe> inquired if I would bapti/e his children. I was somewhat surprised to receive such a request from a Roman Catholic, and, that there might be no misapprehension on whether he understood that, it I did the formularies of the Church of Kngl would be regarded as Protestants it were- better even so than for I up heathens. However, he ,sai< h< with his wile, and also let me know \\hether his family, and the Chinese, would like me to administer to them the I lo!\ Communion accon MIL! to the K nij'lish 228 RUSSIA A T CENTRAL ASIA. service ; for my opportunities of doing anything for them seemed shut up to this, and knowing the exag- gerated, and, as I think, unscriptural prominence which Romanists give to the Lord's Supper, I thought that after such long deprivation thereof they might like to join in the celebration of this sacrament, even though not administered according to their own form. The doctor returned at length to say that General von Kaufmann, when in Kuldja, had promised to send a Roman priest, and he thought, therefore, it might be better to wait for the baptisms, but that they would like me to give them the service, for which, accord- ingly, I prepared. \Ve found the chapel in the outskirts of the town, at the bottom of a narrow court, where I think most of the Chinese Christians, 65 in number, were living. They received us with a smile of welcome, appeared desirous tor the service, and conducted us to a room measuring about 50 feet by 20, where was an altar with pictures, candlesticks, and other appurtenances, and a box at the: side containing some ot the minor vestments, and a Xew Testament in Chinese. Here I met the Polish family, whereupon difficulties arose, in that, as Romanists, they would not partake ot the cup, and next they remembered that as they were not fasting, but had dined, they could not receive the elements at all. They wished, however, to be present whilst I officiated, and so remained whilst 1 and my fellow-churchman communicated. The Chinese per- ceived when Mr. Sevier knelt or stood, and so to some extent followed the service, and I thought perhaps they would have communicated when they saw him do so; but they did not seem to comprehend what was expected ot them, ami I proceeded till, coming A Sf\\'DAY AY KCLDJA. 220 to the blessing, I lifted my hand as does the priest in the Greek and Roman churches. The meaning of this they perceived at once, and knelt, thus ending one of the most curious passages in my ecclesiastical experience. Could I have seen the end from the beginning, 1 am not sure that I should have acted as I did, but I meant it for the best, and the people seemed grateful. They said that one ot their number occasionally read prayers, and the Russian priest sometimes gave them a "benediction," but I think I gathered that this last was abnormal, ami not given with very good grace, so that they had no other public service. 1 did not gather they were- in the habit of meeting for the study ol the Xew Testament, and I wondered how the book had come there-, tor though Messrs. I )ilke, Morgan, Schuyler, and Kostenko, all speak ot Latin books, and Ujfalvy adds also French, they say nothing ot any in Chinese. I had brought with me some Chinese. Mongolian, and other Scriptures, and was willing to have given them several; but though they accepted one or two copies, they did not appear to want more. They numbered 13 families, of whom 15 persons, they said, could read. 1 asked it they would like to have a missionary sent to them, to which they replied that they had not discussed tin- question. This exchange; ol ideas, or, perhaps I ought to say, attempt at con- versation, was attended with difficult}'. The best interpreters on the Consul's staff were \\ith him and the Governor, 1 suppose, on the frontier, and our interpreter was decidedl} feeble, but as a finale tin- Chinese brought forth tea. grapes, melons, peaches, and nectarines, ami in partaking of them we were 230 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. joined by some Russian officers who had heard of ray conducting the service. Kostenko says that as a rule " these Kuldja Catholics are very lax as to the essentials of their religion. They wear crosses round their necks, and read prayers in the Latin language, and they made a request (that is, of the Russians) that they might be permitted to display these emblems on the outside of their dress." I may add, however, that a very intelligent Russian Protestant in the region told me that among their own people the character of the Chinese Christians stands high, that they do not smoke opium, and that their word can be relied on. The persistence of this handful of Chinese in the tenets of their adopted religion, under such unfavourable circumstances, reminded me of my crossing the Pacific in 1879 with an American clergy- man who had laboured as a missionary among both Chinese and Japanese, and who regarded work among the former as decidedly the more hopeful. The Japanese he allowed were more readily influenced, but, like children, they sometimes drop the toy that has quickly pleased them, whereas, though John Chinaman takes a longer time to be convinced, he is, when won, more easily held. I have since heard that three Roman missionaries have arrived in Kuldja. After bidding the Romanists farewell the Russian officers took us to the Buddhist pagoda. There is only one in Kuldja, and that a poor one. On leaving the street we passed through an antechamber into a courtyard, where children assemble lor instruction in the. tenets of Confucius, each pupil holding a book, and all reading together as in Mussulman schools. Crossing the courtyard we entered the joss-house ->^ 232 XUSSIAXr CENTRAL ASIA. and saw the idols. Against the wall was a large dais, with various eatables arranged thereon, and lamps and vessels for incense. Representations of dragons are displayed, as well as suspended banners and bells. I did not see any adoration performed, but Kostenko says that a dirty and ragged individual, with a bundle of lighted joss-sticks in his hands, advances and recedes from the altar with endless bowings and striking of the bells. On important occasions, instead of verbal prayers, papers with petitions written thereon are burnt, in the belief that the petitions thus dealt with will ascend to God more quickly. I did not observe any prayer-wheel such as I saw at a Buddhist monastery near Kiakhta in 1879 ; but the temple at Kuldja was exceedingly clingy, dark, and dirty. Here, however, I disposed of some Mongol and Chinese Scriptures, the priest, as I supposed him to be, or attendant, thankfully accepting a Bible, and two other men, apparently poor, each purchasing a copy for 2. It is strange that the Hindus w r ho penetrate through- out Turkistan as money-lenders do not appear to have reached Kuldja, so that we had no Hindu temple to visit ; but I may mention two other religious buildings we saw the following day. One. is the Dungan mosque near the Chinese ba/aar, with a high and handsome minaret, and the other the Ta.ra.nchiJ'u/tiMa (or Friday) mosque in the citadel. The latter is the larger and older building, restored and ornamented under the last Taranchi sultan, Abil Ogu. Both these principal mosques are built in Chinese style, with rools turned up at the corners, and are the most remarkable build- in P'S in the town. With regard to educational buildings. O O O ' there was, in 1873, a " Kuldja people's' school," with 7 Russian, i Tatar, I Chinese, and 2 5 Taranchi pupils A S t'X/)Ay SX KL 7, D 7 A . 233 There were likewise 13 Taranchi elementary schools and 2 meclrcsses, in which were educated 514 male and 140 female scholars; also i I )ungan school, with 20 boys and 9 girls, and 2 Chinese schools with 20 boys. These last are intellectually the best, for whereas in the Muhammadan schools nothing is taught but the Koran and Shariat, the Chinese teach arts and an extensive literature. I he total population <>t Kuldja. according t<> im MS. statistics in iS~S, was 7,200 males and 5.500 female's. I have not their classification at that date according to religious professions, but in 1^75 they existed m the following ascending order : Protestants, Romanists, ( )rtho< ox 1'; s at 2 34 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. in the same way as follows, namely, Dungans, Sans, Russians, Chinese, Taranchis.* In the vestibule of the Buddhist temple lived the Chinese police-master, upon whom, in company with the Russian officers, we called. He gave us pale yellow tea, with oval leaves, about i.}in. long and in. wide, and what looked like blossoms of the plant, in the cups. It was no doubt thought very choice, but for me had little flavour. Looking about the room, I observed a guitar-like instrument with three strings, the drum being covered with snake-skin, such as I remembered seeing in 1879 in Eastern Manchuria. * More particularly they were : Religious Profession. Orthodox . Romanists Protestants Mussulmans J'a-ans 1,044 71 Females. IKJ 47 5-577 4.475 Total. 10,0^2 A SUNDAY IX KL'LDJA. 235 There was also in the police-master's room a flute, about two teet lemg, with ten hole's. Before leaving 1 O o offered our host a copy of the Bible in his native tongue, which he accepted ; and we were then taken to call upon another Chinese official, an officer of commis- sariat, who welcomed us with a smile to his rather dirty house, and, when asked to accept a Bible, said he had heard ot it as a book, the- reading of which would do a man good. I showed him my Chinese passport, and he: said it was well that I had it, as without it I might be liable to interference. Looking round his room, I perceived an important-looking package wrapped up in yellow silk. 1 learned it was his seal ol office: from the: Kmperor. 1 [e: had also a flat box, two inches square, with a compass and liel, which, when opene-el, disteiuled a string intended to throw a shadow on the box, ami thereby act as a pocket sun- dial. The officer was dressed in silk, and his manner was unusually gay tor a Chinaman. My companions at once recognized his condition, ami told me that it In.: took only a little, wine he very soon became: intoxicated, but that the cause ot his present hilarity was opium smoking. On his divan stood an opium lamp lighted, so that our visit had disturbed him before' he had reached oblivion. One object we had in calling upon him was to ask him to inform the I linese Governor-! /em-nil at Suidun that I hoped to have the honour ol calling upon him on my return |ourne\ in two or three days, and when this was arranged we returned to the. Consulate to dinner. \\ e had now visited some of" the religious buildings ot the town, and 1 had distributed in\ books and tracts a^ o] i| lortuint \ served. Mr. Sevier took some t<> the Russian hospital, whither 1 did not accomium him. 2 3 6 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. and I heard nothing of any prison.* This was the first town we had entered where Muhammadans were so numerous, and I had not yet forgotten the warning given me in Omsk as to the danger of offering them the Scriptures. Nor did I know how such a course would be regarded by the Chinese. When going to the bazaars next day, however, I took in the chaise a large bag filled with Scriptures, and whilst looking here and there for curios to purchase, I presently offered for sale a copy of the Gospels in Chinese for 5 kopecks. It was bought and immediately examined, with the result that others came to buy, and those to whom I had sold returned to purchase more. I then offered the New Testament for 40 kopecks, and the Bible for 60 kopecks, and was amused to see them comparing the size of the Bible with that of the Gospels, and so reckoning what ought to be the price of the latter from the proportionate thickness of the former. I was now besieged by purchasers, who jumped at my offers. One man wished to buy whole- sale, but fearing that he would re-sell them at exor- bitant prices, 1 preferred to dispose of them myself, and soon came to the end of my Chinese stock. lint the Mussulmans showed equal eagerness to get Tatar * Mr. Pantusoff i^ives the statistics for crime in Kuldja in iSj.} as follows : 118 A SfJNDAY IN KULDJA. 237 books, and my remaining Kirghese New Testaments were tast disappearing one Tatar on horseback not only paying the sum demanded, but in his eagerness literally snatching the book from my hand. Some of the Chinese subsequently came to the Consulate to purchase more, and I presented some Mongol Scrip- tures to the interpreters for themselves and for a school of which they told me. A few other copies of Mongolian Scriptures I left with a note for Mr. Paderin to distribute, and thus, with the many 1 sold and others I gave, it came to pass that I emptied in Kuldja my three cases of books, and had the satisfaction of being O the first salesman there of the Word of (iod. This I counted a greater honour than to have marched into the city at the head of an army, whether it were the half- wild horsemen of Jinghis Khan, or the Cossacks of the Russian Tsar. The latter have now left the province, but my books remain as seed that is sown. And I am content to wait for an answer to the- question. What shall the harvest be ? CHAPTER XVII. TARANCHI KULDJA, AND THE VALLEY EASTWARDS. Taranchi, Chinese, and Sart bazaars. Character of trade, prices, and coins. Native restaurants. Kuldja imports and exports. Indus- trial buildings. Visit to a Kalmuk tent. Exploration of Kalmuk camping-grounds.- - Colonel Prejevalsky's journey to Lob Nor. - SevertsofFs description of mountain sheep. Alpheraky's journey, and collection of Lepidoptera. English butterflies in Kuldja.- - Russian and English explorers of the Hi valley. ON Monday morning, September 4th, we started early with the Consul's servant and an interpre- ter to the Taranchi, Chinese, and Sart bazaars. The first was noticeable for its abundance of vegetables and fruit, large melons at 5 farthings each, and the best apples good-looking but tasteless pippins at the same price, whilst flat peaches sold for ,\\d. a dozen. These prices for local produce were not exceptional, for eggs cost from 5c/. to 8c/. a hundred, and fowls from \\d. to 2\d. each. Before the advent of the Russians, chickens cost only a halfpenny each. Manufactured goods from Europe, however, were dear, and even Russian "family'' tea cost from 2s. to 6s. per lb.* I secured * The following are fair specimens of Kuldja prices at ordinary times :- - \Vhrat and rice, 2.v. (>//., barley, peas, and millet, i.v., chaff, yl., and clover, $rf. per cwt. Mutton and beef from \.v. in jn.v. per pair. A m\v i-oMs from , ;<'' '" ; " ' ii"''-<' tVnin ,/,"_' to _/,'(). a sheep d.v.. and an ox tnmi ;i. I" _/."(. A lt>^ "I \\<>cul i | teet Ion- am! i| indies in diameter e.ts ,|.\. A plank <> feet lun-- and i -1 inches limad sells tnr J.W., 1ml the -ame. - fee! Inn-. e..-;^ I . K:!M- luinit brirlo may be hatl at |.v. per thou-vind. Inn --un-dried iiruk- i..r KV/. ] ier tliDii-anil less. ^ CENTRAL ASIA. 240 A by the Russians has sent up the price, and now they are both rare and dear. I secured some specimens of Chinese coinage in the form of large copper money, with Manchu inscriptions on one side and Chinese on the other.* The Sart bazaar, called in Russian Bazaar ulitza, or " shop street," we found inhabited chielly, I think, by Dungans. Here it was amusing- to see how every piece of old iron and tin was saved as precious and ' They are of three sixes, the largest (equal to id lucl/an or small coins) called Urfioiditachan for 2 Ibs. of tachan), the medium YiJ'/tii- (fi/ac/iuii (or i llj., equal to 8 taehan', and the smallest /imifiiiuiifac/nin (or \ lb.). I am uncertain wht'thcr it \va^ the smallest ot these three, or a separate coin called Yiirnnik. \\hieh, at the occupation by the TARAXCHI KULDJA. 241 exposed for sale, even to empty sardine and blacking boxes. They positively gave me \\d. as the price for an empty lobster tin ! In this bazaar I purchased a pair ot silver hair-pins, such as are worn among the Dungans by married women only. They are now in the British Museum. A feature noticeable to a European in the Kuldja bazaars is the native restaurants, where those who can face the ordeal may be satiated for hd. The variety of dishes in the restaurants is s spiced with saffron, but it is not whetting to the appe- tite to have to pass through the kitchen and see the cook preparing the viands, or swinging the dough, as we saw one man doing, in pendulous fashion, tor making long twisted loaves. Chinese bread, though white, is unleavened, badly baked, and tasteless. Again, it is not pleasant to remember that the Chinese eat all kinds ot meat, dogs included, so that it is wise to give charge beforehand as to what shall be- cooked. Chinese butchers sell mutton and beef without 1 tones. The bones iorm a separate trade, and are bought by the poor, who make; ot them soup, and add morsels ot meat. The foregoing description of the bazaars ot Kuldja does not give a lofty idea ot the importance ot its trade, which, in fact, is very small, though there are 650 shops in the town. Sarts from Tashkend, khokand, and Kashgar, together with Tatars Irom \ lerny and Kopal, carry on the best trade." K ussians, were thai iliry \\cre preparation d' \crd:^ the .--ilver \ anib, \\ i ! ^ Rvalue |.v. ' , ei|iial In i < In i' s 7> there \vere inipuried into ill'' town .Ja-^. irnii. and inann- Vi '!.. I. i () 242 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. We were taken from the bazaar through an oil-shop to one of the industries of Kuldja, which are at as low an ebb as the general trade. In this oil factory pres- sure was brought to bear upon the linseed and mustard seed softened by heat, by means of a long trunk of timber employed in a most clumsy fashion. The oil is used for eating, lubrication, and lamps, whilst the cake, out of which the oil has been pressed, is given as food to oxen. The soap they make is of the coarsest quality, and smells horribly. There are no large silk or carpet factories in Kuldja, though silk- spinning is prosecuted on a small scale. Cast-iron foundries exist, out of which the goods come for the most part blistered ; also a large room where paper is made of hemp, very coarse and dark, but which the Chinese use for writing. The natives are fond of vermicelli, and manufacture it for id. per Ib. They have also a factory for sweetmeats made of rice, boiled, and then allowed to ferment, the comfit being luscious, but sticky to the last degree. In the vinegar dis- factured goods, khalats, dried apricots and raisins, tea, leather and wooden articles, chintz, nankin, calico, plush, cloth called inafa, and felt, together with horses and sheep, to the value of ^"44,020, the mer- chandise coming from is localities, all Russian, except Kashgar and Bokhara. There should also be mentioned among imports from the East, gold, silver yambs, and nephrite, or jade, which the Chinese call " Zisclil ." This stone is used for mouthpieces of pipes, rings, and amulets, as well as for ornaments for the hats of the Kalmuks and Sibos. I was glad to secure from a man, on my visit to the Sibo encamp- ment, an archer's ring-, worn on the thumb, of exceedingly pretty jade. The stone costs from one shilling to eight guineas per II). On the other hand, there; were exported from Kuldja merchandise to the value of ^24,016 to 8 localities, 6 of which were Russian : the articles consisting of brick tea, oil, flour, ra\v hides, grain, fruit, sheep's fat, tobacco, Chinese honey and vermicelli, salt, paper, dressed lambskins, horses, sheep, camels, horned cattle, small wares, iron goods, fox skins, and deer horns. These last are bought up bv the Chinese at Kiakhta, and are said to be used bv them as a '1'ARAXCIII A' ('/./)'? A. 243 tillery they allow wheat to ferment, which, after boiling, produces a sour, green essence, very disagreeable to European taste, but appreciated by the Chinese.* On leaving the bazaars, we were anxious, if possible, to get a peep at the Kalmuks. On our way to the suburbs, we saw a Chinaman in the street, surrounded by a crowd. He had a drum and iron clappers, and was entertaining his auditory by telling stories. On the previous day we had seen a street acrobat, one of whose standing or walking feats was to raise one foot to his breast and strike the sole with his palm; a second man meanwhile beating a gong. On reaching the Kalmuk tent we found the owner absent, though his wife was at home with some small, but by no means bashful, children. \Ve looked round for ethnological objects. There was a leather kumiss bottle, but this the woman, in the absence ot her lord and master, would not sell. She had in her ears, however, silver rings, with stones ; and as she confided to us that she medicine in cases of exhaustion ot strength. Ai Kiakhta. in 1^77. the Chinese merchants reali/ed a profit on ma nil horns o! ^"'i.ooo. One Russian linn purchased joo pairs lor _/,"i...'oo, and Mc-^is. TokniakolY. ot whom 1 know something, bought .jo pairs tor/'^o. These prices, however, were uiuisiiallv hi^h. ' There were throughout the town, according to my statistics tor 1^7'^, 10"' houses, j^ caravanserais, i school, j^ medresses, i Ru---ian irliureh, =.~ mos(|iies, _>j windmills, and j stamping mills or presses. The total number ot industrial buildings in i \~ i numlierrd .;s. pro- ducing manutaciures to the value of /"vooo, and empluvin^' 1^1 workmen. The number of handicraftsmen in the to\\n at the ^ame dale numbered j^S Taranehis, ^ I hm^an--. and <> Chinese. concerninL; which last it may be obser\'ed thai the\- kni>\\ all the trades, but neither silversmiths nor tailors were loimd anioiiu; the other natives. 244 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. was 57 years old, and had received them on her marriage, I perceived these could be of no Russian manufacture, but representative of Kalmuk art half a century ago. I therefore pressed her to sell me one, which she did, and it is now in the ethnological department of the British Museum. Comparatively little is known in detail of the Kalmuk camping-grounds at the eastern end of the Hi valley. The most renowned of Russian travellers who have passed that way out of the valley into Mongolia is Colonel Prejevalsky. In 1X76 he started from Kuldja, made his way along the Hi, and its upper arm, the Kuno"ess, until he reached its tributary, the Tsamna. o > o This brought him by the Xarat pass to the Yuldus plateau, described by the: Kalmuks as " an admirable, cool, and productive country, fit for gentlemen and cattle to inhabit.'' From this place Prejevalsky pushed his way to Lob Xor, but not before: he had shot some fine specimens of the Central Asian species of mountain sheep. TA RA XCHI AY 7. D 7 A . 245 I saw at the Kuldja consulate, as also at Tashkent!, specimens ot the skull and horns of this remarkable animal, which is bigger than a donkey.* The animal's horn is more than four times the length of the skull. All round the neck there is a pure white; mane, and the light greyish brown of the sides shades off into white towards the belly, the legs being brown. It inhabits high hilly plains, and runs with great speed. The Cossacks say that the wild sheep, in jumping from one rock down to another, alight on their horns a statement that I )r. Severtsotf thinks improbable, though, since the head and horns ot one, he shot weighed upwards of ~o Ibs., he seems to * \Vhen Marco Polo, 600 years a L;'D, told of the enorniou-- sheep he had seen on the mountains, his words were regarded as travellers' tales." but subsequent explorers have proved the traveller ri:.; lit , and the largest variety is now named after him. ();'/\ /''/.'.'. I )r. Severt-*ott ;_Mves its length a^ t> ft. () in. from no>e to tail ; height a! shoulder, i ti. ID in. ; length of horn, _| ft. i ( in. ; distanre between lips ,,f horn-. ^ ft. << in. : length of skull, i ft. j in. 246 RUSSIA AT CENTRAL ASIA. think it just possible such a weight might cause the animal to lose its balance.* Colonel Prejevalsky on the Yuldus saw herds of 30 or 40 of the Ovis Polii, and gives the measure- ment of the horns of the old males in his collection as 4 feet 8 inches, with a thickness of 1 8 inches at the base, and their weight about 36 poods. f Mr. Serge Alpheraky, however, another traveller from Russia, who has penetrated the Kalmuk camping-grounds, and who in 1879 followed Colonel Prejevalsky 's track as far as the Yuldus plateau, with the object of collecting butterflies and moths, doubts whether any other species * Dr. Severtsoff shot an old ram that proved too heavy for a strong mountain camel to carry. This camel required four hours to accom- plish three miles, and was obliged to lie down several times during the journey. At low elevations a camel can carry 600 Ibs. with ease, and on lofty plains, where the air is rarefied, 400 or 450 Ibs., so that the weight of this specimen was estimated at about 600 Ibs. The same authority distinguishes three other species of wild mountain sheep in Turkistan (Ot'/s Karclini, O. Heinsi, O. Nigrimontaiia], and gives an instance of the strength and tenacity of the Oris Karclini, the next largest to the Ovis J'o/ii. In hunting an old male it was hit by him five times, each time with a good-size bullet, and only the sixth bullet brought him down. The first bullet hit the animal between the hind legs in the left testicle, the pain of which hindered its running, though even then two men had to follow it for an hour. Two bullets had struck the horns, the animal each time falling to the ground, but within a minute rising again. Neither of the next two bullets sufficed to stop the creature, though one of them penetrated the livrr and the other the lungs, and it was only on receipt of the sixth bullet, penetrating the heart, that the sheep succumbed. + Sir Victor Brooke, who has studied the subject closely (Proceedings of Zoological Society of London, i^/s;, mentions the following mountain sheep found elsewhere than in Turkistan, but which he is disposed to think had tln-ir birthplace in the Himalayas, namrlv : Oris A minim, O. Iloif^'son ii , O. Bi'ookc.i, O. Xiricolti, and some others. Nearly allied to O. Xiricoltt is the O.Monfana of North America. I have measured the horns and skull (weighing 32 Ibs.) of a very fine specimen in the collection of Mr. II. Seton-Karr. It was shot by him in the Rocky Mountains, and measures: length of skull, i } in. ; of horn, 38 in. ; cir- cumference at base, 16], in. ; from tip to tip in a straight line. 2oA in. /'ARA.YC/fJ KCLD'JA. 247 but the O. Hcinsii inhabits the Yuldus.'" He observed 28 species of mammals, 6 of fishes, and i 7 of reptiles, etc., and collected specimens of the greater part in series, which now belong to the Imperial Academy of Science at Petersburg. Among birds of the Hi valley may be mentioned pheasants, geese and ducks, cranes, bustards, grebes, snipe, plovers, etc., sea and other eagles, and kites. Mr. Alpheraky's collection ot lepidoptera numbered * Mr. Alpheraky writes to me that he brought home a ^ood series of the species of Oris that inhabits the Yuldus. Both Dr. Strauch and he juds^e them to be O. /fdusii. lie says : " We once saw a herd of 2,000 of these sheep. Herds of 200 and t ^oo are met with rather often. My i,, specimens are now at the museum of the Imperial Academy of Science 1 at Petersburg. They are of immense si/e, and are the bi^^est of the rich collection of Oris there. I have also s^iven to the Academy a complete skeleton of an old and immense ram of this species." Mr. Alpheraky then adds a list of vertebrata observed by him in the Kuldja district, as follows : MAMM VUA. 'J'i^'ris Recall's (with thick Erinaceiis Auritns. and loiiLf fur). 1-dis frhis. I-'dis Mann! . Cain's I'll I pcs. Can is Mdiinotus. ( 'ti/ii.s Cor. sac. Cii in'.s A I pi nns. O-'/.\- I Id us;;. Cain's /^ii pits. Oris R'ardini (mountains we-; 1'rsns Arctos. n| Kuldja\ I'rsus J.citconyx . I.fpiis l.dnininni. .\/tT\'>'/i't \ Opiums ; sands wes> of~Kuldja\ Hypui/'iis A in piiihiiis. Spcrniiiplii'ns /:': , r.\ main::. . \rd"in\s /Jiii'iiii'iHtts. , r, t>-icsk/i, /\',s-- 248 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. no less than 12,000 specimens, and it may interest the general reader to learn that among them were several of the well-known butterflies that bear English names.* A third Russian explorer who has done good service to botanical science in the Hi valley, and the valley of REPTILIA, ETC. Ercmias Velo.\ Pal/as Phryiiocephalus Caudivoh'ii- (sands). his (sands). Eremias Variabilis (sands). : Phrynocephalus Helioscopiis Lacerta Viridis (Kuldja gar- (sands). dens). j Tropidonotus Hydnts (near the Scaptcira Grammica (sands). 111). Gecko Kotchyi Steiud. (rocks). Elaphis Dione (Kuldja). Gecko iwv. sp. (Kungess and , Taphrouietopon Lincolatiini Tekess). (sands). Vipcra Bertis (everywhere Eryx Jaculus (Kungess valley). except high mountains). Testudo Horsfieldii (sands). Trigonocephalus Intcrtne- Bufo Viridis (Hi valley). dins (mountains up to 8000', , Rana Agilis (Hi valley and extremely poisonous). Yuldus plateau). The Swallowtail (Papilio Machaon} is generally distributed through- out the Kuldja country, and differs in no respect from the form that frequents our English fens. The \Vood-white (Lciicophasia Sinapis} occurs in Kuldja, and also in the Ural mountains. The Large White (Pier is BrassiCfe], so di'structive to cabbage and other esculent plants, does not appear to be very common, one or t\vo examples only coming in Mr. Alpheraky's way. The Bath White (Pier is Daplidicc\ that is such a pri/e to the English lepidopterist, seems moderatelv common up to 10,000 feet in the Thian Shan : and the Orange Tip (Aiithocaris Cardamines\ which adds somewhat to the charms of English lanes towards the end of spring, is also found near the Hi. The Silver- washed Eritillary (Argyll 11 is PapJiia} is as common on the Kungess as in tin* New Forest in Hampshire. There is a race of the female, which is intermediate between the type and the aberrant form ]'a/czina (so well known to those who have taken the insect near Brockenhurst, Hants). On the Kungess it quite supplants the typical female. The Dark-green Fritillarv (Argynnis Aifhiia] is found along the course of the Kungess up to 8,000 feet, and even on the Yuldus it is said, 2,000 feet higher, where, however, it is rare. The High Brown Eritillary (Argyimis Adippc^] is found in the same region, as also the Queen of Spain Fritillarv (A rgynnis Lufh/i/a], which with us is a very rare visitant even on the south-east coast, but appears to be widely distributed in Central Asia, though nowhere common, occurring up to an altitude of TAKAXCIfl AT/./)?- 1. 249 the Baratol on the north, is I )r. Regel, who travelled to Turfan in 1879. Of the t\vo Englishmen who preceded me in this region, Mr. Ashton I )ilke in 1^73 went down into the Haratol valley from Sairam Xor to Kbi Xor, and then returning to Kuldja he ascended to 9.000 feet. Tlit' specimens from the Thian Shan arc perhaps paler than those in British collections. The (Ilanville Fritillary (Me, '///<), tound in August, does not differ from our own, whilst the Camberwell Meautv on tlie Hi agrees well with the Kuropean tvpe.and specimens fresh from the chrysalis make their appearance in |ulv. The Red Admiral { !''i/i/i'< was scarce in iS-i ( . The Central Asian specimens ot the latter do not exhibit any appreciable difference from our insular form so abundant on the southern coasts. 1'he Ciiven llairs'reak 'I'liccld A'/////) occurs around Kuldja, but not so commonly as with us. and the Mroun 1 1 airst ivak ( 'I'/icc'ti /let n !,,'. the female of wliich ditfers from Huropean representatives by having the orange blotch on tlii- tore win^s ot larger sj/e. In the Thian Shan dis'rict the Small ('oppr'i- (Folyoniniiitits /7//i<'ii\) becomes a mountain species, living at s.no or (|,ooo teet, and it is nnteworthv that these mmintaineers are larger than lo\\ land spei'imens. The Common I'lue liuttertlie^ /.\; tnun the Kun^'ess art" ^'enei'alU' superior in si/e to Hn-lish one-, the u'in^'s of sonic mea-iiriiiL;- to the llolh- Mine /.\'c,,-i habit in Central Asia, th often much broader than in also Dei 11 rs earlier than with us so early a- possiblv in the Hi valley there are three oi m of the twelve months. The l.ar-v Hlue /. v |-:n-lish buttertlv all but extinct, except at 250 ACS SI AN CENTRAL ASIA. the plain of Musart, saw Khan Tengri, and went thence to Issik-Kul. Mr. Delmar Morgan visited Lake Sairam, and also went as far as the River Kush ; but for my own part I did not advance beyond the capital, having seen which, and distributed my books therein, I prepared for turning back. common occurrence in Central Asia, at elevations from 3,500 to 9,000 feet. The Skipper {Hcsperia Alveolus) occurs in the Talki defile in April. I am indebted for these comparisons between the butterflies of Central Asia and of England to the Rev. A. K. Hodgson. For further information concerning the lepidoptera of the Kuldja district, and of Turkistan generally, see Appendix. CHAPTER XVIII. l-ROM KULDJA TO AJ.TYX-LMMEL. Propo>ed iv turn by water. Attempted steam navi^t'ition of the Ih and Balkhash. A visit to Colonel Mayevskv. Native preference for Russian rule, and \\l\v. Kuldja restored to China. Kmi^ration of natives into Russian territory. Our departure from Kuldia. Destruction of cattle by beasts of prey. Suidun. Three clashes of Chinese. 1 nterviuwwith Chinese ( io\vrnor-( ieneral. - Refreshments followed by questions. Opium-smoking. A Chinese artist. - ( io\vnior-( ieiu-ral's present. A mesMMis^er awaiting us at l'>i>n>- khud/ir. S" Kiildj;i westwards on the Hi, which would have been pleasant enough hut lor my tarantass, it one may iudj^e ot the velocity ot the stream as we saw it. and which Mr. Alpheraky says is three times as rapid as the Neva at Petersburg. P>elow Kuldja the river Mows through a llat inhabited country between open banks (the riidit steeper than the left), with a \\ide and copious stream. I he banks are marsh\ and over- grown with reeds. These, when the river is lull, are frequently submerged, and then there are no lords, but at other seasons there is a lord at ( Md kuldja 2', teet deep, and .mother near the rums ol ( hmese Klllclja 2 leet deep. I he river is tro/eil tor about <)O da\ S, Irom the end ol I )ecelllber to tile end ol February, but at other times timber is iloaied do\\n 252 RUSSIAN CENTRAL AST A. from its upper to its central course. The stream, indeed, is called navigable from 50 miles above Kuldja to 400 miles below it, where its waters enter the Balk- hash. When I was in the Hi valley the Russians had not succeeded in establishing steam communication on the river, but since my return I have heard from Mr. Gourdet that a " Mr. P.," an engineer, is sanguine of converting the Hi into a means of commercial com- munication between Kuldja and the Balkhash, and even of passing through this lake to the Irtish beyond, and so on to Siberia and Russia. To the realization of this project a small steamer of 20 tons was purchased in England, and launched at Ilisk, near Yierny, in 1883. The first voyage was made with a freight of corn, but under great difficulties.* * These difficulties are mainly connected with the channel, the bottom of the river being of shifting sand, of which Air. Gourdet tells me he has himself seen small islands form and disappear again in the course of a feu- days. Hence the water is not deep enough for craft drawing more than two or three feet, and although this particular steamer could go against stream 12 or 14 knots an hour, it could not sometimes on the Hi make more than a few miles in a day, and, of course, had to stop by night. So that during the whole season 50 tons only were carried instead of 300, as expected. What corn was sold brought a large profit, the cost in Vie/my being 4,9. or ^.v., the selling price at (arkend on the Hi i ^.v. (jff. and i8.r. 6 to iho-.e toiind on the upper waters of the river, one of the draubai ks bein^ \\ant ot iui-1 : for though coal abounds in the vallev a\\ay Irom the ruer, the |\u-.Man^ continue to u-e wood for fuel, and iln^ ha-- to be bnni-hl ! the ri\er banks at considerable cost. ( )ne more ditlii ulty to be -^in-mounted ; - thai a scre\\' --teanu-r with a keel is found les.- suitable \,ro\i- moi,' -ati-'ai lory iha;i it ni iw ap] icars. 254 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. the English, speaking of them as rivals in Asia, though not as foes. He allowed that our infantry were better than theirs, but thought the Russian cavalry better than the English. He spoke, too, regretfully of having to cede the province to the Chinese, for it made so excellent a frontier, and alluded to the delicate position in which the Russians were placed with regard to the natives of Kuldja, who preferred the Tsar's rule to that of their old masters the Chinese.* When it was decided that Kuldja should be given back to the Chinese, the inhabitants were told that they might remain or cross the border into Russian territory. When I was there, less than a year before the evacuation, numbers of the inhabitants were already gone ; and to show that their hatred of the Chinese was not subsided, I may add that, after taking everything J O J O out of their houses that was of value, they set fire to the remainder, so that their former masters, on taking O possession, should find as little as possible to appro- priate. One report, probably exaggerated, said that * The preference for Russian rule of the Muhammadan inhabitants, whatever may have been the ease with the Buddhists, was, 1 believe, undoubtedly true, which need create little surprise, for, if Kostenko may be believed, the Chinese Government and officials of old were wont to show their intellectual superiority over the \\"esterns in a very haughty and conceited manner, burdening them, moreover, with various imposts. Besides this the Hi inhabitants were obliged to maintain the numerous herds of the lliigdi-Kluin, or Chinese Emperor, and the property of the people was never safe. Jf any article pleased a Chinese official he would take it without parley, and it was the same thing it the wife or daughter of a Dungan or Taranchi pleased him. In addi- tion to this the people were subjected to man}- galling humiliations. On meeting a Chinese, a native of the country was obliged to rise if sitting, or to dismount if riding. It was a course of such offences, humiliations, and insults, that at last exhausted all patience, and made tin; people rebel. Then it was the Russians stepped in and took possession of the land on behalf of the Chinese, who, when thev had re-established their power in Ivashgar, called upon the Russians to restore to them Kuldja. The Chinese ambassador went to Petersburg 256 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. nine-tenths of the people were leaving. Meanwhile the Chinese were doing their best to prevent this wholesale emigration by promising greater liberty and freedom from taxes for ten years. Such persuasion they could not attempt, of course, openly, but we heard that when possible they had recourse to coercion, way- laying and maltreating the emigrants. I suspect it was something of this kind that hindered our starting at midnight, as I intended on the evening we saw Colonel Mayevsky. At his house we met the assistant to the Uyezcli nachalnik, and he kindly arranged for us about post-horses, but the authorities sent to say that night travel was not safe, and advised us to wait until morning. Only the night before, they said, some travellers had been waylaid and an ox killed, but I did not learn whether it was a case of high- way robbery or of Chinese intimidation. Nothing was said of danger on the post-road from beasts of prey, to negotiate the points in dispute, and the terms he agreed to were these : The Russians offered to restore Kuldja on condition that China defrayed the cost of the war in which they had assisted them, and gave also certain commercial privileges. But when the ambassador returned to Peking he was thrown into prison for having made concessions that were considered derogatory to the dignity of China. I heard the Russians had massed in Kuldja 15,000 men at the time war was on the point of being declared. War was happily averted, but to show how little the natives wished for a recurrence of Chinese rule, 1 may mention that when the valley of the Borotal, which at first, under the Russians, formed the third portion of the Kuldja raymi, was handed back to the Chine>e. and when the rumour spread that Kuldja was also to be ceded, the Uungans and Taranchis came in crowds to General Kolpakovsky in 1^77, handing in memorials from both the inhabitants of Kuldja and the surrounding villages, expressing their unanimous desire to remain under Russian rule. The (ieneral gave them to understand that the matter depended upon the will of the Kmperor, that Russia would keep watch over the proceedings of the Chinese, and protect the inhabitants from all violence, and he added that those who desired to emigrate would receive plots of land within the limits of Russian Turkistan. FKOAf KULDJA TO ALTYN-IMMJU.. 257 though M. Alpheraky, further up the valley, lost two horses by tigers, which kept uncomfortably near the party, and some idea of the number of beasts of prey in the country max be gathered from the fact that in the southern portion of the province in 1.^77 the: wolves killed 7 camels, 657 horses, 249 horned cattle, and nearly S.ooo sheep. \Ve drove out ot Kuldja at halt-past five on Tuesday morning, and thus had the opportunity of seeing certain parts of the country by day through which we had come by night. \Ye passed through fields and gardens, wherein arc: grown, besides the crops 1 have mentioned, peas and Indian corn, also pumpkins, carrots, turnips, radishes, beet, cabbage, and garlic, but not potatoes, unless it be for Russian consump- tion.'' 1 After a drive of some hours over a bad road, we arrived before: noon at the residence ot the Chinese Governor-General, Tsin-Tsiang Tsiun (the last word being his name:, and the former two his title), at Suidtin. which was more distinctly Chinese than Kuldja, for that was under the Russian authorities, but here was established the authority of the Tsin- I siang. In speaking of the "Chinese," it should be remembered that this term in the Hi valley incudes three classes of people, all differing m ties, and character. There are the Rerlu> mi'iiiions that tii- 1 cultivation a tit hon/ed --ince i>7 x . and quote> from the / the area under cultivation in t>7)a- ~,(>v> a opium exported frm the Kuldja territor\ in /".i.v2^5. The poppv fields extend Iron) S con linei ice ot i he l\a-h with the hi. lui; I pn re.Mriction upon the manut'.u lure ol' ;ln- dru^ tinM into Ferghana prohibited, and a -tick - me, that had been >ei/rd a> cop.i raba nd. \ < M . I. 258 XrSSIAjV CENTRAL ASIA. official posts, and were formerly the representatives in the Hi valley of the Celestial Empire. They wear dark-blue coats, with other raiment of yellow and pink, or, as some prefer, black and blue. Next are the Khambi, who came, about 3,000 strong, from the south-eastern provinces of China, and were, for the most part, labourers and soldiers. And lastly, the Tchampani, criminals exiled from Southern China, who, after a term of hard labour, got their living as best they could, only that in time of war they had to serve in the infantry. All of these three classes suffered terribly in the rebellion, and a few only were left, those living more especially in Suidun, which was the only large town in the province that outlived the events of 1863-66 ; but others had come since the promise of the retrocession of Kuldja, and more were expected in such numbers that I heard of a Russian officer purchas- ing house property in Kuldja with a view of selling it at a premium. From a letter I have received, however, I gather that things have again become prosperous and thoroughly Chinese, but that the Russian houses are standing empty. 1 had looked forward, with some degree of curious interest, to the presentation of my credentials from the Legation in London to the Chinese Governor at Suidun.* The Russian post-house is in the suburbs, and not wishing to take: up our heavy tarantass, we had driven into the town in another vehicle, that wet could dismiss, and on reaching the According to my statistics fur iX~S, Suidun had 1,260 houses, with a population of 2,~oo males and 2, }no females. Of these .},.}oo were Dungan.-,, and ~oo Chinese. Divided according to classes, there were iM clerics, ()^ merchants, ]i mechanics, 4,400 farmers, and about >oo labourers; but these represent the town under Russian government. There must since have been added several Chinese authorities. FROM KULDJA TO A LTYN-IMMEI.. 259 principal street, I sent my card to the Governor- General. We were asked to stay where we were, and having clone so for some minutes, the messenger came back to say that his Excellency was changing his robes, and had summoned his officers of state. We then went down a narrow street, and were shown into an entrance- chamber with many attendants, the walls being hung with English and American muskets, rusty, old, and apparently worthless. 1 )r. Schuyler said the walls of Suiclun were wide; enough at the top to serve tor a carriage road, and, as we approached the town, labourers were; increasing their thickness ; but with such arms within, the Russians might well laugh, as one officer did, saying that a company of their Cossacks would set the Chinese flin. . Whilst waiting, I changed my dress for the occasion, and, when all was ready, crossed a yard to enter a square court. At the opposite side stood the great man, whilst on the right and left were men drawn up in martial array. The effect was meant, no doubt, to be imposing, and it certainly was curious. My host saluted me; by lilting his hands in a "lullaby-baby" fashion, and then took us within, and inviteel us to be seate-d on two sides oi a table-, about 3 feel square, whilst he. occupied a third. Opposite- the- Fsm- Tsiang. on a table-, was the- Government seal of office-, wrapped in yellow material, together with a scroll containing his credentials. His otfie'ers, twelve; in number, with various orders and leathers, stood hehinel him, perfectly silent, one ol them fanning presumptuous flies Irom the grand man's head. On the table we-re- |>lates with slices ol apple:, grapes, wafers, and some honeyed e~a\es, made apparently of the- seed from \\hirh oil had been pressed, and such as we saw. but we-re not delighted 260 Xl'SSfA.V CENTRAL ASIA. with, at the Kuldja oil factory. Our host then pro- ceeded gravely to help us with his fingers, placing the eatables a few at a time on our plates, first wafers, then grapes, apples, and cakes. At the same time was brought tea of a strong jasmine flavour, called red, but pale and highly aromatic. Tea was put into each cup, water poured thereon, and covered with an inverted saucer, a little smaller than the rim of the cup, and, consequently, keeping in the steam. This was well enough, but now came a feat of manipulation, for the cup had no handle, but had to be held with the fingers, whilst the thumb was left free to tilt the saucer into the beverage, in such a way as in drinking to hold back the floating leaves from entering the mouth. \Ye succeeded pretty well, and I expressed admiration for his tea, which remark bore fruit, as will presently be seen. He soon opened lire upon me by asking, in a stereo- typed manner, who I was, and whence and how I had come. I at once showed him my map, and put to the test his Chinese geography. He asked whether Turkey was north or south of England, and how far, respectively, from London were Paris, Berlin, and Constantinople. He inquired how long I had been travelling, and whether I had left the; Marquis Tseng in London, to which 1 replied that he had sent me my letter from Paris. I invited him to ask further ques- tions, whereupon he inquired of what our daily food in England consisted. \\ hen my host had finished his queries, I began by asking if it were likely we should have tile pleasure of seeing him in London. That depended, he said, entirely upon the Chinese Govern- ment, as to whether they chose to send him ; but he did not expect it. 1 assured him that we should have /7v 3 6U/ KL'I.D'JA TO ALTYN-1MMEL. 261 a "Teat many strange things to show him, and inquired how soon he thought they would have* railways in China. He thought " not at all " ; for that in one O instance where they had laid down a line, they had, after trial, taken it up again ! This I thought was " progress " with a vengeance, and I expressed my surprise;. Meanwhile, after drink- ing tea, his Excellency began to smoke a pipe, drawing the cloud through water placed at the bottom of the bowl, which he did not hold continually in his hand, but took one long, long whiff, and then the bowl was emptied of tobacco, and taken away by an attendant until called tor again. This suggested my asking him it the smoking ot opium were general among the Chinese. lie replied that main practised it. and when I expressed a tear that it was working evil in China, he replied that it was against the law, the penalty tor breaking which was to have one's tongue cut. I tancy, however, this was said with a wink, for in Ktildja (under the Russians, it is true) I saw men smoking opium publicly, and the materials lor opium-smoking appeared easily obtainable. I then ottered him a Chinese Bible and a Mongolian and a lUinat New I estament, which he accepted, alter inquiring what they wen;. 1'rom the manner, however. in which he looked at them, 1 fancy he was a Manchu. Alter the gushing reception my Petersburg letters had secured me at the hands ol the Russian governors, 1 had llxHiglu. perhaps, this good man would be at the pains to ask it lie could do an\ thing tor me. or show me anything, especially as In- said he had received official notice Irom London ol mv coining. Hut lie seemed not to dream ot such a thing, nor to get his official temperature above 262 jRCSSIA^V CENTRAL ASIA. freezing point, so that our conversation became some- what dull, especially as what I said in English had to be twice translated into Russian and Chinese or Manchu, and vice versa. It gave time, however, for meditation between the questions, and presently finding that he had nothing to propose for my pleasure or instruction, I asked whether I might go and see the men building the fortress, and also visit the bazaar. The first of these trifling requests he refused, saying that there were workmen about, and disagreements mio-ht arise. He asked me, therefore, not to PT>, but O O said he would send someone with me to the bazaar. We then rose after this formal reception, and were dismissed with the same ceremony as when we came in, and taken again to the antechamber. Here I offered some Scriptures to the attendants, but they said they did not dare take them without permission. One of the first things that attracted my attention in the bazaar was a street painter, whose pencil explained to me the want of perspective, apparent in a certain class of Chinese paintings ; for the man simply dipped the tip of his linger in Indian ink, and rubbed it round and round on the tablet till he made; his picture, and only then touched it up with a brush, after seeing which I marvelled not, as I had hitherto clone-, at the clumsiness of the production, but that in such a manner, and so rapidly, the artist should have been able to pro- duce anything so good. 1 noticed on the. stalls packets of English needles, and found a tew curiosities to buy; and then, thinking that I should perhaps get on better alone in distributing my few remaining Scriptures, I intimated to our cicerone that I need not trouble him further. But he said the Governor had told him not to leave me, so that he was probably a spy. 1 FROM Kl r LDJA TO A LTYX-LMMEL. 263 managed, however, to give a few Chinese and Mon- golian books, and then prepared to return to the post-house. To this end we chartered a native conveyance, the most uncomfortable ot its kind, without exception, I ever entered ; a two-wheeled cart, without springs or seat, and with an awning, against which one's head was constantly in danger ot striking. It served us, however, to the post-station, and we, were- driving out ot the town when a Chinese officer and interpreter came dashing up to our c:arriage, one ot them carrying' t\\o small canisters ot tea, and saying that since I had so appreciated the ( /ovcrnor s tea, he sent me two canisters tor a present. llis Excellency had apparent!} thawed a little since our visit, or it" he had suspected me as a spy, he seemed to have by this time changed his mind. Anyhow I thanked him lor his gilt, but was at tirst inclined to look thereon as "a \\hit-- elephant.' tor 1 hanlK relished the trouble ot carr\'inj' two canisters 264 RUSSIAA T CENTRAL ASIA. of tea a distance home of 5,000 miles. When I reached Vierny, however, I was told that this yellow tea was of so choice a kind that it is reserved in China for the Emperor and great personages; that now and then Chinese generals sold it to Russian O officers, and that its value was about $os. per lb., whereupon I was reconciled to bringing it to England, but only to give to my friends in small quantities as a curiosity, for my poor taste is not sufficiently educated a la Chiuoisc to appreciate its super-excellence. We reached Chinchakhodzi bv niofht, and found * O the one room of the post-station occupied by a doctor. We were recommended not to proceed in the dark, as the road was bad, but to wait for the rising of the moon, which I did, our company being soon increased by an officer, his wife, wet-nurse and a baby ; so that, rather than attempt going to sleep, I sat up reading and writing, and soon after midnight we sped forward. Early in the morning we crossed the two or three streams of the Khorgos, and breakfasted at Ak-Kent. The next station was far-Kend, that has now become colon i/ed by Dungans and Taranchis who have left the Kuldja province to be under the Russians, rather than remain there to be subject to the Chinese. A wealth}- Taran- chi, who joined Mr. P. in the. steam navigation project of the Hi, has removed from Kuldja to this place, and it is here that corn had to be brought, in iSS^, to supply their immediate, wants; but M. Gourdet tells me: that now the emigrants are quite settled on their new lands, and have so finished their irrigation works that it is expected wheat will be cheaper in this neighbourhood than at Yierny. We. came next to Borokhud/ir. We had succeeded well about horses thus far, but, to make matters still FROM KUJ.DJA TO ALTYN-1MMEL. 265 better, we found awaiting us here, on the frontier of the uyezd, the secretary of the Uyezdi nachalnik. who. through General Kolpakovsky's kindness, had actually come all the way from Kopal to accompany us for the purpose of seeing that we were not delayed through lack of horses. An instance of greater official kind- ness than this I had never met. The secretary took us over the nursery garden in the place, and we then started forward, our cicerone preceding us a little so as to get to the: next station first, and have fresh horses in readiness. The same- evening, at Konor-Ulen, we came again to the station where was the sick tele- graphist, whose kindness to us we returned by leaving him some fruit. Mr. Sevier attended again to the Tatar's tongue, who asked this time what were the books we had sold him, for he could not understand them. After this we reached the steep incline of the pass, up which we hail six horses to drag us, before descending to the station bevond. CHAPTER XIX. FROM ALTYX-IMMEL TO VIERXY. Route over Chulak hills. The Hi bridge.- -Trans-Ili Ala-Tau mountains. View from the steppe. Ala-Tau passes. Jelanash plateau. Fort Vernoe ; its site, climate, and diseases. Appearance of town and houses. Diversity of population ; races and classes. Intro- duction to M. von Ghern. Poor hotel. Mercantile acquaintances and sale of Scriptures. Market prices and local industries. Scriptures for prisons and hospitals. Town schools. Visit to Archbishop. Need of Scriptures and tracts in the vernacular. IT was early on the morning of the ;th September when from Kuldja we arrived at Altyn-Immel. The bulk of my books had greatly shrunk, for every- where the post-masters and others purchased them readily. Accordingly, our boxes repacked, we started for Yierny. Altyn-Immel station is 4,000 feet high, and in four stages we were to descend 2,700 feet to the Hi river. Our road lay over the round-backed spurs of the Chulak hills, and after the second station, Karachekinsk, across immense plains, dotted here and there with Kirghese yourts, and herds. At Chingil- dinsk, the next station, was a spring of water, roofed over in the post-house, that I was taken to see as something remarkable, a veritable treasure, I suppose, in such a region. Here we drank tea, and posted on to llisk, defended FROM ALTYN-IMMEL TO 1'IERXY. 267 by a small fort, and where a ferry took us across the Hi, hereabout 700 feet wide. Future travellers will be able to cross by a bridge. It was to be opened in the spring of 1884, as Major Gourdet wrote me, a wood and iron one built on the American 1 lowe system, 850 feet long, at a cost of about ,{,20,000. M. (iourdet had been sent to Europe to order the ironwork of the structure when I met him at Moscow.' At this river our official companion reached the frontier of his uyexd, and having now conducted us rapidly, and shown us every attention possible, he bade us adieu. Mean- while, we pushed on to Kuntenta, after passing which 1 learned the use of sending on the wagonette ahead. I had insisted on this alter our former mishap : and at about two o'clock on the morning of the 8th we; overtook our vehicle, out in the cold, come to an utter standstill, one of the wheels having gone not a little wrong, but having fallen entirely to pieces. \\ e could only trot forward in the tarantass to the next station, Ivara-su, where- the good-natured post-master lent us a wheel to recover the broken-down vehicle, and allowed ' I he weight ot inm i.-. i ^o tons, and n>nsi->t> of UK) tubular pillar-^ and 7,000 bolts. M. (iounlet mentions an intm-Miii:; fact about the metal namely, that a rod of iron of ij> inrlies, with a sertion ot I ><|iiare inrli, supported an elongation of i _' inrhes betoiv breaking under a weight of _s tons ; to which ^hould be added, that on a< eonni of the testing machine bein^' .1 very primitive one. (lie tension was not made in the plane of the axis of the I jolt , so tha; i: wa-< before breaking bent at an an^le of about i> . It \\as JUM at the bend thai the bolt broke, showing thai, it the tension had 1 teen quite vertical, i; would have borne more than j^ tons weight. The pillar- are made ot , ; -inch sheet- iron, die ijnaliiy ot \\hich may be eMimaied trom o;n- oi tiie -liee!>, having been folded, cold, like a piece o| pa]>er, :.< .. at no . u iihoii; the least >i-'n of cracking. llol,^ i in, h in d : ameier have been |MI;I. h.-d at a distance ot' i of an inch trom one an>>dier, and ih'- narro\\ partition ;- left i|iiite clean and eti'ire. wilhon; an\' ir.h ''1 br-Mk:;!^. M. ( m'.ird" 1 ! then add-. " I do not >uppo>i' there ;- miii 1) iron e\f ^iand ihat can ri\'al i hi-- t roin X :;m I'a^'il." 268 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. us to take it on loan to our destination. When I offered this man books, he inquired whether he was obliged to purchase them. He did so, however, upon being assured that he was a perfectly free agent. \Ye now set off on our last stage across plains, from which we could see Vierny a long, long way distant among trees, and behind it, rising in majestic grandeur, the snowy peaks of the Trans-Ili or southern Ala-Tau. This range consists of two long, high, and parallel chains. The northern, of which we had a good distant view as we drove along the plains, presents an uninterrupted mountain mass, rising to an average height of S,6oo ieet, and in its central portion to the limits of perpetual snow, but falling somewhat lower at either extremity, and, finally, in its eastern section, broken by the gorge of the River Chilik, and afterwards by the Charin. Tal-Cheku, the highest peak, has an elevation about equal to that of Mont J>lanc, and its snows are visible for more than 30 miles ; and, in addition, we could see many heights with snowy patches, fully entitling the- range to its name: .-I la-Tan I- ROM ALTYX-1MMEL TO I'IKRXY. 209 or the spotted mountain. The porphyritic forelands an; small in comparison with the height of the ridge itself. I ntil comparatively recently, not only the slopes, but also the lower spurs ot these mountains were covered with thick forests. Now grass alone grows on the summits, and the clear, bright emerald green of this mingles with the dark green of the few tir-trees that remain on the hill-tops. Rain often tails in the mountains, causing them to be veiled in dark mists, which, as they rise upwards, become whiter, taking all manner of quaint and fantastic forms, and finally melt away. 1 he spectacle presented by the lower spurs in spring, as described by both Kostenko and Morgan, is said to lie very beautiful ; especially the. Almatinka valley when its apple-trees are white with blossom, mingling with the delicate pink of the apricot bloom. At this season, moreover, the nomads set tire to the old grass in order to help the growth of the new, and the heavens become red with the glow of the flames, filling the neighbourhood with waves of light. Later on, tin- steep declivities, clothed with luxuriant LM'ass, arc- stained with dark-red beds of pu-onies. and from the ground, coloured with purple and lilac irises, shoot up tall (lower-stalks of lilies and hollyhocks. 1 hi^ chain is crossed by live passes, of which three than the Stelvio, the highest in Kurop elevated being that ot Almata at io.ot>i which there opens to tin- traveller's view t In chain of the Ala- I au, with an average hei feet. Between the low portions ot the northern .tiid southern ranges, north of the Lhihk extends the 2;o RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. Jelanash plateau, 5,300 feet high.* In the Ala-Tau mountains fir-trees are most abundant; then, in lesser quantities, apple, apricot, jida, ash, juniper, and birch. Here, then, are materials to justify the remark of Kostenko, that however beautiful are the Ala-Tau mountains as seen from the plains, the scene in the mountains themselves is yet grander and more strik- ing. The luxuriant growth in the valleys and gorges, the streams, as they burst forth seething between their rugged banks, the paths and tracks winding like serpents over the precipices, all combine to form views changing at each step forward as in a kaleidoscope, and each prospect appearing more striking than the one preceding it. The Russians built Fort Vernoe, changed afterwards to Vierny, but at first called Zailinsky, in 1854, on the spot where in the Middle Ages stood Almata. This place was then known to the whole trading world, and was a station on the <_rreat road from Central Asia to o China. Fort Vernoe was at first the centre of the administration of the Ala-Tau district, but subsequently became the provincial town of Semirechia. The oldest name of the place was derived from that of a little stream 7 feet wide by 6 inches deep, the Almatinka, so called because its mountain sources are thickly clothed with apple and apricot trees. The volume of * Judging- by the geological character of the soil, this plateau, Kostenko says, was at some time an enclosed mountain basin, which in a long period of time was gradually filled up by an accumulation of sand, mud, and pebbles, all of which formed a weakly-cemented conglomerate at the bottom of the mountain lake, filling the basin. Gradually increasing accumulations at last seem to have raised the level of the \vaterto such an extent that it broke through its mountain enclosure, and found an exit when; the (Jhilik and Cliarin now How. The bed of the lake then formed the felanash plateau, the soil of which is so friable, and so little firm, that the rivers Merke, Kegen, and Kurkara, that How by it, have cut themselves beds from ~oo to 800 feet deep. FROM ALTYN-IMMEL TO 1'IKRXY. 271 water in the stream is annually diminishing, partly because of the destruction of forests at its source, and partly because the waters are diverted into canals for irrigation. Two other small streams How through the town, and with the Almatinka empty themselves into the Hi. The town lies at a height of 2,500 feet, and enjoys a warm, healthy climate.* We had heard in the north of the delights of Vierny, and, as we drove along the Hat and painfully uniform plain, were looking forward to our arrival with plea- sure. \Ve reached the town before midday on the 8th September, and drove to Aliken's 1 lotel, where, the best room being engaged, and the remaining one utterly dirty and uninviting, we made off to another inn to inquire? for quarters. Here we heard oi two French gentlemen, said to be: travelling tor pleasure and sport, who had gone to Issik-Kul, and tor whom the room was retained. \Ve were told we might have it on condition ot turning out when the Frenchmen " Thf summer heals rise t<> + <)<) "s in I lie shade. The climate, however, is bee. lining severer every vear, owin^' probably to the |o ot toreM-,. 'I' lie a verai^e temperature in i So i was .p| '0, whilst tin- town ol Marseilles, on nearly the same parallel, has an average temperature ot + ^~ '.(-'. lleiiee cherries, peaches, and oranges ripen there, but do no; J^T, >w at Vierny. The vine, however, has been introduced with some MICCC-,-,. Apple^ ripen in the bei, r iniiiiiu;' <>t August, apricot-, in the latter halt ot June, and barley and wheat in |uly. The prevailing \\ind- are north- wesi and east. The former comes from the I'.alklia^h. and rai-e-^m clouds thi' sand of the steppe, brin^'in^ also I'o^-s. I'lie ea-terly wind is more frequent in spring. In summer the heal i-> scarcely In-arable during the day. but t he proximity of the snow-clad peak-, ensure- cool evenings and nights. The sudden change-, ''t teni|)eiMt lire ^i\e r;-,.- to intermittent levers, that constitute the prevailing ^ickne---, ot the p! ice. I hiring the summer, bowel lomplaiu'-- inu-l be ad led. caused b\ the immoderate u->e ot unripe truit, beside-, \\liieh all k:ad-, ot !;i:ii and impurity are either allowed to remain before the IIOUM--, or are turown into i he -,ir. -am. I'he K dm ik -. in ia\ o 1 ,\ a i n '<'\ :a t h rid nei^'h' ion 1 hoi >d. are ,- ' ' >- \ , 1 f >r : iv:: - e\ r n A t r ot ch- inline- 272 RUSSIAN CENTRAL AST A. returned ; but as the chamber was in painful proximity to a billiard-room, from the noise of which it seemed likely disturbances might come, we returned to the previous hotel, and took the room with the promise that we should very shortly move upstairs when the occupant of the best room departed. The establish- ment had, however, one good feature about it a Russian bath, of which we availed ourselves imme- diately, and then proceeded to see the town and make some calls. \Ye hired a droshky at the very moderate tariff of jld. an hour, and found that the town straggles over a wide area. There is the station Almatinka, forming the old part of the town, the settlement of Almatinka, the Tatar suburb, and new Vierny, the last built since [870, and to which we drove through straight, wide, and fairly level streets, bordered thickly on either side of the footway with double rows of poplars. The older portions of the town, regularly laid out, are entirely built of red hr wood, whilst in the new town are several houses of brick, including the Governor's and the Archbishop's palaces, and the adjacent gyuiiiasc, all of them designed, it I mistake not, by M. Gourdet, a French architect in the Russian service, to whom 1 have alluded. The Governor's house, with its offices and gardens, occupies a whole " quartal," or square. There is also outside the town a public garden, with greenhouses and (lowers, also a pavilion lor music and dancing, supper and cards.* * According to Kostenko, there were in Vierny, in iungan>. and Faranchis, who came Irom Kuld|a alter the Vi H.. I. 1 S 274 XCSSSAtf CENTRAL ASIA. Chinese devastation of 1864, who do all the menial work, and some of whom have been baptized. Lastly, there are Jews and Chinese, come for purposes of trade.* By the kindness ot M. Gourdet I had been furnished at Moscow with an introduction to M. Vladimir von Ghern, the Procurator Fiscal, or examining magistrate at Vierny, upon whom we called on our first afternoon, and received a hearty welcome. This gentleman had been in Central Asia for some years, and had taken an intelligent interest in the people and country. He was * The following is a summary of the population of Vierny according to races and occupations : Males. Females. ' Total. Hereditary nobles . . . 109 46 155 Individual nobles . ] 71 52 123 Citizens of note ..... j 8 5 13 Clergy ...... i 8 12 20 Merchants . . . . . .174 107 281 Burgesses . . . . . . 1,176 J j3o6 2,482 Peasants . . . . . . 1 174 101 275 Colonists ...... 5 3 Military class ..... 2,512 250 2,762 Cossacks ...... 2,048 !>839 3^87 Soldiers retired and on unlimited leave 583 j8o 763 Sarts ....... 459 106 505 Chinese ...... Q 3 12 Kirghese ...... 271 132 403 Kaimuks . . . . . . 385 226 (>n Other persons . . . . . 104 83 277 Total . . 8,186 4,451 12.657 One noticeable feature about the population is the large number of males in excess of females. Tn 1871 then" were for every ino men 54 women. In 1865, forever}' io<> men there were only 43 women. The number of births and deaths among the Russian population for 1871 was 596 and 485 respectively, the excess of births over deaths being in the case of males 45, and of females 68. These are the latest full statistics within my reach, but according to a census of Yierny and its suburbs, taken three years before my visit, it appear-, that the popula- tion of both was found to be 14,837. exclusive of the troops, and with these added the figures amounted to 18,425 souls. FROM ALTYN-IMMEL TO VIERXY. 275 a collector of Chinese and other curiosities, and of ob- jects of natural history. He had some Chinese arrows of state, jade ornaments, and Chinese spectacles of stone, rubies, and other gems. He not only gave me a great deal of information, but also presented me with some skins and skeletons tor the British Museum, also with an old Bokhariot camel whip, made of maral skin, woven over with brass win- ; a Kara-Kirghese knite of native manufacture, and some Kirghese threads, called tarainiss, made from the tendons of horses' legs. When, therefore, we had dined at his house, and learnt such particulars as we wished to know concerning the town, we returned to our hotel feeling somewhat more at home. But the so-called "hotel " was a sorry place, its staff consisting of two men one to sell spirits at the bar, and the other, who had been a soldier, to act as waiter, chambermaid, and factotum. The latter was of Jewish nationality, dirty and unkempt, called hither and thitluy by da}', and more than once .what is very unusual in a Jew; muddled by liquor at night. On one of these half-drunken occasions he confided to us that the hotel had been built and was owned by a man who came to the place a private soldier, and now possessed I know not how main' thousands of roubles, and "the reason he gets on so well,' said he, "is because he doesn't gamble and drink"; and then he stammered out. "No more do I, and that's why he keeps me. I'oriunately tor us we had found a firm friend in M. von (jhern. who insisted upon our coining every dav to his house to dinner, so that the samovar with hot water, and such things as we could purchase in the town, were nearl\ all we had to trouble our waiter tor. Karlv the next mnrniiV' we received a visit from 276 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. M. Ivan Ivlampivitch Pargatchevsky, a tea merchant, to whom I had an introduction from, I think, his former employer at Kiakhta. He seemed honoured by the introduction, and nothing could exceed the old man's eagerness to do for us all he possibly could. He brought me white bread, sent to an outlying village to procure good fresh butter, not easily obtainable in Vierny, and so entered into my scheme for the distri- bution of the Scriptures, that he begged me to send him five pounds' worth to circulate as widely as possible by sale at catalogue prices! He seemed pleased to meet one who had been to Kiakhta, and told me he was the first to propose the bringing of tea up the Amur, and across the Trans-Baikal steppe, instead of over the Mongolian desert. Another mercantile friend whose acquaintance we made was a German named Berg, whose cook had the reputation ol being the best maker of bread in the town, so that the master appeared before me in the character oi a baker, though his lawful calling was that of a watchmaker. I was also informed that, being a Lutheran, he acted as deputy for the pastor in baptizing Protestant children. YVe received a visit likewise from the police-master, who came to take us to see the prison, and afterwards to the cattle-market, which presented a lively appearance with men for the most part mounted, and talking I know not how many tongues, where also I took the prices of sundry animals. For camels they asked from /5 to /,6, and for horses from $os. to ^ 10 each. Sheep were valued at from 7^. to los. ; a four-year-old cow at 24^. ; and a goat at $s. 6rf. Greenmeat lor cattle sold for 4 jr. a small cartload. Beet, I heard Irom Madame von Ghern, cost from \d. to i \d. per lb., mutton rather more, and veal from 4^. to 5^. perlb. Chickens fetched FROM ALTYN-IMMEL TO I'IRRNY. 27- 5^/. each, and clucks is. 3^. a couple. Ascending in the scale, servants on board-wages received from lo.v. to i2s. a month, and a coachman \ a month, whilst house rent was exceedingly dear. So, a^ain, for things O y O O imported from Petersburg, M. von Ghern considered that, if they paid for an article only half as much again as it cost, it was not dear.* It was a comfort, however, to the Russian inhabitants, that if they wanted goods from Petersburg, from which they were distant 3,i-|3 miles, they could have them sent by parcels' post at the rate of 9^. per pound, or by heavy transport at the rate ot 4-lc/. per pound. As we approached Yierny we overtook many cart- loads of melons making their way to the town, and the O J number of melons we saw in the market was surprising. M. von. Ghern gave us a water-melon for dessert as big as the: largest of English pumpkins, and he said that water-melons had been brought to the town weighing as much as 30 Ibs. They have also at \ ierny a smooth melon raised from Kuldja seed. Melons and water-melons are sold lor the moderate price ot ns. a hundred, and can be kept tor use up to Christmas. In the market we also bought grapes, and, still belter, small but luscious nectarines, the latter tor a halfpenny each, of which, as I sat over my writing at night. I ate so main' as to alarm Mr. Sevier, whose medical KoMenko u,n\vs the following li->t <>!' price-, in Vienu market : Rye tli Hi r, .) roubles a //// of }_> | ib>., or _>.v. \ it/, per ewt. ; I hi- -a me < |ii.ri: ity ut" wheat llour, yV. 2.\. ()-/. ; a gallon of ,pirits, jv. i;./. ; a pound ot houey. ; '. ; a ton of bar iron, _/,"v>- I'ay of a workman />/ //' ;>i , bv hiin-eh'. j '. : with a hor>i\ is. \nv- ai: ^:ri--. j. i'av:-h -rhuul a: Almatinka. \\ith j> !>"\-. ,. A Mu--i:!:na;; -l n; '1:< Tatar -uburl) with ~o pupil-. uiuliT a mullah. ;. AM i:Mi.--;r;.il -i h >.. \\ith _> ; pupil-, I'm- Irarnin^ irailr-. >. s"l nt' li.irrii'uhun-. \\ :- pupii-. lanliT a x'artli-iitT tr. >in ihr t 'rimra. '. An a. a. !'-;ay t"f \\ >:i\<'-.\ ~ An ai'.'uli'inv ti >r nirn. 280 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. and the foundation of a cathedral is also laid. The bulk of the people are of the orthodox faith.* On Sunday afternoon we went to see Alexander, Arch- bishop of Turkistan and Tashkend. Opposite his door was a large Buddhist bell. When ushered into his Grace's reception-room I was fairly taken aback at the furniture, the number of curiosities and pictures, and the taste with which they were arranged. On the wall were Italian paintings ; on the tables photo- graphic albums of Rome, and curios from the cata- combs and Prague ; from China and Japan coins and talismans, as well as antiquities from Lake Lssik-Kul. But what was more remarkable for a Russian eccle- siastic, there was a good library, and in it Bibles in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin such a thing, I was told, as was possessed by no other priest in Turkistan. I had been before into the houses of Russian priests and bishops, but had never seen anything to equal this, and the Archbishop's story soon showed that it was due to foreign influence. His grace was a widower, who, alter losing his wife, had become a monk, and passed through the academy. He had served as priest in Petersburg, had been a member of the Russian Mission at Peking, and also chaplain at Rome. With great glee he showed me some rare and curious books FROM ALTYN-IMMEL TO VJERXY. 2*1 against Popes and Romanists found on the bookstalls of Rome, and which he regarded as spoils from the Philistine's camp. He spoke Italian fluently, and Chinese, but French, unfortunately tor me, he had almost forgotten. He had a splendid collection of Central Asian photographs, and gave me some in ex- change tor others I was to send from Kngland. These have since served me in good stead for engravings. It must not be imagined, however, that the: Archbishop counted his income by thousands. 1 was told it did not probably exceed /, 300 a year, and very many of the things I saw were presents, and the curios had been picked up in odd places at comparatively little cost. I should gladly have had much conversation with him, especially about the Russian Church, con- cerning which, from having seen other religious communities abroad, the Archbishop could form a better estimate than many of his confreres. 1 referred to the sad lack of preaching therein, whereupon he mentioned the harassing regulation that a priest before preaching a sermon must write and send it tor approval to the censor, but he- thought it likely, nevertheless. that preaching would revive in the Russian Church ; saying that, as a matter of tact, many priests do now expound the Gospel tor the day in the churches or in private houses. I he old gentleman gladly showed us his treasures, and, had his strength and our time per- mitted, he would have entertained us longer, but we had to go to M. von Ghern's, close 1>\, tor our last dinner at his hospitable board. My host was delighted to see the Kirghoe New Testaments 1 had brought. He hail sonic doubt. however, as to whether the translation was in the pure dialed ot the people, though he did not 282 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. they would be unable to read it. I afterwards had a similar opinion given me by some of the Kirghese themselves, who said it contained several Tatar words.* I could hear of no books whatever in pure Kir- ghese, and was told that a translation of Scriptures and the simplest of tracts for the Kara- Kirghese, estimated at upwards of 250,000, and the Kazaks would be highly appreciated ; as also for the Taranchis and Kashgarians, estimated at from perhaps 2,000,000 to 3,000,000, and of whom 4,000 or 5,000 come yearly as summer workmen into Semirechia. On my return I brought the matter before the Committees of the o Religious Tract and the British and Foreign Bible Societies ; with what result has yet to appear. Thus we had a refreshing rest at Yierny, and made some pleasant acquaintances, and when we left next morning I felt we should have cause to look back o thereon as one of the green spots of our journey. * J have subsequently learned its history to be this : A version of the Scriptures, in plain Turkish, was published in Oxford in 1666, having been translated by Mr. Seaman, chaplain at Constantinople. This, however, was found to be too Constantinopolitan to be readily understood by the Tatars, who speak a purer Turkish without the circumlocution and foreign words adopted by the Turks of the capital. Seaman's version served, nevertheless, for a basis on which Mr. Bruntin, a Scottish missionary, prepared another version, in Turkish, restored to its pristine simplicity, tor the Tatar tribes about the Caspian, and that was called, from the place where it was printed, the Ivarass version. So well acquainted was Mr. Bruntin with the language, and so pure and idiomatic was his style, that the Tatars regarded him as a renegade Turk, lie died whilst tin- work was going through the press, but the edition was finished by his fellow-missionary, Mr. Fra/er, in 181,5. Five years later Mr. Fra/er accommodated this Karass version to the idioms and spelling of the Kirghese at Orenburg", the Gospel of Matthew being printed in 1818, and the whole of the New Testament in 1820, at Astrakhan, at the expense of the Russian Bible Society. It was this version, I believe, that 1 took with me as " Kirirhese." CHAPTER XX. THE R US SI AX OCCUPATION ()/<* SKMIRECHIA. Russians on the Irtish not troubled at first by Kir^hese. Kir^hese occupation of Sun^aria and MibmisMon to Russians Conciliation and trade at Semipolatinsk. Suppression of Kir^hese robbers and annexation of the steppe. Pioneers into Central Asia. Founda- tion of Ser^iopol followed by scientific' discoverv.- -Submission ot Great Horde and foundation of Kopal. Opening up to trade ot the Hi valley. Atkinson's travels. Russian advance to Trans-Ili region. - Progress of trade and Russian administration. Coloni/a- tion of Semirechia. Exploration of the Thian Shan, aided by feud> of the KirLj'hese. Consolidation of Russian administration. -\\'ar with the Khokandians. I I L X the Russians invaded Siberia at the end ot the sixteenth century they were not at lirst troul)led by the Kiridiese Ka/aks, \vho at that time- were united under one khan reio-nino- in the town ot Turkistan. In the following century they were ruled by Tiavka, the. khan to whom, Mr. Iloworth thinks. may most reasonably be traced the threefold division of tlie Ka/aks into the Little, the Middle, and the ( ifeat hordes. These divisions were at lirst. perhaps, merely administrative, but dunne; the Liter years ot 1 lavka the hordes became more or le^s mdepcndent tribes, governed by theif o\\n princes, and this dismte ^ration became the more complete when the Sun^anan khan ot the Kalmuks, alter infhctme. upon the ka/ak^ 284 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. several defeats, took from them their capital of Turki- stan, and to a large extent drove them from their old quarters. So early as 1718 we have Tiavka, Kaip, and Abulkhair, each styled " khan," appealing to the Russians in Siberia, and offering submission, in the hope, no doubt, of receiving assistance against their inveterate foes the Kalmuks. Thirty years later we find the Kazaks coming to Semipolatinsk, where orders had been issued not to take from them customs' dues on account of their herds, brought to the Upper Irtish forts to be bartered for corn. So long, however, as the Kalmuks dominated the Irtish, the Kazaks seem to have kept at a respectful distance ; but immediately after the slaughter of the former in 1/58, the Kirghese hastened to appropriate the vacant pastures, dividing them under the rule of sultans. Thus Sultan Ablai settled on the streams Tchar-K urban and Kyltchatz, and Abdul Faiz in that part of the steppe west of the Irtish, known later as the districts of Kar-karaly and Kokpety. Others, again, wandered between Omsk and Ust-Kamenogorsk, some of whom, in 1758, made a raid on the Russian frontiers, and carried off 220 Tatars from the district ot Kuzrietzk. The Sultan Ablai, chief of a part of the Middle horde, coquetted with both Russians and Chinese, and, depending now on one and now on the; other, assumed the title of khan, and gave the Siberians some little trouble ; but Sultan Abdul Faiz, in i 760, sent ambas- sadors to Petersburg, promising to protect caravans from Central Asia going to Semipolatinsk, asked to be taken under Russian sovereignty, and tor permission to trade at Semipolatinsk. This request was granted, and for the Kazaks was built the new exchange 10 miles above the old fort. It was surrounded by THE RUSSIAN OCCUPATION Ol- SKM1RECHIA . 2,S, palisades, and had a guard-house for the military, near which was a peculiar signal tower on lour high posts, the upper part being tilled with brushwood, to be ignited as a beacon tire. I o this exchange the Kirghese under the jurisdic- tion ot Abdul Faiz came, in 1705, to the number of 1 20, thereby fulfilling one object the Russians had in view in building it, namely, to checkmate: the Chinese, who opened a trading depot in Sungaria, hoping thereby to attract the Kirghese to their sovereignty. 1 he Russians afterwards transferred the: whole ot the town of Semipolatmsk to the new site, a portion ot the traders being located in a suburb on the lett bank ot the Irtish, where the Tashkendians and Bokhariots were lodged. About a quarter of a century later, two other quarters were built on the same side ot the river tor the Kirghese, who had manifested a desire to settle, and to whom was granted, in i SoS, 10 years' freedom from taxes. 1 hus the Cossacks found the: Kirghese more peace- able neighbours than the Kalmuks. and more pliable, so that they coulel attorel to adopt towards them a pohc\ of conciliation. Supposing their new />/'<>/<_'>< '\ to be Mussulmans, the most Christian and orthodox Russians, in 17^4, went so tar as to pay mullahs to spread over the steppe the creed ot Muhammad, and three years later, tor the further benefit of their Islamite subjects, o rile, red the Koran to be published; anel though the government was at this time sending into exile dissenters, like the /liik/iobor/si, who dared to ditter fr< >m the Church on the subject ot the Trinity. the\ yet paid ignorant mullahs to proclaim " 1 here is bu: one ( 1111.1, and Muhammad is llis prophet. Maud in hand with this inconsistent propaganda \\ent on a more 286 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. or less systematic reconnoitring of new ground for future occupation. The Russian merchants gave credit to the Kazaks, who came to Semipolatinsk, and were consequently obliged to go on the steppe to collect their debts, being allowed to do so, how- ever, only by permission of the chief of the Siberian line, who, when permitting the traders to go, says Zemlianitsin, " invariably entrusted them with some secret inquiries regarding the condition of the steppe people." These merchants always took with them, if only for current expenses, an inconsiderable quantity of Russian goods, which helped towards the growth of a trade that afterwards developed largely. In 1807 new regu- lations were issued for the further extension of export trade. For some time, however, the Semipolatinsk authorities endeavoured to confine the barter trade to the new exchange, opposing so strongly the going ot merchants on to the steppe as sometimes to take away their account-books, declaring also that the continued stay of the merchants and their agents afforded oppor- tunities for intrigues with the Kirghese women, that led to quarrels and pillaging. In Semipolatinsk a frontier court was established in 1800 for the trial of cases with reference to the plun- dering of caravans by the nomads, where sat, side by side with the Russian commandant, Kazak elders. This court either cited the offenders and decided the affair leniently, or, having seized the culprits, exposed them to the severity of the Russian criminal laws. Thus the Russians were compelled to allow their new subjects to feel the weight of their arm, as well as to taste the sweets of their clemency. Ten Cossacks were supplied to each caravan proceeding southwards THE RUSSIAN OCCUPATION ()/' SEMIRECHIA. 287 through Bukhtarminsk or Semipolatinsk ; and under the command of General Glasenap, that is from icSoS-19, 10 regiments of the line and 9 batteries ot field artillery were employed in subduing the Kirghese marauders, who were at last so reduced to subjection that not only caravans but even solitary travellers could proceed safely through the country. Somewhat later, parts of the steppe west ot the Irtish began to be brought under Russian administra- tion. In 1827 Cossacks were stationed in Kokchetat ( i 7 years before the formation of the okrug of that name) and Karkaraly, and about five years later the okrugs of Akmolinsk and Baian-Aul were formed. In the latter a smelting foundry for silver was built in 1849, but things did not proceed to the permanent satisfac- tion apparently of the Tchubarpaly clan of Kirghese. who in 1855 wandered away from Karkaraly to the mountains of Khokand, whilst in 1838 Akmolinsk had to be vigorously defended by fourscore Cossacks. The Russians had now set their faces aggressively towards the unknown south unknown, that is, to Europeans. As far back as 1793 a ray of scientific light had been thrown on the mysterious Sungarian country by the Russian botanist Sivers, who penetrated to the Tarbagatai mountains, whither no scientific traveller followed him for 40 years. About the- same time. however, the mining engineer Sneghirclf penetrated to Chuguchak searching for gold ; and in the archives (it Omsk are said to be preserved documents recording a wonderful journey accomplished by a gentleman named Madatof, who left Semipolatinsk in the early years ot this century, passed Issik-Kul. crossed the Celestial Mountains, and penetrated safely to India. In 1821 Bubeninof, a merchant, went from Semipolatinsk to 288 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. Kashgar; and so again, in 1826, Mr. K. A. Meyer reached the Arkat mountains, the Chingiz-Tau, and the Karkaraly district of the steppe. Two years later the illustrious Humboldt came to this region, but his utmost limit was the Chinese picket of Baty on the Irtish, and did not embrace Sungaria at all. Humboldt collected at Semipolatinsk several itineraries from Asia- tic traders, and with the help of these, and materials derived from Chinese sources, was able to make some shrewd guesses respecting the geography of Central Asia, concerning which so little was then known. In 1831 the Russians founded Ayaguz, that after- wards became the chief town of an uyezd, and the name of which was changed to Sergiopol. It was about this time that a portion of the Great Horde, under Sultan Sink, son of Ablai Khan, gave in its submission, which helped to render not only Lake Balkhash, but also the mountain districts of Sungaria, more accessible to travellers, so that in 1834 the astronomer Federof was enabled to reach the mouth of the Lepsa, and to determine its geographical position. He also visited the southern shore ot Lake Zaisan, and made a trigo- nometrical survey of the Tarbagatai. A little later the relations of Russia with the Kinjhese o hordes became more satisfactory, and in 1840-1-2 the learned travellers Karelin and Schrenk penetrated to the snow-clad Sungarian Ala-Tau. Karelin explored the wild valleys of the upper courses of the Lepsa, Sarkan. and Baskan rivers, as high as the sno\v-line. An account of the plants collected by him was published at Moscow in 1842. Schrenk revealed to science the Ala-Kul, crossed over the Sungarian Ala-Tau to the Chinese side, and attained to the upper course of the Tentek. His limit eastwards was Chuguchak, and in TJIK R I' SSI AX OCC^frATIO^' ()/' SEMfRECIflA. 289 other directions the hills skirting' the Koksu river, and, south-west of the Balkhash, the River Chu. The voluntary submission ot the remainder of the Great Horde in 1844 led to another Russian advance. In 1846 the Governor-General of Western Siberia, Prince Gortchakoff, founded, on a fertile plateau at the base of a snow-capped spur of the Ala-Tau. the town of Kopal, and in the following year 14.000 peasants, inhabiting 42 villages between the mountains and the Irtish line, were, constituted Cossacks. This building of Kopal ensured the development of the existing relations of Russia with the neighbouring Chinese province of Hi, where at that time the trade suffered from its contraband character, the Chinese ot the west being able to have dealings with the Russians only under a semblance: of dealing with the Kirghese. This led to the mission, partly diplomatic and parti}' geological, ol K. P. Kovalevski, accompanied by Vlangali, an officer of mining engineers. The ex- pedition skirted the northern side: of the Sungarian Ala-Tan, to the valley and upper sources of the Koksu, and then crossed over the range to Kuldja. The opening-lip of the western Chinese- region con- tributed largely to the increase of our knowledge of the geography of Asia, inasmuch as it involved the sending of two Russo-Chinese scholars (one ot them M. /akharof) to these towns in the capacity of consuls. 1 wo years alter the foundation of Kopal, the to\\ n was visited by the artist Atkinson. thi-fnM Englishman to 'penetrate to these regions, who did so with hi-, courageous bride. lie visited many valleys of the Sungarian Ala-Tau, Lake Ala- Kill, the Tarbag.itai. the rivers Xarym and Kurchum in the southern VOL. i. I 2 9 o RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. Altai, and, he says, many thousand versts of Chinese Sungaria.* The town of Kopal was supposed to be built for the protection of the majority of the Great Horde, now be- come Russian subjects, from the Buruts, or the so-called Black or Dikokamenni Kirghese, who frequented the valley of Lake Issik-Kul and the neighbourhood of the sources of the Hi. Kopal was situated, however, on the northern confines of the horde, whose southern boundary beyond the Hi was quite unprotected. To remedy this, and with a view to securing the left flank of the Kirghese steppe by making it conterminous with the peaceful frontier and natural snowy boundary of China, General Hasford conceived the plan of occu- pying the so-called Trans- 1 li country, extending between the river and the snow-line of the Trans-Ili Ala-Tan, and this plan was carried out. In 1853 the first Russian detachment was despatched beyond the Hi, where, how- ever, it met with serious opposition from a strong body * Unfortunately for Atkinson's reputation, M. Semenoff, who went over a large part of the ground less than 20 years afterwards, has thrown some polite, but very ugly, doubts upon the veracity of this part of his predecessor's story. Mr. Atkinson's narrative is singularly wanting, M. Semenoff complains, in data that a critical mind can lay hold of; but when the author does wish to communicate something a little definite, and locally characteristic, AT. Semenoff says, he falls into numerous incongruities, such, for instance, as seeing from the Tannu mountains Bogda Ola, in the Thian Shan, which is about 750 miles distant! But a more serious objection is that of his 4,000 versts, said to have been travelled in Chinese territory, accompanied by tJirec Naryni Cossacks. M. Semenoff could hear nothing on the spot to confirm this from those who did accompany Atkinson in at least some of his journeys, nor from the officers who provided him escorts, nor was there any record of the alleged protracted absence of the Cossacks, as there ought to have been, in the official archives ; besides which, M. Semenoff was convinced of the utter impossibility of this part of his alleged journey from then existing local conditions on both the Russian and Chinese sides. " Semenoff's Dzungaria." See Journal f the Royal Geographical Society for 1865, p. 219. THE RUSSIAN OCCUPATION O/-' SKM1RECHIA. 291 of Kirghese, belonging to those tribes of the Great Horde, who remained hostile, having for their base Fort Tuchubek, on the River Kesken. But in the following year the whole of the region was occupied by a force: under Peremyshelski, who raxed the Kirghese fort to the ground. After this, more ot the tribes submitted to Russia, whilst others still inimical tied into the territory of Khokand, and to the banks ot the Talas and Syr-daria. The Russian detachment wintered in the sheltered valley of the Talgar, and in the ensuing year, 1855, General Has- tord founded Fort Vernoe. Thus, within a quarter of a century, Russia pushed out her advanced posts to a distance of 600 miles beyond Semipolatinsk, which continued an important centre of trade, for the increase of which several measures were proposed. In 1821 the merchant PopofF had attempted to re-open caravan trade between Semi- polatinsk and Kashgar, and in 1847 another merchant, Golubkotf, printed a pamphlet upon the advantage to Russia of an overland trade- with India ; whilst, seven years later, Tatarinotf. the consul at Chuguchak, re- ported in tavour ot establishing a line ot steam-boats on the Irtish to the Xor Zaisan. and the construction ot a shorter trade route to Chuguchak. through Kokpety and the Tarbagatai mountains. Meanwhile the civil administration ot the Russians was following in the wake of their military proceed- ings. In 1854 there was formed an oblast ot Siberian Kirghese, with its chief town of Omsk, but it was not till iS(>2 that the stanitxa of Akmolinsk. that alter wards gave its name to the oblast. was elevated to the dignity of an okrug town. Concurrently with the formation of the Kipjhese oblast. the town ot Semipo- 292 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. latinsk became the capital of a province, and vigorous measures were carried out for connecting therewith by roads the new outposts. In 1846 the Cossacks had been permitted to carry the post between Ust- Kamenogorsk and Kokpety, and two years later they received 4,4/7 roubles (say ^670, that is reckoning the rouble at $s. at this date) for doing the same to KopaK and a like sum, six years later, for maintaining the postal service between Kopal and Yierny. It was not till 1859 that postal communication was established between Sergiopol and Urjar. It was about this time that measures were taken to colonize with Cossacks and peasants the newly- acquired country ; Russia illustrating, in so doing, her happy facility in making, as just beiore she had done in unmaking, a military population. In 1848 the THE RUSSIAN OCCUPATION OF SEMIRECHIA. 29.5 military line between Biisk and Ku/netsk in Western Siberia was discontinued, and its Cossack population changed into peasants. Six years later an Imperial ukase went forth that 200 Cossacks with 200 families ot peasants and exiles should emigrate. The Cossacks were to be taken from Siberian regiments, those wish- ing to emigrate being first invited to volunteer, the remaining number being made up by lot. The first hundred were sent out in 1^55, and the remainder in the year following. Pecuniar}' help was granted to them at the rate of 100 roubles each to the officers, and 55 roubles to the lower grades, whilst for the first three years they were to have regulation rations, forage for horses, and exemption from active service, with increased pay. They were also supplied with accoutre- ments, with seed-corn, returnable in three years, and an order was given that house-keeping utensils should be purchased at the Irbit fair, and supplied to them at reduced prices. I he peasants likewise came from \\ estern Siberia. Kach family received the release from all debts to the government. ^\ kopecks, or rather more than \emg enlisted into the Cossack regiments, 50 roubles was granted to each I ai nily for settling and purchase ot animals, and two years' exemption from active service. In this manner was conducted the colonixing of Lepsmsk with ^,<>oo, and IVjarsk with 1,000 souls, as also of \ierny, the (/migration being organixed and superintended bv Colonels Shanbine and Spiridonotf. 1 he circumstance should also be mentioned that the sums ot money allotted to the settlers were drawn in a manner trom 294 RUSSIAA r CENTRAL ASIA. the Kirghese steppes partly from a surplus accumu- lated under the Governor General in consequence of a short complement of civil officers, and partly out of the revenue on the metal mined in the district. It was only natural that the progress of the Russians into Central Asia -a country that had been so long hidden from scientific eyes should make a stir among lovers of inquiry, and the passion for geographical expeditions was so stirred thereby that in 1845 was founded the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, under whose auspices and at whose cost M. P. P. Semenoff was sent, in 1856, to explore those more acces- sible portions of Central Asia that had previously been little visited. To him belongs the honour of being the first scientific European traveller to ascend the Tengri Tag, though nine years previously the topographer Infantief had crossed the Hi, and compiled an enlarged chart of Issik-Kul, and of the roads leading past it to Kashgar and Uch-Turfan. Also the destruction of the kingdom of Sungaria had led to that country being surveyed for the Chinese by the European missionaries Felix d' Arocha and Hallerstein, by whom trigonome- trical points were determined not only in the towns of Sungaria and Little Bokhara, but also at the: foot of the Thian Shan or Celestial range, and on the southern shore of Issik-Kul. The Russian occupation of the Trans- Hi region had the effect of protecting the Great Horde from the attacks of the Buruts, but placed the nearest tribes in the same position relatively as that occupied 10 years previously by the Great Horde. The: powerful and numerous tribe ot the Bogus, who occupied the picturesque valleys and the tableland between the Celestial Mountains and the Trans- Hi Ala-Tau, T1IJ-: RUSSIAN OCCUPATION Ol- SEM1RKCHIA. 295 received neither countenance nor support from the Chinese (on whom they were nominally dependent), in resisting the tierce attacks of the Sary Boyish tribe, and they had, at the same time, to repel from another quarter the depredatory incursions of some of their neighbours of the Great Horde. Consequently, soon after the Russian occupation of the; Trans- Hi district, the high Manap ot the Bogu tribe, the old Burambai, claimed the assistance of General Hastord against the attacks ot his toes, and voluntarily tendered his sub- mission to Russian government. This led to the despatch of the. first Russian detachment from Yierny to Lake Issik-Kul, tor the. purpose ot pacifying the two contending tribes, and making a reconnaissance of the; valley ot Lake Issik- Kul. Unfortunately, this detachment, in consequence ot its critical position amidst the: marauding mountain tribes, the animosity of one ot which against the Russians was decided, whilst the friendliness of the other was open to much suspicion, was soon recalled, and the surveying parties were unable to penetrate mt<) the interior. Their southernmost point, attained at the toot ot the Thian Shan, was where the Zauku rushes out on the Issik-Kul plateau. I wo months alter the visit ot this tore-mentioned expedition to lssik-K.ul, M. Semenotl set out from \ ierny, and with a small escort ot IJ I ossacks succeeded m reaching the eastern extremity ol the Like, whence he returned to \ierny tor an escort of 4< > Cossacks, and then proceeded through the wild lUiam detile at the upper course ol the C. hu, and emerged on the base ot the ( elestial range, near the western extremity ot the Lake Issik-Kul. Mere he r.ime ujiDii numerous encampments ol hostile tribes. 296 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. who had been recently chastised by the Russians, which caused him to return to Vierny. In the follow- ing spring, however, Semenoff was enabled to realize all his plans. He made a ddtour of Issik-Kul irom the south side, and reached the summit of the imposing and terrible Zauku-Davan pass. He also succeeded in gaining the sources oi the Narym, belonging to the system of the Jaxartes or Syr-daria. Shortly after he penetrated eastwards, and ascended one ot the most elevated mountain groups of inner Asia, that of the Tengri-Tag, 21,000 feet high, crowned with a circle of Alpine glaciers, and covered with a dazzling mantle of eternal snow. M. Semenoff* was accompanied by the topographers Yanof and Varaksin, who worked out the survey to Issik-Kul. On M. Semenoff's return to Petersburg in 1858 the Imperial Geographical Society organized a new expedition, under Captain Golubeff, for the purpose of determining trigonometrical points in Russian Sungaria and on the Lake Issik-Kul, in the execution of which he was able to fix mathematically the geography of the country north of the Hi, and of the Thian Shan near Issik-Kul; but, owing to the southern shore ot the lake being occupied by the hostile Sary-Bogish tribe, he was unable to penetrate into the interior of the Thian Shan. This was effected, however, by Captain \ alikhanoff, the son of a Kirghese sultan, who, in the disguise: of a Khokand merchant, joined a native caravan near Kopal, * Articles on M. Semenot'f's journeys \vere published in Rus>ian in (i) The Journal of the Imperial Geographical Society tor 1856, pp. i8i--2^4; (2) (]} '/'lie Pmcfediiigs <>f the Imperial Geographical Society, i-S^N, 1'ai't x.xiii., pp. i 2.\. and for iS^t,, Fart iv., pp. 243 258; as also in Hni^li^h in (4; (^] Tlic Journal of tlie Royal Geogra- phical Society fur 1861, p. ,556, and 1865. p. 213. K RUSSIAN OCCUPATION OI- SKMlRKClIfA. >^~ and travelled therewith, in 1859, even to Kashgar, in doing which, and returning, he twice; crossed the whole oi the Thian Shan range- between Issik-Kul anel Kashgaria, passing by Lake Chatir-Kul. In the following year, 1860. M. L. Yeniukoff surve-yeel anel mapped the whole of the Issik-Kul country, inclueling the valleys of the Chu anel Koshkur, anel did genie! service in publishing information obtaine-el about Lake Son-Kul, whilst Captain Prot/e-nko made- additions to VeniukofFs work in his surve-y of the; country to the River Xarym at Fort Kurtka, which he desire >yeel. The Trans-Xarym district became 1 part of Russian dominions by the tre:aty of Peking in 1860, by which treaty the frontier line with China was fixed east of Lake; Issik-Kul, along the southern spurs ot the: Celestial Mountains, to the; Khokaiul te-rntory. so inclueling within the Russian boundaries nearly the whe)le; ot the mountainous elistrict south ot the Issik- Kul, which was formed into the Ala- Fan okrug, in 1862, with Yierny lor its chief town. In this mountainous region, wherein are situated the head-waters of the Syr-daria and the Alpine- lakes ot Son-Kul and Chatir-Kul. there yet remained an unex- plored elistrict south of the: Xarym, along the read to Kashgar. To the examination ot this district ( olom-1 Poltorat/ky was sent in 1807. 15. iron ( )sten-Sacken accompanied him, and the- two proceeded over th<' Kastek j KISS almost directly south, past Lake L hatir- Kul, to Teshek-tash. within ;v > miles ot Kashgar.' Haron Osten-Sacken, to whom 1 referred a^ having met him in Pete:rsburL r , is a botanist, and brought back 298 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. numerous specimens of plants, besides mentioning many others. Thus the land occupied by the Kirghese was being gradually annexed by Russian arms, and ruled by Russian administration. In 1867 the oblast of Semi- rechia was formed, including the Ala-Tau and the Sergiopol districts, the whole constituting the most easterly province of Turkistan, and in the following year the oblasts of Akmolinsk and Semipolatinsk were readjusted with new boundaries, the town of Akmolinsk being made into a provincial capital, though the oblast administration and all the chief administration of Western Siberia remained in Omsk ; and so things remained nearly until the time of my visit, just before which Semirechia had been detached from Turkistan, to make, with the two Siberian pro- vinces of Akmolinsk and Semipolatinsk, the General Government of the Steppe. After the subjection of the Kirghese, the Russians had to meet another enemy in the Khokandians. In 1860 troops were sent from Vierny, under Colonel Zimmerman, to seize the Khokandian forts of Tokmak and Pishpek, 1 60 miles distant. This they accom- plished, thereby exasperating the enemy, who collected his forces to an estimated number of 40,000, and tried to take the Russian troops, only i ,000 strong, by surprise. The attempt failed, thanks mainly to the skill of General Kolpakovsky, and the Trans-Ili country was henceforth secured to the invaders. These engagements, however, with the Khokandians from the Irtish line bring us to a foe the Russians had long been attacking on the Syr-daria line, from the direction of Orenburg, which opens up another field of history to be treated in subsequent chapters. CHAPTER XXI. T /f E KIR (.; HE S K . Resemblance of Kirghcse nomads to Hebrew patriarchs. Primeval character of tin- steppe. -Existence there of Biblieal cu>tom-- : whence came they "' Authorities on the Kir^hese. Ktymolo^-y of name. Their sub-divisions, habitat, and numbers. Origin of Kara- Kirj^hese and Kir^hese Ka/ak.s.- Appearance of l\ir^'he>e : their physique, diseases, disposition, and character. -- Their con- scientiousness concerning an oatli. Tlieir distribution, rank--, and _yovernin!Lf autliorit ies. Kir^hese habitations and tomb>. - 1 >re>>es. ornaments, and weapons. I 'I' \v;is with keen interest that I approached the tents of the Kirghese. As a llililical student, it had occurred to me how intensely interesting it \vould he. to witness pt:ople living in a sta^'e ot civili/ation nearly rescMiihling that ot the Ilehrew patriarclis, and I had supposed that this mi^lu lest l>e' Jiccomplishccl l>y a |ourney up the I'.uphrates valley to Palestine. Hut 1 came to the conclusion, alter seeing the K ir^hese, that in them I had met \\ith more truthful representatives ot the manner ot lite of Abraham, Isaac-, and |acol>. than it I had ^one to the soil those patriarchs trod, because the dements ot change have been less busiK at work in the Kiro'hese steppe than in the llol\ Land. Abraham's day tlv Land ot 1'romise ha-^ seen the rise and tall of the (ewish natioiialitx. Later. th,e 300 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. country has been conquered by Assyrians, Egyptians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans ; and now the features of its Eastern life are suggested rather than portrayed by Arab sheikhs, who have long had contact with Turks and Franks. But the Kirghese steppe has not been thus in- fluenced by foreign conquerors to anything like a similar extent, for it lay off the area of the great battle-fields of Central Asia. Maveraunnehar, or the country between the Oxus and Jaxartes, with the Zarafshan valley, has been conquered again and again from the west by Persians, Greeks, Arabs, and Turkomans, and from the east by Chinese, Mongols, and Turks ; but these billows, tremendous as they were, did little more than burst upon the southern shores of the vast northern steppes, of whose history in early ages we know almost nothing. None of the armies from the west pushed their way beyond the Jaxartes, which represented to the old world of Central Asia the boundary between civil and savage life. We do not read of the Chinese generals pene- trating there. Even the creed of Muhammad had failed to lay hold of the Kaxaks, when the Russians ascended the Irtish to meet with a people who had never seen the face of a European, whose only other invading foe perchance had been their neighbouring, perhaps half-brother, Mongols, and who might, there- fore, be supposed to be living \vith the primeval manners, customs, and laws, handed down from their forefathers. It should be remembered, moreover, that a quarter of a century has not yet passed since the Russians could with salety travel to all parts of the steppe, in some portions of which still they number less than one European to a hundred natives. There 7 ///: KIRGHESE. 301 must be masses of these children of the: desert who as yet have scarcely seen, much less lived in. a town ; who neither speak nor have: hearel any language but their own. and who know only their own patriarchal usages and laws ; se^> that, when this is borne: in mind, it will seem probable that in the- Kirghese: may In- witnessed an earlier stage e>f pasteiral life than could be seen in the countries made familiar to us by the Scriptures. I have been the more engrossed with this thought because I discovered still existing in the steppe certain laws and customs that obtaine-d not only in the times ot Moses, but in those- ot the gre-at- grandchildren of Abraham. The: question arises. the:n, Whence came these- laws into the- ste-ppe- ? It from the Koran, matters will be simplified ; but e-ven the:n there- will remain a further quc'stiem whether they are- due to Muhammadan influence: only, or whether they may not anteelate- the: Koran (which has main resemblances, we- know, te> the: Pentateuch), ami e'ome 1 from the Abrahamic time's of which Mose-s wrote- in which case we: are- se-nt back to a very re-mote- past that is lull ol be>th Scriptural ami ethnographical inte-rest. Apart from these problems, moreover, there re:mains the lact that the: Kirghese occupy the: largest territory, and are: the- most numerous ol all the- peoples ot Russian Central Asia. It will there- lore be proper that a space: should be devoted to their consieleratiem.* " Then- are not wanting materials from \\hich inlormation ma\ ! n dra\u;. Not to mention the few Oriental writers, and hurope.m med;, i -\al tra\-ellei's who allude to the Kir^liese, tliere is \\r~-' tin- classical work of I.evshine. much of which, with information added Iroui other source-,, appears in the tomes ot Houorth. and there are ih< simple descriptions of Kirghese custom-- li\ Mr. and Mr--. A" k :: -.>:.. These \\eVc written, liowever with the exception ot llo\\or:h . !>e'oiv the nomad- were so \\ell kuoun te- Kuropean scholars a> iio\\. and ari %i 02 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. The derivation of the word " Kirghese," spelt also Kirgix, Kirgexe, Kirghix, and pronounced by them- selves K y rg y x, has not been very satisfactorily ex- plained. Radloff, whose knowledge of their language has been praised by M. Ujfalvy, derives the word from Kyrk< forty, and 'is, a hundred, there being two tribes so called ; but a commoner etymology is that of Kyrk, forty, and Kyz< maiden, in allusion to a legend about forty girls and a dog, that is told also by the surrounding tribes, and by a Chinese writer as far back as the time of the Mongol supremacy.* They belong to the Turco-Tatar or Altai race, and their two principal divisions coincide with the surface of their territory, the Kara- Kirghese, or Kirghese proper, as they are sometimes called, inhabiting the mountains, and the Kazaks the plains. The Kara (Black) or Dikokamenni (Wild Mountain) Kirghese, called also by Chinese and Kalmuks probably within roach of my readers, so that I have used them but little. 1 have preferred rather to seek information from Russian authors, \vho, to a large extent, have drawn their inspiration from personal observation, as in the cases of Yalikhanoff, at once a Russian officer and the son of a sultan, who travelled as a native among the Kara- KirghcM* ; Rollo, who lectured in the half Kirghese town of Orenburg, with Kostenko and Mayeff, all of whom wrote on the spot for readers who could test the accuracy of their statements by what they saw. M. I'jfalvy's work I have found useful for its anthropology, whiUt through the kindness of Mrs. Telfer, in translating forme Kozloff and ( iotobit/ky, on the laws of the Kirghese and the characteristics of their ^-onys, 1 have become acquainted with information hitherto tmpubli>hed in Hngli^h. It i-, curious to note in connection with this, as ])r. Schuyler points out, the >tory given bv King Hethum, the media-val traveller, of the prop],' living beyond Khatai -that is, east of the region inhabited by he Kir-hr-M-. " 'I'here is," he said, "beyond the Khatai, a country svhere thr womrn have the shape of human brings, and are gifted with speei h ; while the men have that of dogs, and are dumb, large, and hairy, and of whose progeny," he add--, "the males are born in the -hapr of dug.-,, and the female.^ like women. THE KIRGHESE. 30;, Buruts (a Mongolian form ot the plural, as seen in the Yakut, Torgut, Tangut), are sub-divided into two wings, " On " and "So/," that is, right and left among the latter of whom are certain tribes whose names we met with in conflict with the Russians, such as the Sarybaguish and Bogu. These wild Kirghese roam in Semirechia, Ferghana, and Kashgaria that is, in the valleys of the Thian Shan, the Alai, and the Pamir, almost to Tibet and Hindustan. The Kirghese of the plains call themselves (as my friend Mr. Ho worth would have me always call them) " Kazaks," or horsemen (some say fugitive, vagabond, robber), whence is derived the Russian word " Cos- sack. '' They are divided into the Little, Middle, and Great Hordes, each of which is sub-divided into races, the races into tribes, the tribes into clans, and these into aids, or groups of tents, each living in independence.* The number oi the Kirghese can be estimated only by calculating 5 persons to each Kibitka that pays taxes. I I compute them at two and a quarter millions. " These sub-divisions ot tin- Little and Middle Hordes arc ^iven in some detail by Levshine ; but he says little of the (ireat Horde, which in his day (from iS-'o-^r was not much known to the Russians, though Yaiikhanot'f i^ives a short account thereof. The Little Horde occupies the Orenburg steppe, or parts of the provinces of Orenburg, I'ral, and Tur^'ai, and consists ot three races broken up into 2 s tribes. The M iddle Horde inhabits the provinces of Akmolitisk and Semipolatinsk, and Consists of .) races or ^~ tribes, whilst the (ireat Horde nomadi/es in Semirechia, south of Lake Ralkhash and Turkistan, and consists of S race.-., or i<> tribes. IVsides these, M. 1'jfalvv mentions t\\,> modern and less-known hordes- that of I'oukei, or the Inner llnnle. near the Caspian, dating from iSoi, and the Ka/aks of (.'hine.se TurkiMan. The Inner Horde was formed by about 7.000 of the Little Horde, led bv I'ukeief. grandson of Abul- Khair, who crossed the I'rals to occupy the land lett vacant on the flight of the Tor^out Kalmuks. T 1 bus reckoned, says 1 )r. Sclmyler, " there are in all about a million and a half. In the (ireat Horde there are about 100,000 of both -e.xes, in the Middle Horde ^no.oou. in the Lcs>er Horde NKJ.OOO. and the 304 RUSSIAN' CENTRAL ASIA. - The origin of the Kara-Kirghese, Levshine says, is lost in the night of fable and of Turkish history. That they are one of the ancient peoples of Central Asia he argues because in 569 A.D. a Kerkhiz or Kirghiz slave (if this do not mean Cherkess or Circassian, as some think) was given by Dizabul, a Central Asian khan, to a Constantinopolitan envoy returning to Justin II. Abul-Ghazi mentions the power of the Kirghese anterior to the times of Jinghiz Khan, placing their location between the rivers Selenga and Ikar- Mourane.* Chinese historians of the seventh century knew them as Khakas, inhabiting a wide extent of country, and in intimate relations with the Chinese, Arabs, and people; of Eastern Turkistan. In the tenth century the might ot the Khakas declined, and they disappear from history. It is not improbable, Mr. Howorth thinks, that by Khakas, or Hakas, the Chinese meant the Oghuz Turks of the Arab geo- graphers, called Odkhoz by the Nubian geographer. These were apparently the ancestors of the Kazaks, and were, like the latter, divided into three Hordes. In the thirteenth century we again meet with Kirghese, called by the: Chinese-. Ki li-ki-tsi. The movements among the nomad tribes between the tenth and thirteenth centuries seem to have cut the Inner 1 Ionic, pel t< ID Miiail, for according t chapter^. tlif\- >tand thu:- Akmolinsk Seinipolatin^k S''inirerhia Svr- their many paures in few word THK KIRGHESE. 305 Kirghese in two, the greater portion being where the Kara-Kirghese now are, and the remainder in Siberia, on the upper waters of the Yenesei. This latter portion disappeared apparently in the eighteenth century, partly conquered by the Russian colonists, and partly cut off by or absorbed into the Kalmuks. At the end of the century the Kara-Kirghese were subject to the Chinese. Subsequently they came under the dominion of Khokand, but in 1842 they made them- selves practically independent until, as 1 have shown in a former chapter, the disputes of the different tribes, especially those ot Hogu and Sary-Bagysh, caused them, one after another, to ask to be taken under Russian protection. Reclus gives their number at from 350,000 to 400,000. Concerning the origin of the Kazaks, sometimes called Kirghese-Kazaks, Levshine gives no less than seven traditions, the first of which makes them emi- grants from the Crimea, and the third affirms that their ancestors lived on the banks of the Euphrates. If this latter were true, it would help to throw light upon Kirghese customs now obtaining, which were known to the great-grandchildren of Abraham. From the Euphrates this tradition says they were driven by the Turks on the land of the wild Kirghese, to whose khan they submitted, and since he employed them only as " Kazaks " for lighting his enemies, they got the name of Kirghese- Kaxaks i.e., Kaxaks of the Kirghese Khan. Other traditions make them descended from the. Turkish tribes of Central Asi.i and Siberia, that is, from the (ihux or Oghuz of the Arabs, of whom the: Comans of the Russian steppes and the original unsophisticated I urkomans were branches, which is the explanation favoured by VOL. i. 20 306 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. Mr. Howorth, who says that in the second half of the fifteenth century they followed Sultans Girei and Jani Bek to the neighbourhood of the Balkhash, where they were joined by others, and flourished into a community known among their neighbours as Kazaks, or refugees par excellence. Gaining more and more strength, they conquered, in 1598, under their khan, Tevvekel, the provinces of Tashkend and Turkistan, which latter was the seat of the Kirghese dynasty, as I have before mentioned, till they were dispossessed by the Sungarians in 1723. Rather than submit to the Kalmuk khan, the Middle and Lesser Hordes made a despairing movement westwards, drove out the Bashkirs between the Sea of Aral, the Caspian, and the River Ural, and thus became the immediate neighbours of the Russians, to whom they gradually submitted. In appearance, as in geographical position, a Kir- ghese is midway between a Mongol and a Caucasian. M. Ujfalvy corrects M. Girard tie Rialle, who says that the Kara- Kirghese have all the characteristics attributed to pure Mongols. The men are below rather than above the middle stature. The women are almost all short, perhaps accounted for by the hard work to which they are subjected.* * From 11 Ka/aks that he measured, M. Ujfalvy obtained a mean of 5 feet \\ inches, and for 25 Kara-Kirghese 5 feet 11 inches. Of these latter, 11 had ample beards, 15 scanty, and 2 none; whilst of the n Kaxaks, 7 had scanty beards, and 4 none. All the Kaxaks, and all the Kara-Kirghese, except 2, had the skin smooth. The head is not very large, the cranium round or pointed, rather than fiat, and the cheek- bones stand out, though not so sharply as those of Mongols and Kalmuks generally. The skin is bronzed, yellowish, sometimes rather dark, the covered parts being white, especially with the women. Indi- vidual Kirghese of fair countenance are met with, but only rarely. The hair is usually black, sometimes chestnut, dark, glossy, and even stiff. The narrow, obliquely diverging eyes are brilliant and sharp, and in colour THE KIRGHESE. 307 The Kirghese are fairly strong, but clumsy, with slouching gait on foot, though bold riders, excelled in this respect only by the Kalmuks. Their sense ot sight is so keenly developed, that on level ground they can see small objects at seven miles' distance ; and when a European can perceive but the barest outline, the Kirghese is able to distinguish its details, as the colour of a horse, etc. Their capacity for finding their way is not less remarkable ; the smallest elevation ot ground serves a Kazak as a sign he never forgets ; and if there be no mark, the presence oi certain grasses and the direction in which they grow often show him the road. Eye-witnesses relate that, atter having lost the road, a Kirghese has been seen to dismount, tear up a handful of dry grass, and, after smelling it, quietly change his direction. These qualities, says M. Potto, make them useful for reconnoitring duties, but their military valour and courage are doubtful. They are, as a rule, fairly healthy. In the 3,111 cases (including 1,044 females) attended in iSSi by the district physicians of Semipolatinsk, the majority of Kirghese appeared to be suffering from ague, fever, catarrh, and diseases of the stomach and intestines. brown. Lj'rey, and sometimes i^reenish. The' nose is blunt, short, and wide. Lips nearly always thick, and slightly turned outwards ; teeth lar^e or medium, and of incomparable whiteness and beaut)'. The forehead is low, flat, and wide; the protuberance over the eyebrows little marked, and the depression separating the nose from the Isabella is wanting ; mouth lar^e and wide ; chin square and massive : aspect of the face, as a whole, is wide, flat, and angular; ears always lar^e, and standing out. The body is very vigorous, sinewy, and squared ; hand-- and feet Mnall ; muscles strong; calf, almost none; the le^s curved and -dim ; waist thick and short ; mink vigorous; neck short, but often -trolly. A still fuller description of the Kirghese, and of other I'entral Asian races, is j^iven at the end of M. I'jfalvv's volumes in his Table-- of Anthropological measurements, ruled with o^ columns for particular-* of each person measured. 308 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. They suffer also from scurf and skin diseases at the roots of the hair. Some suppose this proceeds from want of cleanliness ; but M. Ujfalvy, and Khanikoff before him, attribute it rather to the constant wearing of a sheep-skin hat. I cannot say who is right, but I have a vivid recollection how, whilst wearing a native hat by night for warmth, when crossing the desert, my head became singularly heated and the skin irritated. In character the Kirghese is unsophisticated, honourable, and brave, until he sees the chance of A KlKI.HKM'l. gain ; and then he is prone to thieving. They are also revengeful. They like to look as if they had control over their tempers ; but let their equilibrium be over- thrown, and then a terrible fury, little short of mad- ness, comes over them. Their capability of bearing physical pain is remarkable, and renders them in- sensible to the sufferings of others, though it should be said, to the praise of the women, that many an unfortunate prisoner has been indebted to them for an amelioration of his fate. The men work hard only THE KIRGHESE. 309 when necessity presses, domestic labour being inva- riably left to the women. Having food and raiment, they are perfectly content, and prefer idleness to work. They are eminently hospitable, and love to hear news, which they are great hands at retailing. The most trivial event gives a Kirghese a favourable opportunity for riding off to the nearest an/, or col- lection of tents, to relate his kJiabcr, or intelligence, to be in ' possession of which is a passport to gain the bearer admission anywhere to eat and relate his story. Some ot his hosts will then make their newly-gained knowledge the excuse for hastening off to eat yet more at a neighbouring an/, and this explains the rapidity with which news is disseminated on the steppe.* The Kirghese are unevenly located through Central Asia. Thus in the province oi Semirechia they amount to 78 per cent, ot the population ; in the Syr- daria province to 62 per cent. ; in the Amu-daria province to only 29 per cent. ; in Ferghana to not more than i 7 per cent. : and in the Xaratshan district to scarce!}' O'2 per cent Those in the mountains may be: called " democrats," testitied to by their name of Kara, or Black. Kirghese. which may be- traced to the * M. I'jfalvy contrasts the Kaxaks favourably with tin.' Sans or settled people of Central A^ia, and >peaks nf the former a--, cheerful, frank, intelligent, and hone>t. They appear, at all events, to keep a conscience, tor frequent appeals are made thereto in the native courts. Should an accused person not plead guilty, and ^hould there be no judicial proofs of hi> L^uilt. the j inline demand-- that a relative of, and on ^ r ood term*- with, the prisoner, cho>en by the plaintiff, should come forward and free the defendant by taking the oath. If he consent to take the oath the accused i-- free : but. on the other hand, if he decline. t he defendant muM pay the penalty. A^ain, in t he calling ot witnesses, only a person of ^ood conduct is admitted as a witness on oath uncon- ditionally. A notorious thief or a "trivolou--" person may not take the oath, whil-t a false xweaivr i- .-uppo-ed to be expelled from the community, and may re< eive from _>> to |o stripes with the riding-whip. 3 io KUSSIAA? CENTRAL ASIA. undistinguished origin of their chiefs, the Manaps, who, according to native phraseology, do not spring of the "white bone" of the sultans. A Manap, how- ever, enjoys great power, especially when he is like- wise a Batyr that is, a brave and dashing leader of marauding expeditions. Beneath the Manaps are the common people, bukJiara. Among the Kazaks the title of Khan has been abolished, but there are several who are called " sultan." The people are said to be vainglorious in tracing their genealogies, especially when they number a khan among their ancestors. Anciently the sultans decided more important matters than were referred by choice to honourable elders,* 1 called "/>/?>," beys, or, further south, bcks. This last title was given to men of approved honesty, who to their other abilities added a thorough acquaintance with their deep-rooted national customs. Under the Russian administration the Biis have been recognized as judges, and are elected by the people ; but they make poor magistrates, and are open to corruption The Russians do not believe in them, nor do the people themselves. Some ot the Kirghese poor in winter live in holes or underground huts, where children and cattle sleep and play together. Others, as a protection against the cold, endeavour to winter in sheltered places, in hollows, or among reeds or sand-dunes. They conceal their kibitkas in the reeds, and throw snow over them, so as to protect them trom the winds ; but they are now commencing to build permanent winter dwellings, usually of turf plastered with clay, or of stone, like the THE KIRGHESE. 311 huts of the Caucasian mountaineers ; in some places even wooden houses are met with, but these have belonged, for the most part, to former sultans. On the first approach of warmer weather they remove to their ordinary habitation, which is a conical felt tent, called a kibitka or yonrt, that is easily taken apart or put together, and so light that a camel can carry it. Hence the nomads wander from place to place, carrying their residence with them, and it is not until a rich man dies that his body has for its habitation a stone or earthen building, with some little pretence to architecture. The tomb of the poor consists of little more than a funereal mound, but for the well-to-do is erected an edifice surmounted by a cupola, the wall of the principal facade being raised above the rest, and ornamented with a battlement. These tombs are frequently met with on the open steppe, generally standing alone, and sometimes enclosed by a wall. Levshine. however, mentions cemeteries where- several persons are buried, and Reel us. quoting Noschel, says that the Kirghese prefer to bury their dead on hill- tops, and leave on the graves various eatables, and money. I saw main' tombs on high places, but none with such things as these left thereon, or on Muham- madan graves further south. I well remember, however, finding sweetmeats, and coins, in Lastern Siberia, on the graves of the Ikiriats, and the thought therefore suggests itself whether these; offerings left on certain Kirghese graves are not, as they are with the lUiriats. remnants of Shamanism, the old religion of the Mongols. These tombs, and the ruins here and there of small towns, constitute all there is ot Kirghese- antiquitie-s, few of which present any poim> ot interest. Levshine: mentions upwards of 3 i2 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. twenty ruins in Central Asia, but does little more than specify their localities. The Kirghese dress like the other natives of Central Asia. Nowadays, those who are at all well off have shirts, but the poor continue to wear next the skin their chapan, as they call it, or khalat, closely resembling a loose dressing-gown, over which as many other like garments are worn as the weather requires. Com- monly the khalat is made of cotton, or armiachina that is, a mixture of cotton and silk ; but for the rich they are made of silk of gaudy colours, or even velvet, which for grandees is embroidered with gold and silver. Some, again, are of fur one I bought in Bokhara being lined with jackals' skins. Their trousers, both for men and women, are of buff or reddish leather, immensely wide and baggy, called chimbar, which are found to be so suitable to the. climate that the Turkistan soldiers wear them. The shaven head of the Kirghese is first covered by a skull-cap called tibetei, and over this in summer a conical felt hat slit at the two ends for convenience in turning up the brim. On certain occasions the men wear tall, steeple-crowned hats with the brim turning up in two immense horns, made of felt or of velvet embroidered with gold. The foot coverings are slippers in summer, and leather boots in winter, for both sexes, those for women being coloured. A Kirghese, however, is proudest of his girdle, often richly covered with silver, and from which hang bags, and wallets for money, powder, bullets, knife, and tinder box, or Hint and steel, the whole apparatus being called kalta. The women dress much like the men. except that the undergarment resembles a close-fitting shirt. THE K1RGHESE. 313 Above this they wear a khalat. The poor women swathe their heads with calico, forming a compound turban and bib ; but the rich wear a square head-dress of huge proportions, enveloped in a white veil trimmed with gold.* The hair is plaited in small braids, and adorned with coins and tinkling ornaments. To these may or may not be added necklaces, bracelets, etc. ; but there is one thing rarely omitted from temale costume, which is a silver amulet, hanging from the neck in the form of a kernel, cylinder, or triangle, and containing Muhammadan writing, or perhaps prayers, given by the husband at the time of marriage. The arms of the Kirghese continue of a primitive character, though contact with the Russians has opened their eyes to the value of percussion instead of (lint muskets. Hows and arrows are gone out of use. Their national weapon is a straight, thin, pointed lance, called a naita, that on account of its length and fragility is not very dangerous, though they handle it not unskilfully. To these weapons may be added a thick, heavy whip, with a blade or lash about an inch in diameter, a blow from which on the head at the hands of a Kirghese is enough to kill a man or beast. Thus tar it will be seen 1 have described the per- sonal characteristics ot the Kirghese ; in the next chapter I purpose to treat of their social relations. * The Kir^hesr women, I believe, are never veiled closely, as with the Sarts, but they sometimes so lar eover the lace as almost to screen it from observation. This half-and-half plan seems to have prevailed amongst the women mentioned earlv in the Old Testament. Thus Abraham said to Sarah. "Behold now 1 know that thoii art a fair woman to look upon" (den. xii. u), from which we may suppose that Sarah did not usually wear a veil ; nor Rebekah, \\hen at the well she met Abraham's servant, though when about to meet her future husband " she took a veil and covered herself" (Gen. x.xiv. 10, _).3_>5 kiiutkas, or moiv than 50,000 communes of these l^'inelias en^a^'ed in agriculture, their entiri number throughout Turkistnn ami Semireehia bem^ reckoned at 300,000 M>uls. In the province <>f Semipolatinsk. in iSSi, the agricul- 3 1 6 X US SI A N CENTRA L A SI A . year, and for seed, the surplus being sold, usually very cheaply, on the threshing-floor. They cannot retain any important reserves of corn near their winter habitations, because, for two-thirds of the year, the buildings are uninhabited and unguarded. As a pre- caution, therefore, against wholesale starvation in case of failure of crops, public corn stores are erected, such as those in several volosts in the Zaisan and Ust- Kamenogorsk districts. In the provinces of Akmolinsk and Semipolatinsk, in 1880, there were 91 and 69 stores respectively, one containing 27,897, and the other 6,366, quarters of corn. The poorer Kirghese are held down by the Russian shopkeepers, who lend on interest, and their example is only too closely followed by the rich Kirghese, whose usury is enormous ; not less, according to M. Ujfalvy, than cent, per cent, per annum, and that at compound interest; so that the loan of one sheep has to be repaid next year by two, or the next year four, or the next eight, and so on. Cattle-breeding, however, as I have said, is the normal occupation of the Kirghese, some of whom are said to possess hundreds of camels, thousands of horses, and tens of thousands of sheep and goats. They own, likewise, horned cattle, but not in such large numbers. The Kara- Kirghese are not so rich as their confreres of the Great and Middle Hordes. Very few of the Dikokamenni, for instance, possess as many as 2,000 horses, or 3,000 sheep. They keep fewer camels, but. on the other hand, have an excellent breed of oxen, employed for traversing the mountains. Their cows are large, but yield little milk, and then only just alter calving. Yaks, which they call Kudos, are kept by them instead, since they yield more milk. Speaking generally of the horned cattle of the: steppe, THE KIRGHESE. 317 which are said not to have been introduced among the Kirghese before the middle of the eighteenth century, Dr. Finsch considers that they contrast favourably with those raised in Siberia, since they are stronger, and more imposing in appearance, and are recognized among others by short, tolerably erect horns, with small development of the belly. In their colour, as also is the case with the horses, there is no pecu- liarity. One meets with specimens of sheep black, white, and also variegated, whilst a fourth class varies from a bright to a dark shade of cinnamon. The sheep of the steppe belong to the fat-tailed, or rather fat-rumped, race, for the very short tail proper is hidden in the cushion of fat, formed below the tail, spreading like a bag over the upper half of the hind legs. Seen from the rear, this lump of fat is pear-shaped, and acquires, when the animal runs, a trembling, "wobbling'' motion that presents a comical appearance. As in time of famine the hunch of the camel almost disappears, so it is with the fat tails of the Kirghese sheep.* More stately than the sheep is the Kirghese goat, which occasionally presents quite a grand appearance. The goats are large, well-built animals, with short he.ads, long beards, and a strong development of chiefly It is quiti' an error, Dr. Kinsrh says, to suppose that thi> pecu- liarity of rare disappears by transplantation, for instamv, to Russia, tor it dors so only by cross-breeding with ordinary >hecp. The Kirghese sheep are of lar^r size, powerfully built, rather lon^' lei^ed, with ,i roundly bent nose, and pendent ears. They attain a weight of from 150 to i So Ibs., of which the fat "tail" alone doe> not exceed 40 Ibs. The tierce is coarse, and the hairy wool is therefore less employed tor spinning than for making felt. The horn> of the uether are moderately developed with a bend downward-- and inwanN. but >onietime> they assume a spiral form. The ewes generally >^ivc birth to twin lainb^ in spring, by which season the snow i> off the ground. ji8 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. white hair, that falls to the knee, and on the brow covers the eyes like a mane. As with the sheep, the ears are pendent. These goats, however, are peculiar as to the formation of their horns, which usually stand erect, with their points either bent inwards towards each other, or else slightly inclining backwards. It is from these goats that the Cossack women about Troitzk comb the fine hairs for making the kozy pookJi, or, as they are commonly called, "Orenburg shawls." Considering the ample extent of the Kirghese pasture lands, one might suppose that cattle-breeding would be to them a highly profitable business, since it claims incomparably less labour than agriculture. It is, however, exposed to great risks. For the support of a nomad family for a year are required i i head of large and 10 of small cattle; and to provide hay for the winter consumption, even of this number, exceeds the working powers of one household. When the snow lies loosely and is not deep, the larger beasts, and the smaller ones behind them, can get at the grass ; but if, in consequence of unseasonable rains, the grass is covered by a thick layer of frozen snow and ice, or if the snow be too deep, then the beasts either cannot obtain food, or obtain it with so much difficulty as to exhaust them. Then commences what the Kirghese call a joot, at which time a cattle owner is ready to give the Cossacks half his herd for as much hay as will feed the remainder until the spring. The first thing attempted is to drive the herds to more favourable localities, however distant, or to put the beasts to graze in the peasant villages. Should this not suffice, because of the " joot " extending over a large area, the animals have to be slaughtered, and sold tor a song, THE KIRGHESE. 319 the nomad's prosperity then taking wings for a con- siderable time. Hut, in addition to the "joot," the buran, or terrific winter snowstorm, is a source of very serious danger. It scatters the cattle, and then many fall down ravines, or break through the ice on the salt lakes, and perish. Helmersen tells of a "buran" in January. 1827, in which the Middle Horde lost 10,500 camels, 280,000 horses, 30,000 horned cattle, and i 20,000 sheep. The Kir^hese erect roui^h sheds of wattle and daub o o for their cattle in winter, but even under the most favourable conditions this season tells heavily on the herds, as up to the spring they scarcely move their legs, and become so weakened that many perish ere the disappearance of the snow, and notwithstanding the growth of tresh grass.* The mode of life of the Kirghese is necessarily affected by their cattle-breeding, which requires con- stant moving about to find pasture. Nomadizing generally begins in early spring, and continues all the; summer, the wanderers returning to their winter camps in late autumn. Ordinarily they wander in small au/s, or collections of kibitkas, numbering up to 10 in the Orenburg region, but often of 15 or more further east. Their route depends on the time of year and the; state of the * Valikhanoff remarks of the cattle of the Kara-Kir^hese that they are never subject to epidemics, the only disease attacking them beini^ the soo horned cattle, and ;o,.joo sheep, besides s<>,ooo cattle destroyed by wolves, so that the total loss was i^j.ooo head, or rathi r more than i per cent, of all the cattle in the province. 320 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. grass, but, generally speaking, up to the middle of the summer, it is further and further from the winter quarters, to which they return by stages in autumn. The winter pasturages are often by the shores of lakes, from which the herdsmen are driven in April or May by the drought and insects. They then ascend the rich mountain slopes with their flocks, leaving the camels behind to shift for themselves, unwatched, feeding on the salt soil herbage. We saw several apparently thus left. In July or August the men descend to gather their crops, and then pay another visit to the mountains before winter, to gather the later harvest there. In the Orenburg district, if the grass is good, the summer nomads are distributed pretty equally over the whole steppe ; but if there is drought in the south, then masses of Kirghese, in their search for grass and water, proceed to the extreme north of the steppe, a distance of 600 or 700 miles from their winter quarters on the Syr-daria. These wanderings the Kirghese call perokochevka, and they are thus conducted. The pasture in the neighbourhood being exhausted, first by the camels biting off the tops of the grassy stems, followed by the horses, which gnaw the grass closer, and the sheep, which nibble it down to the roots, one or two of the mounted young men are sent from the aul to select a suitable spot for a new encampment, and to clear out the wells. This done, the women pack the kibitkas, the head of the household merely looking on, whilst the other men form the cattle into droves. The camp is packed, and starts before dawn, the good woman of the family riding in front. \Ye met one old lady in this honourable position, mounted astride a bullock, and looking anything but graceful. After her came the THE KIRGHESE. other women; one young girl, I remember, sitting on a horse covered with a gay saddle-cloth, and wearing her best clothes, as is usual on such occasions. On the camels are packed carpets, samovars, tents, etc., , ,-^mm the whole being made to wear a festive aspect. Since all tlie cattle: do not move at the same pace, the herds soon straggle, so that a moving an! may occupy a length of several miles. Generally speaking, the men VOL. i. 2 i 322 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. during a march ride somewhere off the road, or go hunting. The length of a stage is from 13 to 17 miles, having done which they rest awhile, as also on summer afternoons, for an hour. The aid then again moves forward, traversing about 25 miles in 24 hours. When stationary, the herds are milked in the early morning, and are driven to their pasture by mounted shepherds, who bring them back in the evening. Cows, sheep, and goats are milked morning and evening only, but mares three times a day, or oftener, in which latter case only a small quantity is given at each time. The lambs and kids are sometimes penned in extempore folds, or wander near the aul, guarded by children, who not unfrequently make companions of them inside the tents also. Among the Kirghese the practice of polygamy obtains ; but since the maintenance of wives and the money given to parents for their purchase are burden- some, the poorest Kirghese usually restrict themselves to one wife. Some have two or three, and the rich four. Generally the eldest brother of a family has more than one. The first wife is mistress of the household, and is called baibicJie. To her are subject not only her husband's other wives, but also all the other females of the family. The head of a household will often send a portion of his herds several hundreds of miles away under the care of this wife, whilst he himself will either remain with his other wives about the grazing ground, or go and encamp somewhere by himself. In winter the family comes together again. The. manifold circumstances connected with marriage among the Kirghese are somewhat formidable. It is a custom for men, even before they are fathers, to strengthen the bonds of friendship by agreeing to a THE KIRGHESE. 323 -marriage between their future offspring, so that many a couple are " engaged " before they are born, though it frequently happens, of course, that such arrangements are broken through. Fifteen is the marriageable age, and preliminaries are commenced by the parents of the bridegroom selecting trom three to ten kinsmen, or friends, as matchmakers, called kouda-tusser, who pro- ceed to the parents of the bride, offering presents, and among them a dish specially prepared for the occasion of liver and mutton fat, called konyruk-baour, which signifies that they " mean matrimony," after which the compliment is returned by presents and a similar dish, sent by the girl's parents to those of the bridegroom. These gifts are called kict. The bride's father then calls together his kinsmen, to decide the kaliui* or gross amount to be paid for the bride. Also a mullah should be present to ask three times of the. parents or relations contracting the union, " Do you consent to unite your children ? " and then to read prayers for the happiness of the future couple in the presence of witnesses, or of umpires, chosen to settle differences, should any arise, between the parties making the con- tract. The kal in i may be 40, 60, or 120 sheep, or 9, 17. 27, 37, or 47 head of cattle, according to the means of the bridegroom or konladar. Levshine men- lions in his day, for the poor 5 or sheep, and even less ; but with the rich, up to 200 horses, and from 500 to i ,OOO sheep, also cattle, valuable effects. ;md some- times male and female slaves. Hesides the kalhn, the bridegroom has to give presents called biish-yakshi (good head), and ayak-vakshi (good feet), that is, either nine: camels, or one camel, a horse, a cow, and a tire arm ; or. it the mar, be poor, the bas/i-yakshi tako the form of i or 2 camels, with a horse, and tin- tivak- 324 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. yakshi of a horse, cow, and khalats. These things settled, the bride's father sends to the bridegroom's aul for the kalim, or two-thirds of it, and one of fa& yakshi> after which the bridegroom, having fed the bride's messengers, takes the other yakski, generally the bask- yakslii, that is called the " ilu" and goes to see the bride for the first time. The delivery of the Hit has great importance, in that it virtually closes the bridal contract so securely, indeed, that, should the bride- groom die thereupon, the girl has to go to his parents. In some places, before the bridegroom starts, his father gives a family feast, clothes the youth with a rich robe, mounts him on a good horse, with the best of saddles and harness, and sends him away after a mullah's prayers for the traveller's safety. Arrived at the bride's aul, the young man states his business, and asks permission of her father to pitch his white tent. This he does for about three days, during which he gains over the women by presents to procure for him a private interview with his betrothed. The two now see each other for the first time, perhaps ; but since the kaliui and the ilu have been paid, the contract is virtually closed, and neither can draw back without some little difficulty. The interview is commonly by night, and supposed to be kept secret from the parents, to whom the bridegroom gives more presents for the right ot visiting his betrothed by day. That to the bride's mother in return for some milk is called sut-iik. that to the father, tui-nial, this latter including what is necessary for the marriage feast, and among the rich amounting sometimes to fifty or a hundred horses, which are, however, on the completion of the marriage, returned to the bridegroom as the present of the bride. Alter this first visit the custom of some localities is THE KIRGHESE. 325 for the bridegroom to keep his white tent at the bride's cml for his courting visits, which of course are turned into festive occasions. In other localities he may not return until the kalim is paid and the mar- riage is agreed upon. Hence the period of betrothal is sometimes prolonged to a year or more. II during this period the betrothed girl should die, her parents are bound to give instead their next daughter, or, in default of one, to return the kalim, and pay also a fine of one or two horses and klialats, or furs. So also, it the girl should reluse to marry, which she may do on account of a suitor's ill-health, his bad conduct, or poverty, or even, as allowed in some localities, her personal dislike. If the bridegroom or bride should die, inquiry is made as to whether between the betrothed there had been improper inti- macy. It so, in the first case, only halt the kalim is returned, and in the second case, when the first daughter has died, and the next is provided, the bridegroom has to add to the kalim. Should their conduct, however, have been irreproachable, four-fifths of the kalim are returned, the girl's parents retaining trom four to nine- horses. Yet another custom is, that if the bridegroom die, or refuse: to marry the girl, his parents are bound to take her tor their next son, paying a tine usually a camel in case of refusal. Should there be no brothers, the kalim has to be returned, subject to the limitations just alluded to. In cases ot double marriages, where brother and sister marry sister and brother respectively, the: kalim is omitted. \\ hen the prescribed period ot betrothal is at an end, the bridegroom, dressed and mounted at his best, goes with friends to the an! of the bride, where a kibitka has been prepared tor his reception. Through- 5^6 RUSSIAA 7 CENTRAL ASIA. out the ceremonies of betrothal, the bride's brother has the right of pilfering from the bridegroom whatever he pleases. But now the bride's relations come and take as presents almost everything he has : his coat, hat, girdle, horse, saddle, etc., pleading that they are for the education of the bride a seizure that is afterwards balanced by the relations of the. bridegroom on the visit to their aul of the relations of the bride. The bride's parents are bound to give up the bride when the kalim is paid, giving her in dowry a kibitka, a camel, or riding-horse, and cattle, also a bride's head-dress, called saoukeld, or, if poor, another kind, called jaoulouk, besides a bed, crockery, and a trunk of wearing apparel. Whilst this "trousseau" is in preparation, the brides- maids gather towards evening to dress the bride and to sing songs, and, all being ready, the happy couple, richly clad when possible, are led into their tent tor the hnal ceremony. The mullah places them in the midst,, puts before them a cup filled with water and covered with a cloth, and begins the prayers. Then he asks the contracting parties if it is with their full consent they engage themselves in the bonds of matrimony, and gives them three times the water to drink, offering the remainder to the bystanders, or, if they are numerous, sprinkling them therewith.* Some mullahs put in the water-vessel an arrow, with a tuft of hair tied to it from the mane of the bride's horse, t or one of her ribbons ; others dip therein a paper of written prayers. This ceremony over, for the girl's head-dress, * With this ma)' be compared the custom at the marriage ceremony in the Russian Church of the bride and bridegroom draining- alter- nately a cup of \vine or water. t This ha^ a resemblance to Shamanism as practiced by the Burials. \\ho, if they have nothing better to leave on a i^rave the)- pass, cut, off and fasten near a piece of their horse's tail. THE KIRGHESE. 32- \vorn thus far by the bride, is substituted that of a woman, her friends sinking the while. In some districts, the husband then comes on horseback to the door and asks permission to enter. This being refused, he obtrudes, as it were, by force, and takes her away to a private tent.* The happy completion of a marriage is followed among the Kirghese by feasting and games ; and when the newly-married are about to depart, the whole an! assembles; the: father puts his daughter on her horse, which he leads to the side of her husband, and they depart, amid women's tears and men's farewells, with the camels carrying the trousseau, and the- portion of his wealth which a father gives to each of his daughters on her marriage. On arriving at the husband's an!, his father gives a feast. Close at hand is pitched the new wife's tent, wherein are displayed all the articles of her trousseau. These arc- seized, according as they please, by her new relatives, who are greedy of presents, they giving others, but usually of less value, in return. 1 he bride, having thus made her debut, it she wishes to show her activity, rises very early during the first few days after her arrival, to uncover the- top of the tents of her husband's parents. She retains her own tent t and trousseau ; and even her cattle brought in * In other districts the bridesmaids, after the ceremony, bride tu the same white tent \\here she first saw her husband. 1 there, and. later on, fasten to the tent a ^ailv-saddled horse am I n the morning, the happy hu-hand. under ordinary c ire um stain the rol)e, springs on the horse, and hurries trimnphantlv t" rei felicitations o! his father-in-law and friends. ; hut ifthe\\i! unchaste, he has the ri^'ht to kill the horse, to tear the rube, hark the inn with his sword, after \\liieh lie may exacl troin thi either the /w///// or another of his daughter-- uithoiit further payment. I'liis custom, l.e\shine says, half a century a^o was dyin^ out, but i; may lie compared, in passing, \\ith the \.\\\ of the llebreu- recorded in 1 >ciit. x.xii. \ \ j i . : ~ Reminding one how Isaai brought Rebrkah "iiito hi- mother 328 J?(7SSfAjV CENTRAL ASIA. dower a wise husband does not mix with those of his other wives, because they descend to her children only, and not to other children of the husband. Thus it will be seen that marriage a la Kirgliese is, if committed only once, a somewhat expensive business, whilst for each repetition of the process the amount of the kalim rises higher. The whole affair has much of the nature of a civil contract, of which I imagine the woman generally gets the worse. Equality of position is sought by the parents, rather than suitability as to age and temperament ; and " woman's rights " cliez Ics Kirghese are few enough. In some districts, it is true, a woman, when she attains the age of twenty-three, may marry a husband of her own choice ; but at that period of life, in the steppe, she is considered to have passed the flower of her age. Again, in case of ill- treatment by a husband, a wife may complain to a J3i, who will probably get the man to promise to keep the peace, or condemn him to be flooded. OO Marriage among the Kirghese may be dissolved in two ways: by separation or divorce, either of which usually raises the kalim as a bone ot con- tention. For separation, the following are admis- sible causes (i) Mutual agreement. The husband permits his wife to marry another man on condition that he receives a kaliui and costs. The document drawn up for this agreement is called talag-kagaz, a " paper of separation." (Like the /3i/3XiW aTTOcrracriov, or " bill of divorcement of Isaiah 1. i ; Mark x. 4.) Should the wife return to her parents, the father is bound to return to the husband half the kaiiiu paid for her, and the other half on the moment of her marrying THE KIRGHESE. 329 again. (2) For a certain sum paid to him, or her dowry, the husband may give a paper of separation at the wife's request. So, likewise, (3) the husband, ceasing to care for the wife (as in Dent. xxiv. i), may give her to another man for a kaiim. This looks, according to Kozloff, as if the woman's consent were not necessary ; but I was told further south, in Bokhara, that a man could not ordinarily put away his wile, except by her consent. (4) Should no kaliiu have been paid for her, a wife is at liberty to leave her husband. (5) Disrespect on the part ot a wile justifies a husband in sending her away, after having supplied her with a portion of her dowry, and a khalat, and mount- ing her upon a horse. (6) So in the event of the wife's adultery, in which case the man retains the dowry. Should a wife appeal successfully to a Kirghese court for permission to leave her husband, the judges usually grant her thirty days in which to marry another. I" ailing to do this she is bound to return to her husband. The marriage; contract may be: terminated by divorce, on the: plea of poverty, minority of the 1 parties, the husband's cruelty, or physical incapacity : in which cases the wife: may marry her brother-in-law, or whom she pleases, and retain her dowry, but her future husband must pay a kaluu to the first. In former days the Kirghese were strict in th ot what the |ews called ycbaniot/i. or marriage, that it a man's brother die. witlow, his eldest brother should take but nowadays the custom is (King out. the widow remains with her husband she is no longer compelled to marry one of them, or indeed to remarrv at all. I remember seeing a Kir- 330 RUSSIA A" CENTRAL ASIA. ghese widow come in a supplicating manner to a Russian civil authority, begging that she might not be forced to marry her brother-in-law, to which she was averse ; but, then, so was she also averse to giving up the kaliiu ; the Kirghese law being, in such a case, that if she were childless, and wished to remain single, she could retain only a portion of her husband's property, though if she had children she might keep the whole. Should a widow marry a man in her late husband's tribe, other than her brother-in-law, the man has to pay her brother-in-law a fine, varying from a horse and khalat up to nine head of cattle, for the slight done him by her preferring another to himself; and in the event of her marrying a stranger, she loses her dowry, which her deceased husband's relatives retain, and her children are left as wards of the said relatives, who are also bound to look after her cattle. This brings us to the Kirghese laws concerning inheritance, that are said to have caused formerly much contention after a father's death. A father now divides his inheritance, as a rule, during life* amongst his grown-up sons, either on their marriage or soon after, care being taken that the children only receive the portion that comes to them from their own mother, and not that of the other wives. Such a division is made verbally in the presence of dignitaries, or it may be confirmed by a signature witnessed by them, f I have thus entered somewhat fully into the Kir- * As did Abraham (Gen. xxv. s, 6). T It is not necessary, moreover, that only children inherit a man's property, for faithful servants may be included, who have looked after the cattle, or watched the interests of the family. Abraham said : " The steward of my house is this Klie/er, of Damascus . . . and lo, one born in my house is mine heir'' (Gen. xv. 3. .)). When the division is made, the wile receives one-fourth of the fortune, with the warning that she is not to squander it, since at her death it reverts to her husband. Should THE KIRGJIESE. 331 ghese laws respecting marriage, family rights, the relation between man and wife, inheritance and division of property, partly because I have not seen them treated elsewhere so systematically and so fully in English, and partly because these customs of the steppe illustrate at so many points the pastoral life of the Hebrew patriarchs,* under which latter I shall she outlive him. however, she keeps this share. As a rule, a father will leave his real property to his eldest son, but his doin^ so is quite optional. A childless widow receives one-eighth of the property on her husband's death, the residue i^oin^ to his brothers or other relatives down to the fifth generation ; but if the man leave children, the property is divided amongst them, the daughters receiving the seventh part, and tli-; sons the residue. ' Thus in (ien. xxiv. we see the eldest servant of Abraham's house acting the part of what the Kiri^hese would call a koitda-hisscr, or matchmaker, in seeking for Isaac a wife, and taking" with him ten camels, a portion certainly of whose burden consisted, if not of a kaliin, yet of present* of silver and g'old, and clothing", which lie j^avc not only to the bride, but also to her mother and brother. So a^'ain, in (i-'ii. x.xxiv., tin- Hivite prince. Hamor, acts a similar part on behalf of his son in proposing a marriage with l)inah the daughter of Jacob. Further, the youn^ man Shechem reco^ni/es the propriety of a / ^M.irk xii. \\ rote mil o us, 1 f an\- m. in's without children, that hi-> brother his brot her." I'.ut though mi had existed as t.ir back it -'T.and.si in i 'I Ai iraham, whi 332 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. now be able to point out further illustrations in things that came under my own observation. bold suggestion has presented itself to my mind, which I put forward not as a theory, but as a suggestion only, that when Abraham dismissed his wife Keturah's sons (Gen. xxv. i 6), giving them gifts, and sending them away from Isaac " eastward unto the east country," they may very well have taken the custom to, or learnt it in, the land of Chaldea, whence Abraham came, and from whence it might have spread further east beyond the Oxus and Jaxartes to the north of Central Asia. The distance from the Ur of the Chaldees to the Jaxartes would be easily covered in two summers' wanderings. Whether this suggestion involves any anachronisms or contradictions I know not ; but, if true, it seems to confirm my idea, that in the Kirghese steppe one sees perhaps the type in the present day most nearly resembling the oldest pastoral life recorded in the pages of history. cases of assault upon women, under the Jewish law, the offender or offenders were put to death ; and such is the punishment to this day for prostitution and adultery in Bokhara, where the Muhammadan law is in full force ; whereas among the Kirghese this clnss of offences is punished by fine only. CHAPTKR XXIII. THE A7AV;///-;.VA" (Concluded}. Visit to Kir^hcsc at Sui^ati. Their tents. A Kir^hese memorial. - Milk and oilier beverages, with Hour food. A mutton least. Kir-'hfse politeness, and ri^ht of precedence. C'onnubial arrange- ments. --.Myself questioning" and questioned. Kir^hese poetry and song's.- Their religion: Muhammadan, Pai^an. or Maniehean J Kir^'hese registered as Muhammadans. -New Testaments ac- eepted. -Conversation upon the state alter death. Intluenee ol the mullahs. -Kir^hese election of judicial officers. Native court* and tine's. Judgment and judges. Llection of a volost chief. Laws concerning' assault. -A flight quelled. 1KXPRKSSHI) to the authorities in Semirechia my wish to visit a Kir^'hcsc aul, whereupon M. I roitxky, the PonwsJinik-iiyczdi-nachalnik, or assistant chid ol the \ it-riiy district, kindly promised to further my \\islies it I would meet him a day's journey in the wilderness at Sui^ati, where he was to hold a meeting ol Kir^hese representatives assembled to elect their Ins or judges. ( )n our arriving there the smiles ol the post-master told us we were expected, and we made for M. Troit/ky s tent. It was an un- usually grand one, measuring <; paces in diameter, with the roof supported \)\ 120 rods. '1 his the reader will better appreciate if 1 describe how a Kir^'hese tent is erected. 1 chanced in the Hi valley to see a woman be^'in to put up her tent, and so interested was 334 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. I that I would not stir from the spot till, note-book in hand, I had witnessed the whole operation. The component parts of a kibitka are felt and matting, wherewith to cover a framework that consists of a lintel and side-posts for a door, and pieces of trellis-work, surmounted by poles fastened to a central corona. A piece of the trellis- work (called kiriga, as I took down the name phonetically from the woman's mouth) resembles a pair of lazy-tongs, or, better still, HAI.TIST,-!'[.ACE IN THE COUNTRY OK TIIH KIKGHESK. an English child's toy on which he moves his little company of soldiers, the wooden laths or poles forming the trellis being fastened with a leather thong where! they cross. Four of these kiriga, tied together and expanded so as to stand about 4 feet high, made, with the doorway, a circle about 6 paces in diameter, and the whole was girded by a broad band of worsted. Then was hoisted, perhaps 9 feet high, over the centre, a wooden hoop, called chunntkh, to serve as chimney ventilator, and window, into the THE KIRGHESE. 3.55 holes of which were thrust the ends of long wooden staves called ookh, the other ends being tied to the trellis- work, so that, when the woman had tied 55 of these ookh, the framework of her small tent was ready. Huge pieces of felt were then hoisted to the top on poles, and drawn to their position by two bands called ban. and afterwards fastened ; the: covering for the doorway being hung from the lintel like a curtain. The felts did not quite reach the ground, fresh air on this occasion being a desideratum ; but there were placed on the grass two pieces ol reed matting called tc/ii, fastened inside and encircling the tent to the height perhaps of 4 teet. a binding line being tied round to keep all taut. Besides this, ropes made of horses' manes hung Irom the hoop or corona inside to keep the tent down, and outside a stake was driven into the ground to windward for similar security. The floor was strewn with felts, a space being left in the centre for the fire. A small tent such as that I saw erected would cost, when new, from 50^. to 6c\f., and one of ordinary sixe about ^"5. In this case it was being put up tor hire at 1 2s. a month. A large show-tent, such as that provided for M. Troitxky, would cost _/"ioo; for this last was 12 feet high in the centre, the felt was lined with silk, and the floor and sides strewn and hung with carpets. It was the property ol Xogai I>i, one of the judges, who had provided it lor the occasion. I have said that in the root were I 2u poles, or staves, each ol which I was told in Vierny represented a sapling from the lorest, and not merely a piece cut from a block ot timber. M. von Ghern. in tact, said that the Kirghese take lor making a yourt from 200 to 400 young saplings, and since in 336 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. the district of Vierny alone there are 40,000 yourts, it is not matter for surprise that the country is bare of wood. But we were to be conducted to an aul to see a tent in working order. They mounted us on Kirghese horses, the first peculiarity of which I discovered to be that to stop my steed I pulled one rein instead of two. We set off with perhaps a score or two of natives, who seemed to be coming for the fun of the thing, our way lying along a valley flanked by low undulating hills, on which there was not to be seen a tree of the smallest dimensions. " What is that ? " said I, pointing to a pile of stones, heaped on an eminence. "Oh!" said they, "a notable man recently died, and when a large number of people were gathered at the feast that followed his funeral, we raised the heap on that day to his memory." * Arrived at the aul, we entered the first tent, the owner of which made me welcome, and I began to make note of my surroundings. On the trellis-work were hung all sorts of suspendible things basins, bags, harness, firearms, leather bottles, skins, clothes, and a Kalmuk bass, or box in which to put cups and basins, to be slung on the back of a camel. Behind me were rolls of felt, cushions, carpets, and trunks full of effects, one box of Russian manufacture, with a good deal of metal thereon, being pointed out as something worthy of remark, the like to which is found only in the tents of the rich. In the middle of the tent a huge open saucepan does duty as the principal, if not the only, cooking utensil, whilst * A living' illustration, I thought, of patriarchal times, when Laban and Jacob's brethren made a heap of stones for a memorial between them, and ate thereon ; or when Joshua pitched twelve memorial stones in Gilgal (Gen. xxxi. 46, and Josh. iv. 20). TflK KIKGIfESh. 3.r around this stand kurgans or ewers of metal some- thing like an Knglish coffee-pot, and carious pails made ot leather, sometimes having a spout. I caught sight, moreover, of a curious staff, the size of a broom- handle, inlaid with brass and steel, with an ornamented top, 2 spans long and i^ round, that was used to stir the kumiss. Some ot this drink was ofiered us in a basin, and tor the first time I tasted soured mares' milk. My teetotal conscience led me to ask first whether it was intoxicating, and 1 was told " \o." On the other hand, I certainly have read that a certain alcoholic- drink is prepared from mares' milk. Perhaps it becomes so when distilled, or when old and further fermented, in which last-mentioned condition they said it acquired astringent properties, whereas when new it is aperient. I delected nothing alcoholic in its taste, and liked it fairly well. Sevier pronounced it much the same as Scotch buttermilk. I can imagine a thirst}' traveller in summer coming in from the steppe enjoying a basin to quench his thirst ; but it was not nice- to sip. Moreover, the tact that one: is not accus- tomed to drink mares' milk, and the thought that the beverage had possibly been in the dreadful leather bottle, that is said never to be washed, was not appe- tizing to an Knglish palate. Resides kumiss, they brought another drink called a'iraii. or curdled milk of cows, ewes, and goats, with water mixed, I presume, tor economy's sake, since- they said that the rich drank cows' milk alone. I hey likewise ottered dough nuts, made ot" (lour and mutton tat. but no bread, tor they live upon the tlesh ot their animals. fresh or smoke-dried, in winter, and on their milk onl\, generally fermented, in summer. 1 hey make also a VOI .1. 22 338 RCSSIAAT CENTRAL ASIA. kind of cheese, called irimtchik, from cows' and ewes' milk. How little corn is consumed by the nomads may be judged from the Semipolatinsk report for 1881, which states that, whilst every settled agricultural family in the province raised 22 bushels, each nomad family raised only 4 bushels.* Sometimes they boil meal and salt, sometimes butter and fat, in their tea, and they showed me in the tent a small seed called proso, that is made into gruel, or bruised and eaten when milk fails in winter, and upon which the very poor were said to live entirely. They make of this grain likewise a sort of beer, called buza, the effect of which, Dr. Schuyler says, is immediately to stupefy and deaden the senses rather than to inebriate; but they told me in the tent that it not only made the consumer drunk at once, but that the same result followed on his drinking water the next day. I am not aware that the Kirghese have any stated hours for meals. They can go without drink for a whole day, and without food for several days, and then love to gorge themselves to repletion. At their great feasts they indulge in horse flesh, but their usual meat is mutton. Some of the extravagant Russian officers, who go to Central Asia to repair their fortunes, and are supposed to have been accustomed to the best cuisines in Petersburg, declare that nothing can excel the Kirghese cooking of mutton, which I can so tar confirm that, when we entered a second tent in the 1 hr Kirghese, however, chirHy those in Karkaralinskand Pavlodar, bought besides, from the provinces of Tomsk rind Semirechia, 14,1*7 tons of wheat and rye. When they do use corn food it is almost exclusively in the form of gruel, prepared by boiling, in milk and water unground corn till it is soft. This method continues even in localities where Kirghese agriculture is well developed. THE KIRGHESE. 339 ;iul, and they brotight us a dish of this meat boiled, we found it very good. It was much greater fun, however, to be spectators than partakers of the feast. We had entered the second tent a numerous body, and had placed ourselves, as I supposed, anyhow. But it was pointed out to me that I had been seated in the place of honour opposite the door, whilst my vis-d-vis, a few feet oft, was my host, who had tor the occasion taken the position of her who would have been his wife in attendance, had he been dining en famillc. On my left sat a sultan (who formerly had been chief in these parts), and four others of note ; on my right were seven bis, and in front some aristocratic youths; whilst in the outer circle, " below the salt " and standing, was a crowd of lookers-on. Accordingly, when the meat was brought, the dishes were put before us according to our supposed rank; one to myself, Mr. Sevier, and the Russian officer; another to the sultans' party: a third for the: judges ; and so on. I heard nothing ot "grace before meat," but, dishes placed, I never saw anything to exceed the alacrity with which they were cleared. Hands were knives, and fingers were forks, the meat being torn from the bones as by the teeth of hungry dogs. ( )n such occasions as this, it is a piece ot Kirghese politeness for a superior or an elder to take a handful of pieces of meat from his dish and stuff them into the mouth ot an inferior or younger guest an elegancy I saw practised on another, but which, I suppose, my position precluded being exercised on myself. After the meal, as also before, an attendant brought round a basin and ewer lor all to wash their hands ; and although there was room lor doubt whether one's 340 RUSSIAA? CENTRAL ASIA. fingers were the cleaner before or after using the grimy cloth intended for a towel, yet remembering that in the New Testament times forks were not invented, and that equals then ate with their fingers out of one and the same dish, I confess that seeing the custom in the Kirghese tent led me rather to sympa- thize with the Pharisees, to a degree I had not previously clone, in their observance of the custom when they came from the market, of not eating except they had first washed their hands (Mark vii. 3 ; Luke xi. 38).* Dessert in the desert comes before instead of after meat, and on this occasion consisted of apples, dried apricots, pistachio nuts, raisins, and walnuts. Feasting over, I continued to apply myself to getting informa- tion. My inquisitiveness in the first tent led me to ask what was behind some straw matting I saw, and I was told "a store closet," and a similar inquiry in the second tent as to what was behind a curtain elicited the fact that it was the husband's sleeping place, that was shared with him by one of his wives, the wite or wives left out in the cold sleeping on the opposite side of the tent. This brought on the tapis topics matrimonial, in the discussion of which it transpired that my host had two wives, the sultan on my left had three, and the one next him four, whilst they informed me that some had live or six ; * Our location in the tent likewise, and serving of classes apart, was so far reminiscent of Joseph dining witii his brethren, that they set on for him by himself, and for them by themselves, and for the Kgyptians by themselves. They set also before him the firstborn according to his birthright, and the youngest according to his youth. Also Joseph's sending messes to his brothers from before hi in is something like, but an improvement upon, the delicate attention of superior to inferior to which I have just alluded (Gen. xliii. 32 3.]). THE KIRGHESE. 34' and then came out the surprising intelligence to them that I had none, which seemed to exercise them greatly, for they subsequently asked how it was I had no wives, whilst " these boys here," said they, " has each of them a wife ! " After having peppered them with questions, I thought it only fair to give them a turn, and I there- tore inquired, in a vainglorious moment, whether they would like to question me. Shoemaker like, they began to talk of " leather," and asked whether in my country we had cattle, horses, camels, and cows. This I was able to answer with confidence, and though not very well posted in Smithfield prices, 1 thought if 1 told them that our cows cost 20 each it would surprise: them. And so it did, but the answer led to another question that utterly non-plussed me, for they wanted to know how much milk a twenty-pound cow would give in a day ! Had 1 known the correct quantity, it would have been difficult for me to have translated it extempore into a Russian standard ; and as tor Kirghese measures well, I doubt if they have any. \Ve there- fore proceeded to the " next question," which was whether we had nomads in England who were judged by l>is ? also whether the English and Russians were ruled by the same Emperor, and it not. were we neighbours and iriends ? to which 1 was pleased to be able to reply that though we were not under the same Emperor, and could hardly be called neighbours, yet that we certainly were friends. I now asked tor a song, which was no sooner begun than some women put their heads in at the door, and we soon had a lull house.* 342 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. On the occasion of my visit none of the women sang, but two men exercised their powers by extem- porizing a song aimed at the judges, the burden of which was that formerly their bis were chosen with reference to age and integrity, whereas now it was solely for pelf ; and this hit was emphasized by the comparison of a lion and a mouse, to show that ignoble persons were chosen to office instead of the mighty. Others of their sentiments were that " a man who rides one horse can also lead another" ; that "a bear is as strong as a lion " ; and that " he cares little for a good horse who feeds him badly." I asked if they would like to hear an English song, and gave them still the heritage of a people at large, and not of a chosen few. With- out mannerism or literary effect, their songs strike one at times by their real poetic beauty, joined to artistic simplicity and truth. The Kir- ghese are fond of singing, and one may often hear a solitary horseman during his long rides thus beguiling his time, modulating his voice by holding his hand to his mouth and withdrawing it alternately ; or. on approaching an aul, the words of a widow may fall on the ear, soliloquizing somewhat thus : " There was a time when my protector, the source of all my happiness, was alive, when his handsome figure was seen on a velvety steed when I was not solitary ! No traveller then, whether sultan or Kazak, rich or poor, ever passed the aul with- out visiting our kibitka, whilst I, anxious to please him who was the best among riders, ordered my servants and looked to the comfort of his guest. We were esteemed by all, and he who now calls himself ' master ' has more than once held the bridle of my lord and husband's horse. Times are changed a sorry horse outruns a noble charger. Who will care now to visit me, the solitary one ? " All the Kirghese, especially the young men, have a keen apprecia- tion of singing and improvisation, and hold those who possess such gifts in esteem. No young girl commands such admiration of men as one who is clever at singing repartee, and no men are so liked by the Kirghese girls as a good and able oiliantchi, or professional singer. Dramatic poetry in the Steppe is still in its infancy, the theme being frequently cast into the form of a dialogue. The singer not un- frequently prefaces the song with an introduction, giving the dramatis persona'. The subject is generally a contest at wit a conversa- tion between a man and a woman. Riddles are given and intricate questions proposed, which have to be cleverly solved, and answered, THE KIRGHESE. 343 "God Save the Queen," whereupon I was not a little pleased to find that, though they knew nothing of England, nor whether I was, with the Russians, a fellow-subject of the Tsar, yet they had heard of Queen Victoria, and asked about the Heir Apparent. I took occasion in this tent to inquire respecting their religion, concerning which Levshine says that it is difficult to decide whether it be Muhammadan, Pagan, or Manichean. All recognize a supreme Creator, but some worship Him according to the Koran; others mix their Islamism with remains of ancient idolatry, whilst others believe that besides a beneficent God, whom they call Klioda, there exists an evil- doing spirit called Sliaitan, which name I remember our Kirghese drivers used when seemingly they were swearing.* or a tangle is the consequence. This termination of tile conflict is generally made to fall to the lot of the gentleman who, as the song \vill have it, has been educated at Bokhara, and enters into conversation with a young girl whom lie admires. He is thoroughly beaten, and the telling hits of his fair opponent against his khnnship, dignity, and white turban, are not unfrequently returned with tin- loss of temper and abusive expressions. * Yeniukoff speaks of the religion of the 1 Hkokamenni Kirghese as Islamism, which, however, he says, is very superficial (as Bishop Alexander told me in Yierny), particularly among the tribes adjacent to China, some not knowing even the name of then* prophet, much, less the ()() names of the Deity. Of the live periods of prayer they observe only those of the morning and evening, and to the fasts the Kir- ghe.se in general have a decided objection as leading to subsequent gluttony and indigestion. Some customs, too, of Shamanism, Yeniukoff says, are retained among the people, some o| ihe Kara- Kirghese \\or.shipping lire on Thursday nights, prayers bein- read it a literate person be present, during which the worshippers remain prostrate. I he fact is that the Kirghese have \ery little religion of any sort, and, as KoMenko says, it asked what form ot religious creed they hold, they do not themselves always quite know. Some Russians do not scruple to say that, so tar as the Kir^hoe are Muhammadans, tin- orthodox Russian (iovernment, by paying mullah-- anil erecting mosques in the Steppe, h.as made them so, though Ko-t.-nko adds that the (iovernment 344 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. In the Russian registers, the Kirghese are entered as Muhammadans, and regarded as Sunnis ; for though many of them have only a very confused notion as to the two sections of Muhummadanism called Sunni and Shia, yet they so far espouse the cause of the Sunnis that they consider every one else an infidel, be he Shia, Buddhist, or Christian. Also their religious indifference seems to be preserved only so long as they do not come in contact with people more civilized than themselves, on which occasions they are sometimes fanatical. M. Troitzky, who took me to the tent, told me that, some time before, the Kirghese had been on the eve of an outbreak, because the Government, wishing to take a census, had distributed amongst the auls tablets or cards to be marked so as to show the number of the people. On these tablets, however, the Kirghese discovered a device, whether the Imperial two-headed eagle or what else similar I know not ; but thinking it to be intended to make them Christians, they were almost ready to mutiny. It was the knowledge of this, I suppose, that led the Russians to warn me against the distri- bution of the Scriptures in the Steppe. I had not forgotten the exhortation, but finding that my host could read, I asked if he; would accept a copy of the New Testament, telling him it was the best book we had in England. lie took it joyfully, and was evidently pleased to get it. I then asked what no longer concerns itself to appoint Kirghese mullahs or build mosques. How little respect some have for the creed of I slain ma}- be judged from an incident recorded by Gotobitxky, who says that the Muham- madan rule of faith never has existed amon^ the Kirghese, and in support of which he states that on one occasion, at Akmoliiisk. a Kir- 5 r hese was called upon to take his oath on the Koran and to k;>s the book, whereupon In; snatched the volume out of the mullah's hand. struck him on the head with it, and subsequently tore it. THE KIRGHESE. H5 they thought became of us after death ? Upon which they replied that God had made good angels, called Alankir, and bad angels, called, Nankir, though when He made them their books did not say, and that two of these angels sit invisibly on the shoulders ot every man from his birth, Mankir being always on the right. Further, that they see all the man does, and write the good and bad in their respective books, which at death are both taken to God, who decides whether the good or ill preponderates, and gives sentence accordingly ; the bad being sent into the tire, and the others to the enjoyment of another liie in the world ot spirits, where the good find all that they can desire. It was then my turn to tell them the Christian creed ; how for the putting away of man's sin Jesus Christ came into the world and made atonement on our behalf, offering us freely the benefit of what He has done; and then, by way ot showing them how thoroughly I believed in this, I went on to say that 1 had travelled some thousands of versts to spread this news, in doing which 1 had distributed more than 100,000 publications. 1 hoped, therefore, that they would read the- book I was leaving, and that we might hereafter meet again. How much they apprc hended of what 1 said I am not at -ill sure, tor I spoke in L^rench to M. Fnnt/ky, who turned m\ speech into Russian, and then communicated it through his Kirghese interpreter; and the reply travelled luck to me, by the same channel, to tile etfert that we .ill come from one Parent, that God is merciful, and that fora little good in us He pardons the evil. I tried to trace this pardoning love to Jesus Christ, whereupon one ot them brought forward a Muhammadan book, in \\inch the Christian prophet was spoken of. This was all ,H& RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. done with perfect good temper, and apparently without offence, but I was told afterwards that Nogai Bi, who had accompanied us, was a fanatic, and often harboured in his dwelling Iwdjas, or religious pilgrims, who have been to Mecca, and who, when discovered by the Russians, are sent about their business, because of their evil political influence, and because they fleece the people. \Yhat little religious knowledge the Kirghese have is kept alive by mullahs, who go from aul to aul, assisting at marriages and at the burial of the dead ; but very often their services are dispensed with, because the civil ceremony is the principal part of Kirghese wedlock, whilst the poor for funerals cannot afford the expense. Amongst these mullahs are some who have received a certain religious educa- tion at Samarkand or Bokhara. These enjoy the respect of the people, but the majority are pitifully ignorant, and lazy to a degree ; they take advantage of a credulous race, and resort to sorcery and kindred devices. Having finished our visit to the aul, we returned to the stately tent of M. Troitzky to find it surrounded with a crowd of Kirghese, who had come to the place for a popular election. The Russians have, to a very large extent, left the Kirghese to maintain order among themselves by the exercise of their own patriarchal laws. The judge is chosen by the people, and trials are oral and public, conducted according- to con- science, relations being defended by relations. Thus every important case becomes a public matter, and popularly judged, its brightest features being the frequent appeals made to the consciences of the con- tending parties, and the spirit of reconciliation that THE KIRGHESE. 347 generally accompanies the verdict. A marked feature in the transaction is the importance attached by the Kirghese to an oath. They call \\. jan-beru, or ''giving one's soul." * Concerning judgment and judges, every volost or district has to select from 4 to 8 bis, each ol whom may decide cases not involving more than ^30.! Thus I had arrived at Suigati on an important occasion, for the Kirghese had assembled for the pur- pose ol electing not merely judges, etc., but a volostnoi nachalnik, or chief of the volost, whose office is a paid one, whilst the bis are unpaid. On such occasions a representative, called in Russ a piatedesiatnik, or fiftieth, is sent by every 50 tents throughout the volost. Their office it is to choose a bi lor every 200 ' The Kir^'hese idea of what constitutes a crime is anything but a luij'al one, and they are quite unable to distinguish between criminal and civil law. Thus thefts are hardly considered criminal. " So-and-so," they say, " has stolen a horse, and lias not returned it." But as Mich matters are considered purely personal, the}' are, in most cases, settled privately union i;- themselves, there bein^ scarcely a scale u{ punishment tor such offences, but ot Jincs, varvin^" from a clurpan, or coat, to a ktnti/i, that consists of 1,000 rams, lou horses, or ^o camels. This last tine used to be imposed in earlier times for murders half a kmtm for a woman, the whole kuiini for a man. Other cases, such as often ce> against a man's honour, blows, robbery, dishonesty, etc., are punished by the following scale :- 1. C/tii/>iin, or a k/iii/tit, or coat, of stuff or fur. 2. At-cluipnn , m a horse and khalat v for trilling ottenci's, etc.). 3. ALniinaiike-Kiiiissiik, Kutiinoiiuc-Tcrkan ,\\\\\^\\ means that when a stolen animal is restored, twootliers have to be returned with it, tied to the head and tail of each other. -I . y^/v/iY.v, or nine head of cattle fur \ ii ilence, fraud, etc.). s . 1'i'oin ,'-,, to ' of a knuiii ^for \arioiis bodily hurts). Of late years tines in money ha\e also come in vo-ue ; ( ontinement tor period--- x.iryin^- from ^ to ^o days ; and birching, up to _>;; stripes, tin- last bein^ 1 intlicted tor offences against order and decency, refu-in^ supplie^ in time of war, re-^i^tin^' auihoritie-,, but not bein^ appiieable to the a^ed or to children. "i" Kvcrvthiii'' exceeding that limit mu^t be Bellied bv .1 meeting ol 348 RUSSIAA T CENTRAL ASIA. kibitkas, as also a volostnoi, or chief of the volost. The first thing to be done on the present occasion was to call these representatives from out of the crowd by name, the bis severally testifying as to their identity. M. Troitzky then asked the representatives, of whom there were 27, and all sitting in front of his tent door, how much they would pay their chief per annum. Three hundred roubles was the sum first proposed, and then 500, with some dissentients, who were requested to rise, and who did so to the number of 5 only. Five hundred roubles, or ^50, being carried, they were asked how much they would allow the chief for his mullah, or secretary, and how much for his djiguitt, or mounted messenger, whereupon they voted ^6 for each. The emoluments ot the office being settled, they proceeded to elect the officer, M. Troitzky first reminding them that the office would be held for three years, and that they should, therefore, be careful to choose a good man A table was placed at the door of the tent, and on it two hats half covered with handkerchiefs, to prevent the contents being bis from different volosts, to be convened periodically, besides which the contending parties may, if they please, appeal to a Russian tribunal, whose decision is regarded as from a third court, and must be final. In conducting a case, the accused and accuser choose their own /;/ or bis, and the litigants bind themselves by a written promise to the head of the volost to abide by their decision. This is accompanied in the Orenburg district by a custom of the litigants throwing down their whips at the feet of the judges, as a token that they deliver themselves up to be dealt with as they may deserve. Xo objection can be received against a judge after the verdict is given, and any one uttering a false suspicion against a judge is liable to the fine of a khalat for defamation. On the other hand, should a judge impose a fine on unjust grounds, he is deprived of his position. A judge is answerable to God for a prejudiced verdict, which lias this much of meaning, that if a hi be found to have been bribed to give an unfair verdict, custom subjects him to popular indignation and depriva- tion of office. THE KIRGHESE. ,H<> seen, whilst before it, in a semicircle, were seated the 27 representatives, to each ot whom was given a nut, to be placed in the receptacle for ayes or noes. M. Troitxky told me that on a previous occasion he had endeavoured to ensure privacy ot voting by having two basins for ayes and noes put in his tent, but that some of the rascals had taken the nuts trom one basin to place in the other. The names ot tour candidates were proposed, and on the first being named, aged 48, all gave "their pebble" for him but three; in the case ot the second candidate the numbers were exactly re- versed ; the third candidate secured 2 1 votes in his favour, but the tourth only 7, the election ending in favour of Xogai Hi, who, according to old-fashioned Kirghese custom, ought to have been, like a bride- groom, nearlv stripped, then and there, bv congratula- O / 1 1 j O tory iriends ot everything upon him, and his belongings seized by one and another as a keepsake. But he was a rich man, and powerfully built, and when they sur- rounded him with congratulations his demeanour soon showed that he personally thought the custom more honoured in the breach than in the observance. Thus ended this part ot the day's proceedings, and we were taken into the tent tor refreshment and to talk over what we had seen. It was very clear that M. Troitxky had no sinecure, tor he was single-handed in so far that he; had no Russian help, but only that of one or two Kirghese interpreters. In his uye/d there were 25 volosts, containing in all 40,000 tents. All these he had to inscribe, and to help choose their otticers. lie was telling us ot his multifarious duties, when he was suddenly (.'ailed to action by some one rushing into the, tent, saying that there' was a tight L>'oinL> on. J 5 o XCSSA-LV CENTRAL ASIA. Now the Kirghese laws concerning personal offences are better defined than some others. Thus, to insult a senior has to be atoned for by the fine of a khalat, or bowing to the ground to ask pardon. To insult an equal entails having to ask forgiveness only, and abuse behind a person's back does not count, but naughty children are punished as the parents may desire.* In the present instance M. Troitzky quickly left the tent, and I wondered what gentle methods of persuasion he, the only European there be it remem- bered except ourselves, would use to pacify the two combatants, surrounded as they were by hundreds of these Kazaks, whose very name bespeaks them ruffians. Would he place himself between, and entreat them to be reconciled ? Not a bit of it ! I left the tent a minute later to see what he would do, when behold ! he had sprung upon his horse, rushed into the crowd, and, whip in hand, w r as dealing out blows right and left, and scattering the crowd like a pack of curs. His interpreters followed suit, and so speedily had everyone taken to his heels, that it was * Cases of assault are punishable by fines, to which is added, in serious cases, the defraying of the sufferer's medical expenses ; whilst disturbance of the peace, offences against order, or resistance to authorities may be visited not onlv with a fine, but 25 stripes with the rod. Certain of the Kirghese laws concerning criminal assaults are very like those of the Hebrews. Thus, a person committing an offence against an unbetrothed maid is obliged to marry her, with the consent of her parents, who may demand, besides the kuliin, kilcn>kaia r/im-A-arhaia . >~ Muiikinskaia . Sam-Su . . j^ T;iny . - u Kuin-Aryk .1 Maldahary^kaia .^ Akvr- rinl.r . .^ () Ak-(.'hulak.-kai i lia - -.1 I'rli-IV.J.ik . -.i Aulir- A: i 354 RUSSIAA r CENTRAL ASIA. ing, by which time we reached Sam-Su, near the ruins of Fort Kastek. Here a message from the authorities at Vierny had preceded me that horses should be in readiness, and the amiable old post-master, thinking that some one of importance must be coming, had put out bread and salt for a welcome, and he inquired privately of Mr. Interpreter by what titles he should address me. Had we intended to visit Lake Issik-Kul, this would have been the point from which to turn our faces south- wards over the Kastek Pass, 3,30x3 feet high, to the Sl'MMER RESIDENCE OK THE GOVERNOR OF SEMIRECIUA. head waters of the Chu, along the bed of which the post-road runs through the Buam defile, called by the natives the Happy Pass, to the station Kutemaldi.* * From Kutemaldi there goes off a sumpter post-road, directly south, along which there are pickets as far as Fort Narin. Beyond this is a bridle-road to Kashgar, 200 miles in all as the crow flies, but not less than 260 miles distant by this route. Kutemaldi lies at a height of 5oOO feet above the sea level, and the path proceeds along the bed of the Kochkur to the Dolan Pass (10,100 feet), then descends into the Xarin valley to the river and fort (7,100 feet) of that name, which is practically the Russian outpost. Beyond it a bridle-path ascends along the Kara-Kain stream to the Kash-Rabat Pass (12,930 feet), l-'ROM I'lKRXY TO Ai'J.IE-ATA. 355 The beauty of this defile is greatly extolled by travellers. The road then skirts the northern shore of the Issik-Kul, between its extreme western and eastern points, and turns oft at a right angle to Karakol, at a height of 5,430 feet, and distant from Kastek about i 70 miles, or from Pishpek, the point ol departure that would be taken from the west, 14 stations and 2 ^o miles.* skirts the eastern shore of Lake C'hadir- Kul, i i ,oSo feet hii, r h. then crosses the Tur^arl Pass at u.Xoo feet into Chinese territory. Alter this, tor about 90 miles, the traveller gradually descends some S.ooo teet to Kashmir, passing on the way four or live station^. * Karakol may be approached also by another carriage-road proceed- ing eastwards from Vierny at the foot of the Trans-lli Ala-'l'au as far as the River Chilik, and then ascending the mountains to Tabdi-Bulak. which is about }o miles east of Karakol, and a point of road near to the s^innt Tens^ri- Khan, towering aloft to the height of j i ,000 feet, (ieneral Walker's map indicates a carriage-road proceeding from Tabdi-Hulak lor about So miles to the Chinese frontier at Mil/art, 40 miles north ot the famous pass (12,000 feet) of that name ; but 1 can find no authority 356 AUSSA-1~V CENTRAL ASIA. From Kastek or Sam-Su, where we had arrived at even, the old post-road would have led us up into the mountains to Tokmak,* and then on to Pishpek, a route that M. von Ghern had been desirous that I should take, with a view to seeing the Kara-Kirghese in their native haunts. But the road was said to be almost too bad for a carriage, and I had determined accordingly to keep to the lower road, which had been made in 1870 to avoid the steep and dangerous gradients of the old route. Accordingly we drove along the Kopa valley, passing three stations during the night, and arriving in time for breakfast at Suigati, where the diversion awaited us, described in the last chapter, of a visit to the Kirghese election. Nogai Bi, whom we saw elected chief of the volost, was reckoned a fairly rich man ; but not like Nabal, who had 3.000 sheep and 1,000 goats (i Sam. xxv. 2), or Job, with 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 2,000 oxen, and 1,000 she asses (Job xlii. 12); though these numbers need surprise no one after hearing of the millions of cattle on the Kirghese Steppe. This modern patriarch of our acquaintance owned to pos- sessing merely 150 horses, 500 sheep, 30 cows, 20 camels, 2 tents, and 4 wives ! His rich tent, erected for the Russian officer, also bespoke its owner's opulence, as did his massive silver girdle, four or five cither in my Russian post-book or maps, for anything more than a bridle-path. * Dr. Schuyler points out that about 15 miles from the present Tokmak. a place of 2,000 inhabitants, there are the ruins of an old town of the same name that \vas formerly the capital of a principality, and gave to the Mongols the name for all the country to tin- west the realm of Kipchak, and accordingly that when we read, as in the " History of Hast Mongolia," by Sanang Set/en (1196-1^52), of wars between the Mongol Khan and the Sultan of Tokmak, the latter means the Shah of Kharexm or Khiva. FROM riERXY TO A UL IE- ATA. 357 inches wide, and nearly half-an-inch thick, the value of which he put at a prohibitive figure, though I secured one of his Kirghese rings that is now in the British Museum.* I took occasion at Suigati to ask the official inter- preters, who seemed intelligent fellows, what they thought of the version I had with me of the New Testament. They replied that it was not true Kirghese, but "a mixture of Turkish and Arabic, which," said they, " makes Tatar." t The wandering Tashkendians, who go from aul to aul of the Kara- Kirghese, teach their scholars tro m * Xogai Bi's girdle reminded me bycontrast of that of Johnthe Baptist, "a girdle of a skin about his loins" (Mark i. 6], and enabled one the better to realixe the indignity put upon the Jews in Bokhara by the Kmir, who allows no Israelite, however rich, to gird himself with other than a piece of string. Xogai Bi had also four servants, but whether formerly slaves I know not. The Kirghese made slaves t>f all heretics they could, and even of Shiite Mussulmans, though it is forbidden to Muhammadans to make slaves of their co-religionists, as it was to the Israelites to treat as bondmen their fellow-countrymen (Lev. xxv. 42). They evaded the precepts of the Koran by regarding the Shiites as heretics. This is not allowed under Russian rule ; but reference to the custom helps to illustrate another feature in Jewish patriarchal life, where we read of Abraham's " servants born in his own house," and others "bought with money of any stranger." The same practice obtained in Mosaic times, with bondmen bought of the heathen round about. A brain's wealth is seen in his ^iS trained servants, with whom he attacked the .| kings, and delivered men, women, and good-., that had apparently been seixed very much in the fashion of a Kirghese lnirant for /, (I for /, etc. ; that few Persian or Arabic words are used ; and that there are many peculiar to the Kirghese dialect. I heard of no Kaxak literature in the plains, but ('aptain Valikhanof .says the I )ikokamenni possess a remarkable epic called the " Manas "an cncyclopa'dic collection of Kirghese mythological tales and traditions, grouped round one person the giant Manas, and also an s. for Crown taxes. For the Kirghese school in Omsk was expended for that in Ust-Kamenogorsk ^240; and for the internals ^"2,651. FROM VIERNY TO AULIE-ATA. 359 Issik-Kul, where it gives off the sm;ill stream of the Kutemaldi, through which a portion of its water finds its way into the lake.* Certain parts of the river banks are frequented by the Kirghese only in winter, because the meadows and grazing grounds are few. As we approached Constantinovsk, where the inhabitants devote some amount of time at least to agriculture, we passed by the largest aul we had seen. The number of children running about attracted our attention, many of them nude, and evidently brought up under circumstances as rough as those in which they began lite ; for the mother, having been at work to the last, and having little rest allowed her after childbirth, simply wraps her new-born infant in a cloth in summer, or in a sheepskin in winter, and there ends the business. It is only in cases of difficult birth that relations give assistance as accoucheurs, magicians, and sorceresses. I'nder the; most favourable circumstances these- make grimaces and whisper, but commonly have recourse to * From this point the river takes a sharp turn to the west, and flows through the picturesque Buam defile, the river brine; now fordable, while before it was not. Here the Chu is bridged in two places, and, the defile bein.^ passed, the valley opens out to a width, at Tokmak, of 2~ miles, affording the nomads excellent pasture. Below this point the river distributee its waters over numberless branches, forming a whole archipelago of islands, with an average depth of only > feet. From Fort Tokmak the ('hu is practicable for raft floating", and io miles lower, even tor navigation, tor 200 miles, until the river begins to dis- tribute itself in channels overgrown \\ith reeds. In this joo miles the ( hannrl is not less than | fret dt ep, whilst its maximum may reach 1. 1 feet. The width of the river nowhere exceeds i jo yards, and in its lower course does not measure halt this width. Its attenuated waters, alter an entire course of n^ miles, finally run into the Strppr lake, Sauinan- Kul, thus tailing short of the Svr-daria In l>~ miles. The Chu is rich in tish, and contains r.reain, .Vv.\', 1'ikr. IVrch, Roach. Chti'iiK a si.rt ot Breain^ and Crucian Carp; also a tew S;,ur:i.\ and Sa/an. or IVrch- Pike. .?6o &USSIAA 7 CENTRAL ASIA. more pernicious measures. The one right the mother possesses is to name the new-born child,* which she exercises in an original manner, sometimes calling her infant by the first object that meets her eye after delivery, whence such curious names as It-Ayak, or " dog's foot." We crossed the Chu by a wooden bridge, and, after driving 15 miles, arrived at 6 o'clock at Pishpek, where the new road, by which we had come, joined the old one from Tokmak. Pishpek is a village with wide streets and a school, wherein the master showed us a small local collection of butterflies and beetles, but the principal object of attraction for us was a large botanical garden, to the superintendent of which, M. Fetissof, we had an introduction. To his house the obliging starosta took us, but, unfortunately, he was not at home, whereupon the schoolmaster accompanied us to the garden. The trees were only young, and the weeds were high, but it was evident that M. Fetissof had before him a vast undertaking, and that he had brought together a considerable collection of trees, shrubs, and plants indigenous to the region, and that he was 1 O O * With this might be compared the circumstances of birth and giving of names in the cases of Rebekah, the mother of Ksati and Jacob; of Rachel, who, in departing-, called Benjamin " son of my sorrow " ; and of Pharez, who was born before his twin brother, and, in consequence, called a "breach " (Gen. xxv. 25, 26, xxxv. 16, 18, xxxviii. 28, 29). M. (Jjfalvy describes the Kirghese as fond mothers, who sometimes suckle their children up to four years of age. They have a custom, he says, of pulling, with a view to extending, their children's ears, from earliest infancy, that they may hear the better. As the children grow up. they get scanty attention from either father or mother. l : p to the age of 12 or 13 years they go about in summer, as we saw, almost naked, or in tatters ; and in winter, because of the cold, they crowd among the sheep under cover, and only their half-shaven heads peep out from amongst the animals as they ga/.e with surprised and rapid eyes on any visitor who may approach. FROM VIERNY TO A U LI K- ATA. j?0i making experiments with a view of introducing others. As it was uncertain when M. Fetissof would return, I determined not to stay at Pishpek, hut push on through the niQfht, now warmer than heretofore. o o Morning found us still skirting the mountain range we had had on our left all the way from Yierny. It was a continuation of the Trans- Hi Ala-Tan, that, west ot the Buam Pass, is called the Alexandroi range. Judged by its Alpine vegetation, it is said to he from 9,000 to 10,000 feet high.* In the course of the night we- passed Sukuluk, a settlement with a score or more ot houses, and arrived at the fortified place Ak-Su, near which is a village called Belovodsk, with wide streets lined by willows, with a church, a school, and nearly a hundred houses, occupied for the most part by Russian colonists from the government of Yoronej and irom Little- Russia. Dawn found us two stations further, at Chaldavar. when.- we bought two " Astrakhan " melons, that wen considered choice, and by breakfast time we had reached Merke. It is not main' years since the line of pickets between Tokmak and Aulie-Ata, with the * Perpetual snow appears on it opposite the town of Tokmak, ami it- highest peaks rise to 15,000 feet. The line of perpetual sm>\\ , iron; 1^,000 to 14,000 feet hi^li, stretehes as far as the sources of the Kara- Balta. I'Yom hem e the ran^v ^raduallv fa IK towards the west as tai as Mi-rke, near whieh its height does not exceed o,_'oo feet. Further westward, the ran^e rapidly rises a^ain above the snow-line, and sink- towards Aulie-Ata. near \\hieh it lias not an absolute height of more than 2,()Oo feet, or of I >o feet above the le\ vl of the River Ta las. I ), >wr. the northern slope of the Alexamlrof ran^e ilo\\ numerous rivers, whence the ancients called this district .)/,/. -/,' a lhoiis;ind spirin^s," and the -aine sl,,pr is coverei a height of t'l'i nit >,0i)0 to S.MMO feet , but the S' Hit hern ot \\ood. The low passes nvt-r the rani^e are co\'e Tali grasses, mountain ^opie,. 3 62 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. fortress of Merke, used to form the left flank of the province of Turkistan. N ow all wears an aspect of peace. Colonies have been settled about some of the pickets, newly-planted woods constantly appear, the fortress is abolished, the surrounding country is dotted over with the huts of Kirghese labourers, and Merke is enlivened by the presence of post-office and tele- graph clerks. I took advantage of the presence of these latter indi- viduals to send a telegram to General Kolpakovsky, for not until now had we reached the frontier of his General Government of the Steppe, and were about to pass out of Semirechia into Turkistan. I could not but feel how much I owed to his Excellency's care and attention. All had gone well, and I telegraphed to thank him, and to say how much I had enjoyed my stay.* We were delayed for an hour or two at Merke for the repair of the box I had fastened in the rear of the tarantass, and wherein I had stowed my saddle. This post-house was a vast improvement upon any of * I cannot pass from the mention of General Kolpakovsky without saying how much I heard of his worth, and what marks of careful administration he has left in Semirechia, over which he was Governor. His Excellency was born, Dr. Schuyler says, in iSiu. He was the son of a subaltern officer in the province of Kherson, and at id years of ai^e entered the service as a private soldier. In 10 months he was made a non-commissioned officer, and so remained until i.S.ji, when he re- ceived a commission. He served lor a lon^ time in the Caucasus, and afterwards in Transylvania during the Hungarian war, until, in iS^2, he was transferred to \Yestern Siberia, where he has spent the remainder of his life. At first he was stationed at the inhospitable town of Ik-rezof, but in iH^H was transferred to the district of the Ala- fan. He knows Semirechia well, having passed whole days in I he saddle riding over it, ^o that the Kir.Ldiese, whose lan^ua^'e he know.s. have Ln\vn him the name of "the iron seat.'' I heard that the Kuldja natives placed .threat confidence in him, which will, no doubt, be Chared n<>\v by the more Himerous inhabitants of the general government of the Steppe. FROM VIERXY TO AULIE-ATA. ^ those we had recently seen, and was kept by a Pole, who bought a New Testament. From the next station, Munkinsk, we gave a lift to the starosta, who seixed the opportunity of our coming to start on a journey, and begged for a place on the luggage vehicle, which vehicle, two stations further on, threatened to delay us through the tire of the fore-wheel coming almost off. Fortunately we found a wayside smith, who quickly put it to rights for 4^., pleading by way of apology for his charges that coal was dear, as indeed it well might be, we thought, in such an outlandish place. At the next station, Moldabavsk, we had drunk tea, and were preparing to start, when one of the; horses kicked a Tatar yemstchik and fractured his leg in the upper third. This was clearly a case for Mr. Sevier's attention ; so he first ordered the man to be put to bed, when it turned out that his sleeping-place was in a sledge, under an open shed. Here, therefore, we bandaged up the limb in a box splint, extemporized splints of split boards, bandaging with towels, and tied round the limb with string. The patient was then laid in the sledge with his leg somewhat elevated, and with pendent stones lor weights to straighten the limb. He was told what to do for a month, given some money, and the keeper of the inn enjoined to take care of him, after which his good Samaritan left him, roughly doctored, no doubt, but much better than would have been his lot had no surgeon been there. \\'e then passed three stations during the night, and arrived in the morning at .\ulie-.\ta. Aulie-Ata stands on classic ground, as will bf seen hen-alter, in connection with the ancient historx oj Central Asia. To-day it is a town of 4,500 inhabitants, living in 741 houses, of which only 50 are occupied 1>\ ;,6 4 (7SSIAXr CENTRAL ASIA. Russians, the remainder by natives, of whom Kirghese form the largest proportion. I had, in fact, at Vierny been told that I could purchase the best articles of Kirghese manufacture in Aulie-Ata. Soon after our arrival, therefore, we went to the offices of the uyezdi- nachalnik, or chief of the district, where we again found that a telegram had preceded us to facilitate our procuring horses. The assistant chief and a military officer kindly volunteered to accompany me to the market and bazaar. The advantage of this \ve soon found ; for not only were these officials accompanied by inter- preters, but by djiguitts also, mounted forerunners, who preceded us in the narrow crowded bazaar, and speedily cleared the way. Indeed, it was ridiculous to see how unceremoniously the djiguitts unhitched standing horses, and set them adrift. I found exposed here several articles of Kirghese make and use, among which were native hats, boots, and bridles, some rude jewellery for ear-rings, orna- mental tassels for suspending in the tent, and a piece of female headgear called a tar a. to hang in a double row across the breast of an under-garment, also a tcJiinikap, or wooden receptacle, in which to suspend a basin when travelling. I bought specimens of all these. I also saw exhibited a drink called airan, made of whey sweetened with honey and cooled with ice ; likewise tursnks, or goat-skins, for holding liquids. The manners of the people were as novel to me as their wares. Here was a man striving to allay the dust, not with a water-cart, but by carrying a skin of water, and sputtering it out of the aperture. Behind the charcoal fire of a Kirghese smith sat an unfortunate individual, whose calling in life was to blow the FROM VIERNY TO AULIE-ATA. 365 bellows, consisting of two leather bags he had to press alternately lor 12 hours a day, and for which he was paid 2s. a week. At many of the: stalls they exhibited in cages, for 8, ap on the officers palm. \\ e chanced to pass .1 barbel's shop. when: a man, after having \\ater poured on his head, was shaved without soap \\ith a ( hinese ra/or an-! 3 66 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. then put through a series of squeezings like those experienced in a Turkish bath, this Eastern barber, as usual, ending by kneading his body, pulling his joints, slapping his back, and cracking his knuckles. Whilst witnessing this operation my eyes fell upon a pair of pincers, the length of curling-tongs, and nearly power- ful enough to extract a tenpenny nail. I made bold to ask what they were for, and was told they were for extracting teeth ! which so tickled my fancy, that I bought them forthwith as a curiosity. The " lion," however, of Aulie-Ata is the tomb of the local patron saint, that gives its name to the town. The Kirghese make much of the resting-places of the dead.* If in such a spot a tree or bush grows (a rare thing in the steppe), the sanctity of the tomb is confirmed, and prayers offered there are considered special!}' efficacious, and oaths administered to be peculiarly binding. Aulie-Ata (holy father) is said to have been a certain Kara khan, and a descendant of the Sheikh Ahmed Yesavi. \Ye went out to the cemetery, and found there two principal tombs. That of the saint, said to have been buried Soo years ago, is built ot * The Buruts, according to Veniukoff, reverence even the remaining- monuments of an ancient race formerly inhabiting- their country, notably a high brick column near Tokmak, in which, according- to a popular tradition, a certain khan built up his daughter after her death ! The old relics of their own people are yet more highly reverenced, the tombs of famous ancestors being held sacred as places of prayer, from whence to remove the remains or anv appurtenance belonging to the dead is considered a crime. To become a Kirghese saint (_anlia'] was not formerly a difficult matter. A man had only to be a bold plunderer, and to leave behind him good possessions, and then his descendants would place his body in a large tomb. Such tombs were at first visited by relations only, but others followed, and made the place sacred by their prayers and their gifts. These gifts are simple enough, and generally consist of variegated rags and bones, especially horns and skulls. FROM riERNY TO AULIK-ATA. -,67 dried ornamental bricks, is of no architectural beauty, and is fast falling to ruin. The doors leading to the tomb are carved, and there are remains on the walls of ornamented plaster. Near at hand was erected a pole with a banner, called a bairak, usually placed about the tombs of saints, and also near were rams' skulls and horns, the remains, perhaps, of offerings. When thus placed on a tomb, horns indicate that those buried were saints or heroes, or at any rate powerful or eminent persons. Alexander the Great, who lives in the traditions of the people further south, is called " the: double-horned one," as in other parts of the East, 1 am told, because on his coins are the horns of Jupiter Ammon. This also illustrates tin: frequent mention in Scripture of the horn as a symbol of power. \Ve were near coming in for a feast as we approached the next tomb, that ot Aulie-Ata's son, tor there were gathered about it a small crowd of women and chil- dren, who had come there to pray and eat and play. As it was to be my first and probably my only visit. 1 wanted ot course to see the. place-,, and tor that purpose pushed my way into the enclosure, among the women and children, but committed thereby, 1 tear, a breach of Oriental etiquette, for the women crowded together, and hid their taces, leaving, however, an eye uncovered, that they might have a good look at the strangers, but without bestowing a reciprocal favour upon us. \\'e then learned that several club together and buy a sheep, and bring it there, usually on rhursday, to eat. and hold a feast.' ' This reminds one of those Jewish feasts in which religion.-, cere- monies were to be accompanied with eating and rejoicing before the Lord d)eut. xii. iS), and illustrates the doings of the Israelites before the golden call, \\hen the}' offered burnt-otVerins^s, and brought peace- offerings, and the people sat down to eat and drink, and ro.se up to 368 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. \Ye did not remain long in Aulie-Ata, whence we set out for Tashkend ; but we were now in the general government of Turkistan, which I must accordingly proceed to describe. play (Exod. xxxii. 6). There is also the case of Aaron, and all the elders of Israel, eating bread with Moses' father-in-law "before God" (Exod. xviii. 12). It is interesting to notice that a remnant of this practice still lingers in at least one branch (and that one the most corrupt, perhaps, that I have seen) of the Christian Church -namely, the Armenian. The charge is sometimes brought that they continue to offer animal sacrifices; but, upon inquiring of an intelligent Armenian in the Caucasus, he told me that what they do is the lingering remnant of a heathen practice found in existence by the early teachers of Christianity in the Caucasus, and which those missionaries did not forbid ; but that in the present day it is not until after the services on their great festivals that the people slay the animals they have brought, and so feast together. CHAPTER XXV. : GEXERAL GOVERXMEXT OF TURKISTAX. Definition of " Turkistan." Origin and composition of the general government. Its dimensions, boundaries, and surface.- Turkistan temperature compared with that of Asia generally. Results ot dryness of climate on soil and vegetation. Meteorological observa- tories and tables. Four vegetal climatic x.mes. l''ogs, aurora liorcalis, and earthquakes. Geology of Russian Turkistan, and minerals.- Decrease of mining operations, and why. TL RK ISTAX," in its widest acceptation, signifies the country of the Turks, and is hounded on the north by Russia, on the- west by the Caspian, on the east by Mongolia and Tibet, and on the south by I lindustan and Afghanistan. That portion lying between the Thian Shan and the Karakoram mountains is called Kastern or Chinese- Turkistan, the low country south of Bokhara is sometimes called Afghan Turkistan, whilst the Aralo-Caspian depression, with which we are chiefly concerned, has now received the name of Russian Turkistan. I>y the year iS<>7 Russian con- quests in Central Asia had led to the acquisition ot so much new territory that it appeared desirable to the authorities to place it under a separate administration, to be called the " ( ioverninen t- ( icneral ot Turkistan,"* ' Thi> was foniird of the pre-exi-tin^ province of TurkUtan. 'he 1'ashkend district, the country occupied ;n i>it, bevotid tlie |a\art.--, anil tha; pan of the Semipola;in-k province v.hir live months, and tor abemt three in the 1 elistnct further north. A noteworthy re-suit e)t the- want ot humidity in the- HI, ^really exaggerated, and, near the 15aik.il, ivvrr>rd ; the linrs now uoin-' r>md tin- north mil ot" the lakr. Inilic chart tor March, (In- line of i j make.s a capricious curve from Yeneseisk through l.Miisk. tn nearlv as far south as Akmolinsk, and then, within 5 of longitude. ascends iii ot latitude, running' north to Marmt/ Inland, thus ^ivin;^ the same ili'^Ti-i- of tmi|>rratmv in Mari'h In .\kmolin--k, that is on thr jiarallrl of London, and to an inland 15 fioin thr .North 1'oir. Once morr, thr month ot' July pn-si-nts .^rrat irrr^nlarit ir>, thr line ot'oS' rommriu in^ in thr Sra ot Japan as tar ^outh a> thr ^S'h parallrl. and th.rii ^prin^inL;' on thr -.ami- mrridian ot lon^ r itndr no h--> than _'.} ot iatituilr to N'akntsk, ^ivrs to thi^ eoldol to\\n upon rarth thr same trmprrattirr a-- to thr roa>t ot Korea, after \\hiih the line descends to tlii -oi:th of the llaikal, and jiroeeeds evenly westwards. The i>.)tlu-rms aeross Asia'ie Russia Iroin August to November are even ;,74 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. Turkistan mountains, valleys, and plains, is the gradual drying up of the soil during the present geological period. The basins of the Syr- and Amu-daria show abundant traces of this process. Here are seen old river beds partially filled up, and numerous rivers that of old were tributaries of some principal stream, now stop half-way to lose themselves in the sands, or end in brackish marshes. Small lakes have evaporated by hundreds and by thousands, leaving behind only beds of salt. Great lakes, like the Balk- hash, Aral, and the Caspian, have shrunk ; others in the mountains are partially emptied, like Issik- Kul ; whilst some have disappeared, like those now represented by the plains of Kuldja and Ferghana. By reason of this continued desiccation a large portion of the country has been transformed into steppe, not only in the lowlands, but also in the mountains, where a depression in the surface is often a steppe, with the vegetation singularly limited both as to the number of species and their period of growth. The climate, in fact, in such cases is scarcely more favourable to vegetation than the Arctic regions, the development of the plants being limited to about three months, in the north by the snows of winter, and in Turkistan by the clryness of the summer. Consequently forests are not met with, even in the mountains, in the pro- vince of Syr-daria. It is only towards the east in Semirechia, where the amount of river water is com- paratively greater, that, as I have already said, one meets with trees in any number. The Russians are expending great pains in taking observations at no less than 22 meteorological sta- tions, but since many of them date only from 1^75, it is at present unsafe to make positive deductions THE GEXERAL GOVERXMEXT OF 7Y/v?A7.SYll A r . 375 concerning the Turkistan climate.* We must have recourse, therefore, as Colonel Kostenko points out, to observations referring to the life and locality of the vegetable world, to enable us to form a general idea of the climate, for which purpose the vice-royalty may be divided into four tracts or /ones, distinguished as the northern zone, the apricot zone, the peach and almond zone, and the zone of pistachio nuts. The first zone takes in the whole of the country above the 45th parallel, including the lower courses of the Syr-daria and the Hi, and the tract north of Kopal. The whole of this extent has a fairly cool climate. Hence the more delicate fruits, as apricots, vines, etc., do not thrive here. Snow lasts for two or three; months during the winter. In the lowlands of the Syr-daria snow is always accompanied by stormy winds from the north or west. At Fort Xo. i the; summer lasts 5 months, without rain, and is sultry ; and in winter the river is frozen then; for 123 days. The; average; winter temperature of this northern zone is about equal to that of Russia north of Petersburg. The apricot zone lies south of the preceding one, and includes Perovsk, and the towns of Ha/ret, Aulie-Ata, and Vierny. In this zone the winter is not so protracted. The Syr at Perovsk is frozen only <;~ days, but the winds blow almost as violently .is the}' do further north, while at Aulie-Ata and along the Alexandrol and Trans-Ili Ala-Tau ranges the winds are noted lor their violence;. The summer heals of this tract run up to 100 in the shade, and the cold reaches 22 below zero. I he snow lasts lor two months, and the winter here may be compared with that of Central Germain'. 376 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. The peach and almond zone comprises the towns of Chimkent, Tashkend, Tokmak, Ura-Tiube, Jizakh, Samarkand, Petro-Alexandrovsk, Nukus, and the Kuldja oasis. In this tract of country the vine is but little cultivated, except in the northerly parts, where it is covered up in winter, though from Tashkend south- wards it needs not to be so protected. Although Ura-Tiube, Jizakh, Samarkand, and Katte-Kurgan lie considerably to the south of Tashkend, yet ow ng to their greater altitude they all enjoy a similar climate. In the pistachio nut zone is included the valley of Khojend and the neighbouring Khokand mountains. The character of this tract is such that the vine may MEAN The following' table gives the mean temperature at various points in Russian years, the figures in italics May. 57-I5 / 39 '7 ./^ Tashkend . . 9 1867-75 1 30-09 - 7 '06 ^o-Sg 45-68 58-89 ^'9J Ura-Tiube . . 2 1873-4 j 2 ^' I 5. 31-19 4-10 53H2 /7 '(JO THE GEXEKAL GOVERNMENT OF TCRK/STAX. $-- be cultivated on high ground, whilst its climate allows of the growth in the open air of the more delicate plants and fruits. The average winter temperature is about the same as that of Central France, though the latter is some 5 further north. It remains to be noticed in connection with the climate ot Turkistan, that togs arc: frequent only in the northern portions, especially about Sergiopol and Kopal. They are rarely seen in summer - that is, from May to September at Tashkend. The aurora borealis, or Northern Lights, are sometimes visible in Turkistan, as, tor instance, on the night of the 4th and 5th ot February, 1872. On each occasion they TK.MIM KA ITKKS. Central Asia, ilrrivm representing ihr st-alt numbrr> of 35'64 3/8 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. appeared at 10 o'clock, and lasted till the following morning. The light was of a red, fiery colour, and imparted a roseate tint to the snow that covered the ground. Its configuration varied but slightly, and though it was more clearly defined towards the north, where it reached the zenith, it was visible even on the southern horizon. Earthquakes in Turkistan, as throughout Central Asia generally, are frequent, especially in the mountain region, where the shocks are severe. The most violent shocks occur towards the end of February, and during the month of March. In Bokhara, where the new year is held to begin after the spring equinox, it is believed that that period must be ushered in by an earthquake. Hence the "wise men" of Bokhara stick a knife in the ground beforehand, and when this falls they consider themselves in a position to meet the new year. Passing to the geological features of " Russian Turkistan," I may observe that it was with some diffi- culty I succeeded in finding a work on the subject, but did so at last in the brochure of M. Mouchketoff * on the mineral riches of the country. Attached thereto is a geological map drawn up by the author from his own * M. Mouchketoff complains of a like difficulty, but refers to the following works, the enumeration of which may be useful to the geolo- gical reader : (i.) Tatarinof, " Journal des Mines," 1867, p. 53; " Annales de la Societe geographique de Russie," 1867, t. 111., Idem. 1868, t. IV., p. 327 ; '' Gazette- du Turkestan," 1872, Nos. 8, 9, 10, et autres notes. (2.) Romanovsky, " Memoires de la Societe Russe de Technologic,"' 1875, t. II. (3.) Guilef, "Gazette du Turkestan," 1870, \o. 35. (4.) Kraievsky," Journal des Mines," 1868, partie.II., p. 308- (5.)Lehmann, " Rcise nach Buchara," Bearbeitet von G. v. Helmer^en. (0.) Bogos- lovsky, " Journal des Mines," 1842, Xo. 10, p. i. (7.) Davidoff, "' Jour- nal des Mines," 1872, Xo. 2, p. 183. (8.) Fabian, " Journal des Ingenieurs," 1872, Xo. i, p. 83. T/fK GENERAL GOTERNMENT OF ri'RfCfSTA.V. .};< observations, together with those of G. I). Romano v- sky. In this map the Thian Shan mountains, as far east as the 82nd meridian, are tinted, to show the geological features of the region. The colouration of the low country between the Syr and Amu denotes that portion to be of Tertiary and Secondary formations. Taking the country as I passed through it (in which I have had the help of my neighbour, Mr. Robert Slater, F.G.S.), it appears from this map that from Sergiopol, in the neighbourhood of which are found mines of graphite and coal, the road passes in a southerly direction tor some 60 or 70 miles through alluvial deposits, as well as Tertiary and Secondary formations, embracing red marine sandstone of the Upper Trias, interspersed occasionally with Jurassic and Cretaceous rocks, show- ing that there have- been several eras of denudation and deposition. The road afterwards, on higher ground, strikes Metamorphic Schists and Pakeozoic rocks, whilst Carboniferous Limestone, Devonian, and even Silurian formations are occasionally met with, capped by mountain chains, towering above all, com- posed ot erupted rocks, such as Granite. Syenite, Porphyry, Diorite, I )iabase, etc., across and along which the road proceeds in a south-westerly direction to the River Hi. Xear its valley are several veins ot manganese, lead, copper, and iron. Crossing the river, the road runs a little south ot wot, over a spur, and then at the base ot a chain ot granitic and pala-o/oic rocks until Chimkent is reached. Around this locality are found deposits ot Coal, Iron, Silver, Lead, and Rock Salt, whilst in some lew spots Gold is lound in workable < jiiantities. 1 he presence ot these minerals is sutticient evidence ot the L-'eoloirical interest attaching to a countrv ; v c o RUSSIA!? CENTRAL ASIA. \vhose palaeontological history still remains to be written. The mineral wealth of Central Asia made it one of the El-dorados of the ancients. Beneveni, says M. Ker, sent to his imperial master " a handful of sand mixed with gold dust, gathered in the Lower Oxus," and Minera (who penetrated to Balkh) told how the moun- taineers of Badakhshan " sink large fleeces of wool in the sand of their rivers, and after a while dig them up covered with gold dust " ; how " there are mighty treasures of gold, silver, and musk in the cities ot Kaskar (Kashgar), Dizan, and Margilian " ; how the river that flows past Samarkand " is called Zar-Affshan (gold-giving), because of its bringing down much gold from the eastern hills," and so forth, the truth of which tales the Russians, upon their conquest of the country, took an early opportunity of examining, with the result that there are now known to exist in Turkistan deposits of the following substances namely, Gold, Silver, Lead, Copper, Iron, Manganese, Arsenic, Turquoise, Agalmatolite, Graphite, Mineral Oil, Petroleum, Mineral and Lake Salt, Native Sulphur, Sal Ammoniac, Alum, Copperas, Iron Pyrites, Por- phyry, Gypsum, Marble, Limestone, Sandstone, and Clay.' Besides limestone, gypsum, and clay, some 6,500 tons ot oil arc-, obtained annually, ot which three-fourths come from the Kuldja region, and the remainder from the Syr-daria territory. The Kuldja district likewise produces about 5,000 tons of coal a year, and that of the Syr-daria about 1,600 tons more; but of the other useful minerals, notwithstanding the abundance O and diversity of the deposits, very few are worked. Of man}" the quality is tar from being uniformly good. THE GEXERAL GOVKRXMKXT OF TURKISTAX. 381 and in some cases the beds are so inconsiderable .is scarcely to be worth the attention of traders. Yet, on the other hand, considerable wealth may undoubtedly be acquired. Many of the beds of valuable minerals were known to the natives before the coming ot the Russians, and were worked by them, but not to any great extent. With the arrival of the Russians their working has diminished ; for the natives have abandoned their works, and the; Russians have com- menced to import all useful minerals trom Russia. The low condition ot metallurgy may be ascribed, Kostenko says, chiefly to the sparse population, and the limited cultivation ot the soil. The roads leading from inhabited localities to places that contain minerals are difficult, whilst the small number of people in the country limits the demand. It is, therefore, more profitable to import metals, etc., than to establish furnaces on the spot, where the yield would not compensate tor the cost ot production. I'pon the incorporation ot the Furkistan district into the Tsar's dominions, numbers of Russians vainly hurried thither in search of gold. The fact is. that gold exists there ; tor the natives have tor a long tune past found it in the sands of the Chatkal. the I'pper Chirchik. the Talas, the Hi, and the Zarafshan, but the amount of the precious metal thus obtainable is very scant}', and could only pay a native for his trouble. Indeed, only the poorer even among them are employed in searching tor it, and they pay no duties. All that a native needs is a fee/ men, or wide and round iron shovel, fastened at right , ingles to the shaft, and a trough to act as a cradle, and he is content it he earns thereby j;,/. or .\t/. a day. l>ut with the Russian tradei' it is verv different, tor 1>\ the time he 382 RUSSIA A r CENTRAL ASIA. has expended capital upon his works, instruments, and dues, he has paid away more than will recoup him for the outlay. Gold has been found nowhere in Turkistan in the vein, but only in very small grains, or pieces not bigger than a pin's head, most frequently in the form of dust. The richness of the deposits varies from o'oi to o'oi/ grains to the ton of sand. In certain places, however, in the Sungarian, Ala-Tau, and the River Tentek, it rises to 1*23 grains. There are no silver mines, properly so called, in Russian Turkistan, but silver is found allied with lead in veins of galena. The silver contained in this ore, whilst not exceeding 16*8 grains to the ton, admits of extraction along with the lead. Others of the minerals I shall have occasion to refer to hereafter ; but having now treated of certain broad features of the government-general of Turkistan, I shall proceed to describe the most northerly of its four provinces. CHAPTER XXVI. THE S YR- DA KIA PRO J 'IXCF.. Kxtent ami boundaries of Syr-daria province. Its mountains and deserts.- The Aral depression, and its geological changes. Tur- kiMan rivers : their peculiarities and direction. Sources of the Syr-daria. Its characteristics at Khojend; from China/ to Pen>v>k ; and onwards to the Aral. Its allliients and banks. Communications of the province. The road from Orenburg, ami tmvn> thereon. Caravan routes. Turkistan population according to races.- --Russian inhabitants, and Kuramas. Population accord- ing to creeds. Progress and density of settled and nomad com- munities. Till'. Syr-daria province, so named alter its prin- cipal river, extends over the whole of tin- northern portion ol the present Turkistan. It measures 636 miles on tin: 44th parallel from east to west; and the post-road, entering at the north- west corner and passing south-east to the border ol Semirechia, traverses 1,000 miles. The area, which occupies two-thirds ol the entire government-general, extends to 182,000 square miles, or the si/e ol Norway. Sweden, and Denmark. It is hounded on the north by the districts of Irgix and Turgai, and the govern- ment ol Akmolinsk ; on the east by Semirechia ami Ferghana; on the south by the districts ol /aratshan and Amu-dana; and on the west by the Sea ol Aral. It includes, in fact, the basins ol the middle 384 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. and lower Syr-daria and Chu rivers, with the eastern shore of the Sea of Aral. The province, for the most part, is flat, the western spurs of the Thian Shan occupying only a relatively small portion of its surface.* The surface of the Syr-daria province may be .divided into four zones namely, of deserts, steppes, oases, and mountains. Of these the first is by far the most extensive, and includes the huge desert of Kyzyl- Kum, between the Syr and Amu rivers ; the Kara-Kum, north-east of the Aral Sea ; and Ak, or Muiun-Kum, almost filling the space between the Chu and the Kara-Tau mountains. How large a proportion of the province is desert may be estimated from the fact that out of its entire area of about a million square miles, more than half are waste lands, 400,000 square miles are pastured by the nomads, and only 8,000 square miles are under cultivation ; or, to put the same thing in another way, out of every 100 acres * The Alexander range extends into the Syr-daria province, as I have stated, and in the neighbourhood of the sources of the '1 alas, the Talasky-Ala-Tau is detached from the Thian Shan mass, and stretches westwards to the sources of the Aris, north-east of Chimkent. tf Running off thence to the north-west is the Kara-Tau chain, whose western slopes the traveller from Orenburg sees from Julek after passing Perovsky. The mountain heights of the Kara-Tau range do not exceed from 5,000 to 6,000 feet, and in summer are free from snow, thus giving rise to their name of Kara- Tan, or "Black mountain." The south-western slopes of the chain are steep, whilst the central mass consists of an elevated plateau with deep valleys. The most elevated portions of the range lie west of the River l\amir-7^.s', and rise to 7,000 feet. These mountains are crossed by many passes, of which the Turlan Pass i> at an altitude of 6,800 feet. South-west of the Ala- Tau are the Chatkal mountains, some of the ramifications of which con- stitute the frontier between the provinces of Syr-daria and Ferghana, whilst its principal spurs separate the Chirehik basin from that of the Jaxartes. After ^hutting in with its northern spurs the Chirehik valley, the Chatkal range breaks out into numerous second-rate ridges known as Kendir-Tau and Kurama-Tau, which separate the Kurama district 57 arc waste, 42 arc; pasture, and less than i is cultivated. Not only the Syr-daria province', but the entire government-general is comprised in the Aral basin, in which the- two largest rivers are the Syr-daria and Amu-daria. To the same: depression also belong the Sari-Su and Chu, which flow towards the- Syr, but arc- lost in the- sands. To the- same basin also belong the rivers Talas, Ters, and Asu. which flow in the- same direction as the Chu. It is evident, says Colonel Kostenko. that the- Sea of Aral and lakes Balkhash, Ala- Kill, and Kbi-Xor once: formed one united basin." \\ hethcr it was from geological cause's, or from the effect of evaporation, that the- Sea of Aral became- separated from Lake Balkhash is not known. Only a chain of lakes, bogs, and salt marshes now mark the former connection, but the- firm soil between the two is obviously a subaqueous formation. The- rivers of Turkistan have several interesting peculiarities. They flow in a north-westerly direction, yet their lower courses, as in the cases of the: Syr, Talas, and Chu, curve towards the: east. Again, their right banks are: steeper than the left, because the- mountain rangv.s that he'in in both banks of their from Fen^hana. The must western end of the K nra ma- Tan continues to the bed of the Syr, mirth of Khojend, and is called the Mo-ul-Tau. Between this and the Kiirania-Tau mv mute lay on the postal road from Tashkend to Khojend. * Professor Romanoff, however, denies this, at any rate during the pleistocene period, lie .says that, at this period, the belt ot tertiary tableland, which, with the Kara-Tan rani^e, evidently formed the north- east shore of what was then the Sea ot Aral, \\oiild have hindered any c'onnectii)ii between that sea and I. .ike Balkhash. But the I'rutessur admits that, at a much earlier period, the I uranian lowland piv-rnted a \"ast \\ater basin, I'ompi'isniL;" \\liat are no\\ ihe basins ot t!ie C'.ispian. the Aral, and Lake Balkhash. VOL. 1. 25 ;,86 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. upper courses continue to skirt the right bank only after the rivers reach the plains. This is seen in the Chu, the Karatal, and the Syr below Khojend. The Turkistan rivers are all remarkable for their velocity. Hence, on changing from mountain torrents to steppe streams, they continue to flow at a rapid rate. Fed by the snows, they are from spring until the middle of summer surcharged with water, the bulk of w r hich, however, often sinks within twenty-four hours. Some of the mountain streams, that are impassable from noon till morn, are fordable from dawn to midday. The direction of the Turkistan rivers is not favour- able for commercial utility, since the caravan trade routes cross rather than skirt them. The roads from Khiva, Orenburg, and Petropavlovsk are more than once intersected by the Amu and Syr, whilst those leading from Bokhara are also similarly crossed by the Syr. Consequently the natives have never used these rivers as a means of communication. It was not until 1847 that the Russians, appearing at the mouth of the Syr, converted it into a route for advancing into Central Asia. Whether the Syr and Amu will ever become trade routes is exceedingly doubtful. They are, however, navigable, as are the Zarafshan and Chu. The great river ot our province, to whose basin all the others belong, is the Syr-daria, that was known to the Greeks under the name of the Jaxartes, and to the Asiatics as the Sihun, but concerning which we had little geographical information before 1850. Its whole course now runs through Russian territory, and Colonels Maief, Kostenko, and others have in recent years supplied full information about it.* * The Syr is composed of two affluents, the Xaryn ami Kara-daria. THE SYR-DARIA rROVINCE. 387 The Syr is of copious volume, and (lows in a south-westerly direction along the Ferghana valley, but without any of its water being appropriated to human needs. Not a single canal is diverted there- from in this locality, for it Hows through a barren and uninhabited country. The Upper Syr, as far as Khojend, a distance of 133 miles, allows oi timber rafts being floated down in summer, at which season ot the year the river is not fordable, but is crossed at six points in ferry-boats. At Khojend the river descends in rapids as far as Fort Irjar, below which point naviga- tion is once more possible, and the water again becomes deep, copious, and of extraordinary velocity. Below China/ the banks are steep, and the water close by is / feet deep, but the bed is not without shallows. From Chinaz to Fort Perovsk, a distance of more than 400 miles, the river (lows between low banks that are submerged when the waters rise, and are trans- formed into reed-grown swamps Irom 1,000 yards to 3 or 4 miles in breadth.* The former is considerably hinder than the latter in length, volume, and number of tributaries, and so claims to be the parent stream, bu; the latter aliens more with the course of the main river. The Xarya rises near Issik-Kul in Semirechia, the Kara-daria in the Osh district of the province of Ferghana, and the two unite in the centre of the 1'Yr^hana valley, o to >,o<> yard-, 388 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. Ten miles below Perovsk the Syr divides into two streams, the Yaman-daria and the Kara-Uziak. Hence the Yaman-daria, or bad river, is the principal channel, but becomes shallow in consequence of the division of the stream, so that at low water a boat, with a draught of 2 feet, is only able to navigate it with difficulty. This lack of water in the Yaman-daria is the chief obstacle to the development of navigation on the Jaxartes.* The Syr gives off several branches, that after being nearly drained by irrigation canals, end in swamps. t The passage of the river is not everywhere possible, because the banks in some places are not approachable, and the depth is seldom less than 21, and often as much as 35 feet. The rapidity along the main stream reaches 4^ miles an hour, but varies greatly. The water is muddy, but clears quickly, and is pleasant to the the taste. It is said to have the property, however, if used continuously for washing, of making the hair fall off. The bottom of the river is chiefly composed of mud and sand, though rocky in places. From the mouth of the Arys to Uch-Kayuk the tortuous course of the river gives rise to many islands, some of them being 2 miles long. There are three principal inundations, the first in March, after the thaw of the ice ; the next in May, at the melting of the mountain snows; and the third in June, which is the greatest ; but these floods are not always regular. * The other branch of the Jaxartes is quite unnavigable, and spreads out into a large number of reed-grown lakes. At Fort No. 2 the two streams reunite, and are again called the Syr-daria, which, from Fort No. 2 to its mouth, has a straight, deep channel accessible to boats of considerable draught. The embouchure of the Syr forms three estuaries, of which the central stream is the principal, but here the shoals are still more in the way of the passage of vessels than in the Yaman-daria. At low water the main channel is not more than 2 or 2\ feet deep, and at high water only from 3.^ to 4 feet. The left arm of the Syr is blocked up and overgrown with rushes, and the right arm is almost the same. The banks are of saliferous clay. The silting up of the mouths of the Jaxartes is the river's own doing, and is produced by deposits of sand and mud. which also have formed the island of Kos-Aral, covering the entrance of the river into the sea. t It receives two principal affluents, the Yengi-daria and Kuvan- daria, of which the former, according to tradition, was formed arti- THE SYR-DARIA rROVIXCE. 389 but the stream can be crossed at all forts by means ot ferry-boats, etc. The Kirghese use also reed-rafts and native boats dragged by swimming men or horses. 1 he lower banks of the Jaxartes are infertile and un- cultivated, and only south of Julek do fields begin, and then only in places, until the town of Ha/ret or Turkistan is reached. Passing from water communication to communication by land, the roads of the province are found to be of two kinds namely, for caravans and for wheeled vehicles, the former ot ancient date, the latter of Russian introduction. The traveller from Petersburg, who would speed to Tashkend as quickly as possible, reaches Orenburg by rail in 60 hours, after which, with post-horses, he trots beside the River Ural, a distance of 175 miles, to Orsk, where he leaves the Orenburg province, and continues, a distance of 259 miles, to Irgi/, the capital of the province of Turgai, whose frontier is only 65 miles distant. At Julius begins the Syr-daria oblast, and the road skirts the western edge of the Kara-Kum desert, touching the: north-east corner of the Sea of Aral, till, having driven 162 miles, he arrives at the fifteenth station in the province, called Ka/alinsk, formerly Fort Xo. i. This fortress had considerable importance in (.lays gone by, and round it sprang up a population that finally at the end of the last century, when the Karakalpak>, driven from the lower part of the Syr by the Kirghese of the Little Horde, had to seek a fresh locality. They quickly dtis^ a lar^e canal, from which was formed a branch of the Syr, called, at tirM. Karakalpak- daria, and afterwards Yen^i-dariu, or New River. l-nun Khojend to its month the Syr has not a single affluent on its left bank, but on its ri:, r ht bank there enter, besides small streams, three very lar-v rivers, the Aris, Chirchik. and An^reii. The Syr is closed by frost at Ka/.ala, near its mouth, for .} months in the year: at Perovsk ]\ month:-; at China/ for } weeks; but at Khojend rarely at all. 390 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. made the place the market town of the steppe. Kazalinsk has now 3,000 inhabitants, and, being situated at the junction of the Khivan, Bokhariot, and Tashkend caravan routes, is a place of considerable trade, and the chief post on the River Syr. Not far distant are the ruins of the ancient town of Janekend. After leaving Kazalinsk, or Fort No. i, the road keeps company with the Syr a distance of 1 1 7 miles, and past seven stations to Karmakchi, or Fort No. 2, whence it makes a detour to the left of the marshes, called Bakali Kopa, to the ninth station, distant 119 miles, at Perovsk. This was originally a Khokandian fort and town called Ak-Mesjed (white mosque), which in 1853 was captured by the Russians under General Perovsky, and the place called after his name. It is now a town of 3,000 inhabitants, peopled, like Kaza- linsk, by Kirghese, but having also an element of Sarts. For the next 72 miles to Julek the road passes six stations through a district abounding in game, after which the monotony ol the steppe is relieved by the beautiful outlines of the Kara-Tau mountain range. Four stations, or 60 miles further, bring the traveller to Yani- Kurgan, the great interest of this portion of the road being its adjacent ruins. An old legend says that the valley of the Syr was once so thickly settled that a nightingale might tly from branch to branch of the fruit-trees, and a cat walk from wall to wall from Kashgar to the Sea of Aral. The numerous traces of old canals give some colour to the story at this part of the river bank. Here once were large and flourishing towns, and noticeable amongst them were Otrar, the place of Tamerlane's death, Savran, and Jend. It is on arriving, however, at the fifth station, 78 THE SYR-DARIA PROl'INCE. 391 miles further, that the great monument of these parts looms in view, the famous mosque ot Ha/ret Khoja Akhmed Vasavi, in the city of Turkistan, commonly called "Ha/ret." The building was commenced by Tamerlane in 1397, over the tomb of Sheikh Akhmed Vasavi, who died about I 120, the founder of the sect Jahria. He is the patron of the Kirghese, and one: of the most celebrated saints in Central Asia. The city of Turkistan has now a population ot only 5,000, and contains little of interest except the mosque. A journey ot 102 miles further, at tin- seventh station, brings the traveller to Chimkent, the chief town of the uye/d. The steppe, undulating at this portion ot the road, is in spring rich in flowers. At Chimkent the post-road branches westwards to Semirechia, and continues south to Tashkend. Thence it bifurcates, leading, on the right, through China/ and Jizakh to Samarkand, and on the left through Khojend and I ra-Tiube to fizakh. As I traversed most ot the road, however, beyond Chimkent, I shall describe it in the course: ot my travels, merely observing he-re, that the- length of the: post-roads throughout the- Syr-daria province- amounts to 1.450 miles, the- road being e-very- where accompanied, if 1 remember rightly, by telegraph lines. Besiele-s the post-roads of the province there is a gre-at caravan route from Khiva to Ka/alinsk. with a branch going off to IVrovsk. another ;^oing north-west from 1 la/ret to Turgai. and a third to the north- e-ast, bifurcating to Atbasar and Akmolinsk. I>eside:s these arc many small longitudinal caravan routes, with scarcely one, however, going in a lateral direction. 1 he peoples ot Russian I'urkistan, as Koste-nko observes, are ot two races, the- C. auca^ian and the 1 Mon- golian. 1 he C aue'asian group has t\\o branches, the- 3Q2 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. Aryan and the Semitic, to the former of which belong the Russians and Iranians. Of Iranians also there are two branches, namely, the Iranians of the Upper Oxus, called Tajiks, who are descended from the aborigines of Bactriana, Trans-Oxus, and Sogdiana, and the Iranians proper namely, the Persians and the Afghans, the Hindus and the Gypsies. The Mongolian race, in its turn, is divided into two branches, the Turko-Tatar people of the Altai and the pure Mongols. To the first belong the Kazaks, the Kara-Kirghese, Uzbegs, Karakalpaks, Kipchaks, Turkomans, and the Tatars. To the second belong the Kalmuks, Chinese, Sibos, Solons, and some others.* The Sarts, the Taranchis, and Kuramas are a mixture of several races, but may be numbered among the Turco-Tatar races, since Sarts and Taranchis, in type and language, resemble the Uzbegs ; whilst the Kuramas resemble the Kirghese. The Dungans * The following shows their sub-divisions : / Aryan CAUCASIAN MONGOLIAN Semitic Turks Iranians of ! Upper Oxus, Tajiks of Bac triana, Trans j Oxus, and Iranians 1 Sogdiana. ( Jews. { Arabs. Iranians proper Persians, Afghans. Hindus, k Gypsies. , Kazaks, Kara-Kirghese, ' Uzbegs, < Karakalpaks, Kipchaks, Turkomans, Tatars. THE SYR-DAR1A PROVIXCK. .593 serve to connect the Turkish and Mongol races, hut in type they resemhle more closely the Turks, and are therefore better classified as such. Thus it will he seen that in Turkistan the Turk peoples predominate. The Kirghese are the most numerous, then come the Sarts, hut after this, owing to the difficulty of obtaining accurate statistics, the relative numbers of the peoples are somewhat doubtful, but Kostenko places them in the following order : U/begs, Tajiks, Kuramas, Kip- chaks, Russians, Karakalpaks, Taranchis, Kalnniks, Manchus, Dungans, Tatars, Turkomans, Persians, Hindus, Jews, and Gypsies.* I he civil population of the Russians forms about i per cent, of the people of Turkistan and Seminrhia, in which latter they are principally grouped, and where the Russian element forms 7 per cent, of the entire population of the province. t 394 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. With regard to the natives I have already described the Kazaks and the Kara-Kirghese ; the Sarts I shall describe hereafter, as I saw them, and other peoples in connection with the localities they inhabit. The Kuramas, however, should be noticed here, because, with the exception of a village in Ferghana, between Andijan and Namangan, they are confined to the Syr-daria province, and live along the Chirchik and Angren. They number 77,000 souls. Kostenko calls them simply Settled Kirghese.* Passing now to classifications of the population, we find that Muhammadanism is the belief of the mass of the people in Russian Turkistan. The Christians district they number 4,000 souls, or about i per cent. In the Amu-daria section the same element numbers a population of 1,184, f \ vn om the greater portion are exiled Cossacks from the Ural, and in the Ferghana province there were in 1876 Russians to the number of 1,229. * Ujfalvy, however, pronounces them a mixture between Kirghese, Uzbegs. and Sarts, calls them an ugly race, regarded as inferiors by their neighbours, and says that when an l T zbeg becomes sedentary, without mixing with Sarts or Tajiks, he presents a number of physical characteristics that bring him strikingly close to the Kuramas. The Kir- ghese, who have mixed with the Sarts, have lost all tradition of their own origin, and have borrowed what civilization their new neighbours possessed, but without losing that frankness and sympathetic nature "he following table from Kostenko shows the Semirechia Syr-daria Ferghana Xarafshan Amu-daria 59,3'3 THE SYR D ARIA PROVINCE. W> come next in number, then the Pagans, aiul last ot all the Jews.* A noticeable feature: of the Turkistan population is that the male sex far outnumbers the female ; whereas in Kurope the preponderance is of females over males. This abnormality in Turkistan is not accounted for by the existence ot troops, tor among the natives also there- is a marked preponder- ance of the same kind. As to the progress ot the Turkistan population, it would appear, according to Kostenko, that it increases at the. rate of 3 per cent, per annum. The birth-rate among the: natives is high, and though the death-rate also is considerably above that of Kuropean nationalities, yet the percentage ot that distinguish tin; Kir^hese. The Kuramas arc amon- the most capable and industrious of the Turkistan races. * Muhammadans ... . 2,900,000 I Russian Church . 57,000 Christians < Romanists I Protestants . Pagans .... ... |c\vs .....- The 60,000 Russians, exclusive of the army, may be tlius classified as to trades: IVivile-ed class, 2,1.00; men-hant- 39 6 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. actual increase is thrice as great as the increase of European Russia, where it only amounts to i per cent. The annexation of fresh countries, and the coloniza- tion of them by Russians, and by natives who come from neighbouring states, during a period of 1 1 years, increased the population in a three-fold degree,* in connection with which Kostenko points out that the freshly-occupied provinces not only added to the effective population of the country by nearly 60 per cent., but that the relative positions of the settled and nomad races, under Russian rule, became reversed.! The density of the Turkistan population amounts to only 7 per square mile, the thickest population being found in the Zarafshan district, and next in that of Ferghana. In the valley of Ferghana there are 26, and in that of Zarafshan, 35 to the square * The following table shows the increase of population from 1867 to 1877:- PKOl'OK TION OF POPULATION Year. Settled. Native. Russian. Native. Settled. Nomad. 1867 24,689 146,650 887,975 2 3 I 3 8 839 1868 24,589 309,835 1,048,585 1 8 224 758 1869 3L956 482,630 1,014,975 2 J 3,6 663 1870 30,8J5 531.790 1,031,585 19 334 647 1871 37-743 623,290 1,087,880 21 356 62} 1872 38,726 645,108 1,095,431 22 363 615 1873 40,334 769,208 i, 171,041 20 388 592 1874 44-99.S 787,188 1,194,841 22 388 590 1875 5M J 4 907,262 1,276,7,50 23 406 571 1876 5^,414 1,404,027 i,38i,533 18 495 487 .877 59. 2 73 1,561,262 i, 4' 7. 584 19 5H 4 6 7 + In 1867 the nomads comprised from 70 to 80 per cent, of the entire population, whilst in 1877 the nomads were less than the settlers by 200,000 souls, having sunk to 47 per cent, of the entire population. Also it is found that the increase of the settled population advances more rapidly than that of the nomads. THE SYR-DA RI A .597 mile-. The population of the valley of the Hi may he compared with that of the Zarafshan, and a lair number of inhabitants are found on the banks of the- Chirchik, Angren, and Keles, where there is abundance ot water to assist the labours of the agriculturist ; but the bare mountain tracts and the sandy, waterless steppes are given up to the nomads. There arc many places, how- ever, in Turkistan, such as the valleys ot the Aris, Talas, and Chu, that could well support a larger number ot both nomads and settlers than they now possess. Throughout Turkistan the density ot population is higher, naturally, where the settled element prepon- derates ; '-" whilst, as regards locality ot the- population, the number ot inhabitants in the towns is 373.3^2, and outside the towns 1,247,153 settlers, and 1,417,584 nomads. t Again, if we take the relative population, ~ Kostenko, dividing the whole of Turkistan into unequal portions, compares the cultivated region, consisting of Zarafshan, Kcr^'hana. and two southern districts of the Syr-daria province, with the steppr country consisting of the remainder of Turkistan, and shows the relative number of inhabitants, and the corresponding development in each of settled life, thus : Cultivated region Steppe country . 593 RUSSIAN' CENTRAL ASIA. town and rural, settled and nomad, we have for every r,ooo inhabitants throughout the country 123 who dwell in towns, 410 settled away from towns, and 467 nomads.* The populated points, which, in an admini- strative and economical signification, can be classed as towns, are 38 1 in number (containing 74,000 domiciles), * Thus : PER 1HOUSAND OK THE POPULATION. PROVINCE. Rural Inhabitants. Town Inhabitants. - - - Settlers. Nomads. Semirechia 50 118 8 3 2 Syr-daria .... 134 229 56; a Ferghana .... 13 647 i/o Zarafshan 158 842 Amu-daria 9 611 380 Russian Turkistan 123 410 467 t NAME OK TOWN. > Population., Domiciles. X AMI-; OK TOWN. Population. Domiciles. Vierny . 17-544 : 983 Kopal . 2,309 344 Sergiopol 112 37 Tokmak 427 ' 119 Karakol 2.777 ! 257 Scmircchia Total 23,I'59 ; 1,740 Tashkend 81,900 : 15,000 Ka/.alinsk 2,010 448 Perovsk . 3,417 230 Turkistan 6,700 1,620 Chimkent 5,121 1,476 Aulie-Ata 4.455 ' 844 China/. . 77 20 Kailuk . 87 29 Khojend 29,000 8,409 |i/.ak 8,701 1,765 Ura-Tiuhe 4,805 , i,. -28 Syr-iliirii! Total 146,272 31,169 Khokand 34,805 7,804 Namangan 15,920 1,309 Margilan 26,195 5,26o Andijan 42,879 10,602 ('hurt 3o 2 6 725 Osh 3,307 1,049 \Vadil . 1,461 328 Kas.-an . 2,000 400 Makhram 385 77 Isfar 3,000 'JOG Samarkand . 35,9io 4,411 Kattc-Kurgan 7,029 L435 Penshambe . 4,600 1,143 Penjakend 1,789 . ^80 Urgut . 5.543 948 /.arafs/iijn Total. 54,8/1 8,3i7 I 'etro-Alexandrovsk 5 i o Shurakhane . 1 96 40 C'himbai 7'3 Soi/> .imu-etariaTotd 959 851 THE SYR-DARIA PROl'lXCK. y,<, of which Tashkend alone has a population exceeding 80,000 souls, thus taking the seventh place according to number of its population of all the towns of the Russian Empire, and coming after Petersburg, Moscow, Warsaw, Odessa. Kishinef, and Saratof. Of other Furkistan towns 5 have a population ot more than 20,000, 4 of 10,000, 5 of 5,000, 4 of 3,000, 2 of 2,000, and 5 of 1,000. The number ot villages, so tar as is known throughout the country, is 3.171. Among the varied races mentioned above, there are found, ot course, great varieties ot ethnological interest, to which I shall refer hereafter ; but having now de-scribed certain features ot the general govern- ment of Turkistan and the: Syr-daria oblast, I shall proceed to describe briefly how the- Russians obtained a footine there. CHAPTER XXVII. HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE R CSS I AX ADVANCE TO 7 7/7; S I "R-DA R I A. Russia's advance eastwards. Conquest of Tatars of the Golden Horde, 1480, and of Kaxan, 1552. Submission of Bashkirs, 1574. Contact with Kirghese-Kazaks, 1718. Their nominal submission under Abul-Khair. Commencement of Orenburg line of forts, 1735. Feuds of the natives. Mistakes of Russian administration. Khans abolished and Sultans appointed, 1833. Insurrections of Kirghese. Forts planted in the Steppe and on the Syr-daria, 1847. Russians on the Aral Sea. Advance of Russian civil administration. Determination to connect the Irtish and Syr- daria forts. IK two previous chapters I have indicated the series of events beginning in the reign of John the Terrible, wherein' the Russians, in taking possession of the Irtish, were brought into contact successively with the Barabinsky Tatars, the Kalmuks of Sungaria, and the Chinese of \Yestern Mongolia ; and how, as they continued to the Balkhash region and the Thian Shan, they secured the submission of the Kazaks of the Great Horde and the Kirghese of the mountains, first coming in contact with the Khokandians near \ ierny. I have now to describe in outline the succes- sive stages by which the Muscovites received from the Bashkirs the country between the Volga and Ural rivers, how they then advanced through the steppes T/IJ-: RUSSIAN ADl'ANCK TO Till-. SYR-DARIA. 401 of the Kirghese of the Lesser Horde to the Sea of Anil, and came into contact with the Khokandians on the lower portions of the Jaxartes or Syr-daria. The swarms of Mongol and Turkish barbarians who invaded Eastern Europe, under Jinghis Khan and Tamerlane, left behind them a number of khanates and petty kingdoms, some of whom exacted tribute from Russia, and most of whom quarrelled with each other. During the reign of Ivan, or John, III., the " Golden I lorde." whose head-quarters were at Sarai on the Volga, still arrogated to themselves the right of exacting tribute, but their rivalry with the Tatars of Kazan and the Crimea enabled the Russians to act in combination with these latter powers and paraly/e the oppressor's strength. Assisted by the Tatars of the Crimea, Ivan III. tore; up his written agreement with the Khan of Sarai, and forcibly ejected his ambas- sadors : and when the main bodies ol the combatants at last confronted each other on the opposite banks ot the River l/gra, Sarai having been destroyed by the Russians, so little stomach had either party lor the light, that on the 7th November. 14X0, the- two armies broke up without a battle, and Irom that day the; rule of the barbarians may be said to have ceased. The Tatars of Kaxan, thus delivered from a trouble- some neighbour in the east, perpetrated without ceasing predatory raids on the Russian borders, which led to Kaxan being brought under the Russian yoke. The Kaxanians, however, availed themselves of every opportunity to repudiate their subjection. Uelore this, certain distinguished Tatar princes, called " Moor/as, had emigrated to Russian territory : and when, in the year i 5 i S, the throne of Kaxan became vacant, the Tsar nominated a Moorxa named Sheikh-. \li as >uc- VOI.. I. -<> 4 02 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. cessor, but the Kazanians would none of him. So they revolted, and placed upon the throne a Crimean prince named Edegar. Accordingly Ivan IV. resolved once and for all to crush Kazan, which he did with 150,000 Russians, who laid siege to and took the city, having breached the walls by what was then the novel expe- dient of a mine containing 48 barrels of gunpowder. This occurred in 1552, and to the Khanate of Kazan thus incorporated into Russia was added, four years later, the powerless Khanate of Astrakhan that had sprung up on the ruins of the Empire of the Tatars. It was towards the end of the reign of Ivan IV. that Yermak crossed into Siberia, and commenced a conquest that in a single lifetime extended all across Asia. But things went more slowly further south. Russia had advanced her border to the Volga, but there lay between that and the Ural river the country of the Bashkirs, who had formerly been tributary to the Kazanians. The Bashkirs tendered their submission to the new conquerors, but did not desist from making incursions into the territory of Russians, who were thus compelled to fortify their frontier settlements, and to make an uninterrupted line of earthworks from village to village. In 15/4 the Bashkirs voluntarily petitioned for the construction of a Russian town in their country, and with the foundation of Ufa and Samara Bashkiria became permanently attached to Russia, whilst the Don Cossacks, who in the sixteenth century had settled on the River Ural, or Yaik, as it was called, swore fealty to the Tsardom of Moscow on the accession of Michael Fedorovitch in 1613. Russia had now annexed the territories, and put down the incursions of two predatory peoples, but only to find that she had a third beyond that was just as THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE TO THE SYR-DARIA. 40.} bad, for east and south of the Ural mountains lived the roaming Kirghese-Kazaks, who at this time were united under a khan living in the city of Turkistan ; their territory extending laterally to the Irtish, and bounded on the south and west by the Thian Shan mountains, the Khanates of Khokand, Bokhara, and Khiva. Neither the internal condition of Russia nor the political circumstances of the period imparted any significance to the movement of the Muscovites east- ward. Peter the Great, however, with characteristic penetration, perceived the importance and significance for Russia of the Trans- Volga region, and when in Astrakhan in 1722 is reported to have said: "Although these Kirghese are a roaming and fickle people, their steppe is the key and gates to all the- countries ot Central Asia." Ever on the watch for the opening of new Russian trade routes to the east, and incited, perhaps, by the report of Prince Gagarin concerning the fabulous riches of Central Asia, the great Peter not only ordered spies to be sent thither by way of the. Irtish to Yarkand, but despatched also Lieutenant Bukholtx, in 1716, to survey the Caspian, and to find out whether there was a water-way through Central Asia to India. In the same year also Prince Bekovitch Tcherkassky was sent to inspect the rivers [axarte.s and ( )xus, ami to subju- gate to Russia the Khans of Bokhara and Khiva. Shah Kniax ot Khiva having declared his readiness to accept Russian sovereignty i years before. Peter did not succeed, however, in reali/.ing his cherished plans, and bequeathed to his suco ssors tin- work ot first bringing the Kirghese to acknowledge their subjection to Russia. Nominally this took place five years alter the great Tsar's death ; actually it took scores ot years to accomplish. 404 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. So early as 1718 the Kirghese, pressed by the Kal- muks, or Sungarians, sought assistance of Russia, which she was not then able to give, and hence came the dis- placement of tribes in the Steppe. The Sungarians, in 1/23, captured the town of Turkistan, occupied the valley of the Syr-daria, and drove the Kirghese of the Lesser Horde to the north-west, in the direction of the rivers Emba and Ural. Here they found themselves in dangerous proximity to their old and implacable foes, the Kalmuks, Bashkirs, and Kara- kalpaks, who incessantly disturbed the auls of the Lesser and Middle Hordes of the Kirghese. These latter, however, made an effort under a leader Bukan Bai, drove back the Bashkirs and Kalmuks to the Urals, and occupied the northern part of the Steppe on the borders of Russia. At this time Abul-Khair asked that the Lesser Horde, of which he was Khan, should be taken under Russian sovereignty ; but this was not the wish of the people generally, though at a national assembly in 1732 the Kirghese of the Lesser and Middle Hordes were persuaded to submit. From this compact the latter Horde immediately broke away, but the Lesser Horde was removed along with its Khan to the lower valley of the Jaxartes, where they showed their respect for their protectors by plundering Russian and Bokharan caravans indis- criminately, though two years later the Khans of the two Hordes again tendered their submission. In order that this subjection should involve practical results it was necessary to remove the Russian boundary further southwards, and on the organization of the south-eastern frontier, in 1735, a fortified town called Orenburg (removed to its present locality in 1742), was built on the site of the existing town of Orsk, and THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE TO THE SYR-DARIA. 405 made the head-quarters of a military Governor. A fortified line of Cossack settlements was established, extending both up and down the River Ural, so that ultimately it reached from the Tobol in the north-east to the Caspian in the south-west. This proved of use in quelling the insurrections of the: Bashkirs from within, by cutting off their retreat into the Steppe, but was quite insufficient for the repression of the nomads without, who made prisoners of the people, and plundered caravans almost at their pleasure. This condition of things was iostered by the enmity, already alluded to, of the tribes. After one of the Bashkir rebellions, in 1755, some of the insurgents lied to the Steppe for shelter, where they were remorselessly hunted like wild beasts by the Kirghese. who sold their wives and children into slavery, and caused the death of about 50,000 persons, only a few succeeding in making their way back to the Kuropean side of the Urals. In turn, the: Bashkirs for a long time terribly avenged this massacre: on the Kirghese. Again, in 1764, the Kirghese of the Lesser Horde attacked the Kalmuks on the ice- ot the- Caspian, and took 700 prisoners, among whom we-re several Russians. Seven years later the Torgout Kalmuks tared still worse in their celebrated (light Irom the Volga to the number ot 30,000 kibitkas. when the Kirghese pitilessly spoiled them as they crossed the Steppe, and allowed but a weak remnant to reach the Hi. These disorders were anything but favourable to the development ot the country, nor was it until the commencement of the present century that trade relations were set on toot with Khokanel and Bokhara. Murders ami robberies, however, soon suspended this traele-, and the Russian administration was too weak 406 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. to bring the offenders to justice, so that practically it may be said that for a century the Kirghese were the most turbulent of subjects. Of course there was a cause for this unwillingness on the part of the Kirghese quietly to submit to Russian authority, which M. N. Maieff* attributes, largely to mistakes in administration. The govern- ment was, so to speak, taken unawares, in 1732, on the submission of the Kirghese, and on many occa- sions acted at random, having no trustworthy infor- mation concerning the affairs of the Steppe, and not understanding the habits and aspirations of the people. When Abul-Khair swore fealty he stipulated that under the new regime the Kirghese Khans should be selected from his heirs; and Russia, in acceding to this, sowed the seeds of lasting discontent ; for according to the immemorial customs and ideas of the Kirghese, the dignity of Khan should have passed to his brother. Then, again, the governors at Orenburg, when appoint- ing a new Khan, were less anxious about his being a favourite with the people than his devotion to Russian interests. It often happened, therefore, that the Khan, not having the good will of the people, could enforce his command only by the help of the Russian authori- ties. The government, moreover, were not assisted by the various institutions they introduced among the Steppe people, who were not acquainted with Russian administrative formalities. Hence the establishment of a frontier expedition in 1782, a frontier court two years later, and an arbitration court in 1787 led to no good results. The people regarded their Khans not as national chiefs, but as foreign inspectors, and * "Sketch of the History of the Kirghese People, 1732 1869," in the Tnrkistan A nunal for 1873, to which paper I am much indebted in compiling this chapter. THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE TO THE SYR-DARIA. 407 the guardians of foreign interests ; and for a period of fourscore years, from 1732 to 1812, showed their dissatisfaction by constant disorders and pillage ; and, wherever possible, grouped themselves in factions around popular leaders, who were naturally opposed to Russian interests. In 1817, Essen, the Military Governor of Orenburg, initiated a new policy ; tor, seeing the weakness and incapability of a certain Khan Shirgaxi, he entered into relation with the Khan's opponents, and so tried to win the popular favour, till, about 1833, the dignity of Khan was abolished altogether, and the whole Steppe was divided into three rayons, or districts, the adminis- tration of which was confided to three native " Sultan- rulers." Here again no attention was paid to the electoral principle long firmly established in the Steppe, nor was a national council appointed to control the sultans' actions, but to each sultan was given a detachment of 200 Cossacks for assistance in the pre- vention of pillage, whom he did not tail to employ to his own advantage. The sultans grew rich by their unjust exactions, and the Kirghese expressed their discontent in their own way by plunder and extortion, incited thereto, it is said, by the: Khivans, who bought of them for slaves their Russian captives. At first it was hoped that the Kirghese would In- subdued by sending after them living detachments to punish them tor their robberies, but the culprits usually managed to escape into the frontier tracts of Bokhara or Khiva. It was then decided that when caravans went into the Steppe they should be accompanied by a military escort, and, in 1824, the first caravan pro cecded to Bokhara with a guard of 500 men, but was nevertheless met by the Khivans and plundered. 4 o8 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. This led to a new line of action, or rather to a return to an old one ; for in order to diminish the depredations and incursions from which the Russian fisheries in particular suffered, the first fort, called Novo-Alexandrovsk, was founded, in 1834, on the north-east coast of the Caspian, whilst for the defence of other frontiers a continuous rampart was commenced like a miniature Chinese wall, that was to extend along the Steppe frontier in places where there was no natural protection. In 1836, the formation of this earthwork had extended 1 2 miles, after which it was abandoned. It now seemed clear to the Russians that so long as their territories did not possess a definite natural boundary it would be useless to expect a secure frontier. The only adjacent rivers, how y ever, were the Syr-daria and the Chu, to the former of which, accord- ing to Terentief, the Kirghesehad invited the Russians to advance so far back as the time of Abul-Khair, who "begged the Russians over and over again to build a fort at the mouths of the Syr-claria, the Kirghese desiring to have a point of support in the midst ot their own camping grounds, as well as a market where they might be able to purchase manufactured goods and dispose of their own raw produce." To this end a detachment was sent under G-ladyshef, in i 740, to look for a suitable spot for a fortress; but there, for the time, the matter ended, till a century later Obrucheff reverted to the old system that had been tried with the Bashkirs, namely, to encircle the Kazaks by a chain of forts. In 1847 the Steppe was agitated by an insurrection of the Kirghese under a popular leader, Kenisar Kasimoff, around whom the discontented flocked in crowds, and hence in this year were built the Oren- burg fort on the Turgai, and the Ural fort on the THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE TO THE SYR-DARIA. 40, Irgiz, to which must be added, in 1848, the Karabutak lort on the Karabut, constructed for protecting the communication between the Steppe torts and the line. This advance of Russia in the Steppe had the effect ot pacifying the districts adjoining the line, but exer- cised no influence over those Kirghese who roamed beyond the Kmba. on the Ust-Urt and the Syr-daria. Russia, therefore, conceived it necessary, in order to make her influence felt by the Khanates of Central Asia, who were said to foment the Kirghese insubor- dinations, as well as for the protection from unjust exactions of the Kirghese subject to her, and tor the safety ot Russian caravans, to lord it without a rival on the Sea ot .Aral, and at the mouth ot the Syr, where the Khokandians and Khivans had erected a line of torts to intimidate the Kirghese. In 1846 General Obrucheff, then Governor-General at Orenburg, obtained the sanction of his Government to establish a stronghold with a Russian settlement on the shore ot the Sea of .Aral. This was done in the following year, and the fortification was railed Raimsk. though its name was atterwards changed to Aralsk. With the erection of this tort commenced the navi- gation of the Sea ot Aral by Russian vessels. F,arl\ in 1847, two ships were constructed: one, a vessel ot war, the A 'icolai ; the other, a merchant ship, the Mikhail : the first being intended lor surveying pur- poses, the second tor establishing fisheries, \\ith which object a public company had been formed the smie \ ear. Both vessels, having been constructed at Oren- burg, were taken to pieces, and transported in the spring Ooo miles overland to Raimsk. where tlu-v were put together again, and launched. Shortly afterv, irds, a larger war vessel, the Cons/iintinc, was built at 410 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. Orenburg, in which Lieutenant Butakoff commenced, in 1848, a thorough survey of the Sea of Aral. In 1850 General Obrucheff proposed to construct a steamer of forty horse-power for the purpose of plying on the Syr-daria, to carry goods from Khokand terri- tory that otherwise had to be carried across the Steppe. This steamer, and a screw steam barge to act as tender, were ordered in Sweden. Meanwhile difficulty arose respecting fuel, for no coal could be found in the immediate vicinity of the Aral Sea, and the use of saxaul did not answer well. Ultimately it was decided to transport Don anthracite to the Orenburg line for consumption, in 1852, at a cost of about 12 a ton. This was clone, and the steamer Perovski, with the barge Obrucheff, were launched on the Syr-daria in 1853, the total expenditure being about ,7,500. Meanwhile the Russians were consolidating their advance by the introduction to the Steppe of their own forms of administration. Up to 1812, as I have shown, they interfered very little with the internal life of the Kirghese, being only too thankful if they could prevent their incursions, and secure trade rela- tions with Central Asia. The Khans acted almost independently until that dignity was abolished, and it was nearly the same with the Sultan Governors, w T ho secured so little sympathy from the people that it was necessary in their summer peregrinations to travel with a whole sotnia of Cossacks. In 1837 a tax of T,S. per tent was imposed on the Orenburg Kirghese, which was less than that paid by their Siberian kinsmen on the Irtish, though eventually it was found possible to introduce Siberian regulations and institutions further west. In 1844, the Kirghese along the Russian frontier line were placed under the THE RUSSIAN ADVANCE TO THE SYR-DARfA. 411 orders of special protectors, selected from Russian officials, and, in 1848 and 1849, the whole Kirghese Steppe was divided into 54 "distances," in each of which was a chief and secretary, besides the native authorities, all, however, being subject as before to the "sultan rulers." Also a part of the Steppe, along the banks of the Syr-daria, was placed under military administration. In 1859, the administration of the Steppe was transferred to the Ministry of the Interior, and so continued for five years, till the Kirghese of the Syr-daria were transferred to the Ministry oi War in 1864, at which time the government of the Steppe underwent a radical change. Concurrently with these changes the Russian criminal laws were by slow degrees introduced, those laws being of course adapted to local circumstances. To this end a special commission was formed, whose labours termi- nated in 1868, with the issue of certain regulations, on the basis ol which all the lands occupied by the Kirghese nomads were proclaimed as Imperial, and reserved for the exclusive public use; of the Kirghese, and the rights of all Kirghese in the general Imperial service- were assimilated to the rights of the ordinary rural popula- tions of the Empire.* For certain crimes, such as treason, murder, high- way robbery, intertribal robber}', and making coimtcr- * The land thus L^iven to them as a community is divided into winter encampments (Jsislilait or Ki'xlilaks ) and summer encampments ^t ;\i;\i:i or hiilaks], the enjoyment of both bein^" grounded on hereditary ri^lit. The apportionment of land amonur families is effected by an authorita- tive meeting of representatives, and made according to the number ot cattle possessed by each family. The permanent possession of land is arranged between neighbouring owners, landmarks bein prevent boundary disputes, which, \\hen they arise, are s, -ti assembly ot arbitrators, who occasionally require a person t in to confirm his ri^'ht of ounership. 4'2 RUSSIAA T CENTRAL ASIA. feit coin, the Kirghese were made amenable to the general criminal code of the Empire, but for tribal matters they retained their native courts.* Notwithstanding the efforts of the Russians to intro- duce civilization and order into the Steppe, it was many years before they succeeded. When Fort Raim was built in 1847, the Government endeavoured to make friends with two well-known batyrs, or popular favourites of the day, Jan-Khoja and Iset-Kutebaroff. Jan-Khoja at first helped the Russians against the Khokandians, but his fidelity was undermined by the intrigues of the sultans, and, in 1856, he appeared at the head of the Kirghese rebels, who attacked the Russian forts, drove off the herds, and burnt the stores of hay and fuel. He was at length quelled, and died in 1860, the third national defender. The other batyr, Iset-Kutebaroff, soon broke loose from his patrons, and pillaged on so extensive a scale that the Orenburg authorities had more than once to send a considerable detachment of troops against him. He usually evaded his pursuers by escaping to the Ust-Urt, but at length gave himself up. He was deported to Petersburg, pardoned, and sent back as an assistant uyezd chief, but was always of doubtful loyalty. * It is interesting to notice that cattle constitutes almost exclusively the object of theft among the Kirghese, \vho hardly reckon theft as a crime, and repair the loss by exchange of cattle. Should cattle that have strayed, or any other object, be found with a man who professes the intention to pay for it, he must be able to produce evidence thereof or run the risk of being accused. Generally speaking, the loss and legal costs are borne by the offender, or, if he cannot pay them, his nearest relatives are called upon to do so. If caught thieving a second time die offender becomes liable to corporal punishment, and a known thief is put under the surveillance of the tribe. A highway robber}' by an armed man is punished over and above the restoration oi the stolen property by the loss of the offender's horse and weapons. THE RUSSIAN ADTAXCE TO THE SYR-DARIA. .41; Thus between 1732 and 1864 may be distinguished five different measures taken for the consolidation of Russian power and influence in the north-west portion of the Steppe namely, the appointment as khans of the heirs of Abul-Khair ; the subsequent suppression of the rank of Khan, and the substitution of sultan rulers ; the erection of fortifications on the Yaik or Russian line to consolidate Russian power ; the erection of forts on the Syr-daria, to cut off the Kirghese from K hi van and Khokandian influence ; and, lastly, the introduction of civil administration on the Russian model. It now remained only to connect the forts on the Syr-daria with those of Semirechia, completely to surround the Kirghese, the doing of which introduces us to the Russian occupation of Khokand, whose people, of course, could not regard with indifference- the encroachment of her northern neighbour on the Lower Syr-daria. But this story must form the subject of a subsequent chapter, the way to which 1 shall gradually lead by continuing my journey to Tashkencl, and describing the former Khokand provinces. CHAPTER XXVIII. FROM AULIE-ATA TO TASHKEND. Departure from Aulie-Ata.- Ornithology of district, and of Turkistan generally. Birds of prey. Passerine birds. Crows. Finches, Thrushes, Warblers. Gallinaceous birds. Waders, Swans, Geese, and Ducks. Cattle of Turkistan. Journey along the Aris, and description of the river. Chimkent uyezd, its houses and chief town. Wayside geology. The River Keles. Road through gardens irrigated by canals. Arrival at Tashkend. WE drove out of Aulie-Ata about noon on Thursday, September i4th, having before us a journey of about 200 miles to the capital.* A djiguitt preceded us, thanks to the courtesy of the local authorities, to show us the burial-place of Aulie-Ata, already referred to. Having examined the tomb, we crossed the plains in a south-westerly * The following are the stations, with the distances between in versts: Aulie-Ata Golovachevsk . . 15 Kuiuk 17 Tersk 1 8 Chak-Pak . . . 24 Tiulkubash . . . .24 Ak-Tash .... 14 Ik'kler-Bek . 14 Sharapkhan . . . .22 Djeri . . . . .12 AkDjar ... i; Koplan-Bek . . . -14 Yas-Kichu . . . . 24 I Tashkend . 18 Mashat . . . . 19 Mankend . . . 15 Chimkent 21 FROM A U LIE- ATA TO TASHKEND. 415 direction for 30 miles, and drank tea at the third station, Tersk, on the stream of that name. We were now approaching the watershed that sends its rivers on one side into the Talas, and on the other into the Jaxartes. The surface here and there was somewhat uneven, as we were reminded at one spot by the driver, who coolly suggested our getting out, informing us that he was going to dash down a place where it was very possible our coach might upset. The vehicle came to no harm, however, and we had a pleasant evening's drive, the horizon to the left being bounded by one of the western spurs of the Thian Shan, the Talasky Ala-Tau. This district was visited by Mr. Severtsoff, to whom the scientific world is indebted for much information respecting the zoology of Turkistan. We saw examples of bird life as we drove along ; but rather than notice these in particular. I prefer to speak for a moment of the birds of Russian Turkistan generally. Among diurnal birds of prey are found, in various parts of the country, the Himalayan Laemmergeyer, and five species of Vultures; about a dozen kinds of Eagles ; the Osprey ; six kinds of Buzzards ; Black and Brahminy Kites ; the Goshawk and Sparrow-hawk ; the Saker and Peregrine Falcons, Merlin, and Hobby ; likewise the Kestrel, Lesser Kestrel, and Orange-legged Hobby, which, with 4 kinds of Harriers, make up a list of 36 species of this order. The Kirghese train some ot these birds to hunt, not only smaller birds, but even wild beasts. Only the day before writing these words, Dr. Sclater, the Secretary of the Royal Zoo- logical Society ot London, told me that Baron Benoist Mechlin had lately arrived from Central Asia, bringing one ot these; trained birds, and a Kirghese to attend it 4i 6 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. Of nocturnal birds of prey are found 9 species of Owls. Corvine birds prevail to the number of about 13 species, including the Cornish and Alpine Choughs that are interesting. More particularly they are the Raven and Brown-necked Raven, Carrion and Hooded Crows, Jackdaw, Rook, the Bactrian and White- winged Magpies, the Nutcracker, Pander's Podoces. Rose-coloured, Common, and Purple Starlings. The Finch family comprises no less than 40 species, with one new species of sparrow {Passer Ammodendri\ named by Severtsoff, and found in the salt plains of north-west Turkistan. Then follow the White-winged Grossbeak, Greenfinch, B rambling, Chaffinch, Snowfinch, and Gray-crowned Finch ; two kinds of Linnet ; the Twite, Mealy Redpoll, the Himalayan and European Goldfinch, Red-fronted Finch, the Eastern Bullfinch, and eight species of Grossbeak ; White-browed and Meadow Buntings, the Ortolan, and 1 1 other kinds of Bunting, two of them being found throughout the country and in the loftiest districts below the perpetual snow-line. The Yellow and White-capped Buntings have not apparently been found so high. The Thrush family is represented in Turkistan by the Blackbird, Black-throated and Mistletoe Thrushes, Fieldfare, Redwing, and some two or three more besides the Common and Blue Thrush. Some 9 or 10 species of Wheatear, including that so well-known in England, the Whinchat and Stonechat, of which last there, is also a local race, begin the family of Warblers, of which more than 40 others are found in the country. Many of these are well known in Western Europe, as the Greater Nightingale, the Bluethroat, Redstart, Redbreast, Barred and Orphean Warblers, both Whitethroats, both Reed-Warblers, Savi's, and FROM AULIE-ATA TO TASHKKXD. 417 the Grasshopper- Warbler, besides the Golden-crested Wren and the Yellow-browed Warbler, which last occasionally strays to this country. The Hedge- Sparrow does not occur, apparently, in Turkistan, but 3 or 4 allied species are tound there. Six species of the Titmouse family are tound in Turkistan, only one of which, the well-known Oxcye, is common to England, but the Bearded Reedling, otten referred to this group of birds, occurs there as well. Two species ol Dipper are tound throughout the country. Other small birds arc the Xepalese and European Wrens, the Syrian Xuthatch, Wall- and Tree- Creepers, and no less than 10 forms ot Wagtails. Of Pipits there are 7 species, and 14 ot Larks. There are also 10 kinds of Shrikes; the Golden Oriole and Waxwing ; the Spotted and Red-breasted Flycatcher ; the Swallow and Red-rumped Swallow; Siberian. Sand, and Crag Martins; White-rumped, Alpine., and Common Switts ; the Goatsucker and Egyptian Goatsucker, and the Hoopoe. This last 1 saw in the- north ot Semire- chia and in the stree.ts ot \ lerny. It is common in Turkistan, and breeds up to an altitude ot S.ooo tcct. Other Turkistan birds arc the Roller, the Common and Persian Bee-eaters, the Common and Indian King- fisher, ot which the latter seems to be plentiful, but the former rare; the I'ied and Three-toed Woodpecker. the. \\ryneck, ami the ubiquitous Cuckoo, which lays its eggs as high as the apple and ash groves ol the Lower 'I hian Shan. To these must be added the I )arjeeling \Vood-Pigeon. and the Stock and Rock I)<>\es. with the. Collared and Egyptian Turtle- 1 )oves, also the Black-bellied, Bin- tailed, and the wonderful I'allas's Sandgrouse, which last, some twenty years ago, invaded Europe in such an astonishing way. VOL. I. 27 4i8 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. We now come to gallinaceous or game birds, which interest both the sportsman and the gourmand ; and of these are found in Turkistan the Black Grouse and Capercally or Capercailzie, the Caspian Snow Partridge, with the Chukar, Grey, and Daurian Partridges ; also the Quail, the Mongolian Pheasant, the Peafowl, and common Cock. Next come the common Siberian and Numidian Cranes ; Black and White Storks ; four species of Herons, the Bittern, Spoonbill, and Glossy Ibis, with Bustards, of which 3 species are found. Wading birds again are found in great variety, vying with the Finch family, in that the species in each case number 40, save one. Among these are the Dotterel, the Lapwing, Pratincole, Turnstone, Avocet, Black-winged Stilt, Oyster-Catcher, 3 species of Snipe, the Woodcock, Ruff, i i species of Stint or Sandpiper, the Sanderlinof, about 10 of Plovers, and the Stone- O ' Pigmy, and Red-billed Curlew. This last was thought to be a new species, and was named by Severtsoff Falcirostra Kaitfmanni, after General Kaufmann, but the bird was known long ago on the flat mountains of Tibet, and was described and illustrated in 1835 by Mr. Gould, under the name IbidorJiynclms Struthcrsi. There are four specimens in the Moscow Museum, and two in the British Museum, there being no difference between the Thian Shan and the Tibetan specimens. It is found at heights of not less than 5,000 feet, and the flight of the bird strongly resembles that of a lapwing. It has red legs, and a remarkable, long, red beak, bent at the end, well adapted for picking up worms and other live creatures irom between the pebbles and stones which form the bed of the mountain streams it frequents. Turkistan boasts further of 4 species of Crake, and FROM A L 7. IK- ATA TO TASIIKKXD. .|ig the Moorhen, hut the latter is rare ; likewise the Coot, 5 specie's ot Grebe, the: Roseate- Pelican, and Cormorant, and 6 species of Gulls. Six kinds of Tern breed throughout the country. \\hen we come to the Swan, Goose, and Duck tribes, we: have nearly 30 species, as. for instance, the \\ ild original of the Tame Swan, the Whooper. and Bewick's Swan ; of Geese, the Larger. Bean. Greylag. White-fronted, Swanlike, Red-breasted, and Painted Goose ; to which must be added the- Rudely and Common Sheldrake, the Mallard, Gadwal, Gar- ganey. Teal, Shoveller. \Vigeon. Pintail, Velvet Scoter, Tutted Duck, Pochard. White-eyed, Golden-eyed, and White-headed Ducks, the Red-breasted Merganser, and the Smew. Lastly, the gaudy Flamingo completes the list of 384 specie's that were: known to Severtsoft in 1^73. Since that elate others have be:en identified.* Not all the' species thus mentioned are settleel birds, some being migratory, anel others birels ol passage- merely; but the mention of thenr names will suttice to show that a very large: proportion ol the- Turkistan birds are: found in Kurope, though Severtsoff indicates upwards of 30 species in Asia, he regards as new. The traveller who keeps to the post-road. I nee-el hardly say, will not meet with a large variety ot birds or wild animals. Turning, however, to useful animals, as we appro, icheel the lulls, we saw several enclosures surrounded by high muel walls, admirably suited to shelter cattle:, in which respect the Aulie-Ata uye/el is the rie:hest in the province, the domestic animals therein being valued .it ^/"6oS,ooo.t ' For further p.iri'u ailar> of the ornithoio-u al fauna ot Turki.it.m M - Ap]>rinli \. 420 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. The uyezd that comes next in the value of its cattle is Kazalinsk (,595,000), and the third Chimkent (533,000), into which we entered at the next station after leaving Tersk. Our road now proceeded west for 47 miles along the course of the upper waters of the Aris to the station Yas-Kichu, through a narrow valley that cuts off from the Urtak mountains, the offshoot of the Thian Shan, that forms the Kara-Tau. The upper course of the Aris terminates at the station of Yas-Kichu, where it emerges from the mountain gorge, and enters the level steppe. The country through which the Aris flows is unusually fertile, and along the course of the river are raised wheat, jugara, barley, maize, and a small kind of millet ; as also vegetables, and even cotton, though this is the extreme limit of the distribution of cotton in the Syr-daria province. Natural meadows are very numerous in the neighbourhood of this river, the great fertility of the soil arising from the fact that it consists of a black porous mud, well adapted for Tutkistan, which figures I have correctly copied, though in the original the totals are sometimes wrongly added : * Correctly copied, but wrongly calculated. PROM AULIE-ATA TO TASHKEXI). 421 ploughing and retaining moisture. The highest cul- tivation, most irrigation, and largest corresponding amount ot settled population exist in the vicinity ot the Aris, Badam, and certain of their aftluents, and grain raised in these districts is exported to the towns ot Turkistan and Tashkend. \\ e passed along the road near the Aris during the night, and so well did we travel, that between drinking tea at Tersk and arriving early next morning at Chim- kent. we accomplished 83 miles. Karly in the Russian occupation the uyezd of Chimkent had a nomad population ot 17,493 tents. This was in 1868. when the city ot Turkistan was included in the: uyexd. and when the number ot occupied houses in the two towns numbered 3,467. Ten years later it amounted to 7.474, showing an increase of 4,009 inhabited houses, or i ih per cent. ; a growth exceeded, however, in the Aulie-Ata uye/d, where 303 houses in 1808 increased, during ten years, to 932, or 150 percent.* At Aulie-Ata we heard that 72 families of Men- nonites had lately settled in the vicinity, and had received a goodly portion ot land. The town of Chimkent has a population ot 5,121, and had, so long ago as 1870, land under cultivation amounting to 71.500 acres in 070 gardens. Its name. ' Tin- houses in the ilistriet ol Khojeml ami |i/akh inert a^c. 1 t>^ pci rent.. IHI! in tin 1 Kuraina uyr/il only i, prr ecu!. I hi-- shows an ilHTra-r nt houses throughout the --olltheni portion ot the Syi'-ilai'l;! proviiH r a 1 111 ill n I i ii L;~ to nearly |o prr eent . I'hr i x . \<>'> nr\\ houses may he assumed io i ontain approximately 100,1100 souls. I n I lir Xarat>h;ui ilist rii : 'hi 1 nunihrr ol lioiisi 1 -^ iiuTi i a--i i il \r< >in | | . ~ j | to > ..-, i - i , ihai i-^. 1>\- .i!i"i;: j; |n-r ci-nt. in tivr \'rar>, and Ki'^'niku stairs ilia! ilir tot.il ot' thr new eo|oniM> in the provinee ol the Syr-ilana belueen !>"- ami ! s ~7 may In put tlirmiij-lioui thr \:\ ,/, \. 4 22 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. according to Dr. Schuyler, is derived from the Turki cJiiui, turf, and Persian kent, town.* It presents but little that is remarkable, except a lofty citadel, of which I saw nothing as we drove through the town and bazaar in the very early morning. The post-station is provided with a double number of horses, and has an extra importance by reason of its being at the junction of the two roads from Orenburg and Semirechia, the distance from Petersburg by the former being 2,612 miles, and by the route I had travelled 4,720 miles. We had nothing to detain us at Chimkent, and o therefore posted on 10 miles further to Ak-Tash, where we breakfasted. Thus far from Aulie-Ata we had travelled for about 50 miles over metamorphic schists and palaeozoic formations. In the valley of the Aris the road passed over granite, syenite, and other igneous rocks, and we had in the mountains, both to right and left, deposits of gold, iron, lead, and silver, as also of mineral oil on our left when leaving Chimkent. We now ascended from an altitude of 1,650 feet over a number of hills, and about noon arrived at the station Bekler-Bek, 700 feet higher, and remembered by me by its old medresse or Muham- madan college, turned into the Russian post-house. Beyond this station the road, continuing south, passed a ruined fortification on the frontier of the Kurama uyezd. Into this we passed, gradually descending to the valley ol the Keles, near which river is situated the next station, Sharapkhan. * The terminations kaif and kainl, according to this author, are the same; kciit bein.^ used when the vo\vels of the first part of the word are / or c, and kuii't when thev are it, a, or //, as in Khokand, Yarkand, and, it ou^ht to be, as the native's still call it, Tash/Y/W. but Tashkend is now generally accepted. FROM A U LIE- ATA TO TASHKEND. 423 So well did our horses take us on that we accom- plished the next statue of eight miles in three-quarters of an hour, and we drank tea at Djeri, when- the post-master evinced his thankfulness for the New Testament I sold him by regaling us with cakes. Two stations further we came to Koplan-Bek, where it became manifest that we were approaching a large town. \Ve no longer had open country on either hand, but the road was confined by the high mud walls ot gardens and summer-houses. These gardens are watered by canals.* And so we approached Tashkend, the head-quarters of the Russian administration. In si/e and extent, it covers as much ground as Paris. It is one of the largest towns, not only ot Turkistan, but of the whole of Central Asia, wherein the number of its population is said to be equalled only by Bokhara, and its extent by Khokand. Tashkend is, moreover, an ancient town, with a beginning lost in tlv depths of time. It is situated on a high plateau we had commenced to mount twenty miles from Chimkent. ( )n one side Tashkend touches the Russian quarter, but on the remaining sides it is surrounded by gardens, through which we were: passing. Like all large Central Asian towns, Tashkend was surrounded by a high castellated * Thirty miles south of the city one lar^v r;m;il, 1:1 appfar.uuv like a river, has been diverted from tlic I'hirrhik. and passes .1; ,i distant e ot 7 miles iinrth of thr town. Another canal, the l'><'--:i. leads Mom the ('hirchik ji miles from llie town, through which it> branches tluw under different designations. A third canal lias been diverted tr.-m tin- same source near Xia/- llc^, :~ miles to the east, and p. is-.es in a direct liii-- tlirnii^h the Russian ijuar'.er : and having ioineil the lladra^au ta-ial, i' branches ot'f by --mail channel.-, for the ptirp. '-e nf irri-a: i< >;i. IJesides the above-men,! lone. 1 ( anals. there liou-. a iiiile-aiid-a-half south i'f the city, the small stream "t the Salar, .1 tributary "1 t ; "' C'hirchik. 424 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. wall, and was pierced by twelve gates, called darwazas. The wall took a circular form, and had a circumference ot i 3 miles, the gates bearing the names of the towns in the direction of which they faced. Now, towards the Russian quarter, the whole of this wall has been taken down and the ground levelled. The gates, too, o & here have been removed, though they still remain in the other directions. Through one of these gates we entered about eight o'clock on the evening of the i5th September, not a little pleased at being back once more within the region of comparative civilization, and perceiving Russian cabs and soldiers about the streets, though there was little enough of light proceeding from the street oil lamps to see them very clearly. \Ye made for what had been recommended to us as the best hotel, but where they had no room, so that we had to try the Hotel "Nicolaeff," a sorry place, yet we were glad of a rest, and still more of a bath, after which it was a real comfort once more to get into beds, to which we had been strangers since leaving Vierny. I have now glanced at Russian Turkistan in general, and more particularly at one ot its two northern divisions namely, the Syr-daria province, within the capital of which we arrived. Before describing it, 1 think it better briefly to treat of the Amu-daria province, and thus avoid the necessity of coming back to Russian affairs after our boat is launched in. Bokhara >t and Khivan waters. CHAPTER XXIX. ////:' AMU-DARIA PROTLYCE. The Amu-daria province ; its boundaries and dimensions.- The Ky/yl- Kum Steppe: its sands, marshes, and mountains. 1 )e Marny on its ^eolotry. His deductions questioned. -Lake Aral: its dimen- sions, climate, and shores. -Its islands and lessening circumference. Meteorology of the province and health of population. Classifi- cation of inhabitants according to races. The Kamkalpaks. - Recent statistics concerning habitations. - Agriculture of settled jiopulation. Improved condition of natives. 1 )il1iculties of the nomads. Introduction of Russian administration. Revenue. Till 1 . Amu-adria ohlast is hounded on the north and east hy its sister ohlast ol the Syr-daria, on the south hy Bokhara, and on the west hy the Lower ONUS and part ol the Sea ol Aral. ( )hlon^ in shape, it measures on the 3-iid meridian So miles hy 3iS miles on the (3rd parallel. It has an area ot 33,303 square miles, or the si/e ol Portugal, o| \\lnrh no less than live-sixths ol the \\hole, or a trail the si/e ol Havana, forms the south-west portion ol the Ky/\!-Kum desert. 1 he remainder is made up ol I,v4 ( j square miles ol river hank country, ,md j.jso s(juare miles ol islands m th.e Amu delta. I he-v Injures may he regarded as the latest. I have th<-m irom a repoii drawn up h\ command ol the ( loveriior (ieiier.il, a copv ol \\hich was ohliLMnidx 426 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. by the Governor of the province. Kostenko divides its area into S4'35 waste land, 15*12 pastured by nomads, and 0*53, or about one-half per cent, under cultivation. The Kyzyl- Kum Steppe, that stretches from the Oxus to the Jaxartes, is not a mere barren waste of shifting sands. It consists largely of low hills, from 30 to 60 feet above the general level of the steppe, and covered with rang, a species of sedge. The roots of this plant form a network to the depth of five or six inches, and fix the sand. Rang affords excellent fodder for sheep, but the supply is too scanty for larger animals. Another characteristic feature of the Kyzyl- Kum is the extensive growth of shrubs dotted over the sand, whilst nearly the whole of the Amu delta is covered with reeds. The western portion of the Steppe is more covered with sands than the eastern half, where rocky hills abound. South-east of the Aral Sea, and about 50 miles from it, there is a strip of bare clay steppe about 80 miles long and 20 broad, on either side of a supposed ancient water- course, and further south, near another dry river bed, there is a smaller patch about 25 miles broad and i 2 long. A salt marsh fringes the desert near the: east of the delta, and extends partly into the delta itself, whilst other portions are boggy, or partially cultivated. Along the centre of the Kyzyl-Kum runs the almost unknown range ot the Bukan-'I an. \\ e learn some- thing also of the existence ot hills running off from the Amu, midway between the apex of the delta and the Bokhariot frontier. In the summer of 1874 Mr. X. P. Barbot de Marny made a geological exploration across the Amu delta, then up the east bank of the Oxus to the Bokhariot frontier, and thence along the caravan route towards the. Bukan mountains, and so on to THE AMU-DARIA l>KOrr\CE. 4^7 Samarkand. From his paper read before the Russian Geographical Society, it appears th.it in the centre of the delta there is an isolated hill about :oo feet hi^h, J J5 called the Kashkana-Tau, with a tlat top. Its western slope is steep, forming two terraces, the- upper consist- ing of greyish-yellow sand, containing concretions of gypsum, the lower ot greyish-green sandy loam. This latter terminates in cap-shaped hillocks, which are generally ascribed to the action of the waves of an ocean that travellers imagine to have existed hen.-, but I )e Maniy says they are due to atmospheric erosion." After continuing his researches to the Bokhariot frontier, he gives as the geological result that the whole of the country to the,- north of the Amu is covered with limestone, above which rises the Sheikh Jeili, a mountain mass 35 miles in length, and con- sisting ot crystalline rocks, gneiss, and granite. t * Tin- strata of this hill dip slightly towards the north-east . They contain no fossils, and resemble mineraloL;icallv the north-west shore of Lake Aral. Travelling from the apex of the delta up the ri^ht luuk of I lie ( )xus, flay is met with close to the river ; hut, on leaving il . sandhills, called /xtr/c/iti/is, abound, beneath which limestone strata, containing fossils of cretaceous a^e, are occasionally exposed. Continuing si >ut h, tin. 1 country rises gradually, and isolated hills make their appearance, of which the liesh- I an contains many tonsils, including ammonite--. < )ne of the two summits of the (,'/>, t.'f>v { mountain, from \\hencecan be seen the Sheikh Jeih mouniaitis, is capped bv black terru^inoi:- -and- .stotie. In the transverse valleys ol the Sheikh |eih, near the ri\er. gneiss, and occasionally cr\'.stalhne limestone, are m>-t \vh: aKu chlorite, talc, and hornblende schist-,. The schists I'lvqueiulv contain small crystals of ma^nesite and pyrites, and are tr.uersed '", \ein-i of([uarix. t'upperas also occurs in small quantities. Ka--;uanl t!'m the Sheikh [eili is the Sullan-\\'aiss-'l'au, consist JUL; < >t ia\ r i - "I white marble. In the eastern portion ot the >he:kh |eih one nt tiv- ranges consists ol black gneiss, another nf redilish marble, other-- i i hloriie and talc s(hists. he Marnv saw also a lar^e ma--- i-|'\\hi:e v. l( -k-- iliat 1 urned on I to be pri 'iodine, contain in:..;' almandine-L;arnei - and i"-i . Is. '' It is the result, he s;ivs, ot siid'essive Upheavals. .;ild .'visb-d 428 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. From the Amu littoral De Marny proceeded through Shurakhane. Beyond that place the elevation of the country and the sand increase, the sand over- lying solid rocks, which form ridges running north and south. Ferruginous calcareous sandstones are occasionally exposed on the surface. The road leads over ridge after ridge to the Kara-Choku mountain, consisting of yellow sand, capped with ferruginous sandstone. At Myn-Bulak is a spring of excellent water, and, as one approaches it from the west, the Bukan-Tau rises in the north.* From the Bukan-Tau the road proceeds south-east to the Tamciy-Tau, and onward to Samarkand.! The hydrography of the Amu-daria province is confined to the Sea of Aral and the River Oxus, the only existing stream of importance. There are, how- ever, several dry beds of either rivers or canals, one of which, 30 miles long, runs south ot and parallel to already when the whole of the surrounding- country was covered by the ocean in which the chalk was deposited. The lower valley of the Amu and its delta are covered with grey clay, which is most useful, both for purposes of irrigation and for building, as also is the marble and other kinds of building stone, but other minerals did not appear in sufficient quantity to be useful. Report said that gold and silver are to be found in the Sheikh Jeili, and traces of mining operations are to be found, but I)e Marny doubts if they ever were remunerative. ' The name Bukan-Tau is not appliea by the natives to tin: whole of these mountains. They have special name.--, for various parts of them, such as Tobi-Bergen-Tati, Yirlir-Tau, etc. The main direction of the chain is north and south, and, at the spring of Kuldur, is composed of crystalline limestone, resting upon clay slate, and covered unconform- ablv by strata of conglomerate. The barren summit of the Yirlir rises to the east of Kuldur, and near is the caravan route leading from Bokhara to Ka/alinsk. t The geological features of the journey from the Oxus art; (T, Marine formation along the whole of the route, proving, I)e Marny thinks, that the Aralo-Caspian at one time extended to the foot of tlie Thian Shan. (2) Many isolated mountain ranges rising in thi- Kyxyl-Kum, resembling geologically the Sheikh [eili. Their strain- THE AMi:-DAR!A I'ROl'IXCK. .jj., the Sultan-Waiss range. There is indicated, too. upon the best maps, the supposed channel In which the Jaxartes once reached the bed of the Oxus. Lake Aral is supposed to take its name- from its many islands. the Kirghese word anil meaning an island. It is 260 miles long, and in breadth from 130 to i So miles, with an area of 1,456 square miles. Its surface level is 48 feet above the ocean, and some 130 feet higher than tin; Caspian (some say 243). relatively to which it lies about 200 miles to the eastward. So shallow is the water on the eastern coast that the Kirghese, with their cattle, wade to the island of Kut-I )jitmes, S miles from the shore. In the centre the depth attains to more than go feet, and close to the western shore it exceeds 220 feet. The prevailing winds are from the north-east. They rise suddenly, cause great disturbance of the water, and leave behind a swell, against which it is impossible for a boat to make headway. 1 here usuallv reigns either a dead calm, or a violent wind that frequently increases to a furious storm. ( )f natural harbours completely sheltered from the wind there are five graphical relations ;uv likewise sinrilau, lor iheir Mnke is ^vne: N.\V.. varying between \V. iv N. and \\'. |> X. I; : therefore, that the mountains in the Steppe form pan of the upheaval ol the Thian Shan. \ The sandhills are oil en sn id ilie shore ot an aneieiit oeean \\lneli at one nine eovered [lit- ''pp- -. 1 )e Marny found, however, that i lie material ol whieh they < "i lie derived from anv ideological formation, a-- Ion-- as the --and : sheltered against the action ol the wind. j' I lie ->alt su.intji'- \\ith m the desert do not di-rive their salt from rei ent maraie d'epi.- ::_-.-. which are not met with at all. In it trom the e!:l' -i < < in > o! c ri ' . strata. 1 ou^ht to add that several of these eniieliisions ot tli.' i<-;--:.i-i -colonist are < |ue->l ioned, and some of them app.iivnilv i ontr -\ Major llerhert \\'ood, uho a-^i-ted in ill. kn^an -i.r\e\- ot the Aral, and who visited the |\a->hkanat.io hill i:i the delta ot the Am i.si/. See M,ir {'/it//u'.\ <^<>r,iu: ./,/. .l/,/,/ ../.-.. am.a;v. : -"' . 430 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. only, though the configuration of the shores of the sea forms numerous bays, peninsulas, and headlands.* The mouth of the Jaxartes is encumbered with sandbanks, that are continually shifting the bed of the channel. In spring the ice accumulates at the mouth, and overspreads the sandbanks. The water rushing under the ice scoops out the sand from under- neath, and forms a new bed, which again silts up in summer and undergoes fresh changes. The north- eastern portion of the sea is partially shut off by the island of Kug-Aral f from the so-called lesser sea (Kichkine-Denghiz), out of which the Gulf of Sari- Chaganak runs deep into the mainland, and is thought to have been once a strait connecting the Aral Sea with the Lake Aksakal-Barda. The southern part of the Aral is not frozen every year, and immense numbers of birds winter there. In j * The northern shores are usually composed of clayey, salt-impreg- nated cliffs, rising to a height of from 100 to 300 feet. The line of the western shore follows the edges of the high tableland of Ust-Urt. which is made up of sandy, clayey, and limestone layers, sometimes' attaining the height of 500 feet. Throughout the whole of the western coast no suitable anchorage can be found, owing to its precipitous character and the great depth of the water. The low southern shore is composed either of reed-covered alluvial deposits brought down by the Amu-daria, or of waves of sand. The eastern shore is also low + The island of Kug-Aral measures 26 miles by 7, and contains a quantity of mica. Another island with an area of 86 square miles is Bar.^a-Gilmaz. which means, " You may go, but not return," in memory of some natives who once crossed on the ice just before it broke up. A third island is that of Tokmak-Ata, that derives its name from a saint's tomb found there. It has an area of 57 square miles, and, being separated from the mainland by a strait about 2 miles wide, and only 2 feet deep, it is approached by the Khivans either in small boats or by wading. Another island of the Aral Sea, and the most remarkable of them all, is that of tile Emperor Nicholas, with an area of 133 square miles. It is almost covered with an extraordinarily thick growth of saxaul and tamarisk. There are numerous suigti Anti- lopes upon it. Hedgehogs also have been found, and the traces seen of Foxes. It also contains Snakes and Land Tortoises. THE AMI'-DARIA J'ROl'fXCE. .\\\ other places the Aral free/es near the shores, and tin- ice is sufficiently strong to bear camels. An interesting point connected with the: Aral is that its waters are perceptibly drying up, and its circumference diminish- ing. The natives account for the disappearance of the water that flows into the lake by saying that in the middle there is a terrible whirlpool, and that tin- waters ol the Aral pass into the Caspian by an under- ground channel. The real cause, M. Maieff points out. is the physical law that, if rivers tlow into any water, the body ol tin- latter continues to till up and exfnd in area until its surface is such that the quantity oi water yearly evaporated equals the quantity brought down by the rivers.* This drying up, however, is little enough in com- parison with the decrease that would take: place .should the: O.xus again from any cause- tlow into the Caspian. In this case:, the: Aral, deprived annually of more than a million millions (1,175,000,000.000) of cubic ieet ot river water, would lose the first year the twentieth part ot its contents. In 10 or 12 years Reclus reckons it would have no more than half its pivsent volume, .ill The most patent illustration ol" the lessening of the 1 water- nl'tlir Aral is seen in the .site ol" the dull" ot" Ailment', which Mill figures on many maps west of the mouths of the Oxiis. In |S.|S. according t" Rei lus, it measured \ feet deep. In iSvS-o the Kmperor's missioi. sailed on il in boats. In i.Sjo it had become a marsh, complete!; separated from the Aral, and two vears later the Russian ^eo-Tapher- in the Khiva n expedition undeniably established the lad that the sal: Gulf of Aibut, r hir had disappeared, and that trees were ^r..\\in^ in tli former bed. If now it is sometimes covered with uatcr it ;> no l..n-~e; a- pan of the Aral, but from inundation-, of the Uxus. and \\ithtics] water. This represents a lessening of the !>:i-in of the Aral, aei ordin^ to |\eelu-, of about 2,000 square mile-. At the be^nmin^ o! the prest-n' century, the water washed the base of hills that are now more than 40 mile- trom the ed^e, and the Kir^hesi', ad'ordm^ to \\'ood. show .1 moMjue, built originally upon tin- eastern bank, that nou i.s several miles oil". 4.52 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. its flat bottoms that is to say, the most extended parts of its basin would be dried up ; in 80 years there would be water in only five cavities, of which the two prin- cipal would be found to be one in the centre and the other on the western portions of the present lake, and the divers remains of the Aral Sea would be reduced to the dimensions of other denghiz or Steppe lakes. * The shores of the Aral are desert, and during summer, with the exception of certain parts in the south-west, are quite uninhabited ; but in winter Kir- ghese nomads are met with along the northern and eastern shores and their off-lying islands. There are yet other points of interest connected with the hydro- graphy of the Amu-daria oblast, such as the descrip- tion of its great river and the history of the Aral, to which I shall allude hereafter. Very detailed meteorological observations have been made at two points in the province namely, at Forts Petro-Alexandrovsk and Xukus.t At the latter place, during the year preceding my visit, the temperature in summer had gone up to 10274, and had sunk in winter to IO'66. Notwithstanding these extremes, the climate was reported to me to be salubrious, though * Ko>tenko, however, thinks that the amount of the reduction of the Aral in modern times cannot be definitely ascertained, though lie points out that future investigators will be able to compute to what extent the level may become changed, from the fact that in iX-.j MM. Mukhofand Solimani showed that the level of the Aral lay at a height of 245 feet above that of the Caspian. -'- The following are the mean annual reading and barometer tor iS~^-6 : TllKKM'i-MKTI-. THE AMU-DARIA PROVINCE. 433 Dr. Schuyler seems to imply the contrary. At Petro- Alexandrovsk, at the time of my visit, there were 4,750 soldiers, and the year had commenced with 47 patients in hospital. Up to the i 5th of October only three fresh patients had been admitted, and though none had been dismissed as cured, neither, on the other hand, had any died.* I learned from the Governor's wife that children's diseases, such as croup and hoop- ing-cough, as also scarlatina, were unknown, though some of the young die of stomach diseases. Again, the natives of the place are not attacked with the Sart skin disease, though they get small-pox; and in August and September, when particles from the cotton pods are flying about, they contract ophthalmia, causing ('version of the eyelids, that is painful and dangerous. The population of the Amu-daria oblast (amount- ing in round numbers to 150,000 souls) consists of Karakalpaks, Uzbegs, Kirghese, Turkomans. Tajiks, liberated Persian slaves, colonists from the Ural, and Russian troops. t The Uzbegs and Tajiks are settled. The Kirghese are nomads. The Karakalpaks derive their name from the; black kerchiefs some of them wear.* * 'A'heir diseases were as follows: I'Vvi-r, 17; dysentery and iliar- rhcr.i, ^ ; inflammation of eyes, limits, urinary and j^vnital organs, and intestines, to ; ana'inia, I ; heart disease, i ; arterial disease, i ; rheumatism, i ; scurvy, 2 ; chronic eruptions, i ; wounds, i ; venereal diseases, (> ; diseased bones, i : and there were on trial lor military Karakalpaks . . . i,|._'oo I'ral colonist-* . ^o, Kirghese . . . ^. ~i.>t, ' l.iberaii'd IVr>ian slave.-* . i>i Turkoman-* Ata tribe} . 718,000 9 Aiuu-ilaria 15,286 8,156 127,700 3' 7l8,OOO 9 Total . . 324,681 519,840 5,005,000 1 1 8, 426,OOO THE AML'-DARIA I'KOriXCE. 435 This increase of cultivation, and therefore of the well-being of the population, is traced to the feel- ing of security inspired among the natives by the Russian administration protecting them from pillage, and distributing among them equality of taxation : "such conditions," says the report, "as always accompany Russian conquests in Central Asia." Another fact contributing to the same end was the good harvest of iSSi in the Amu-daria province, whilst a lack of corn that year in the neighbouring districts sent up its price- in the local markets. It was thus anticipated that the-, settled population was well supplied for a time, should it be visited by no extremely bad year. Indications of such prosperity appeared in the absence of arrears for taxation, the ease with which the full liabilities were cleared off. and the comparative scarcity of coin the last biting caused, it was supposed, by the hoardings of the people. With regard to the nomads of the southern portion of the province, their condition was reported to be slowh' improving. One great disadvantage under which the\~ laboured was that the}' had to remain inland near wells far from the river, and had not easy and safe access to the pastures along the banks of the Amu-daria; for although the right bank was supposed to be protected by IJokhariot guards, yet in .spring and autumn, when the cattle need abundance of water and fodder, the Turkomans cross the river and plunder. Accordingly, the (iovernor recommended that, with a view to assist the Shurakhane nomads to develop their herds, a strong military post should be stationed at Uch-Uchak on the Dokliariot frontier, where there are large and abundant tu^ais, or spits of land in the basin 436 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. of the river, to which the wandering tribes might approach the water for sheep-shearing. The Amu-daria oblast was annexed by the Russians in 1873, an d was at first divided into the Amu-daria and the Kyzyl-Kum districts, the latter comprising the country in the south of the oblast about Myn-Bulak and Tamda. The administration, military and civil, was committed to Colonel (now General) Ivanoff, assisted by an official for special commissions, a director of the offices, a secretary, and a field-officer, the last- named being entrusted with matters relating to military administration. This division of territory and con- stitution of the staff was found afterwards to require some readjustment to the present divisions of country, and when I was at Petro-Alexandrovsk I found Colonel Ivanoff, whom I had met at Tashkend, replaced by General von Grotenhielm. Dr. Schuyler intimates that, when the territory was annexed, it was thought that a revenue might be obtained from the province of ,20,000 a year ; but, according to the report in my hands, the first year's taxation (1874) yielded only ,12,385.* * A two-fold tax was imposed, a kibitka tax and a land tax, 20,948 dwellings being liable to the former kind of taxation, and to the latter 6,736 houses in the Shurakhane division, possessing 45,430 acres of land. Besides this, cultivated land in Shurakhane, the whole of which is in small holdings of less than 50 acres, is taxed on the same scale as land of a similar class throughout Turkistan namely, is. gd. per acre. This latter tax yielded for the province about ,3,677 a year ; but, by reason of readjustments in 1877 (when an Imperial tax was substituted for the land tax), was expected to yield in 1882 about ^"400 more. The number of kibitkas, too, at this .subsequent revision, was found to be increased by 670. Resides the Imperial taxes just mentioned, local liabilities in money and in kind, for the maintenance of native administration, are met by the Amu-daria population, as in other parts of Turkistan. by a Xemsky tax, or rate of 2.v. ()/l. per kibitka, from the nomads, and a proportionate amount from the settlers. The yearly figure for this rate amounts to THE AMU- D ARIA PROVINCE. 437 Having taken advantage of this latest information afforded me to enter somewhat fully into the economic condition ot the Amu-daria oblast, and the more so since no previous English author has described it in detail, and having now treated of all the ground behind me. I proceed to describe what I did and saw in Tash- kend. about ^,462. A further rate is levied in Chimbai of 2s. 2t/., and in Shurakhanc of 2s. 4ky tax, or rate, ^3,462; rent of Crown gardens ami lands, ^65 ; tolls from ferry boats over the Amu, \, 071 ; for native >chool>, /~j6s ; vaccination, ^~oo ; for cost of native administration, ^,"2,422 ; from cara- van.-, and additional duty on tea, ^"1.506 ; for collecting fuel from C'rown land> near the river, ^10 ; pasturing cattle on, and collecting dung from, Crown lands ; traders' tax, ^,"626 ; merchants' certificates, ^"77 ; excise on beer, /"Hi; excise on spirits, /,".}<)"; licences to spirit dealers, ^"104; stamps, ~(>^ ; sale of paper, io.v.; passports. 4.*-. ; fines for minor offences, s. ; fines imposed by magistrates. _/'i (>.\. ; tax from 15okhariots for making charcoal on Russian territory, \ \ ; ^>ale of cattle, /,"i io.v. CHAPTER XXX. TA SHKEND. Asiatic Tashkend ; its four divisions, and their characteristics. Its buildings and population. Russian Tashkend ; its streets and houses. Population according to creeds, occupations, and ages. Visit to the Governor-General. Arrangements for distribution of Scriptures, and my onward journey. Visits to synagogues and the military hospital. Statistics concerning patients. Diseases prevalent in Tashkend. Dispensary for the natives-. Asylum for the aged. The officers' club. TASHKEND, deriving its name from tas/i, stone, and kand, town, is a dual city, of which the two parts are so distinct and so unlike that a visitor may sometimes walk a considerable distance without meeting a Russian in one or a native in the other. European Tashkend is but of yesterday Asiatic Tash- kend of more than a thousand summers, the Arabs having conquered it so early as A.D. 738. Asiatic Tashkend is, for administrative purposes, divided into lour yurtas. Formerly these were under the govern- ment of certain officials called min-bashis, the yurtas being known as Shah-i-Khan-Tur, Sibzor, Kukchi, and Bish-agach.* * The first comprises the north-east part of the town, where, situated on a level spot, theji',Y;'/W is divided almost in two by a deep ravine 1 , at the bottom of which flows the wide and swift canal of the Ankhor. This Shah- i- Khan- Tur yitrta consists of 48 niaJialas, or wards, some TASHKEXD. 4 j,, The population of Asiatic Tashkend, for the more part, is grouped according to trades, and the number of them having- been suburban settlements, afterwards incorporate J on the enlargement of the town. Some of these settlements were very large, and as all the inhabitants of a inahala have to be invited when any family rejoicing is going on, the calculating Sarts have, in certain cases, subdivided them. The population of the Shah-i-Khan yurtn, according to Kostenko, numbers 10,194 - s <>uls, who occupy 3,050 tenements, and have in their midst ^ medresses or colleges, and 60 mosques, with 10 schools attached for 2}o pupils. The principal industries of this yurta are cast-iron foundries, saddleries, oil-presses and looms, the number of trades in 1870 being reckoned at 507. The local looms for ma fa, or cotton cloth, used for shirts and drawers, were established by Divan Burkh, who was the first to engage in this industry, and from hence they were distributed far and wide. Apart from the land occupied by buildings, \\\\s yttrta has the least surface devoted to gardens, namely, 300 acres, but there are ;SOo acres under pasturage, and 900 acres devoted to rice cultivation. The Sib/or \nt~t a occupies the north-west corner of the town, ami is divided into yS wards. It has also four settlements, one of which, Ibrahim-Ata, is noted for agriculture, and the raising of /cnuslik:, or lucern \AIedicagn safira). The 2,230 houses in this \urta contain a population of 18,650 souls, and on the banks of the principal canal, the Kei-kaus (so named after a former ruler of lashkend}, are centred all the grinding mills of Sib/or. The chief industry of this quarter is confined to the boot trade, Sibxor boots being exported to other Turkistan towns. Weaving and dyeing of cotton goods come next in importance. These two industries have long been practised by the inhabitants, amongst whom the richest class are the wholesale mer- chants. Three medresses, one of which i- the tamou- Hekl.ir-Hek, containing 260 students, comprise almost the whole of the educated portion of this \nrtit. There are, however, several W,/A-/>,',/ ; '.V, or sc >r western \ni'fii, with its }i ward-, 2,511 house-, and 22,oSS souls, is situated on undulating ground cut by deep ravine- It- principal industries are connected with leather, there being in i \~ t , out of (n>s craftsmen, }]i worker- in hide-, and j|S bootmaker-. There are besides (i brick-kiln-, 7 potteries, 22 mill-, and 22 oil-presses also _' medresses, \\ school-, ^1 mosques, and i ^ tomb-, of which la-t one is noteworthy, namely, that of Sheikh Xenejin r..iba. an exile from Bagdad. \\iio was buried about .]oo year- a^o. The fourth, or Hish-agacli _\v// - A/, occupying the southern corner of the town, ha- ^2 wards, 1,400 houses, and 12,450 inhabitant-, many "t whom are proprietor-- of -rood gardens and field-. i'hi- i- one of ;he 440 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. of buildings is about 17,500, the population, according to the census of 1868, being 76,000.* European or Russian Tashkend is divided from Asiatic Tashkend by the Bossu canal, and, though founded only so recently as 1865, has developed rapidly. The streets are wide and regular, lined with narrow canals and stately poplars. Most of the houses are of one floor, of sun-dried brick, roofed, in some cases, with iron, and painted green or reel. Each house has its garden, that attached to the palace of the General- Governor being thrown open to the public on certain days, when a military band performs. There is also a public garden that was laid out by the natives. The canals do good service for watering the streets, thereby rendering the quarter less dusty, and the temperature also is lower than in the native town. There are several good shops in the Russian quarter, where European articles can be procured at nearly the double of European prices, and, considering the causes of the limited population, for the landowners, in order to look more closely after their fields, often remove to live near them. Thus the village of Zengata became established about 180 years ago, when the Bish-agach people began to remove there from the town. This village is so called because in it is situated the tomb of the much-respected Zengi-Ata, and to it vast crowds of people flock yearly, when the fruit is beginning to ripen, from various towns in Turkistan. The principal industry of Bish-agach is brick-making, with which it would appear they have erected 3 medresses, 16 private schools, and 68 mosques. * The buildings were as follows: Private houses occupied, 13,260; empty, or reserved for guests, 322 ; Serais (containing 519 shops) 23 ; medresses, 8; baths, 8; mosques, 255; corn mills, 116; other mills, 42 ; shops in the great bazaar (i) occupied by traders, 2,324 ; (2) empty, 307 ; (3) booths, 594 ; (4) booths empty, 96 ; and shops occupied by Sarts in the Russian quarter of the town, 69 in all 17,424. The population was as follows : Sarts, 74,848 ; Tatars, 610 ; Kirghese, 261 ; Persian, i ; Afghans, 25 ; Russians, 38; Jews, 213 ; Hindus, 93; Chinese, 3 ; the whole consisting of 41,377 males and 34,715 females, in 16,775 families. TA SHKEXD. 44 1 distance and difficulty of transit, this is not perhaps exorbitant. Russian Tashkend boasts, too, of an ob- servatory, about a mile out of the town, a Central Asian museum, and public library, all of which I visited. There is likewise a theatre, and last, though in its pre- tensions by no means least, an officers' club. In 1875 the inhabitants of Russian Tashkend, exclusive of troops, numbered 2,982 males and 1,870 females, their religious beliefs predominating in the following order : Orthodox, Muhammadans, Jews, Romanists, and Lutherans. Of the total of 4,852 persons, classified under about 100 trades, there are 532 women who have fixed occupations; but 1,691 persons exist without a definite calling ; and it is worthy of note that the popu- lation, classified according to ages, is found to consist, for the most part, of people in full vigour from the ages of 20 to 40.* My hotel, so called, was situated in the Russian pan of Tashkend, where, having arrived on Friday night. my first care next morning was to visit the Governor- :< According to religious beliefs the population stands as follow-; : -- Orthodox, 3,473 ; Muhammadans, 0.38 ; Jews, 15^; Romanists, 155; Lutherans, 115; Hindus, 4; Evangelists, 4; Arnifiio-uiv^orians, j; Reformed, i ; and Anglican, i. According to occupations, as follows : Kcclesiastics, 10 ; military an.i civil-service employes, 1,138 ; medical oilicers. 23 ; trader.- and hotel and restaurant proprietors, i so ; owners of factories, 3; clerk- and -hop assistants, 1^1 ; contractors and undertakers, 4; cab proprietor.-- and drivers, 102 ; dealers in hides, 2 ; distillers, 3 ; vine-dressers, 3 ; photn- jjraphers and assistants, o; compositors and printer-, 12 ; a;jvnt, i ; postal employes, 17 ; tax-gatherers, > ; carters. 14; Mullah and AztiHcJ::, or assistant, 2; watchmen, 40 ; porter- ^mostly Sari--. Kir^he-e, and 'latars\ 241; cigarette manufacturers and tobacconists. 4; contei - tioners, 2 ; sausage maker.-, 4 ; beer brewer-, 2 ; hair dres-ers. > ; billiard markers, 3; housekeeper--. 5; apothecaries, 4; tutrs and teachers, 10 ; copyists, 31; .soap-boiler, i; en-raver, i ; bookbinder-. 2; lucifer-match maker-, 2 : chimne\'--\vi ep, i ; lamer, i; I n 'k-in-.th-. ^; cooper^, d ; blacksmiths, ^o ; carpenter- and cabinet maker-, ~<<; thrashers. 3; planer, i ; water-carrier, i ; harness-makers, ; store- 442 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. General. General Chernaieff, recently appointed to the office, had not yet arrived from Petersburg, but was represented meanwhile by General A. K. Abramoff, Governor of the province of Ferghana. The chief administration of Turkistan being centred in Tashkend, the vice-regal palace, as might be supposed, is the finest house in the town. It is surrounded by gardens, with fountains and pavilions, used for fetes, agricultural exhibitions, etc., in summer, whilst the large saloon serves in winter for social and philanthropic gather- ings, such as meetings of the Red Cross and other societies. General Abramoff, however, at the time of my visit was staying in the Governor-General's summer villa, in the outskirts of the town a charming residence buried amongst trees, that, in Turkistan, would be con- sidered fine. Thither we drove, and were ushered into the study of the General, who impressed me favourably by his unassuming dignity and apparent thoroughness. Having presented the letter I received from General Chernaieff at Petersburg, my first care was to arrange for the distribution of such Scriptures as I had for the sellers, 8; tailors, 55; bootmakers, 37; painters, n ; plasterers, 2; turner, i ; maker of French flooring, i; wheelwrights and coach builders, 5 ; market gardeners and florists, 16 ; bakers, 37 ; embroiderers in gold and silver, 3; watchmakers, 3 ; fishermen, 5 ; music-sellers (principally Jews), ii ; hawkers of bread and cakes, 6; bath proprietors. 5 ; armourers, 3 ; bricklayers, 18 ; hatters and hosiers, 2 ; upholsterer, i ; butchers, 3 ; goldsmiths, 4 ; tiler, i ; sawyers, 3 ; translators, 5; glazier, i ; keepers of licensed houses (all Mussulmans, the women in- cluded), 18 ; prostitutes, 66 (including those' married and living in the licensed houses, with husbands, brothers, fathers, children, etc.); ser- vants (including officers' orderlies}, 314 ; coachmen, 32 : female cooks, in ; male cooks, 41 ; grooms, 16; nurses, 71 ; parlour-maids, 25 ; dress- makers, 31, and laundresses, 61. According to ages as follows : Less than 10 years of age, 880 ; from 10 to 15, 230; from 15 to 20, 461 ; from 20 to 30, 1,588; from 30 to |0, i,is6 ; from 40 to so, 396 ; from 50 to ho, 100 ; from 60 to 70, 24 j md more than 70, 17. TASHKEND. 443 prisons, hospitals, and public institutions throughout Turkistan. I inquired how many would be needed tor Ferghana, and was at once struck with the minute acquaintance his Excellency appeared to possess con- cerning his own province. " In the prison at Khokand," said he, "there are 6 rooms; in Marghellan, 16: in Namangan, 8 ; Andijan, 4, and Osh, 3 ; whilst the rooms in the hospitals are, Marghellan, 20 ; Khokand, 10; Andijan, 6; Namangan, 5; and Osh, 5 : or you may send 100 in all, in about equal proportions of Russian and Tatar." These his Excellency undertook to distribute as 1 wished, so that there; should be at all times some portion of Holy Scripture within reach ot every prisoner and patient in Ferghana, and he kindly undertook also to sec; the same arrangement earned out tor the Syr-daria province.* By a fortunate coinci- dence it happened that General I vanoff, Governor oi the Zarafshan district, was staying at Tashkend, and pay- ing a visit to the Governor-General at the same moment as myself. He therefore heard my request to General A b ram off, and gladly accepted a similar otter ot books tor his own province. There were 15 rooms in the prisons, and 25 in the hospitals, he said, ot Samarkand, 4 in the prisons and 6 in the hospitals of Katte- Kurgan, and 2 each in the prison and hospital ot IVnjakend. "About ..jo books," he added, " might be sent in Russian. 5 in Tatar, 10 in Persian, and i or ; in Hebrew." I hus at a stroke I had arranged lor all the prisons and hospitals ot 1 urkistan. except the mere handful that * I sii!>-,ei|iiently learned th.it in the Syr-daria d/l.tM tin hospital^ were .situated at Aulie-ata. (.'himkent. I'a-hke I "ra-Tiulie, Ji/akli, Turki>t,m. IVrovsk, and Ka/alinsk inis^ht rerkim mi an average Imir ruom-, tu e.u'h. e\rep; 1 that had tiftv. 444 RUSSIA A' CENTRAL ASIA. My next business was to inquire respecting my journey onwards. I wished to go to Khokand, Samarkand, and Bokhara, from whence, I asked, could I go by Charjui to Merv, or could I float down the Oxus to Petro-Alexandrovsk, and thence to Khiva, and across the desert to the Caspian ? The General seemed to think that I ought to see more of Ferghana than the town of Khokand, against which, however, I pleaded lack of time, but he said that they could not protect me from Charjui to Merv, and that it would be impossible or far too dangerous a thing for me to attempt to travel there from the eastern side, whatever might be the possibilities of getting there from the west. As for passing through Bokhara, and floating down the Oxus, this he thought might be done, though with difficulty, perhaps, as to the taran- tass; and with regard to crossing the Aralo-Caspian desert they could best advise me as to the safety or otherwise of attempting that when I reached Petro-Alexandrovsk. There lived General Groten- hielm, to whom a letter should be given me, as also to the Emir of Bokhara, and the authorities at Khokand. Nothing, therefore, could have been more satisfactory ; and all this kindness was capped by General Ivanoff, who invited me, during my sojourn in Samarkand, to stay in his palace. A third officer in the room was Colonel Mailievsky, the Vice-Governor of the town of Tashkend, with whom I made arrangements to be taken on the morrow to the local prison and hospitals, and then drove back to the hotel, with a mind considerably relieved. Not only had I now virtually accomplished the major part of my desire respecting the distribution of the Scriptures, but I beo/m to see; the. feasibilitv of entering- Khokand and TA SHKEND. 445 Bokhara, upon which no Englishman living had set eyes, and on the realization of which by myself my friends had been so sceptical. I had feared, too, from various reports on my way, that I might have to return by the less interesting Orenburg route, where the postal service had broken down ; or still worse, I might be obliged to retrace the way that I came. As it was Saturday, I thought that I could not do better than spend the afternoon in a visit to the Central Asian Jews. I had been favoured by Sir Whittaker Ellis, Bart, (who, at the time of my leaving London, was Lord Mayor, and Chairman of the Committee for raising funds on behalf of the perse- cuted Russian Jews), with a letter, stating that I was travelling with a philanthropic object in connection with hospitals and prisons, and commending me to the courtesy and attention of any who might be able to assist me. This had been translated for me very kindly by Dr. Herman Adler, the delegate chief rabbi in London, into rabbinic Hebrew, and, in addition, I had had the document translated into Russian, Persian, Arabic, and Turki. When, therefore, we were taken to the synagogue in the Russian quarter, I presented this letter as an introduction, and asked whether they had any ancient manuscripts; but so far were they from having things antique that everything appeared almost new. 1 had rarely before entered a synagogue so clean and bright. The walls had been newly white- washed and ornamented with native painting : and though there was no service going on. there were several men and boys reading. They manifested the utmost interest in my letter, but had nothing of great ecclesiastical interest to show, whereupon 1 discovered that we; had been brought to the new svna"'o soldier servants. t Their ailments were as follows : Fevers, 10; tvphus, 20; diarrlnea, ion; ophthalmia, Q; diseases of the chest, 20, and kidneys,.] ; syphilis, 15 ; venereal diseases, 25 ; bruises, wounds, and fractures, 15 ; ab- scesses and >kin disease^, 10 ; rheumatism, 2 O the study, that he had learned English chiefly for the sake of mastering the treasures ot its entomological literature. He was able to give me sundry hints as to where I might find information respecting the natural history of Turkistan, and it was from his lips, curiously enough, at Tashkend, that I first heard of a well-known naturalist, Mr. Robert MacLachlan, F.R.S., living in the next parish to my own in England. M. Oshanin secured for me a valuable book 1 have; not yet seen in England on the. fauna and flora of the Kyzyl-Kum O - * desert and the Khivan oasis. He had to tell also of an interesting expedition he had made; four years previously beyond the Russian border in Karategin. M. Oshanin is curator of the; Tashkend museum, through which we walked and noticed a number of interesting ethnographical specimens, as well as a few antiquities. There was, for instance, a good collection of enamelled tiles and bricks from Kuldja and Samarkand, and a vase, with a pedestal found in the mountains near Aulie-Ata, so near the; ancient episcopal Almatj, that it was thought it might be a baptismal font. There was 45 6 KUSSIAX CEXTRAL ASIA. also a bronze bell, found in the neighbourhood of Tashkend, 6 inches high, with a diameter of 4 inches at the base, with metal \ of an inch thick, but the clapper is wanting. \Ve saw also ancient coins, and some Greek fire bombs of earthenware, with grooves on the convex side.* To the foregoing may be added sundry Buddhist idols, in metal, and one in trachyte. There were, likewise, certain botanical specimens, as the sponge plant, having a fruit resembling sponge inside, that is used by the natives ; and chigi, a textile plant cultivated at Kuldja. M. Oshanin not only showed us all that he thought might be interesting, but kindly gave me a small collection ot Turkistan seeds, chietiy cereals, and two live tortoises, which it was supposed I might be able to get safely to England. There \vas another gentleman to whom I had an introduction, and whose acquaintance I was thankful to make, who has done so much, both by his travels and his pen, to make the country known. I mean Colonel Xicolai Alexandrovitch Maieft, the well-known editor of the Turkistan Gazette. I could have had no better authority than he for information and statistics concern- ing Central Asia, and I was gratified by his telling me that the Governor-General, who seemed to expect that I should make a longer stay than I did, had asked Colonel Maieff to be of use to me, which he was abun- dantly ready to be, both in making excursions, and in providing me with a number of Russian books not easily accessible, and in some cases not existing, in England. He also gave me several photographs, and put me in the way of getting others, many of them by amateurs, which have helped to adorn my writings. * Illustrations of some of those may be seen in M. L'jfalvy's '~ Expedi- tion Scientifique," Vol. ii. TA SHKEXD. 457 I had introductions to nearly a score of persons in Tashkend, and so need hardly say that our time was fully occupied. Early on 'I uesday morning Colonel Poukoloff came to invite us to dine on the day follow- ing at the palace of the Governor-General, and he then conducted us to the Asiatic part of the town. \\ e took a droshky for this purpose, our conductor remark- ing that he could not take his own carriage into the native town bv reason of the roughness of the roads. and their consequent damage to any but the strongest of carriage-springs. Before us rock: a djiguitt and two a/csakd/s. or native elders, with a rich Sail, said to be a friend of the Colonel's, as interpreter, and these: signs of importance: going before, and our conductor being known as the head of the town, we had a good oppor- tunity of witnessing the respect that is paid by Orientals to one high in office. When the crowds caught sight of us they not only respectfully made way and stood on either side of the street, but those who were 458 Al'SSSA.Y CENTRAL ASIA. sitting- arose, and such as knew the Colonel personally stroked their beards. Men on horseback dismounted, stood, and bowed, and laughing children running about suddenly pulled up at the roadside in perfect order until we had passed. It was, in fact, just as if I had suddenly sprung back to a stage of civilization por- trayed in the Book of Job.* The only building we saw in Old Tashkend that I deemed worth making a single note about was the o o Medresse Beklar Bek, built of brick, now having only about 50 students, but from the top of which we gained a view of the uninteresting Asiatic town. The low, ilat housetops of earth, the want of regular lines of streets, and the absence of colour about the houses, made the city one of the most dismal I had ever looked down upon. Few of the buildings had an upper story, the dull monotony ot the plain of roofs being relieved only by bald mosques and minarets, or, sometimes better, by trees. We continued our way through very narrow, ugly streets to the old bazaar, composed ot rows of dirty-looking shops, there being frequently stretched overhead a loose roofing of dried branches, that had doubtless a tew weeks back done service in keeping off the rays of the summer sun. The new native bazaar in Russian Tashkend is cleaner, and better stocked, and therein we had pro- cured abundance of excellent fruit ; but we were now in search ot antiques and native curiosities. \Ye saw displayed Bokhariot and Kashgar carpets or rugs, the former about 4 each, the latter half that price. A very handsome Sart tent, lined with native silk through- TA .SY/AT^VA 459 out, that would have looked exceedingly well on an English lawn, was offered us for 12. It was, of course, too bulky for me to carry, or at least 1 thought so, and 1 had to confine myself to the purchase of smaller things. Prominent among these- was a ckambar, or pair ol chocolate leather pantaloons, gorgeously embroidered in all the colours of the rainbow. At the bottom they are big enough for a lady's waist, and none but a Falstaff could ever hope to till them at the top, so that when first offered to me, who am of pro- portions " Slender," I laughed outright. I was bidden, however, not to despise them, tor that when I came to horseback travelling I might find them both warm and at the same time useful, when tied at the bottoms, for stowing away one's linen or other goods as in veritable " bags." I was glad to get some native pockets'" and purses, together with the leather suspender to which they are tied, and hung from the girdle, something after the fashion of a lady's chatelaine, and of which they are so much a part that the whole girdle: and things suspended therefrom are called by one name, /W/tf.t \Ye purchased pocket handkerchiefs and skeins ol native silk, the latter verv glossy, and dved and sold * o J - largely by the fews, who from the numbers we saw in the baxaar, and their begrimed appearance, gave one the idea that they engage a good deal in handicrafts, especial!}' dyeing. I here were on sale, too, //.V/V//Y7.V, or skull caps, constantly worn by the Muhammadans, even in-doors. Some ol these caps trom Shahr-i-sebx in Bokhara show great taste and skill in needlework. * ( )iu' of these, now in the 1 'iritish M usnim, is > it black L; la /ed 1 ratlin , stitched with screen ami white thread; with two pockets, and tlap fasten- ing, the thongs heiiiL; of nm-h white leather. f Similarly we read, " 1'rovide neither .^'"Id, nor silver, nor brass, in vour purses " ; m- Tr4 carts, and 1,355 horses. Over against this there were sent away goods on 2,323 camels, about halt of which went to Russia, and a fourth each to Khokand and Asiatic 1 ashkend. 462 Rl'SSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. There is a spring and an autumn fair at the capital.* Leaving now the trade of Tashkend in parti- cular, and passing to the trade of Russian Central Asia in general, I may observe that the first authority upon this subject is M. Petrovsky, whom I met in Petersburg, and who in 1873 published a report on the trade statistics of Turkistan, since which elate I am not aware that anything so complete has been issued. t M. Petrovsky, in his table of exports leaving Turkistan at four points of exit namely, Tashkend, Aulie-Ata, Kazala, and Khojend in 1872, enumerates about fourscore articles of merchandise, of the total value of ^648,392,+ whilst in his corresponding table * The administration of the fair in 1879 cost ^1,103 for office rent and salaries of secretaries, treasurer, storekeeper, etc., besides ^60 for keeping clean and watering the bazaar square and streets, and ^80 for supplying the bazaar square with water. This fair was established by the Russians. Dr. Schuyler, who was in Tashkend in 1873. judged it anything but a success. Whether it is likelv to become su 1 know not, but it would appear that in 1877 the value of the goods, cattle, fruit, and corn imported there amounted to _ 100,32^. * This report, I have no doubt, was in the hands of Dr. Schuyler, and probably helped him in his treatment of the subject, which is so masterly and full that 1 shall deem it sufficient to give the outlines of Turkistan imports and exports from M. Petrovsky. adding thereto such information as 1 have received of a more recent date. I They are as follows : - ( ottons ..... 157,393 Native S;lk Stuffs . . . 985 Tick ...... 22,040 ('arprts ..... 1,200 Mitkal and Bin/ . . . . 13, 505 Hall-silk Stuffs (Native nianufae- Camhric.-i ..... 730 tmvi . . . . .6,110 Sarpinka ..... ',"'5 I'hi.-h ...... 608 Xankin ..... 44 Kui.in Shawls and Kerehief* . 3,20:5 Reps ...... 627 Native Shawl* and Kerchiefs . cji/j Lasting ..... 198 Wearing Apparel, Horsecloths I'icque (Quilting) . . . 124 and < 'overs . . . 2,8^4 Native. ( 'otton Stuffs . . . 34.255 Khalats and other Native Cloth- Russian Cotton Yarn . Native Cotton Yarn Linen and Max < 'loth ('loth Tricot and Half-cloth Woollen and Half-woollen Stuff* ' 'amel's I lair-cloth Woollen Fabrics (Felts, Ropes, and Sacks) .... Russian Silk Stuffs JA SI1KEXD. 46 $ of imports entering Turkistan at Tashkend. Kurama, Kazala, Khojend, Pero\'sk, and Samarkand, he enumerates a few more items,* with a total value ol "1,397.982, showing an excess of imports into Turki- stan of ,749,589. This was the condition of things in 1872, since which time commercial prospects, from a Russian point of view, do not appear to have improved, but rather grown worse if, that is, the /" /' Horsehair . . . . . 1,011 St< Pelts Black Tea .... Green Tea . Brick Tea Sugar 6,(,'-o Native Sand >ugar .... 1,074 Tallow Candies ..... -V)^ Stearine Candles Russian Honey . . . . 4^ ' Tallow Candle* . Native Honey' .... jh ' Oil Kruit, fre*h and dried . . . 15.41') Clover Seed Stationerv ..... i, 080 Various Seed Wine and Brandy . . . -',401 Poppy Hu*ks Spices and Narcotics . . . 1,14 Rice I )rug* and Medicament* . . 2. (^87 Bread Stuff-, etc. I've* ...... 8, 78 Varioii.* Ctensils Native. Tobacco .... 4(^2 Writing Paper Manufactured Tobacco . . ^1/7 \\'ood-\vork Cigars and Cigarettes . . . "21 Printed Books and M' Tin i pewter ?l .... 74 Class .... Mercury .... 74 (.lass . _5_> Haberdashery, I rinket-, etc, 3,ocx3 Various .... ;,,4 >ni.iii arucies ;-, i i Sil\ i-r i Khokand> and Yaml ,I2'> ( 'attic . Camel - 1 I.iir < 'loth i \'iniac!i;n Woolirtl KlbricMl rlt-.K,,; ,-.;,, 464 CENTRAL ASIA. St. Petersburg Gazette* is right, when it sees much to deplore in the present condition of the Russo-Asiatic trade. All the expectations of a large and profitable trade with Central Asia, which were raised, it says, by the conquest of Turkistan, have been doomed to dis- appointment, and it has been found that Russians cannot compete with the English, whose goods, it is affirmed, fill the caravansaries of Bokhara, Ferghana, and Samarkand. In a report published by the Russian finance ministry, it is shown that between the years 1851 and 1 88 1 the balance of Central Asian trade has turned to the disadvantage of Russia. Thus the exports from Russia to Central Asia In 1851 amounted to . /1, 114,029 In 1861 ,, I -. i - g 12 In 1871 , i 890,402 In 1881 ,, 1,306,700 Black Tea .... 56,766 Leather in manufacture 44.737 Green Tea .... 28,787 Russian Soap 465 Brick Tea .... Native Soap 435 Sugar .... 17,234 Tallow 2,402 Sand Sugar 2,917 Oil 728 Candies .... 2, 190 Stearine Candles 3,004 Russian Honey . 575 Tallow Candles . 252 Native Grape Honey . 1,872 Clover Seed 37' Dried and fresh Fruit . 46,589 Various Seed Stationery .... 5.5 6 9 i Poppy Husks 59 2 Spirits, Wine and Brandy . 9, 101 1 Rice and other Grain . 210 Spices and Narcotics . 2,585 Vegetables . 10 Drugs and Medicaments 6, 132 Fish 1 80 Dyes 23,428 Various Utensils 4.298 Native Tobacco . . . . 4.12; Writing Paper 2,190 Russian Manufactured Tobacco 8,245 Articles of Stationery . 262 Cigars and Cigarettes 719 Wood-work 7.94 Tin (pewter?) . . . . 198 , Carriages .... 98 Lend 3 1 Printed Books and MSS 1,076 Mercury . . . . . 170 i Glass 558 Copper 9,801 Silver (Kliokands anil Yambs) 432 Chinese i?) Copper " 826 Haberdashery 10,280 Copper in manufacture 4,3'4 Various .... I0 .535 Iron ...... !3o72 ; Sundrv small wares 16,689 Sheet Iron . 3,611 Bread' Stuffs, etc. 25.74 1 Iron in manufacture . 4,061 i Timber, etc. . 8,946 Steel 639 Cattle Cast Iron ware . _fj>34 Sevthes. Sickles, etc. . 1,708 Total . . . ,397,982 2nd. 5th, and r;th January, N.S. 1884. D. 465 whilst, on the other hand, the imports have steadily increased, thus : In 1851 they amounted to . . . .',57.5.4^ In iSOi ,, , 2,21.5.9.54 In 1^71 ,, ,,,,... 1,592,994 In 1881 ,, ,, ,, . . -3,i 19,000 In the year 1882, the value of imports from Central Asia amounted to ,3,300,000. Thus, on her eastern as well as on her western frontier, Russia imports far more than she exports, paying the balance in gold. The St. Petersburg Gazette expects to see English manufactures penetrating through Central Asia, unless the Russian trade is better conducted. Among the causes militating against the interests of Russian trade in Central Asia are said to be the defective means ot communication. " Russian mer- chandise is despatched into the Steppe in the most primitive fashion, and the firm sending the goods sometimes hears nothing of them for a year. Tin- goods are priced high, and the system is chiefly credit. ' The agents sent with the caravans are said " mainly to seek their own profits, to defraud their employers, and impose unscrupulously upon the Asiatics, all which tends to involve the native population in debt and to impoverish it." How far all this is true I know not. but it is instructive' to see that the panacea proposed by the Gazette is the formation of a Russian com- pany that shall vie with English commercial houses. ( )n leaving the. ba/aar in Asiatic Tashkend we returned to the Russian quarter ot the town to visit the seminary for training schoolmasters, and IKMV we met the \ ice-Governor. 1 here were 55 pupils, i i ot" whom were Kirghese. The institution reminded me of one similar 1 visited in 1879 at Kasan. where youths VOL. I. 466 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. from the surrounding native tribes were educated with- out payment, and sent back to their various nationalities as instructors. Upon mentioning that I had visited the place at Kasan, the director of the Tashkend seminary told me that he was trained there. The course at the seminary comprises the studies followed in the first four classes ol the gymnase, or high school. I was much pleased with their singing, and noticed that each member of the choir, singularly enough, had light hair. They produced a powerful body of harmony, that was heard to good effect in the " Prayer of Alexander Nevsky," Lvofs " National Anthem," and in the chro- matic progressions of the beautiful " Cherubim " by Berclniansky. 1 sent a few Scriptures for distribution in this seminary. Tashkend has a town school of two classes, for giving to children of all grades a secular and moral education. The town schools, supported by the government, are of one, two, three, and four classes, o and the lull course ot teaching lasts six years. The subjects taught are : Religion (to children, that is, of the orthodox faith); reading and writing; Russian and Sclavonic ; arithmetic ; practical geometry ; geography and history in general, and those of Russia in par- ticular ; elements of natural history and physics ; draw- ing and gymnastics. Trades also may be learned out of school hours, the pupils paying half the expense incurred. Children are received at the age of 7, of all classes, conditions, and faiths admission taking place once a year. I he number of children under instruction in the schools of Tashkciul is 1.360 males and 1,064 females, or, including 37 pupils who belong to Tashkend, but are being educated out of Turkistan, 2,461 children in all. '1 he rules for the reception of TASIIKKXD. 46; children into the Tashkend Boys' Pro-Gymnase, or preparatory school, provide that application for admis- sion must be accompanied by certificate of age, ot rank, and a signed agreement that the pupil shall be clothed according to the prescribed uniiorm, and be provided with all that is necessary tor a pupil. Pay- ment is at the rate of $ a year for the higher, and 2 for the lower classes; drawing being 6s. extra. Our visit to the seminary over, we drove to the observatory, getting on the wav a good view of the .- o o * o broad streets of Russian Tashkend, and in the suburbs of some of the substantial merchants' houses with their gardens. \Ve received a heart}' welcome from M. Pomerantzoff, the director ot the- astronomical obser- vatory, to whom I presented my introduction from Captain Rykatcheff, chief of the meteorological obser- vatory in Petersburg. He willingly showed us all that. was ot interest, and gave me a record of the local temperature and precipitation (or fall of ram, snow, sleet. and hail of the preceding year/'" In the astronomical portion of the.- observatory, which ranks in Russia as ot second class, we were shown a transit circle by Repsold, of Hamburg, that cost ,{,400, furnished with an object glass, made by Mer/, ot Munich, tor ,{,^oo. I he average yearly temperature at '1 ashkend is 40*10, equal to that of Baku, whilst for the month of February it is about the same as that of Sevastopol. i ^ T I hr winter is nut of loiiL, r duration. for ihr HIO\\ tnrlt> qr.ii'kly, !>r- L.; : .!inin^ to t.ill alu >ut tin- end of I >n cn.i n-v ;IP. h\~ dc^i'n 1 ^ Iri'in tin 1 In v inning of ()< lohn'. l-r^ni thi 1 niitliiii- ' i( I In cinluT ilii-rc ; a ^rrat lira] of rain, and i: craM 1 - alln^i-: lirr in Mai\ li. It ma\ ^i 1 !!)! 1 - t inu'> fall in April, Inn in May I a -hkrn.1 ln-^ ;n-> ! i r\] HT;.T. i r druii^ht. Thi 1 win 1 1 T Irn^-t > at I'a.-.hkrnd rca> h n ' j->. and tin- ~-;in:inrr lii-ai> ^o i p to \nt> -j; in tlu 1 -had, 1 . At Ta-l;kn;d., a: d pia, . s ;,. ih,. >, ;:;!,. -;-ri:, 468 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. After seeing the observatory, we went to pay an evening visit to the camp, where we found Colonel Serpitzky in command of a battalion of a thousand men of the I2th Turkistan infantry. We were shown the canteen and barracks. They struck me as decidedly lacking in comfort, and, although the men looked cheer- ful enough, I could not help suspecting that English soldiers would not have been so amiable in such quarters. The St. Petersburg Gazette, alluded to earlier in this chapter, speaks of a recent revision of the Turkistan province by Senator Giers, who found that enormous sums of money had been recklessly spent on handsome buildings, club houses, luxuriant dwelling-houses for military and other officers, while the troops have been located in unhealthy and hastily as well as cheaply- and badly-built barracks. This last charge, judging from the one barrack I visited, I should be disposed to confirm. There were not want- ing tokens, however, that Colonel Serpitzky personally took great interest in the welfare of his men, for whom he evidently spent both time and his private means. Their leisure hours were thought of, and I saw not only reading material of a secular character provided for them, but in a small cupboard was a stock of begins in March. In April the trees are in foliage, and in May the grass is already parched. Apricots begin to ripen in Tashkend at the end of May, peaches and the earlier kinds of grapes at the end of June or beginning of July. There are no strong winds at Tashkend. Those blowing from the east and north-east, as well as from west and south- west, are always warm. The former sometimes bring rain, the latter always. The north-west and also the southerly winds are uniformly cold. As a rule, about five earthquakes in the course of the year are felt at Tashkend, but they are usually so slight that they are not noticed by everybody. In 1868 occurred a shock, that lasted ^o seconds, and threw down several old buildings in the Asiatic quarter and killed 20 persons. For the observation ot earthquakes, the chemical laboratory at Tashkend has a mercurv sei-mometer. TA SHKEND. 469 Russian copies of the Gospels, one of which I heard was presented to each soldier on the expiration of his term of service, to the number of about 1,000 a year, and that about 10,000 copies had been put into circu- lation by sale or gift. The Colonel had done this, if I mistake not, in connection with the Russian Bible Society. I need hardly say that I was glad to meet a fellow-volunteer, as I also was to come upon the track of another at Vierny, where I found in the prison some New Testaments, Gospels, and other works that had been provided by a M. Pantusoff from a Russian society for the distribution of religious books. Meteorology of Tnshkend for 1881. In Fahrenheit and Centi- grade : Tl-'.MI'KKATl'KK. D.-.YS OK January February . March . . April . . May . . fane July . . Auj;i!>t September ( >ctuber . November I lecember Mean. I Rain. Snuw. I s 10 10 5 o I 4 10 4/o RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASTA. The Tashkend public library we visited on a subse- quent day. It was established under the auspices of von Kaufmann, Governor-General of Turkistan, and consists of 5,381 works in 9,734 volumes, and in languages predominating in the following order : Russian, 2,695 works; French, 1,444; German, 850; English, Latin, Italian, Swedish, Dutch, etc., 392. The uiagnum opus of the library, however, consists of a collection of information relating to Central Asia generally and to the Turkistan district in particular. I was told that almost everything that had been published since 1867 on Central Asia, such as articles in papers and journals, and likewise every pamphlet and book, had here been gathered by the biblio- grapher Mejoff, and placed in chronological order in large volumes, now upwards of 300 in number, in uniform binding an excellent work, truly, and one for which I, who have searched the London libraries through in making a similar list, ought of all men to be thankful. And so I am ; though I doubt the absolute completeness of Mejoff's work, for I have found some publications other than Russian in the languages of Western Europe that are not in his list. I, however, think that his great work and my own little bibliography combined must approach very near com- pleteness, as regards books published on Central Asia. I O I There is just one peculiarity in the work of my distinguished co-labourer, to which I cannot resist playfully alluding. I mean the binding the books ail of one size, which entails this amusing result, that when a book comes to hand that is smaller than the procrustean binding, the leaves are cut at the back and pasted singly on pages of blank paper cut through to the size of the letterpress ; which is unccmfortable, TASHKEND. 471 but bearable. When, however, a book has come to hand larger than the regulation size, the leaves have- actually been turned in to reduce the dimensions ; the consequence of which is that the reader must unfold, and in so doing not improbably tear, each leaf before he can read it ! To these wonderful tomes is attached an excellent alphabetically-arranged index,* whilst the contents of volumes I 300 have been published at Petersburg. On the Wednesday evening we had the honour of dining with General Abramoff. Our host is a bachelor, and there were no ladies present, but several oiticers oi distinction. Unfortunately lor me, the; General did not speak French, and though there was no lack at the table of persons who did, yet having to speak through an interpreter to the Governor-General prevented that full enjoyment ol intercourse which I feel sure; I should have experienced could we have; communicated our ideas directly ; tor what I saw anil all 1 heard of him led me to torm a high estimate of his character as a governor. One of those in office; unele-r him told me- that his subordinates simply " aelore " him. It had been suggested to me; that I should ask for two or thre:e; Cossacks to accompany us tor security when out of Russian territory, but tin; General said that he could not grant that, tor eve;n embassies, when going * The Tashkend library receives from the Stale a yearly suhsidv of _/j }o. Of this amount ^,'So are devoted to the maintenance of the library, and /."^u to purchase of book-;, periodicals, and binding. I )iiriiu:~ i^~S, iS} men were admitted as subscribers, to whom \\eie issued -',7 s '' volumes, or an average number ot 15 or 10 to each man. The librarv is well supplied, of fours 1 .. 1 , with the back numbers of the '/'// rA>\ f,i /; (idZff/c. This newspaper sells for _>/. per copy, and about MM> copies of each number are printed. It represents an effort to introduce Russian civili/ation into Central Asia, and the (lovernmeiit Drives it a subsidv of _/,'; oo a year. 472 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. to Bokhara, did not have them ; but he would give me letters, open and otherwise, that would help me every- where on my route. He said, moreover, that he should hear about us, and requested that, if we got into difficulty, we would send to him at once. On leaving the vice-regal residence we called at a small house in the grounds, where General IvanofFhad taken up his quarters, to whom I am afraid I had not paid sufficient attention in calling earlier at his private dwelling, though I had done so at his offices. His Excellency was not to return to Samarkand for some time, but promised to write to his servants that we should be entertained in his palace. Our official arrangements being now adjusted, we had to think of personal affairs, for we were about to plunge into a region comparatively unknown, and be lost for a while to European civilization. Even now 1 had received no postages since we left Tinmen that is, for six weeks though I had had the satisfaction of sending many cards and letters. This, also, would have now to stop, or almost so, for a time. So I wrote to my friends that they should not be alarmed if they did not hear from me till I reached the Caspian. Also thinking to reduce my luggage as much as possible, I sent oft to Odessa, "by parcels post," two "Teat boxes of curiosities, unitedly weighing roo ("i * *> O Russian pounds, and at a cost of /, 3 6s., and 2s. more for insurance, to which I ma}' add that they arrived in excellent condition before my advice, and scarcely scratched, doing nothing worse than frighten my consignee, who wondered what Nihilistic manoeuvres might be contained in boxes from such an unexpected quarter, and spoke thereon to the authorities. Another thing requiring management was my money. 7 A SHKEXD. 473 I had sent a large proportion of it from Petersburg to the bank in Tashkeml by post, and, on calling, found it there ; but since I was now starting for a region where robbers abound, it seemed to me a question whether I had better not take as little as was necessary with me. and telegraph for the rest when I reached some place of safety ; and seeing that I could not tell, until I arrived at Petro-Alexandrovsk, whether I should cross the Aralo-Caspian desert, or go by the Orenburg route, I promised to telegraph from Krasnovodsk or the Syr-daria whether the balance should be sent to Titlis or to Orenburg. It was not quite easy to decide whether or no to take forward my tarantass, for some were very confi- dent (and not without reason, as I afterwards learned) that we should never be able to get the carriage iroin Bokhara to the Oxus. \Ye were advised, however, by Major Bukotf, whom we met at the club, to get to Khiva it possible on wheels, and I determined accord- ingly to attempt it. I had no further use-, however. tor the wagonette:, since my Russian books were nearly all disposed ot, and those: I had remaining in other languages could all be packed in one box. 1 proceeded accordingly to still the wagonette, and in so doing met with a piece of unusually generous (leal- ing. Finding at Moscow, in the ottice ot Kamensky Brothers, carriers and transport agents, when I was sending some goods, that they had a branch office at Tashkent!. I had asked tor an introduction, which in due course I presented, and was asked by the manager what he could do for me. Finding that I wished to dispose ot my telega, he inquired the price. I he wagonette had cost ,{,5 at 'I lumen, where I was told that bv the time we reached Tashkent! the vehicle 474 X US SI AN CENTRAL ASIA. would be worth nearly double, either because they do not make them, or do not make them well, in the south. I was too old a traveller, however, to expect much gain of this sort, but I remembered that the Russian plan is for the buyer to beat down the sales- man's price, and so I began by asking 6, when, to my surprise, without having seen the vehicle, my customer said that they did not want it, but that as I had the introduction and to oblige me, he would give that price if I could sell it to no one else. Of course, I did not think it necessary to try, and on the morning we were to leave, the money came by the hand of a messenger, who seemed as pleased to get the carriage as I was to have bargained in such a pleasant way, and to have received such attention on the strength of a mercantile introduction.* It only remained, then, to have our tanmtass put in thorough repair, and to lay in our stores, and a few articles of warm clothing in prospect of cold in crossing the desert. By the advice of our hotel-keeper, we had a large sheet of felt nailed on the hood of the tanmtass, so that if we met with a sandstorm we might cover up the front ot the carriage ; and then we were ready to * I may here mention that the pioneer of Russian track: with Central Asia was Ivan Keodorovitch Kamensky, partner in the well-known firm of Kamensky Brothers. He at first managed the Siberian branch of their business, establishing himself at Tomsk. Thence he removed to Kuldja, where the change of Imperial policy towards the Chinese first their being eager to assist and then anxious to prevent the trans- port of supplies left him stranded and ruined, so that his health broke down, and a few months after my visit, on the 241)1 December, at Pishpek, he died. Kamensky was not only an enterprising merchant, but a lover of science and patron of learning. In itSOo, he himself founded, at an expense of ^4,000, an agricultural school at Tomsk. He also assisted in several scientific expeditions, and for substantial aid furnished by him to Potanin's expedition to Mongolia in 1879, the Russian Geographical Society awarded him their diploma of honorary corresponding member. TASHKEXD. -175 depart. \Ve ate our last dinner in Tashkend at the officers' club, where the French manager told us the experience of an English gentleman, who many years before managed to push his way, without permission, as far as the: capital, and on the first night after his arrival accompanied this Frenchman to a feast at a circumcision, where von Kaufmann, the Governor- General, was present, and who, seeing the English- man, ordered him to leave Tashkend within four-and- twenty hours. It was well for me, I thought, that my lot had fallen under a more amiable authority, who was willing that I should go where I pleased, especially in Ferghana, towards which 1 was now to wend my way from Tashkend to the Syr-daria at Khoj\:nd. CHAPTER XXXII. FROM TASHKEND TO KHOJEND. Central situation of Tashkend. Post-road to Jizakh. The " Hungry " Steppe. Stations to Khojend. Chirchik and Angren rivers. Vegetation of Kurama and of Turkistan generally. Forest trees and shrubs. Fruit trees. Garden and dyeing plants. Kurama soil and cultivation of cereals. Journey from Tashkend. Steppe vegetation. An unruly horse. Fortified post-stations. Approach to Khojend. TO the traveller leaving Tashkend, the city is seen to be well situated, for though not built upon a river's bank, yet the snows of the Talasky Ala-Tau and the springs in the Chatkal mountains send down sufficient water in the River Chirchik to allow canals diverted therefrom to afford a constant supply. Also Tashkend is centrally situated in the zone ot the watered region that stretches from the country about Samarkand to the valleys of Semirechia, and there are paths per- mitting of easy communication with the upper valleys of the Syr, the Talas, and the Chu. I have frequently noticed in Russia, and even in out-of-the-way places in Siberia, how fond the people are in summer of leaving their town houses for a cottage in " the country "; and this practice prevails, with good show of reason, at Tashkend, where those who possess property in the suburbs follow the custom of the natives, and live in FROM TASHKEXD TO KHOJEXD. 477 tents in the midst of their gardens. Zengi-Ata, south of the capital, which the traveller passes on the road to Chinaz, is a fashionable resort of this kind. This road goes direct from Tashkend to Samar- kand, a distance of 190 miles. Of this route I need here speak only of the journey to Jizakh, since I traversed the remainder coming from Khokand.* \Ve set out for Khojend on Thursday evening, * Stations from Tashkend to Jizakh, with the distances between in versts : Tashkend Agachty . . . .31 Xiiazbash . . . . 21 i Ueh-Tiube . . . .22 Starotashkentskaia . . 21 I Jizakh . . . . 15 Chinaz . . . .22 Malek . . . .23 Total . . . .189 Murza-rabat . . .34 About 5 miles beyond Zen^i-Ata is the first station, Niiazbash ; the second is called by the natives Eski-Tashkend, or Old Tashkend. a pretty and rather picturesque, but a tumble-down place, about halt" a century old, whence the mass of inhabitants have been driven to New Tashkend by the inroads of the Chirchik. The third station is situated at the confluence of the Chirchik and the Syr-daria at Vani-Chinaz. or New Chinaz ; Old Chinaz, which is more populous than the New, bein^ passed on the road. At New Chinaz is a fort, 800 feet above the sea, guarding the ferry over the river. The expectation of the conquerors that this spot would become a place of commercial importance has been thus far disappointed, and it remains a Russian settlement of a few houses, though nominally the "port" of Ta-hkend ; but the navigation of the Svr is so uncertain that there is no regular service of boats, either of tin- Aral flotilla or of private companies. The river is here about two- thirds of a mile wide, the current rapid, and the water yellow and muddy. The banks are thieklv covered with his^'h reed.--, affording an excellent covert tor timers. 1'ieyond the river, almost to Jizakh, there extend-- a parched and barren waste, known as the " Ciolodnaia," or Hungry Steppe, the route across it bein^ marked by tour stations, uith uelK and cisterns of bnu kish and unplea.sant \\ater. I5etsveen the river and the tirst station, Malek, thi -re art. 1 traces old Id canals and ditches, sho\\ in^* that t here at least the land at one time had bern cultivated. I', i-- known also, I )r. Schuyler says, that some portions of the Steppe, on the opposite side, near to the mountains, were formerly inhabited and worked bv means of a canal, brought from the River XaraNhan through a small mountain 4;8 USSIAN CENTRAL A SI A . September 2ist, a distance of 94 miles, in / stages.* On our way we had to pass over or through several rivers, the Chirchik, Kara-Su, and more than one stream of the Angren. The most important of these is the Chirchik. One of its branches is the Kara-Su. It gives some of its water also to the Keles.t The two valleys watered by the Chirchik and Angren form the richest, most fertile, and thickly populated part of the uyezd or district called Kurama. It is the granary of Tashkend and the surrounding country, so that, in passing southwards, the traveller has the opportunity of seeing something not only of the ordinary vegetation of Turkistan, but also of pass. It appears, however, from the Chinese traveller, Tch'ang-Tch'un in 1222, and from the memoirs of Hiouen Thsang, 600 years previously, that this steppe \vas, for the more part, in much the same condition as now. At the next station beyond Malek are the ruins of an old caravan- sary, called Alurza-rabat, said to have been built at the end of the six- teenth century by Abdullah Khan. The building is made of large square bricks, and consists of a central room, surmounted by a dome, and surrounded with small vaulted rooms, each having its little cupola. It is now occupied as a post-station, and affords to the summer traveller a cool retreat from the hot steppe. At the next station, Agachty, there were formerly similar buildings, under the ruins of which chambers are now hollowed out. Jizakh is 25 miles further on, and as it is approached, mountains come into view, and the barrenness of the Steppe is exchanged for trees and fields, which continue more or less to Samarkand. * The stations and intervening distances in versts are as follows : Tashkend j Djan-bulak . . . .27 Chirchikskaia . . .13 Murza-rabat . . . -25 Kara-Su 14 Khojend 25 Bskent (Pskent" . . .20 J otal .... i.v2 I ralskaia . . . .18 T The Chirchik rises in the western continuation of the Alexander range, and for about 25 miles llows at the bottom of a narrow and deep detiie, from which no (/rv/'.v are cut. Rapidlv falling and opening out, the valley of tin- Chirchik at Tashkend has a breadth of 2; miles. In. its further course the valley approaches that of the Angren till they merge in one. and the Chirchik falls into the [axartes about ~ miles from what should be the mouth of the Angren, only that the river has run dry, exhausted by its numerous canals. FROM TASHKEND TO KHOJEND. 479 Central Asian agriculture. The surface of Russian Turkistan, viewed with reference to vegetation generally, may be conveniently divided into the mountain country, oases, steppes, and deserts ; and of these last I shall speak when they come in my path. I have already touched upon the arboreous vegetation of the mountains in Semirechia, quoting such authorities as Semenoft, Osten-Sacken, Regel, Severtsoff, and others. To these travellers in the eastern portion of the Thian Shan must be added Dr. Capus, who travelled in the western portion, preceding me by one year only, and to some of whose papers, since published, 1 am indebted for information. Taking first the upper and lower limits of the growth of trees, they run, says Dr. Capus, parallel to the line of perpetual snow, which varies in the: western Thian Shan, according to MM. Kaulbars and Osten-Sacken, Irom 8,800 to 9,800 feet.* * At I-sik-Kul the Juniper {'Juuipcn/s f>si'iirfosiibinti} is found, according to M. Re^el, up to i.|,ooo feet. Dr. I'apus found its lower limit in the Hokhariot mountains of Baissoune to be _|,ooo, and in the Zarafshan valley about 3,< v oo feet. In the Alexandrof ran^e, the farther to tht' west , the larger is the tree. In the Kir^'lu'si 1 Ala- Tau at I "rianda . the trunks are about \.\ feet hi^h. The ji-feet stems in the Hadam heights are from 14 to iS inches thiek. The hivli-stemmed juniper- seen by Sovert soft had i^eiu.Tally a bare trunk tor half their height, the sparse branches measuring about one-fourth of the altitude of the tree, the lop of which was ^enerall}' broken. Above a certain height this tree becomes stunted, and becomes almost hori/ontal, with the branches only jutting upwards. TouanN the south, where the woods decrease, the juniper L;TOWS higher, but it is repla tains bv tirs and birch.es. Tlu- limits of th i).'! luiropean' are fnun .vJOO to S,S, o feet. up'in the nature of tl'.e \'alley in \\hvh it ^'I are small, crocked, and with broken tops, fall. In the Kir-hese Ala-'fau the inferior limit t'oincides \vi:h that of the lir, wlnU; in the Ka 480 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. Among the Turkistan shrubs are found two species of Hawthorn in the valley of the Talas. In some places it grows to the dimensions of a tree with a straight trunk 1 8 feet high and 18 inches thick. About the sources of the Tchaian it attains to 20 feet in height. In Semirechia M. Semenoff found two species of Buckthorn, the Spindle Tree, and three varieties of Cherry, the Cotoneaster, and Mountain Ash. The Tamarisk, too, is there represented by six varieties.* Turning from forest trees to those of the gardens, one meets in Central Asia with a kind of elm called Karagatch, frequently planted, I observed, for the shade it affords, near pools of water. Its trunks yield timber, often to be met with as carved pillars in native mansions. There is also a species of Plane (Platatms orientalis], called chinars, and a wild Olive called jida {Eleagnus Jwrtensis et E. angiistifolia]. We often Willow, of which there are upwards of nineteen varieties, is found in the valley of the Talas and in the Kara-Bura at heights varying from 5,200 to 9,900 feet, whilst the Picea Schrenkiana, one of the rare conifers of the Thian Shan, descends in the Alexander range to 5,300 feet, and ascends in the Ala-Tan to 8,000 feet. Of five kinds of Poplars, that like the Russian aspen is found in the woods along the Talas ; and on the River Kara-Bura are two thickets of similar large old trees, but of an intermediate form between the black poplar and the aspen. The Turanta poplar (Populus diversifolia] is found in the woods on the Arys. To these trees may be added two species of Ash in the gorges along the Boroldai and its affluents. * To the foregoing may be added the rare shrub called Boialysh (Atraphaxis], found in the dry sandy clay lands at the mouth of the Boroldai ; also the insignificant Epliedrn, or jointed fir, in the grey parched soil of the Steppe, between the canals of the Riv^r Asa. In the valley of the Kitch-Kine-Kara-Bura are several small prickly shrubs, like those near the Syr-daria, and with the same reddish flowers. They grow principally at an altitude of between 4,000 and 5,000 feet. I was surprised not to find in the gardens of Turkistan either gooseberry or currant bushes. Black currants, however, are said to grow wild at the source of the Chatkal, and in Semirechia there are red currants, and four others of the Rides tribe. Dr. Capus mentions also in Kohistan the FROM TASHKEND TO KHOJEND. 481 saw the latter, with its yellow-reddish, olive-like iruit, hanging over the garden walls. I recalled having met with it in the Trans-Caucasus, near Etchmiadzin, where I did not care for the taste sufficiently to eat it. When growing wild in thickets, the jida has smaller fruit, which, when ripe, is of a greenish-grey hue. The white Mulberry (Aforus a II) a] is one of the commonest trees in Turkistan, and is cultivated along the first river we crossed, the Chirchik, chiefly for the sake of its timber. It attains to a height of 35 feet, and to 14 inches in diameter. North ot Tashkend the tree is less common, and is particularly small at Aulie-Ata. Dr. Schuyler mentions four dis- tinct varieties: the Jiassak, or wild Mulberry tree ; the sliali-tut< brought originally from Persia ; the Inilklii, introduced from Halkh, the largest and most beautiful variety of all ; and the KJiorasnri, from Khare/m or Khiva. Of some species the iruit is so little esteemed Honeysuckle, Barberry, Medlar, and Sea Buckthorn, s^rowin,^ in threat abundance at a height of about 8,000 feet, whilst in the Chirchik moun- tains the wild Plum, Pistachio nuts (/'/s/nc/ii t'ci'it], and wild Almonds are found 4,000 ieet lower. In Ablatoune the same explorer found the superior limit of the nut and the wild Apple to be about 4oOO feet, with the Ash (l''t'(i.\'tn/es Stjg't/;tii/(i}, and a species of Maple. In the same valley wild Apricot trees s^rew up to 4,000, and on the shores of the Iskander-Kul even to ~,ooo Ieet. Lastly, I must not omit to mention one shrul) which L,TOWS abundantly in the valleys of the Syr-daria, because on its thorns there collects a sugary material called }''/>n.\ HI which the Kinrhcse, in winter, teed their herds; also in other phio niei with A'v/r/X" (tent madia polygon it m uififuliniir, and /iixtiu v ////// c 1 , both of which serve as fodder tor sheep and more nourishing fodder, found on the Myn-bulak, is call and another nt >o ^oud is l\a ni\s-cln>l>, or reed i;rass. LTOWS xi abundantly on the swampy banks anil islands of thi rivet's that it chokes other similar grasses. It is used as I'm and horses, but it is ><> tasteless and little nourishing- that tin :' very um\ illhiLdy, and animals unaccustomed to it. espei horses, are often made siek therein. '1'liis reed serves , article f.ir tuel, and a similar plant, tailed S/i\\\ furnishes material tor the ilouble matting with which the Kir^hi'-e co\'er their kibitkas. 1'hi-re is yet another class of fodder ^"rassrs, kn,!\\n b\- more than a do/en different native names, that L^TOU \\ild abundantl\ in unuatered localif.e- in Turki-tan. In taste the\ an s,,urand sal;, though some- 488 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. again, and trotted over a flat, stony steppe, the road now proceeding for 25 miles in an easterly direction, instead of southerly as heretofore, and having on our left ranges of hills rising in peaks, for the most part bare, rough, and rocky, but here and there showing patches of verdure. Though late in the season for butterflies, we took a few specimens, and passed through what appeared to be a swarm of dragon flies, so numerous that Mr. Sevier caught several by merely holding out the net from the carriage. On reaching the next station, Murza-rabat, we found it, like the last, to be nothing less than a miniature fortress. It was surrounded with a dry moat and lofty walls, measuring inside 60 paces square. There was a well in the centre of the yard, and against the wall stables and buildings, some of which struck me at first as intended for an dtape prison. Outside by the road was a grave, with a monument raised by travellers' gifts to the memory of the starosta Jacobleff and his yemstchiks, who on the i8th of August, 1875, had defended the post-house against a band of Khokandians, by whom they had been killed, and subsequently to which event the fortress had been erected. what succulent. The majority of them have prickles and thorns, and of domesticated animals the camel alone eats them. One is called Jantak or camel's tail {Alhagi camelorunt]. The roots of another, Kukpck, are collected in large quantities for fuel in winter ; as also are a species of lily called Suran, and A labyinn, or goose-foot. Jiingitrcha, or clover, is cultivated, but there is also a kind called Jan-sJiikc/i , (Medicago sp.), that grows wild along the canals of some 1 of the rivers. Another allied species is the Dlany-shkcli, possibly the same as the Chinese Alit-.snc. I have thus endeavoured to give the reader some idea of the vegeta- tion of Turkistan (omitting some things that have been admirablv treated by Dr. Schuyler), and getting my information largely from u list of Turkistan plants drawn up in Russian by a committee for the expedition of M. Fedchenko, and not before translated, so far as I am aware, into English. FROM TASHKEXD TO KHOJEND. 489 Our road now turned again to the south over a depression in a mountain chain, which gave us the Kurama-Tau on our left, and the snow-capped eleva- tions of the Mogol-Tau on the right. Eagles were Hying about, and larks and wagtails, all of which we had time to admire, for, as the road continued to ascend, the carriage proceeded so slowly that it was pleasanter to walk ahead and enjoy the scenery ; and when at last, towards 3 o'clock, we reached the crest of the hills, and looked down upon the ancient Jaxartes, and Khojend nestling among the trees, the: view was one ot the prettiest we had seen in Russian Central Asia. The town with its old earthen forts looked well by the river side, as did the Russian church and wooden bridge. By the latter we crossed the stream, and drove to the house of Colonel Putimsoff, the uyexdni nachalnik, there to enjoy a hospitable meal before quitting the Syr-daria province .for Ferghana. CHAPTER XXXIII. THE PROVINCE OF FERGHANA. " Ferghana," an old name of province revived. Its form, size, aspect, and boundaries. The Alai plateau and Pamir. Explorations of Fcdchenko, Kostenko, and Severtsoff. Pamir climate, flora, and fauna. Rivers of Ferghana. Lakes Kutban-Kul and Kara-Kul. Ferghana climate and dust-fog. -Its geology and minerals, tur- quoise and petroleum. Ferghana vegetation and tobacco. Its towns and sacred places. F^ERGHANA is an old name, reimposed by the Russians on what was formerly known as part of the Khokand Khanate. The name is found in its present form in Arab manuscripts of the eighth and ninth centuries, but the Chinese knew it under the spelling of Feihan as iar back as the fourth century. The province resembles a vast ellipse, of which the periphery is formed of lofty chains of terraced moun- tains. As Mr. Robert Michell says, " Fancy the interior of the Coliseum of Rome, or even the Albert Hall in London, and you have an approximate idea of the Ferghana valley, which, except on the west, is surrounded by portions of the Thian Shan."* * On the north a broad mountain mass separates this valley from that of the Talas, whilst on the south another mass divides it from the basin of the Oxus. On the east is Kashgar. The frontier between runs along the watershed for about ~o miles; then strikes south, embrac- ing some territory in the basin of the Oxus. Next it returns to the THE PROVINCE OF FERGHANA. 491 The area of the province is estimated at from 28,000 to 30,000 square miles, of which about four-fifths consist of mountains, and the. remainder occupies the broad valley of the Upper Jaxartes, the level portion lying south of the river, which runs through the pro- vince from north-east to south- west. The: range ot mountains on the south bore tor a long time the unmeaning name of Kashgar-Davan i.e., pass into Kashgar; but Fedchenko designated them the " South Khokand" range. It has a lateral direction, form- ing to the east a watershed between the basins ol the Jaxartes and Lob Xor, and westwards between the systems of the Jaxartes and Oxus ; the- range dividing on about the ;oth meridian into three water-beds between the Oxus and the Jaxartes, and continues alone the northern watershed of the Zarafshan. In about longitude "o the western frontier takes a meridional direction, bordering the Syr-daria oblast. * The greatest breadth of the plain is 65 miles, its greatest length about 160 miles, and its area 5, "5 square miles. M. I'jfalvj divides tlie surface concentrically into three fertile, alternated with three sterile, zones. AmoiiL;" the former, he refers to a belt of i^ood earth, presenting a succession of orchards, gardens, and fields surrounded with trees, and to another spot with the aspect of an Kurdish park, between the Xarvn and the Kara-daria rivers. A second band ot soil. not less fertile, and enjoying a more temperate climate, lies round thi province witli certain interruptions on the slopes of the lowest hills, whilst a third belt, quite mountainous and covered with thick pasturage, en- circle- Ferghana on the north, east, and south. These belts are sepa- rated by sterile /ones, of which the first, on the banks of ihe |a\:irte-, i- .1 steppr. sometimes ujTassy, sometimes stony. The second, betueentlu upper 1 wo fertile /ones, i- generally stony ; and the third, u hi eh separates tin- mountain pastures from the valley of the Alai, is of -real height am; extreme -terility. This varied aspect of the surface \\iil prepare the reader for the remark of Mr. 1\. Michell. that within the small compass of the valley there are heaped, as it \\ere. both protu-ion and ]io\erty so thai between Khokand and Yarukh the traveller may hunger and thir-t ; between I'sh and I'/^vnd he may starve hi-, horse; between Andijan and Namangan both may -utter; and between Khok.md and Khoiend they may perish in the desert, whil-t in each of these di-triets. ;'. certain spots, mav be ta-ted the tno-t delicious fruits of the earth. 492 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. chains, all continuing in a westerly direction, and named the Turkistan, Zarafshan, and Hissar ranges. Approached from the Ferghana valley, this southern boundary is seen to consist of receding parallel ranges, which rise from n,ooo to upwards of 20,000 feet, the latter height being attained by the moun- tains of the Alai plateau. These, with a small portion of the Pamir, make up the south-eastern angle of the province, and lie outside the forementioned ellipse. It is, however, a remarkable portion of the province, .and may be said to form part of the northern crest of Bam-i-duniah, ''the roof of the world" ; or, as some would translate it, " the crown of the world's head." This name is given to the crest north of Hindustan, where meet the two mountain masses ol Tibet and the Pamir, and which separates completely the two halves of Asia. It is one of the most elevated tablelands in the world; "the lakes are frozen there in July; the atmosphere is so rare that the blood oozes out of the pores ; the country is a desert, where grass sprouts up only here and there ; and the road thither over the Alai range runs along mountain ledges, from which horses frequently tumble down below." \Ve owe such accurate information as we possess of this spot to the Russian explorers and scientists, Fedchenko, Kostenko, Severtsoff, and others.* * Fedchenko proceeded to Khokand in 1^71, and approached the Alai from Uch-Kur^an by the Isfairam Pass, 12,000 feet hi^h. The Alai is a tableland about 8,oco feet hi.^h, at the head of the Surkhab, and measures some 40 miles in length by 12 in breadth. On the north and south are mountain ranges, the former called Kichik-Alai, down i he slopes of which Fedchenko descended to the very banks of the Surkhab, or, as it is there called, the Kyxyl-Su. lie saw in the distance ihe southern and higher rant^e, whose Miowy peak> he judged must exceed 20,000 feet in height, and the most elevated of which, in this Trans-Alai r.in^e, he named after von Kaufmann. the Governor-General. Fedchenko was followed, five years later, by General Skobeldf, \vho THE PROVINCE OF FERGHANA. 49.V The number of streams flowing clown from this region is rather large, particularly of those issuing from the southern mountains, such as the rivers Isfa.ru, Sokh, Shah-i-mardan, and Ak-Hura. They are formed of many streams, only a few of them taking their source from glaciers. From the northern mountains flow some small streams and one large one, the Xaryn, which, with the Kara-daria coming from the east, forms the Syr-daria. Into this river the numerous surrounding streams ought to flow, but the natives have learned to divert them from their course by creating a vast system of irrigation, and by that means have redeemed a considerable tract commanded a detachment that advanced to the Alai, into the very heart of the summer pastures of the Kara-Kirghese. to show them that after tlie Russian occupation they could no longer with impunity descend into the Ferghana valley, pillage the settlers, ana retire unhurt to their mountain lands. The geographer attached to this expedition was t'aptain Kostenko, who not only crossed the Ky/yl-Su, but penetrated to Lakes Kara-Kul and Riang-Kul. The appearance of the Trans-Alai mountains he describes as that of an immense white-crested wall, limit- ing the Pamir on the north. South of this range extends a high table- land, rising towards the centre, and intersected in all directions 1>\ mountain ranges, some- of which are snow-capped and some not, but. generally speaking, having only a small elevation above the adjoining valleys and plains. The valleys as well as the mountain slopes are ban-. Unly small strips of pasture occur along the mountain streams, affording tood for the cattle of the nomads. The mountains are tunned of soft rocks, and the passes are comparatively low. (leiu-rally speaking, the mads on the Pamir are easy in all parts, the ground being sandy-stony, argillaceous, sancly-salinous, or simply salinous. In those parts \\hen the saline pools have become dry. the ground is covered with a thick layer ot magnesia, glittering like snow. The severity nf the climate is the greatest discomfort to man on the Pamir. The thermometer has been known to register in the shade, says RtYhis, iS below free/in^ point, whilst in the sun it rose to i >S , the traveller who manipulated the instrument needing to protect his hand from scorching in the sun'-- glare. The rareness of the atmosphere is also a source of discomfort, but its alleged injurious effects are said by KoMenko to be somewhat exagge- rated. The country is roamed over by the Kara-Kiighese, who appear ID have given Skobeleff little opportunity for slaughter. The scientific 494 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. of country from its natural sterility. The only other river in the province calling for mention is the Kyzyl- Su, which takes its rise at the very top of the water- shed, 10,000 feet high, whence flow streams down one of its slopes into the Oxus, and down the other into Western Mongolia at Lob-Nor. The lakes of the province are few in number. One in the valley, centrally situated, is the Dam-Kul, about 14 miles long and rather less than half as broad. In the southern hills, near Shakhimarclan, M. Ujfalvy visited the Lake Kutban-Kul in a valley covered with immense blocks of stone, piled on one another as if by art. He describes the water as dark-green in results of the expedition were seen in the first charts ever made of the Alai and Trans-Alai mountains, and the northern part of the Pamir, the march route maps being based on well-determined points. A third expedition, this time a scientific one, under the command of M. M. N. Sevcrtsoff, was sent in 1877 and 1878 to the Pamir, for its exploration and geographical description, and for the investigation of its geological relations to the Thian Shan range. The Kaufmann Peak was determined to be 22,800 feet high, and the three-peaked mountain, Gurumdy, to the east of it, 20,300 feet. The party explored not only Kara- Kul, but the smaller lake, Riang-Kul, whence a good view is obtained of the eastern ranges of the Pamir, in one of which the principal summit rises to a height of about 26,800 feet, and is the highest peak of the "roof of the world." On the Ak-Su river Severtsoff determined barometrically the lowest elevation recorded in the Pamir -namely, 12,000 feet, and not far distant he came upon his first \villo\v grove in the region, at a height <>f 12,300 feet, whilst tamarisk bushes wen- met with on the river up to 13,200 feet. In some of the swamps were found very thick deposits of peat, and amongst the marsh plants composing it were detected several northern species, the same as occur in the neighbourhood of Petersburg. In fact, the vegetation of the region we are considering presents an exceedingly unusual combination of Alpine plants with those of the northern Tundras and the South Russian steppes. In this flora are seen East Siberian, Tibetan, and Mongolian species, intermingled with those of Western Siberia and the Persian mountains. In addition to the variety of plants and insects, M. Severt- soff found the Pamir rich in vertebrates; he met with more than 20 >pecies of mammalia, about 120 species of birds, 6 of fishes, and 2 species of amphibia, in swamps 12,700 feet high. 77/2' PROVINCE OF FERGHANA. 495 appearance, calm and tranquil, surrounded on the north and east by the aforesaid blocks, and on the other sides by mountains, rising abruptly and covered with perpetual snow. Six years previously to the visit of M. Ujfalvy this lake had been discovered to science by M. Fedchenko, after whom the French traveller desired to call it Lake Fedchenko. The water is good to the taste, and in it fresh-water trout are found. The Kara- Kul is, however, the most remarkable in the province, if not also the largest on the Pamir. The approach thereto from the north is very pic- turesque, surrounded as it is on all sides by snowy mountains, some- ot which have glaciers.* 1 have already alluded to the great variations of temperature in the climate ol this elevated portion of Ferghana. I may add that in this same region the winds are sometimes so terribly violent as to take: away the breath, driving before them snow, dust, and sand, and causing the tlocks to press together for safety. The air in this locality is in general very dry, and of a * Thr lake, at a height of i2,Soo feet, is divided into two basins, joined by a narrow strait, and the beauty ot the scenery is heightened by the peculiar shape of the mountains, the dark blue appearance of the lake waters, and the Lj'eneral tint of colour pervading the whole loc.ditv. notwithstanding the comparative scantiness of vegetation. There are not wanting tokens to show that the Kara-Kul. now extending over iis square miles, was at one time much larger. I he uater m.w brought to the lake by streams is msutlicient to compensate for evaporation. Rain is very rare, and the precipitation is nearly always in the form ot hail or snow. Before Kostenko's visit maps represented the Kara-Kul as send- ing off its waters either to the Oxiis or to the river of Ka-di^ar, or both, from which last, according to Reclus. it received trotn the I'hine.se the appellation of the 1 )ra^cn I .ake. a-* it they would compare it to .1 monster with two heads. It is doubtful. how-\er, it it ever yave off uater in the direction of Kashmir, though in times ( i| flood it has not quite ceased to overflow towards the Oxus. As a stream rarely runs out fl the Kara-Kul, evaporation has rendered the waters saline; ma^'nesian salts making; them so bitter that animals drink them iinwilliiie-'lv. 'iiou^h 496 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. singular transparency, except when the dust storms are brought up by the wind from the desert. These dry clouds are a common phenomenon on the Pamir and in Khokand, where Fedchenko describes them thus : " The atmospheric suction into the Ferghana hollow- is so strong (through the Khojend opening) that it frequently draws in the heated air generated in the neighbouring sandy deserts. A wind called Gharm-sol then blows at Khojend and Khokand, that kills the silkworm." This wind blows frequently at the town of Khokand. The sun at such times appears like a large dull disc, without brightness. The dimness is produced from the air being laden with fine dust, which penetrates everywhere and carpets the ground.* The Ferghana winds, however, are not without their advantages. They are, it is true, often strong and gusty, sometimes breaking in doors and lifting the roofs of houses, but they also scatter the miasma that rises from the heaps of filth in the inhabited parts of the valley, especially in populous Khokand. The temperature of the Ferghana hollow is of course very they are always clear ; and, judging from the manner in which falcons and other birds of prey plunge into them, the lake must contain fish. According to the nomads, the surface of the Kara-Kul rises regularly on Friday, which odd phenomenon, Reclus says, could be accounted for only by the action of some powerful intermittent source. Kostenko and Korostovtzef both speak of the periodicity of the risings of the Kara-Kul, but do not indicate their duration or extent. * The hot winds on the Oxus at Hissar and at Khiva are called Tibbad. The same phenomenon in Yarkand, according to Mr. R. Michell, is described by Danibeg (1795). who says in reference to it: " An inexplicable dust, coming no one knows from where, falls like rain, and renders the autumn uabearable. The dust is so dense that the sun's rays cannot penetrate it, and this sometimes continues seven or eight days." Mr. R. Michell adds, quoting Rennell's " Herodotus ": " It was perhaps the prevalence of these mists that gave rise to the expres- sion ' Cimmerian darkness,' Scythia being anciently called Cimmeria.'' THE PROVINCE OF FERGHANA. 497 different from that of the Pamir. In the lowest zone the climate is tropical, in the middle it is temperate, and in the highest bracing.* As regards the geology of the province the rocks of the Alai under the clay and sand of the surface are spoken of by Reclus, quoting Mouchketoft, as com- posed of granite and crystalline schists. f The Ferghana mountains are rich in minerals, such as iron, lead, coal, rock-crystal, amethyst, and other varieties of quartz, silver, mica, turquoise, sulphur, and naphtha, some of which are as yet known in no other part of Russian Turkistan. * Ferghana, however, is less remarkable lor its mineral than its vegetable products, which vary, ot course, according to the different belts or zones * The heat at Marudiilan .troes up in summer in the shade to 104 . Osh has a more temperate climate than Mar^hilan, and a delicious temperature, the heat rising in July, 1877,10 77'. It rains there in summer, and the (.rhtirin-snl just spoken of is unknown. In winter both these places are subject to cold, which often g'oes down to 5', and in exceptional seasons to even 7 or - i } J . t The masses of granite, which without doubt would be seen to form the deposit if the plateau were Cashed by torrents, are superimposed in the same manner as the principal chains of the Thian Shan. Mown towards the Khokand valley, near the sources of the Isfara, Kedc'ionko speaks ot thi' mountains as of conglomerate, tertiary (lays, and gypsum, and adds that a threat quantity of alabaster is there quarried tor use in Khokand. In a grotto near Arasane are found r-ialaciites and stalagmites, and in the district of Amlijan there are s-lphur springs of 100 temperature. ] The only deposit of turquoise is found in Mount Karama.ar. .ib.mt 2.] miles north-east of Khojend, in the valley of Hiriou/a - VM. 1 he adjacent mountains are composed of felspar porphvrv, uit'n veins of diabase. \}y decomposition the porphvrv has become cotnerted into argillaceous matter, tra\tTM-d hv numerous veins ot ferruginous quart/. It is in these decomposed roi ks that the turquoise is me; \\iih, either in the clefts of the quart/, or in those of the ar^ill.n emis porphyry, under the form of layers and small veins, of whii h the thickness attains from - ijS to i _ inch, and isolated depov;> t'om ^ to \'2 inch in diameter. Judcjni; troin the former workings ar.d the VOL. I. 498 RUSSIAN CENTRAL AS/A. already described. The lands near the Syr are covered with tall herbs, often in patches, and with brambles. In the plains are poplars, willows, plane-trees, and karagaches ; fruit-trees of all kinds, 1 6 sorts of grapes, and delicious melons of all sizes. Besides the usual cereals, they cultivate rice, maize, cotton, jugara, and lucerne of splendid growth. The jugara attains a height sufficient to form a hiding-place for men on horseback. The third and stony zone produces some unimportant gramineous plants, and here and -there brambles and bushes. In the temperate zone one sees what may be called meadows, in the European sense of the word. The higher zones have vegetation of an Alpine character, and sometimes pine forests. extent of decomposed porphyry, ' this deposit is rather important, and deserves attention. It would be easy to make a road nearly up to the loeality where mineral is found ; but. amongst the drawbacks must be mentioned scarcity of water, and entire lack of wood. Petroleum again is confined apparently to Ferghana. In the moun- tains, at several spots, it appears on the surface mixed with the water. There are known at least six springs in the province, all of them situated from &oo to 1,200 yards above the sea level. The localities where the petroleum springs have been found are completely bare of forests, and often lack water, though the road thither may be practicable. The quantity of petroleum coming to the surface daily from any one spring, as at Maila, dors not exceed 50 gallons ; but, if wells were bored, this quantity might be greatly multiplied. The petroleum proceeds exclu- sively from beds of cretaceous formation composed of very fossilifcrous sandy limestone, red grit, green clays, gypsum, and marl. Most frequently the petroleum runs in the limestone, or lower, in contact with limestone and gypsum. As one meets sometimes with salt crystals in the clay, the water which brings the petroleum is nearly always salt. The more the petroleum beds are disturbed, the more- abundant are the sources, and rice, versa . Near the springs are seen deposits of petroleum solidified, that bears the name of kire. Considering the vast extent of Ferghana territory over which petroleum is found, and the sparsitv of population in the localities, Mouchketoff thinks that, without doubt, many more springs might be discovered. A third Turkistan mineral, of which the only deposit that merits attention is in Ferghana, is native sulphur. It is found 28 miles to the south-south-east of Khokand, in the Ir-Jaga ravine of the valley of Char-Su. THE PROVINCE OF FERGHANA. 499 On the mulberry trees of Ferghana are raised the most valuable silkworms of Central Asia, and good tobacco is grown in the neighbourhood ot Namangan.* o i o The fauna of Ferghana is better known to us than of any other part of Russian Turkistan, thanks to the labours of M. Fedchenko, who travelled round the province as a naturalist, and who made a collection of specimens that have been described in what I may call the great classical work upon Turkistan fauna. t It may suffice for the present to say that the domestic animals of Ferghana profit by the advantages ot the climate, and are robust and well grown. The oxen are strong, and the cows give excellent milk, that of the Kirghese cows having, according to M. Ujfalvy, a perfumed taste. Along the Kara-daria aquatic birds are. numerous, especially the Cormorant, the Ibis, and a long-legged bird of the order Gralla\ resembling the Flamingo. In the: mountains Porcupines are common, as also the Maral, and, in the streams running into the Kyzyl-Su, Fedchenko discovered a species ot Trout unknown in any river of the Turkistan plains. As in other provinces of the country, the position ot the Ferghana towns has been determined by the M. Pervushin, who. in i>'>), made sundrv experiments with American. Turkish, and 1 hitch varieties, was of opinion ili.it the he-t sorts. i:t tobaeco mi^ht be^roun in Turkistan as well as in Southern I'.urope, whence they are now imported into Russia. As the result of bis experiments, he staled thai an acre of land yielded p" \\>-. of tobacco, \\hich at Moscow was valued at i v ''- per Ib. Kn>m the i;t"oss. ' ' educted for expenses in preparing amely, /.'in tor the \\a^cs ot ^ men _ I,, for reni : and can ia-e to Mo-., ow at MI\. per cwt.; leaving; a prolit per acre of about _/." = o. In iS- () M. 1 'er\ n-lun repealed the experiment . and plained 12 acres \\iih results eijuallv satisfactory. After transplantation the tobacco - and rapidly, and in the middle of August \\as rc,td\- for ^at t See Appendix on the tauna of I urkistan. 5 oo RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. rivers. The banks of the Upper Naryn have on them only a few Cossack stations ; but north of the confluence of this river with the Kara-daria is built the town of Namangan, with native manufactories of cotton stuffs, 1,000 shops, and an annual sale of 300,000 sheep. Here they construct rafts, which, laden with fruits, skins, and felts, are floated down the Syr. North-west of Namangan is Kassan, boasting of being the most ancient town in Ferghana, the Tajik inhabitants of which M. Ujfalvy pronounced the most handsome in Turkistan. Chust is another town north of the Syr-daria, where they make knives, as famous in their way as those of Hissar. The waters of the Kara-daria lave several towns, beginning with Uzgend, situated, at a height of 3,200 feet, at the mouth of one of the defiles of the Thian Shan. This town has become famous by reason of a neighbouring tomb, whither pilgrimages are made in memory of Hoja Yusuf. South of Uzgend, but 2,000 feet higher, is the fortified town of Gulcha, defending from the Chinese the Terek-davan Pass. The principal town of East Ferghana is Andijan, watered by canals from the Kara-daria, and to the north-east of this are the thermal carbonated and sulphurous waters of Djalabad-Ayup, much frequented by the natives. Osh, to the south-east of Andijan, upon the River Ak-Bura, is at the mouth of the valley by which one mounts to the Alai and the Pamir. The town com- mands a magnificent view, but the most interesting object is an isolated rock called Takht-i-Suleiman, or the Throne of Solomon, spoken of in conflicting Oriental legends.* To the west of the Ak-Bura are * Some pilgrims come only to worship, they say, at the toml) of the THE PROTINCE OF FERGHANA. 501 found several important towns in the Ferghana valley, such as Naukat and Aravan. Marghilan is situated on the River Shakhimardan, and by reason of its salubrity a spot near has been chosen by the Russian authorities for the site of the new capital of the province. Accord- ing to local tradition, the " two-horned Alexander of Macedon," whom they speak of as one of the saints of Islam (!), died here, and the place is accordingly regarded as sacred. South of Marghilan, higher up the river, is the town of Shakhimardan, or "king of men," which claims to have in possession (as do other places in Muhammadan countries) the tomb of the prophet Ali, and is, consequently, one of the most famous resorts of Ferghana pilgrims. There are other popu- lated places in the pretty valley of the Isfara, and among them a town of this name, numbering 5,000 inhabitants. I am not aware that any census has been taken, but of the towns I have named Khokand is said to possess 60,000 inhabitants, Namangan 50,000, and Marghilan 40,000, whilst Andijan and Osh are put down at 20,000 each, and the whole province at 729,690. For purposes of administration, Ferghana is divided into seven districts, of which that ot Andijan is the largest, and Marghilan the most important. vi/icr of Solomon, others kneel before what they consider the tomb of the L, r reat kins^ himself. Here, say these latter, he was assassinated, and the hollow places in the flinty soil of the mountain are the hiding-places of his black dos^s. Then 1 they drank his blood and ate his body. Into the.^e holes the sick to be cured plunge their heads. CHAPTER XXXIV. AN EPITOME OF KHOKAND HISTORY. Ferghana under Baber (1504) and his descendants. Its subjection to China, 1759. Independence and extension under Narbuta, 1770. Madali and his conquests, 1821. Communications with Russia and England. Ferghana conquered by Emir of Bokhara, 1841. Power of the regent, Mussulman Kul. Accession of Khudaiar Khan, 1844. Khudaiar driven to Bokhara, 1859. Mulla Khan, and the regent Alim Kul. Return of Khudaiar by help of Bokhara, 1862. Khudaiar' s authority strengthened by Russian treaty of 1868. Revolt of the people and suppression of the Khanate, 1876. THE Khokand or Ferghana valley in the four- teenth century formed part of the great empire of Tamerlane, whose descendant in the fifth generation, O Zahir-ud-din Baber, was born in its ancient capital of Andijan, and subsequently ruled the country as an appanage to the throne of Samarkand. It was wrested from him in 1504, when, quitting his native land, he lied to India, leaving behind, it was supposed, in the llight of his harem, a child wrapped in brocades, who, being found in the Khokand deserts, was named Altyn Beshik, or golden cradle, and subsequently made sovereign, but over how much territory is uncertain. Altyn Beshik was followed, according to Sodi Hukm Singh, by a line of eight rulers* ; yet both popular * Tungriyar ; Muhammad Amin Bi ; Abd-ul Kasini Bi ; I'baid-ulla I')i ; Shahmast Bi, alias Chainash Bi ; Haji Khari ; Ashur Kul; and Shahrukh P>ek for Atolvk). AN EPITOME OF KHOKAND HISTORY. 503 tradition and the Chinese accounts agree, says Dr. Schuyler, that in the middle of the last century Kho- kand was not under one sovereign, but was divided into separate provinces, cities, and clans, each with its own Bek or Khoja.* According to Mahsum Khoja's account, Shahrukh, the eighth ruler, went from the Volga region to Ferghana, married the daughter of Kdiger Khoja. murdered his father-in-law, and then became ruler in Ediger's stead. He was succeeded by Abd-ul Karim Hi, who built the present city of Khokand, and transferred thither his residence. Next followed Abdur Rahman Hi, his brother, and then Yardana, Irdana, or Krdeni, Hi, to whom, the great Chinese geographer says, all the other towns of Perghana were subject. It was in the time of Krdeni that Khokand appears to have come under Chinese influence, for when, in 1759, the general, I chao-hoei, despatched some officers to put down the Huruts, Krdeni entertained the officers at Khokand, and subsequently sent in his submission to the Kmperor Khian-lung. This was about the: time that tin- Chinese- exterminated the Sungarian Kalmuks. Tashkend had yielded to China in i 75^, and alter Krdeni's submission, the Heks ot An'dijan and Marghilan followed suit, and in 171)0 sent with their tribute to Peking "horses that sweat blood," great eagles and falcons for hunting, and " plates of the ' I n addition to the able sketch of the history <>f Khokand in I >r. Si huyler's Appendix, I liave consulted two small \\ork-. upon the MJ!>- ject , compiled subM-quc-ntlv to his. 1)\- Alexander von Kuhn. and S<>d; 1 1 11 km Sin^'h. 'I'he latter professes to have derived his chief in form at um from "a must reliable and intelligent observer of the Khokand Stau . when- he had every facility of observation " ; and since there i-, Mich a paucity ot Asiatic writers upon the subject, I have frequently quoted Sin^h, and xmietmie-, ^ueii him preference \\here statement^ conflict. 5 04 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. fountain of the dragon." Erdeni died in 1770 without male issue, and was succeeded by Narbuta, his nephew. Narbuta was a man of w r ar from his youth. He added to his dominions Andijan, Namangan, and Ush, and laid the foundation of Khokandian influence in Eastern Turkistan, whilst in his latter days he tried to wrest Khojend from the ruler of Ura-Tiube. He made an alliance with the Emir of Bokhara, and fought against Ura-Tiube, but was beaten. He w r as also defeated when undertaking an expedition in 1/79 against Tashkend, shortly after which he was be- headed, according to some, in 1780, or died, according to others, in 1806. Narbuta left three sons. The eldest two were Alim and Omar, each of whom in succession reigned four years. In the reign of Alim, Khojend, Ura-Tiube, and Tashkend were all added to Khokand, and various forays were made further north against the Kirghese. Alim, moreover, is said to have been the first who gave himself the title of Khan, who ordered his name to be recited in the Khutbe, or daily prayers, and who coined money.* In the reign of his brother Omar, the town of Turkistan and several others to the north were conquered, and the last descendant of the Kirghese rulers, Tozai Khan, was forced to seek refuge in Bokhara. In 1821 Omar Khan died, or was poisoned by his son Muhammad AH, who then became Khan, and reigned for 20 years, his name being contracted to Madali. Madali exiled some of his relatives, one going to Bokhara, the Emir of which country quarrelled with Madali in 1825, though the quarrel was patched up, and the Khan was free to try his arms in Kash- * For list of Khokand coins, see Poole's " Catalogue of Oriental Coins in the British Museum," Vol. vii., p. 86. AN EPITOME OF KHOKAND HISTORY. 505 garia, whither he turned to aid Jihangyr Khoja, whose ancestors had been driven from the throne of Kashgar by the Chinese in 1/56. Madali and Jihangyr were temporarily victorious, but a Chinese army of 70,000 men came and drove back Madali and the Khokan- dians, taking away Jihangyr to be executed at Peking. The next year, 1828, a brother of Jihangyr tried to obtain possession of Kashgar, and again Madali helped. Kashgar, Yangi-Hissar, and Yarkand were all taken, and, on the approach of another Chinese army, the Khokandians again withdrew with their booty a pro- cess that so sickened the Chinese that they determined to buy peace and quiet of the Khokandians, and con- cluded a treaty at Peking in 1831, whereby Khokand was to receive duties on foreign goods imported into Kashgaria, and was allowed to maintain representa- tives in various towns to collect them. This, of course, gave Khokand influence over Kashgaria, so that subsequently Madali conquered Karategin, and forced Kulab, Darwaz, and Shignan on his southern border, to recognize his authority. It was about this time (1835) that the first official intercourse took place between Khokand and Russia. The Tsar having requested the Khan to promote trade between the two states, by protecting Russian subjects, Madali sent his spiritual guide (/>/'') to Petersburg, to give assurances oi future security and to profess friendship. Six years later the Khan hospitably entertained the Knglish captain, Arthur Conolly, sent to him in 1841 by the British Government from India. Madali's career, brilliant as in some respects it had been, was, however, coming to an end. 1* rom a warrior he sunk to a sensualist, having already incurred much unpopularity by his marriage with two sisters and his 506 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. father's widow. Nasr-Ullah, the Emir of Bokhara, his hereditary and powerful foe, who, in pursuit of his claim to the Khanate, had twice vainly attempted to subdue Khokand, now sent a letter to the Khan, accus- ing him of breaking the Muhammadan law; whereupon the enraged Madali imprisoned and half-shaved the bearers of the letter, and made ready for war, the end of which was that Madali was beaten, and by order of the Emir executed in 1841. The step-mother, fated to be spouse of three sovereigns, was taken to wife next by Nasr-Ullah, and the other wives of Madali Khan, forty cartloads of them, were also taken to Bokhara. The Emir now reasserted his old pretensions to the Khanate, declared that the territory belonged to him, and appointed as governor Ibrahim, who, before three months had expired, so oppressed the people as to drive them into a general insurrection, from which he had to flee into Bokhara, and the Khokandians placed on their throne, as Madali's successor, the aged Shir Ali, a nephew of Xarbuta. The Emir, enraged at Ibrahim's loss, set out to regain the Khanate with 20,000 men and 250 Khokandian hostages, thinking that the Kipchaks, by whose bravery Shir Ali had been set on the throne, would flee at his approach. Among the hostages, however, was a brave and popular Kipchak, called Mussulman Kul, who had been an officer in Khokand. He flattered the Emir that he could obtain for him possession of the city, and he was accordingly allowed to enter. Instead of this he preached " Xo surrender," and contrived so to outwit the Emir, that, after a siege of forty clays, the Bokhariots returned to their own land. Mussulman Kul now became king-maker in Khokand. Shir Ali was simple, good-natured, and weak, and his reign of A.V EPITOME OF KHOKAND HISTORY. 507 three years was marked by struggles for supremacy between the Kipchaks or nomads and the Sarts or townspeople. The Kipchaks, having placed the weak Shir Ali on the throne, thought that their chief Yusuf should govern the country. But the head of the Sart faction, Shadi, was preferred by the people, and, with the consent of the Khan, poisoned Yusuf, and sum- moned Mussulman Kul to come to Khokand. Mussul- man Kul replied politely that he was on his way, but in reality he gathered an army as he came, slew Shadi, and took his place as MingbasJii, to lind himself, how- ever, between two fires namely, the Sarts, whom he: could not satisfy with sufficient posts of honour, and the Kipchaks, who were jealous of his prominence. At length one ol the dissatistied parties in 1*^45 sent deputies to a son of the late Alim Khan, Sultan Murad Bek, who was living in the Khanate of Bokhara, to come to Khokand and take possession ol the throne. Murad easily persuaded the Kmir, Xasr-l'llah, to help him, and, proceeding to Khokand with a small force, in the absence ol Mussulman Kul, who was gone- to the mountains to collect tribute, he sei/ed the capital, slew Shir ,-\h, and proclaimed himsell at once Khan ol Khokand and vassal-lieutenant of the Kmir ol Bo- khara. 1 [ere he made a mistake, lor the Khokandians so hated the Bokhariots, that word was immediately sent to Mussulman Kul, who advanced with ln> forces, stopping, however, on his way at Marghilan to lake with him his son-in-law, Khudaiar, who was one of thi- younger sons of Shir Ali. As soon as Murad heard of the approach ot Mussulman Kul, he lied from the cit, alter a reign of 1 das, in iSa., and left tic- Sarvmsak. Khudaiar, 508 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. Sultan Murad, Malla, and Sufi. Sarymsak was 22 years of age, and Bek of Tashkend, to whom Mussul- man Kul sent, asking him to become Khan, but caused him to be murdered on the way, after which Khudaiar was proclaimed Khan. And thus came on to the Khokandian stage, at the boyish age of 16, the Khan whose name so often occurs in connection with the Russian conquest, and who, during a period of 31 years, from 1844 to 1875, was thrice raised to sovereignty and thrice deposed. Khudaiar's first occupation of the throne lasted 16 years. During that period the Kipchaks were in the ascendant. The boy-Khan was kept by Mussulman Kul, his father- in-law, in strict seclusion, from all the affairs of state, and allowed but little money, lest he should acquire friends by giving them presents. The Regent also removed from the government every Sart who had been hostile to him, and raised up enemies for himself, even among the Kipchaks, especially Nur Muhammad, Bek of Tashkend. Khudaiar chafed under the tutelage of his father-in-law, and when, in 1850, he reached his majority, he was ripe for taking reprisals. An opportunity arrived in the following year, 1851, when Nur Muhammad led his forces towards the capital with the hope of overthrowing Mussulman Kul, but his purpose was defeated. Later, rebellion having broken out, Mussulman Kul marched against the Tashkendians, taking with him the Khan, because he did not dare to leave him in Khokand. Just before the decisive battle, it was found that Khudaiar had stolen away at night and joined Nur Muhammad, upon which Mussulman Kul did not lose his presence of mind, but conquered and slew Nur Muhammad (so at least says von Kuhn, but not Schuyler), and A~V EPITOME OF KHOKAND HISTORY. 509 took the young Khan prisoner. The Regent and Khan, however, came to terms, and matters returned to their old footing for nearly six months, when, on a festive day in Khokand, the Sarts, with their knives, set upon Mussulman Kul and slew his followers, though he himself escaped, gathered another army, and marched against Khokand. This time he was not successful, and had to (lee once more to the Kipchaks, who now gave him up to the Khan, much to their subsequent chagrin, for Khudaiar, having escaped from Kipchak tutelage and surrounded himself with Sarts, gave orders that the Kipchaks throughout the country were to be slaughtered. In the course ot three months, 20,000 persons it is said were killed, Mussulman Kul was exposed on the scaffold for three days, whilst 600 innocent Kipchaks were slaughtered before his eyes, and finally, in 1853, he himself was hanged. The ascendency of the Sarts was now inaugurated, and Mir/a Akhmet appointed Bek of Tashkend ; but he, by his severity, excited great discontent among the Kazaks of Chimkent and Aulie-Ata. This was in 1857, when the Kara-Kirghese and the remnant of the; Kipchaks entered into negotiations with Malla, or Mulla, I>ek, (an elder brother of the Khan) pro- claimed him ruler, and marched against Khudaiar in Khokand, whereupon Khudaiar was beaten, and driven to take refuge in Bokhara, whilst Malla was received as Khan in 1859. Malla Khan reigned for two years, and had for his chief adviser Alini Kul. who greatly disappointed the Kipchak chiefs by not giving them posts in the govern- ment, whereupon they conspired to murder the Khan, and proclaimed in his place Shah Murad, a boy of i^ vears, nephew of Khudaiar. '1 hex world also 510 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. have killed a son of Malla Khan, Seid Sultan, 13 years old, but Alim Kul got him away to Andijan, though he feigned submission to the government of Shah Murad. Meanwhile Khudaiar had received a welcome at the court of Bokhara, and Nasr-Ullah permitted him first to live at Samarkand ; but then, changing his dis- position towards him, Khudaiar was compelled to retire to Jizakh, where, having no means of subsistence, he took to trading, and supported himself as a carrier. From Jizakh, Khudaiar was recalled by turbulent spirits at Tashkencl, who were dissatisfied with the govern- ment of Shah Murad, and with their help he overcame Alim Kul, put Shah Murad to death, and in 1862 Khokand received back its old tyrant with delight. But there were now two parties in the Khanate ; for Alim Kul proclaimed Seid Sultan Khan, and began decisive operations against Khudaiar, who applied for assistance to the new Emir of Bokhara. Mozaffar- Eddin, son of Nasr-Ullah, came in person with a large army and drove Alim Kul into the defiles of Kara-Kuldja, whence he would not be dislodged, whereupon the Emir got angry with Khudaiar, and returned to Bokhara in 1863, whither Khudaiar was obliged to follow his patron, whilst Alim Kul, as supreme ruler, and Seid Sultan as Khan, entered Khokand. Matters continued thus for three years, j Alim Kul fighting the Russians, and losing in succes- sion Aulie-Ata, Turkistan, and Chimkent. At the same time he roused against himseli the inhabitants of Khokand bv his roucrh severitv. Eor a time he j O - maintained comparative quiet, but soon met with discontent, and petitions went out from every city to Khudaiar to return. A-Y EPITOME OF KHOKAND HISTORY. 511 Khudaiar was once more rusticating at Jizakh, carrying on mercantile operations, but this time on a larger scale. He again persuaded the Emir of Bokhara to render assistance, and preparations were being made, when news arrived that Alim Kul had been killed in fighting near Tashkend. Upon this the young Seid Muhammad Khan, with some of his chiefs, tied to the city (whence he was conveyed to Bokhara, and ultimately, in 1871, murdered by Khudaiar), whilst others of the chiefs lied to Kho- kand, and raised to the throne Khudai Kul, on 8th June, 1865. He reigned till the i ith July, when, with the help of the Dokhariots, Khudaiar for the third time was raised to be Khan, the Emir claiming Khojend and Ura-Tiube as the price of his services. Khudaiar might now have reigned in peace had he conducted his home affairs with the prudence; he showed towards the Russian invaders : for he avoided the wrath of the Governor-General, which fell on the head oi the Emir, and seeing that he could not dream of regaining the part of Khokand the Russians had taken, he accepted the inevitable:, and asked for a treaty, that was concluded in 1868, between him and the Governor-General of Turkistan, the result of which was greatly to strengthen Khudaiar's power over his subjects. Unfortunately, however, Khudaiar and his councillors were bent upon little else than their own aggrandisement, and they shrank from no means of gaining it. Taxes, unjustly imposed, in- creased year by year, and the hatred of the people against their Khan increased accordingly. In vain the Governor-General warned Khudaiar, bidding linn reform his administration. In 1871 a revolt broke out, but was terminated. 512 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. Two years later a more serious movement began, in consequence of the Khan wishing to impose additional taxes on the Kara-Kirghese. This revolt also was quelled, but by the beginning of 1874 the general feelings of the Kipchaks and Kirghese were turned against Khudaiar, and the insurgents proposed to Nasir-ud-din, son of Khudaiar, that he should reign over them, and lead them to fight the " infidels," with whom his father had entered into alliance. Nasir-ud-din agreed to the silly proposal, whereupon a general insurrection broke out in 1875 against Khudaiar, who, on the 24th July, escaped to the Russians for protection, whereupon the supporters of Nasir-ud-din hastened to the capital, raised their nominee to be Khan, and declared a religious war with the Russians, the result being that in a few weeks the Khanate was wiped out of existence. In the spring of 1876 Khokancl was formally annexed to the Empire, under the name of Ferghana, but the tur- bulent nomads in the mountains had not yet sufficiently learned the necessity of submission, and, therefore, the Alai expedition was sent into the mountains, under Skobeleff, and the country completely subjugated. It was but six years after these events that 1 entered Ferghana and its ancient capital, and to the description of my journey there I shall now proceed. CHAPTER XXXV. FROM KHOJEXD TO KHOK'AXD. Hospitality of Khojend Nachalnik. Stations to Khokand. Surrounding mountains and their minerals. Sand barkhans. - Native building's. Arrival at Khokand. Lodging in summer residence of Tim Bek. -M. I'shakoff our host. Oriental "politeness." Visit to Syna- gogue.- Information concerning Jews of Khokand and Bokhara. The baxaar : its jewellery, ewers, and furs.- Khokand trade.- - View from medresse of Murad Bek. A puppet-show. -Inspection of hospital and Khan's palace. Distribution of Scriptures. Visit to native merchant. Ferghana communications, and routes to Kashgar and India. IT was pleasant to find, when arriving at Khojend on the afternoon of Friday, September 22nd, that our coming was expected by the Xachalnik, who immediately gave orders lor the preparation ot dinner. Whilst waiting I telt unusually tired and sleepy, though I know not why, tor we had been travelling only 40 hours, which was nothing in comparison with the nights upon nights spent in the tarantass north of '1 ashkend : but I suppose my training had been some- what demoralized by sleeping in a bed, and the comparative comlorts we had enjoyed at the capital. Dinner over, the Colonel gave us a basket ot splendid truit. and then, preceded by two djiguitts. mounted his horse to see us off. 1 hus escorted through the baxaar, the natives were all politeness and attention, each risin"' l f ' vol.. i. ; 5H USSfAA r CENTRAL ASIA. some bowing, and others dismounting ; and so it con- tinued till we had reached the outskirts of the town, when the Colonel bade us adieu, and asked us to call in returning. We pursued our way past the village of Ispsar, 840 feet above the sea, and in the evening- reached Kostakoz, where we could have no horses, we were told, until 1 1 o'clock. Whether this was unavoidable I am not sure, but the Colonel had told us beforehand that this post-master had received notice to quit, and so was not in an amiable mood, on which account, I suppose, a djiguitt had accompanied us, but who vainly asked for horses immediately. Towards midnight we started for the remainder of our little journey to Khokand,* and midway to the next station crossed the boundary into Ferghana. By day- light we had passed Kara-chukum, and once more approached the Syr-daria, on the bank of which is situated the Khokandian frontier fortress of Makhram, a large square building lor 500 Khokandians, with high crenelated mud walls, and protected on three sides by a deep moat. We were now about 1,300 feet above the sea, and in the distance had mountains before us in every direction. On the left was the Kurama-Tau, separating Ferghana from the Kurama district, through which we had just passed. Over this range, by the Kendir Davan pass, is a direct but difficult caravan route, open the whole year, from Tashkend to Khokand, and there are three other second-rate passes in the range, but not very * Stations from Khojend to Khokand, with distance's in vcrsls :- - Khojend Chuchai . . . .21 Kostakox . . . .18 Khokand . . . .11 Kara-chukum . . .22 Patar 28 Total - 124 Bi>h-aryk . . . 24 FROM KHOJEXD TO KHOKAND. 515 practicable. In the same mountains are some rich deposits of argentiferous lead.* In one locality the mineral contains 60 per cent, of lead, the latter yielding nearly an ounce of silver to the ton. On our right, but further off, was the Turkistan range separating Ferghana from the Zarafshan valley, and having some coal mines at Kokine-Sai, 25 miles south ot Khojend. Immediately in front of us was a prospect not so pleasing, for we had to cross a stony waste of reddish sand for 20 miles, on which there was little vegetation but camels' food. As we returned, our driver informed us that he had already driven the journey and back with his horse's once, so that when he reached home with our steeds, he would have had that day 75 miles ol desert travel. At Patar we found a good station, and reached an oasis with vegetation. Beyond this the country was interspersed by desert patches of shitting sand, which encroaches like a flood, destroying houses and cultivated fields, and so driving away the population. f The road from Patar was atrocious. Here * Tin- deposit in the Karama/ar mountains, 25 miles north-east of Khojend, is the richest ot its kind in Tnrkistan. It is composed ot" several lodes ot Compact argentiferous galena associated with Mende, copper pyrites, cryolite, and a/urite. The thickness of the principal lode reaches - feet. The lodes all run in a north-easterly direction with a dip of So towards S.I 1 !. Some of them are located in the metamorphosed limestone, near spots where diorite crops nut. The largest are found when 1 the diorite and limestone are in contact, [ud^'in^ trom ancient workings, the metalliferous lodes <> are. i I he principal t^allerv is situated at an altitude of s, a road, available tor carnages, runs to within n miles -i- Of s ; acres of cultivated land at Tatar, no Irs, than ^ ha\e i) overwhelmed. Here they reckon the annual progress feet. I n the case of . \nderkhan, also in Fer-liana. had to be transplanted to a spot more than a mile d 516 RUSSIAN' CENTRAL ASIA. we saw dozens of sand-heaps, or barklians, which, by reason of the unilateral direction of the wind, take the form of a horse-shoe. These were the first \ve had met with on so considerable a scale, and they presented a curious appearance, the surface being sometimes rippled as on the seashore. Some rose at an angle of 45" to the ridge, here and there perhaps 100 feet high, but always descending abruptly on the interior. One had only to think of the Gharm-sol wind to easily understand why the district in ancient times was called " Ha-Der- z'is/i," from the fact, related by Baber, of two dervishes having lost themselves in this desert and perished, calling out " Ha-DervisJi ! Ha-Dervish!" Fortunately for us, when we passed, the air was calm and the sand at rest. The post-station at Bish-aryk stands a little to the west of the village, where there is a bazaar; and before reaching the next station, Chuchai, the aspect of the country had entirely changed. The roads, too, im- proved greatly, verst-posts appeared, and sundry objects testifying to the good government of General Abramoff met the eye. On either side of the way are rows of trees, the land is well cultivated, and to right and to left are seen gardens surrounding houses. is extremely fine, runs about almost like oil, and contains 70 per cent. of quartz. It comes from the deposits of mountain torrents, which bring down pebbles from the erosion of grits, either of the Jurassic or Lower Tertiary, or from the disintegration of the Upper Tertiary formations, and further, from the deposits formed by the Syr and Amu rivers. The little pools of the Steppe partially stop the blowing sand, and thus begin the monticules that grow to IxirA'/ui/is, as the natives call them ; but it is only vegetation that can stop them effectually, the plants mo.^t efficacious to that end being Arundo arena ria, Alhdgi cainelor tun, Halinwdendron "/".'"'{' or root is ready. The hi^h \\mdo\\.-,, about i \ inchi's wide, are generally inserted in the walls of the courtyard, and are mere em-nine's with wonden bars, like the ^ratin^s <>t a prison, but sometime.-, paper i- placed over them. Th<- floors are either mud-plastered or paved \\:;h t'.a:. square, kiln-burnt bricks. 518 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. town, and on to the market-place, commonly called the Rhigistan. In the present instance, however, we had to make our way through bye-streets, with blank walls on either hand, and with just room enough for our vehicle. There was so little to distinguish one street from another, that we seemed to be threading a perfect maze, until at last we entered a garden and grounds surrounding a house that had been used occasionally by the late Khudaiar Khan, but was properly the summer residence of Seid Nasir Timbek, his eldest son. It was of native build, and the prettiest of its kind I saw in Asia. There was a central hall, perhaps 40 feet by 20, with chambers all round, screened oft by blinds. Comparing the building for a moment to an English church, it was lighted from the clerestory through open woodwork, unglazed, there being no glass used in the town before the advent of the Russians, except in the Khan's palace. The room that would represent the chancel was to be my sleeping place ; at the opposite end, on either side of the organ gallery, had been the women's apartments ; in the south aisle was our host's sleeping place; and in the nave we were to write, eat, and spend our time by day, the place presenting a curious mixture of Asiatic baldness and European comfort. The building had been forfeited, I presume, to the conquerors, and granted to M. Ushakoff for a summer residence, though he preferred to live in the town during winter. Our host, being a judicial functionary, had command of several djiguitts, of whom a number always accom- panied him in the streets, and I soon saw that to have them was no mere question of parade, but that they were of real service in clearing the way. It being- Saturday afternoon, I asked to be taken to the meeting FItOAf KHOJEND TO KHOKAXD. 519 place of the Jews. M. Ushakoff and the Nachalnik gorod accompanied us in open carriages, and as one native after another arose from his squatting position and respectfully stood erect, or stroked his beard, or as another dismounted from horse or camel, my cicerone drew my attention to what he called Asiatic politeness. But it had struck me in another way. The subservience of the Khokandians excelled all I met in Central Asia; and when I remembered that Khokand had come but recently under the sway of the Russians, and that only atter two or three sound thrashings, it occurred to me that this alleged politeness might be in reality fear.* Dr. Schuyler, at all events, experienced no such politeness from the Kkokandians when they were independent, nor did we from the natives in the town of Bokhara. On arriving at the small square white- washed room that served for a synagogue', we found it full of worshipping Jews wearing Sart skull caps, and the rV^D (talitli}i or scarf thrown across the shoulders during prayer ; and it they had not what we should call "fringes" on their garments, they at least wore on " the borders a riband of blue,"t with fringe at- tached. They wore, also phylacteries, or certain verses from the law, in a little box, as "a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and for a memorial between thine eyes" (Kxod. xiii. q); and 1 observed certain cases where the extra large si/e of these tcplilllitit, as they term them, recalled the words, " 1 hey make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge- the borders of their gar- 1 could not help thinking of the promise to the Israelites: " Thj- day will 1 beLMn to put the dread of thee ami the fear of thee amon- :he nations" (l)eut. \i. 25', for no Khokandian seemed to dare to move his tongue against any of the " Russians '|DS|I. x. 21}. t Numb. xv. ;* .S2o RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. merits'' (Matt, xxiii. 5). They were all reading aloud, and led by a precentor, and my attention was called at a portion of the service to the prayer for the Russian Emperor.* My letter of commendation obtained for me a speedy welcome, and I began to inquire for ancient manuscripts, but they had none, their quite modern copy of the law having been written in Bokhara at a cost of ^15. I gave them a copy of the Old Testament and of the New, both in Hebrew, and in return a man presented me with a ring, which he appeared to wear as a talisman, f In a second place of assembly close by, we found women present, parted off from the men, but not veiled. My further inquiry for old manuscripts elicited the statement that there was a genizah, or place of sepulture, in Samarkand, where many Hebrew books are buried, though subse- quently I could hear nothing about them there. Whilst speaking to a Jew from Bokhara, and asking whether they remembered Dr. Wolff coming there, he gave me the interesting reply that his father saved the life of " Yusuf Voolff" who appeared at Bokhara "the first time as a Jew, but later as an ambassador." Subsequently an intelligent Jew came to our house to buy copies of the Old Testament, cunningly adding, " They do not buy the New Testament here," though he had commenced reading, he said, the one I P'ave O O him. 1 took the opportunity to ask him concerning the Jews in Central Asia, who, he said, were descended * Thus showing' that the}' were not forgetful of the counsel of the prophet Jeremiah (xxix. 7) : " Seek the peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it ; for in the peace thereof shall ye have peace." t On it is written, Hir'~l"l ^^ ~PNE "l""T Xrf?N, which gives the name of the priest from whom the ring came, thus (literally), " God of rabbi Mayer, answer me in Thy mercy, O Lord." FROM KHOJKXD TO KHOKAXD. 521 from Juclah and Benjamin, the two tribes dispersed over Europe and Asia, whereas the ten tribes, he thought, were dwelling "beyond China.'" In Kho- kand he informed us there were from 200 to 300 Israelitish residents, and from 300 to 400 sojourners, mostly merchants, dyers, manufacturers, and druggists. I expressed surprise that they had no regular synagogue, but he explained that until the advent of the Russians the [ews had been fewer in number, that they had no right to buy land, and were forbidden by the Khan to build a synagogue ; that they were, in tact, under similar restrictions to those from which their brethren in Bokhara still suffered. They could not enter the city mounted, were forbidden to wear a turban, and allowed only a black calico cap for the head, and a piece of string tor a girdle; and though they were compelled to pay doubK; taxe.s, as compared with the Sarts, yet if a Jew were insulted, or even beaten, by a Muhammadan, he could claim no redress, and, moreover, that four or five: Jews, during the later years of the Khanate, had been compelled to become Mussul- mans. 1 asked whether I could do anything for the welfare of him and his brethren, whereupon he said that under the Russians the. [ews were free, and had no need of help, but that they were oppressed in Bokhara, the 15,000 Jews in that city being allowed to have only one synagogue. 1 inquired for a cer- tain Israelite, to whom 1 had an introduction, and learned that he was at Samarkand. A letter also was given me to a Jew in thai place, from one in Khokand, and at first a letter of introduction was promised to 522 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. one in Bokhara, but the promise was afterwards with- drawn, through fear lest the name of the giver should come to the ears of the Emir, and punishment might thereby ensue ! From the synagogue we went to the bazaar, which I did not see to advantage, because it was not one of the bi-weekly market days, Thursday or Sunday, but which Dr. Schuyler and M. Ujfalvy agree in praising as the best in Central Asia. The streets are roofed over like a succession of lofty arcades, affording air, and shelter from the sun. One meets there with all the pro- ducts of Central Asia : silk and velvet from Bokhara ; silks, stuffs, and camlets from Marghilan ; hand-worked copper goods made at Karshi and in Khokand itself, where the coppersmiths are very skilful ; leather trunks from Bokhara ; Dungan hats from Western China ; tibcteikas, or skull caps, of various patterns ; khalats, or robes of startling colours, in satin and silk ; Samarkand knives, jewellery, and objects cut in jade and onyx. The jewellers of Khokand make numerous earrings, ornamented with imitation stones. The bracelets of massive silver are open, like: those of the Middle Ages, and their gold collarettes and silver seals rival those of Samarkand. The ancient jewellery is more remarkable, the forms arc: more original, and the stones sometimes real, thus pointing to an age when goldsmiths flourished in Central Asia. I was struck with the brass ewers, lor the manu- facture of which Khokand is famous. They are made of graceful form, and tastefully chiselled, the ancient specimens often presenting beautiful enamel work. I secured a handsome one tor the British Museum, and had another, still handsomer, presented to me in Khiva. I bought, likewise, a teapot of similar work- FROM KHOJEXD TO KHOKAXD. 523 manship, and specimens of native finger- and ear-rings, buckles, bracelets, and charms. .Among other article ; of trade brought to Khokand from the surrounding mountains are various kinds of furs, the prices of which vary from 2s. for a black cat, or a black sheep- skin, to 4cxs\ for a black lambskin, or scxv. for that of a tiger.'* Before the annexation of the Khanate, opinions differed widely as to its wealth and the extent of its commerce. According to the figure's of M. Petrovsky, it appears that, in 1872, 56 varieties of imports to Khokand, from 6 sources, amounted in value to only ,51,426, whilst there were exported from Khokand, to 7 destinations, 33 varieties of merchandise to the value of , 64,844, an increase over the imports of ,13,418.1 Whether trade has increased since- the. annexation of the Khanate in 1876 I know not. 1 am not aware that statistics have been published. One merchant, however, told me that the carrying firm he was connected with did business, in the time of the Khan, to the value of ,2,000 a year, but that it had now fallen to one-fourth of that amount. Marten . . . S.v. to io.v. Sheepskin . Dark brown fox . ids. to 2.fv. Black Lambskin Yellow fox . . 2s. df/. to 4S. \\'ild Cat Bear . Kara-kulka Ijlack' Kara-kulka (.^n-y} T Import- to Khokand from /; Orenburg 'I'roit/k Pctropavlov.sk . Russian towns . Scmircchia Svr-daria i)ruviucc . 524 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. From the bazaar we made our way to the brick meclresse of Sultan Murad Bek, looked into some of the students' rooms, and then mounted the minaret to get a view of the town, the general appearance of which, as with other inhabited places in Central Asia, is decidedly unattractive, for patches of green are its sole adornment. Nevertheless the natives call it " Khokand-i-Latif," or " charming Khokand," which title must refer, I suppose, to its surroundings, consisting of the snow mountains we could see in more than one direction. Anciently the place was environed by marshes and frequented by wild boars, whence the town is supposed to derive its name " Khok-kand," or " town of pigs." Doves were flying above the uninviting mud roofs, and in the distance were the city walls, said to be 12 miles in circumference, enclosing a population of 60,000 souls. It was not easy to distinguish particular buildings, but they have in Khokand a manufactory that supplies many of the Central Asian towns with writing-paper, suitable for the gummy ink the natives use for w y riting v but the Russians import their paper from Europe. Whilst we were looking from the minaret the sun went down, whereupon we saw some of the students go to evening prayer, and we started homewards, to be joined at dinner by Major Vladimir Alexan- drovich Tolmatcheff, in command of the Cossacks, a young man for a major, but who had distinguished himself, if 1 remember rightly, in the province under Skobeleff, and who, now that fighting was over, seemed to find things exceedingly dull. After dinner, M. Ushakoff had prepared us an evening's amusement with native marionettes. A puppet-show was put up in his room, in front of FROM KHOJEND TO KHOKAXD. 525 which two men played tambourines. The late Khan and his courtiers were placed on the stage, and tor their amusement miniature dancing boys and girls were made to play their part before them. This was done with considerable fidelity to nature. Next the Kmir of Afghanistan was introduced as having 40,000 soldiers, and the Khan of Khokand 30,000, and then some- thing like a battle was enacted, on which the Russians O stepped in, and put them both to flight, the affair con- cluding by firing miniature cannons. 1 needed no rocking that night to send me to sleep, and on the following morning was taken to call on General Iphimovitch, who was for the time being acting as Governor of the province in the room of General Abramoff. \Ye found his Excellency with his staff under silk tents in a garden, where we wen- offered fruit. Then we followed the General in making an official tour of inspection, first to the barracks and next to the military hospital. The latter was an airy building, said to have been erected by the late Khan for an asylum, but never finished, and since adapted to its present use by the: Russians. \Ye next went to the prison, where, in taking notes, my stylographic pen the first seen in the town pu/xled the bystanders to know where the ink came from. There was nothing remarkable in any of the buildings thus far visited, but we next entered a place ol greater interest- -namely, the palace of the late Khan of Khokand. I had seen many, if not most, of the regal and imperial palaces of Kurope, but never before- the dwelling ol an .Asiatic- potentate, and this one called tor the more attention because in archi- tectural pretensions it outdoes any other modern native building in Central Asia. The ui'da, or, as it is 526 KUSSIAA" CENTRAL ASIA. called in Bokhara, the "ark" which, like kremlin, means " the citadel," is situated in the centre of the town, in an open space large enough for the Russian troops to exercise in. It is a huge rectan- gular construction, enclosing several courts and build- ings, and surrounded with moat and high walls. A portion of these latter was blown up with dynamite, by order of Skobeleff, at the taking of the town, to the great astonishment and stupefaction of the natives, by whom the like was never seen before. The palace has towers at the corners and two in the centre, the whole front being faced with glazed tiles, white, green, and blue, with a large inscription running along the cornice, " Built by Seid Muhammad Khudaiar Khan in the year 1287" (1870). We approached the entrance up a corduroy slope, and found at the palace gates two copper cannons, of native manufacture, with silver inscriptions, not rifled, and with bores hardly smooth. The gates of the building were of finely- carved wood. On entering, we found the courts very spacious, and surrounded by open galleries, the supporting columns being of wood, with graceful capitals. The painting on the friezes and ceilings was extremely fine and varied, and was perhaps the most artistic feature of the palace, tor the enamelled bricks did not bear close inspection, and were not equal to those ot media-val make such as we afterwards saw in Samarkand. The Khan's throne room, where: ambassadors used to be received, now serves for a Russian chapel, wherein the walls are highly painted and the window- shutters carved. The room in which the Russian commandant was living was filled with European curiosities at the time of taking the town, and among S28 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. them were models of a railway-engine and a steam- boat. Another room, in which Khudaiar used in the morning to receive his ministers, had a floor of beaten earth, with carved alabaster let into the walls. This chamber the Russians had appropriated for a school- room for 45 scholars, of whom 13 were Russians, 23 Jews, and 9 Sarts. But the chamber upon which more ornamentation had been bestowed than any other was the Khan's cabinet, painted and gilded in Moorish style. The Russian officers thought the ornamentation could not have cost less than ^"500 ; but, though somewhat similar in style, it did not equal in beauty the finished Alhambra court in the Crystal Palace. The splendour was decidedly " barbaric," and from the room was an exit to a gallery over- looking a courtyard, whence the Khan was wont to give his orders, and, I fancy we were told, to see his criminals put to death. The part of the palace that was used for a prison in the Khan's time is, I believe, not used for that purpose now. In this courtyard trials were formerly conducted, and through it we passed to the women's quarter of the palace. They had, set apart for their use, a summer pavilion in the centre of a court, of which the domes were of variegated colours, no two being alike ; and we mounted by sloping boards to an upper story to enter their empty winter apartments, whence we could see the vine groves of the palace gardens. From the palace I was taken to see some fellow- subjects in the persons of a few Hindus, as well as their tiny place of worship ; and after that, at my special desire, though apparently to my host's sur- prise, we went to the most miserable place in Khokand the lepers' village, outside the town, FROM KHOJEXD TO KHOKAXD. 529 passing rice-fields on my way. These two sights shall be described hereafter; but, having done what little I could for the lepers, we paid a second visit to the medresse. I had been distributing Russian tracts and other reading material in the barracks, hospital, and elsewhere, but unfortunately I had none in the languages of the natives, except a few ponderous Persian Bibles and Arabic New Testaments. I was anxious to give one of each for the use of the students, though M. (Jshakoff, as he afterwards told me, was not without some little lear as to how such an otter would be received. 1 asked, however, tor the principal mullah, and placed the Bible in his hand, telling him that it was the best book \ve had in Kngland, and that I begged his acceptance thereof as a memorial ot my visit. lie bowed, received it with great satisfaction, and soon showed that he could read it, whereupon 1 desired him to let it be re. id by all the student-. vol.. i. ; v | 530 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. We then went home, thinking to spend a quiet even- ing ; but, having a letter of introduction to a native merchant, I did not like to omit the friendly mission and proposed accordingly to call. My host, however, decided that it would be more in keeping with their custom with the natives to send for the merchant to come to me, which he did. When the man discovered that I had brought an introduction all the way from Moscow, he entreated that, though late, we would honour him with a visit. Accordingly, Sevier and I were conducted to this merchant's house, which I was glad to see as a specimen of a native interior. We had been introduced at Tashkend, as I have said, to a rich Jew, in whose house the reception-room closely resembled that of the merchant at Khokand. We saw- something too at Tashkend of the women of the house, who were dressed in Sart fashion, but were not veiled. We were not introduced to them, though they did not appear to think our presence strange, and they were evidently not kept in seclusion. In the merchant's house at Khokand we saw not a shadow of a female, but were shown into a room carpeted, indeed, but without furniture, the principal attractions of the chamber to us being a number of niches in the wall, wherein were placed crockery, pans, teapots, and earthenware goods from Russia and China. In due time was brought in a small, low, round table with refreshments, near which our host squatted on the ground, whilst we were provided with chairs so high that we had to stoop to help ourselves from the festive board. I invited questions concerning the country we came from, whereupon the merchant asked about our commerce, and the chief kinds of merchandise in England. My answers interested him, especially when FROM KHOJEND TO KHOKAND. 531 I went on to tell him that we had railways by which we could travel the distance from Khokand to Tash- kend in four or five hours. On returning to M. Ushakoff, he showed us some sticks of opium that had been seized as contraband, and also some coats of mail that were in use by the natives when the town was taken. After this we walked in the garden. It was a beautiful night at the end of September, but not at all cold, and I wished that I could have stayed longer in the province. It would have been easy to drive round the southern half on the post-road through Xovi Marghilan to Andijan, whence there is a carriage-road back through the northern half of the province, by way ot Namangan and Chust to Khokand, or, again, there is a post-road from Andijan to Osh.* From Osh there is a route: 250 miles long to Kashgar.t * Stations from Khokand to Osh, with intervening distances in versts :- Khokand Andijan . Khojevat . . . -24 Osh 20 Durmancha . . . 2 7 Alti-Aryk .... 28 Xovi-Marghilan . . . }o Kua . . . . 31 Assake . . . . .21 * For the first fifty miles to Fort (iulcha, or a little beyond, it has been converted into a cart-road, and thence the track traverses mountains and ^ori^'es, and comes into the Kash^'arian plateau 2 ^ miles from Kashmir, the most serious obstacle bein^ the pass over the Terek- Davan, 12,700 feet hi.^h. From the end of April till the be^inniiiL; of October travel here is stopped bv the melting of the snow, and caravans at this time of year are sent from Osh by a more circuitous route over the Alai by the Tau-Murun pass. This, a-ain, is not practicable throughout the year, but only from the middle of June to the middle of October. Anyone, therefore, who aspires to be the first Fn^'lishman to traverse this route will do well to remember that during Mav and the first halt of June the journey is not practicable by either of the two routes mentioned, though for ten months and a half he may cross by one road or the other. 532 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. The distance on my Russian map from the most southerly point in the Ferghana province to the most northerly point in India, above Cashmere, is 233 miles ; but the line would pass over what may be regarded as the unknown parts of the Pamir. There are, however, at least five routes by which Khokand may be reached from Peshawur,* and there are sundry routes passing over the South Khokand range, any one of which offers an unbeaten path to an English traveller. But my heart was set upon seeing Bokhara, and, if possible, floating on the Oxus to Khiva. Remembering, there- fore, that the season was advancing, and as I knew not what crossing the desert in early winter might mean, I denied myself the seeing more of Ferghana, and deter- mined to leave on the morrow for Samarkand. * The most easterly is by Cashmere and Ladak, crossing" the Kara- Korum range to Yarkand and Kashgar, and so on to Osh, by the route I have just indicated. This is the most circuitous. The second pro- ceeds from Peshawur through the Bajour and Upper Komur valleys into Badakshan, the most direct but the most difficult route. The three re- maining routes proceed in the first instance to Cabul, and beyond that the best, and most westerly, passes through Balkh and Bokhara to Khokand. The other two routes, known as those of Pamir and Kolab, after crossing the Hindu Kush, lead through Kunduz to Badakshan, and there diverge, one crossing the Pamir, and entering by the Terek Pass into Khokand, the other proceeding through the Darwax district, and entering Fer- ghana by the pass of Ust-Kurgan, four marches south-west of Khokand. CHAPTER XXXVI. THE ZARAFSHAX PROVINCE. The province, a triangular valley. Its three mountain ranges, and their passes. The Zarafshan river : its source, affluents, canals, and floods. Divisions of the province. Kohistan district : its geology, cultivation, climate, and population.- -Zarafshan epidemics, and leprosy. Ethnology of the province. Galtchas, or Tajiks of the mountains : their physical characteristics, political constitution, and domestic customs. Tajiks of the plains. Gypsies. Afghans, and Arabs. Population of the province.- Towns and roads. THE Zarafshan " circle," or province, is a triangular valley, having its apex at the upper waters of the River Zarafshan, and extending east and west. On the north it is bounded by parts of the Kyzyl-Kum, the Khojend uye/d, and Eerghana ; on the east by the Koku-Su mountains ; on the west by the fertile: parts oi Bokhara ; and on the south by the llokhariot bekships of Karategm, ] lissar, Shahr-i-sabz, and Karshi. '1 he province measures, trom east to west, about 2 so miles, and the base of the triangle i OO miles, with an area of about 10,000 square miles, of which one-halt is mountainous. It has been already pointed out that the South Khokand mountain ridge t ivides into three parallel chains running westward namely, the Turkistan, Zaralshan, and Hissar I'anges. and it is bv these three chains that the vallev is formed, 5J4 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. being bisected by the Zarafshan range, which parts off on the north the basin of the river of that name from that of its Fan and Yagnab tributaries.* The name of the Zarafshan in Persian signifies " gold-strewing," either by reason of the precious metal found in the river, or, perhaps, because of the prosperity diffused by its waters. The river belongs to the water system of the Oxus, of which it was once an affluent, but now its waters are so drained by irriga- tion, that the stream stops short of the main river by 60 miles, and its last waters fall into a lake. The source of the Zarafshan was unknown to science till the Russians discovered it in the huge glacier already mentioned, nearly 9,000 feet above the sea. For the first 1 30 miles of its course, due west, to the town of Pianjkencl, or Penjakend, the Zarafshan is a mountain torrent, hurrying through a narrow gorge, with an average fall of 23 feet in 3,500, or j^, so swift that it can scarce be ridden through even in winter, or in parts be measured in depth, and boats cannot stem its * All three ranges, in their eastern portions, are exceedingly high ; towards the west they decrease in height, the Hissar mountains remain- ing the finest and loftiest range. The northern, or Turkistan range, has peaks that rise to 20,000 feet, and the immense Zarafshan glacier, whose length is estimated at from 25 to 40 miles, with a breadth at its lower part of 800 yards. Eastward the glacier entirely closes the end of the valley. The huge mass, covered with cones of all sixes, is joined by many lateral glaciers, and slopes downwards very gently. On it are clearly seen moraines, some of them with boulders of rock, foreign to the: neighbouring 1 mountains. The Turkistan range is not a compact mass, but consists of mountains placed in terraces, and intersected sometimes by rather deep valleys. The range ma)' be crossed by twenty passes, all, with the exception of two, being- difficult and high. The Yani-Sabak and Shahristan passes ascend to 1^,600 and 10,700 feet respectively. The Zarafshan range at Varsa-Minar, where it is high and regular, is cut due north and south by a very deep valley, with narrow and perpendicular sides, through which dashes the Fan mountain stream ; and further west the range is furrowed bv two more affluents of the Zarafshan, the Kshtut and Magian. This range is crossed by THE ZARAFSHAN PROVINCE. 535 current. It is spanned by thirty crazy bridges, some ol them being occasionally swept away at the flood, and always dangerous. The stream receives no impor- tant affluents on its right bank, but three large ones from the left, the Fan, Kshtut, and Magian.* The Fan brings to the river nearly as much water as it already possesses, after which the main stream, greatly enlarged, leaves the mountains. Xow begins the Middle Zarafshan. 120 miles long, to the Bokhariot frontier, beyond which is the lower course of i 50 miles, making 400 in all. Beyond Penjakend large canals are diverted from the river on either side for irrigation of the fields ; but the stream ilows on in one large bed to the Chupan-Ata hills, where, 5 miles north ot Samarkand, the Zarafshan is divided into two streams. The northern, or main stream, is called the Ak-daria, the southern, the Kara-daria, and after (lowing ten or twelve miles apart, they reunite; on the; 1) undary line ot the; province. Hence 4 the Zarafshan forms by its branches an island, calle-d the Miankal, which is the richest and most thickly populated portion ot the; valley. Here not a scrap of ground lies ielle, seven passes east of the Fan, the southern descents, as a rule, beinu;' shorter and steeper than thu northern, as is the case in the Turkistan ran^e : and in both it mav be observed that the rivers (lowing to the ni'i'th are larger than those flowing' south. There are other passes further west, by one of which, the Kara-Tiube. 1 crossed into liokliara. The 1 1 issar chain, traversed bv eleven roads and passes, separates the \\aters ! lowing into the Xarafshan I nun t hose proceeding to the Surkhab, and i^'ives off to the south and south-west a mass of hi^'h chains covered \\iih perpetual snows and verv lar^e glaciers. Fan brings down water from the I skander- Kul, the only lake ovince, and named alter Alexander of Macedon It lies at an ' ~,ooo feet above the sea, is about j s(|uare miles in area, decreasing in level. Hills. }.IMI<> teet hijji. surround ilii- fresh- basiu, \\hich measures joo tee; deep, bu; has water-marks, ii; the 'f liori/ontal band-. }n. > feet higher on the slope- of tlie hill- and >mmunica! in^ vallev-. 536 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. all being cultivated in the most careful manner. The island gardens receive their water from the southern O arm of the river, and the Ak-daria is used to water the fields on its northern banks. In order to increase the waters on the Kara-daria, or southern arm, a dam, annually destroyed by the spring floods, is placed every summer at the Chupan-Ata hills to direct the great portion of the Zarafshan water into the southern arm. This is of great importance to Bokhara, because from the Kara-daria is diverted the large Nurpai canal, on which some of the Bokhariot bekships depend. There are other canals besides the Nurpai diverted from the Kara-daria, flowing along terraces one above another, fringed with rows of trees, and giving to the locality an original and picturesque appearance. Each minor canal is taken at an obtuse angle from the main one, and runs almost parallel thereto. Along each of these canals there are sometimes as many as ten villages, each having its own smaller canal. \Yater- courses are supplied from these to the fields. Some of the canals are extended far (the Dargam, for instance, 46 miles), and they water fields 20 miles wide of the river. Each main canal has its own system of villages, but not entirely independent ot each other, because some of the water, after irrigating the fields of one system, is conducted onwards to the next. Hence, though the Zarafshan is a swift and copious river in the mountains, it gradually becomes an ex- hausted stream.* The; Zarafshan, like the Xile, in * Its most important ford is on the Tashkend postal-road, five miles north of Samarkand, where the stream separates into numerous branches, oi which the prineipal is 70 yards wide. The river has in the course of the year three overflows, dependent on the rains and the melting of the snow. The water is lowest in winter, and on the Bokhariot frontier, though not further east, it is usually fro/en for three weeks in January. THE ZARAFSHAX PROVINCE. S3? flood deposits an ooze that is apparently very fertiliz- ing, and from of old has attracted inhabitants to the banks. The ancient Sogdiana was situated on the Zarafshan, and its chief town Miranda, or Maracanda, occupied the site of Samarkand. Other towns on the banks, or those of its tributaries, are Kshtut and Magian, on rivers of those names, and, on the main river, Dashty-Kazy, Penjakend, and Katte Kurgan. Thus it will be seen that the Zarafshan province occupies the upper and middle valleys of the river. When, in 1868, the Russians took from the Bokhariots Samarkand, Urgut, and Katte Kurgan, the district was formed into the Zarafshan circle. Towards the close of the same year Penjakend was added, as also, in 1870-71, the bekships of Falgar. Machin, Fan, Yagnab, Magian, and others. At the present time the province consists of the Katte Kurgan, the Samar- kand, and the Penjakend districts. This last, or mountainous portion, was formerly known as Kohistan, the principal formation of its rocks being schistous.* The bottom ol the valley consists of conglomerates, and near Samarkand is a deposit of rock salt.t Only one eighty-fifth part ot Kohistan is * Carboniferous rocks arc often met with, and on the hanks uf the Yagnab, but in out-of-the-way places, arc thick beds of lignite coal and iron. On the left bank of the Kan is found yellow potter'.-, flay, (i >ld is washed down the course of the /arafshan in grains and :hin leaves, but in such small quantities that four natives uorkin^' for a day will earn only about .\ii . each. In certain villages alum is prepared from kali. Kali is found in other parts of Turkistan under various lornis, such as isscgik (iiiiiihnsis iif>li\'llii^}, between the mouth-- of the lloroldai and I'adam, and there are salt beds with ^'lasswort '.\,/// <>ri;i\i //c/'/KiCt'ti}, at an altitude of about 1,700 feet, on Lake Ak-Kul and th(> River Kuviik. M iii-hmtin . or s,>da ash, is probably obiaini 1 irom saltwort ' v \d ,'xu/d /Cii/i\ Kur or live men in Kohistan in the three winter months make \>> cwt. of alum, that is s,,M whole-.. ii .;' froai _/"_>< 1 to _/_>; ])er ton. T All the deposits of salt in Turkistan tall under the two cate--. .ries of 538 RUSSIAN" CENTRAL ASIA. cultivated and settled, the bulk of the people procuring a wretched subsistence by a small amount of agriculture, and pasturing cattle on the mountain sides.* Of the land under cultivation in 1872, two-fifths were given equally to winter wheat and barley, and the remaining fifth to summer wheat. The climate of Kohistan is fairly temperate, the cold rarely exceeding 5, or the heat 88' 2 5.+ Speak- ing generally, the climate at Ura-Tiube, Jizakh, Samar- kand, and Katte Kurgan, though all lying considerably south, yet, in consequence of their higher altitude, enjoy a similar climate to that of Tashkend. Epidemics are rare in the Zarafshan province, as indeed in Turkistan Lrenerallv. * A well-known ende- O / T mic disease that interested me was the leprosy. It is marked by the appearance on the body (at first, rock and lake salts. Of five known localities with rock salt, one deposit near Khojend is found in the midst of gypsum. It is pure and crystalline, analogous in colour and composition to the grilnsalz of Cracow. The natives work the deposits, but only on a limited scale. Salt of the second category is obtained from lakes in the neighbourhood of Yierny, Kuldja, Aulie-Ata, and many others. * According to the Turkistiin Kaleiuiar for 1880, the population of the mountain districts consisted of 25, 56^ males and 18,617 females. Of these, 072 were Russian troops. Divided according to creeds, there were in the district S4 ( J Orthodox, 2 Dissenters, is Romanists, 2 Pro- testants, 12 [ews, 41 Hindus, and the remainder were Muhammadans. Spring begins in the middle of February, and lasts to the 151!! April ; summer and autumn linger on to the middle of November, or even December. The climate is drv, and there blows in summer an east, and in winter a west, wind. The dusty ghannsol sometimes visits the vallev and injures the crops, but storms are very rare. The temperature at Samarkand attains to a greater range, the cold having descended to 2"C6 in February, and risen to 64 '22 in the June before my visit. % In 1*72 cholera began in India, and passed through. Persia to Bokhara, whence it entered Russian territory by way of Samarkand and ]i/akh to Tashkend, and spread along the great postal-road north- wards, but not further east than Aulie-Ata. It lasted live summer months, and of 1,556 persons attacked, }<'> per cent. died. THE ZARAFSHAN PROVINCE. 539 lor instance, on the hands or feet) of spots of a milky- white colour, and by the general enfeeblement of the organism. The disease, of which the two kinds are distinguished as Diaklian and />/>, is said to be con- tagious, and those who are suffering from it are con- demned (as under the Levitical law, Xumb. x. 2, Lev. xiii. 46) to live in hamlets apart, communication with them, according to Kostenko, being strictly for- bidden. Xo objection, however, was raised to my visiting the makliau or lepers' hamlet at Khokand, and I found that some of the lepers resorted continually to the ba/aar, to support themselves and their afflicted fellows by asking alms.* In the Khokand village their state was pitiable indeed. Sixteen men and six women were living in mud huts, in the depths of poverty, with no doctor coming near. My companion, Mr. Sevier, being a physician, was, of course, particularly interested in our visit. I he first case we looked at was that of a boy with leprosy in the atrophic stage, with his face a mass of sores, and his i yes positively eaten out. The sockets were running over with pus, and a more revolting sight I think 1 * I )r. 1 lau^hton, of 1 )ublin, ha- visited the leper hospitals .it IVr-eii tn study leprosv, and hi 1 tells me that the popular opinion is that the disease is contagious ; tin.- scientific opinion that it is hereditary. \Yith thi> latter he concurs, espeeially alter consulting hemerara phy- sicians having threat experience of leprosy in the \Yest Indies and South America, \vherc it is more deadly than in 1-1 u rope or Asia. Mr. 1 1 a n^ lit on speaks ,if " two houses tor incurables and one for curables " at Mer-en, in iMq; but when I was there in iS-d, 1 wrote: " -'-" patient- all incurable": for in no case had they then been successful. They did indeed point out one boy of seven, who entered wit li a t my spot ot leprosy, and who they thought in _>o years i;i;^~/i! be cured. So tar as 1 am able to judi^e, 1 should think that the care bestowed upon the Her^c n lepers kept them longer alive, so that in the hn-pital were seen examples ot the disease in more advanced stages than I happened to meet with ir. Asia ; but there were certain resemblances in both. 540 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. never saw. The poor boy's chief care seemed to be to keep off the flies from his sores. He was born of leprous parents, who had brought him thither and abandoned him. In a second case the eyes of the sufferer protruded, and in a third the knuckles were cramped. A woman, whom we saw, had a discoloured face, and in a young girl the disease was seen in the skin being tightly stretched over the nose. In another woman, with a white patch, was seen what Mr. Sevier called anaesthetic leprosy ; whilst, lastly, a man seized eight months previously in his hands, saw them gradually growing like claws from contraction of the skin. This was one of the saddest visits I paid in Turkistan, and it is much to be hoped that some benevolent Russians ere this may have attempted something for the mitigation of the sufferings, even if it be impossible to effect the cure, of Turkistan lepers. On account ot their alienation, the stricken folk are deprived of nearly all civil advantages ; they live for the most part on alms, marry only among themselves, and bring into the world children who are lepers like themselves. As soon as the news reaches the DiakJiau of another stricken person, a deputation immediately proceeds to demand that the afflicted one should be sent to the marked hamlet. Hither poor persons are forcibly exiled, but the rich sometimes buy themselves off by a yearly payment ot from /, 5 to ,/, 10. Even this, however, would not seem always to be feasible, for one stricken man at Khokand told me, as a proof of his former prosperity, that he had three wives, but when taken sick he was driven away from home to his present position with one wife and child." 7Y/A ZARAFSHAN PROVIXCK. 541 The valley of the Zanifshan is full of ethnological interest, its peoples being at least eight in number- namely. Tajiks, U/begs, Persians, Jews, Hindus. Bohemians, Afghans, and Arabs. Of these the Tajiks are the aboriginal inhabitants of the country, and are divided into Tajiks of the plains, who have become more or less mingled with the new-comers, and the ethnologically purer Tajiks of the mountains. M. Ujfalvy has minutely described them both.* The Tajiks of the Kohistan mountains arc; in disposition as {rank and honest as the Tajiks of the plain are untruthful. The inhabitants of Karate-gin, I )arwax, Shignan, and Badakshan are said to be one and the; same people with the Galtchas. They speak dialects of Persian, and seem to have been driven to the mountains of not know tin- date of these statistics, but the 'l'n I'kistan A~:/ ,i| the I'/be^s. The toes are small, calf iinii de\el. iped. the le^'.s fairly strai-ht. th.e waist slender, tin- trunk tairh vt^oi-oiis, and the neck strong. They are sometime- inclined t- be stout, onlv the fat is never tlabbv. a- \\ith the I'urko-Moivnl- 542 RCSSIA.V CENTRAL ASIA. Central Asia, as were the Britons into Wales. They even explain the name Galtcha as signifying "a hungry raven driven to exist in the mountains." * The government of the Galtchas under the Russians is almost purely democratic. Each village has its elder, who bends to the decisions of the majority. The people t are divided into two classes, the mullahs, or educated, and the poor. Their old silver coin was the khokand (worth 8^.), but Russian silver and copper coins circulate also, though only the well-to-do venture to take paper money. The commerce of Kohistan is almost exclusively with Penjakend and Samarkand. * A similar case with the conquered is seen in the inhabitants of the vale of Siddim (Gen. xiv. 10), and in the Danites, who were forced into the mountain (Judges i. 34). Lot, in time of danger, was warned to escape thither (Gen. xix. 17), and the Christians of Judea, also, to flee to the mountains (Matt. xxiv. 16). f In their domestic life, when a child comes into the world, the parents give a feast ; the mother does not get up for five or six days, and when a week old the child receives a name in the presence of a mullah, reminding one of the law of circumcision on the 8th day (Gen. xvii. 12), and the feast given when Isaac was weaned (xxi. 8). (This feast is still given at circumcision in Central Asia, but when the parents are poor they frequently defer the ceremony.) Galtcha wives are bought, and at the conclusion of the purchase a feast is given. When sick they have recourse both to medicaments and exorcism, over which latter the mullah presides. When a man dies he is wrapped in a mat, placed in a trench, and covered with branches and earth. The graves are very small. On returning from a burial the family gives a feast, and then goes into mourning. The widow may marry again after two months and ten days. Paternal authority is exceedingly severe, and hospitality is sacred, each Galtcha village having a house for the accommodation of strangers. Morality is said to stand high among them ; the adulterer being turned out of his house, and his goods confiscated by the Kazi. The women rarely go out. " She has nothing to go out of the house for," said an old Tajik to M. I' j fa Ivy ; " she has enough to do to busy her indoors.'' Polygamy is allowed, but the Galtchas seldom have more than one wife. They live according to Mussulman law ; the widow inherits an eighth, the sons two-thirds of the remainder, and daughters one-third. An oath is admitted and taken upon the Koran in presence of a judge. Slavery appears never to have existed among them. Thev THE ZARAFSHAN PROVINCE. 543 Of some of the other people of the Zarafshan province I may say less, because I shall be able here- after to describe them to greater advantage when stay- ing in their midst. The Persians are descended from prisoners brought hither by the Emir of Bokhara alter the taking of Merv in the middle of the last century. The Bohemians, or gypsies, are divided into Luli and Mazangs. The Luli number about 1,000 souls, are wanderers, like their confreres in Europe, and as dark or darker in complexion. They are above the medium height, and some of them look veritable athletes. They set up little tents of white linen, and busy themselves, as in Europe, with making baskets, etc. The Mazangs are an enigmatical race, that some assimilate to the Bohemians, whilst others make them the aborigines of the Turks of Constantinople. They are not so tall as the Lulis, but are good-looking, and compare advantageously with the Tajiks in possessing eat thrice daily, use birch-brooms to cleanse their houses, and employ linseed to make a paste to serve for candles, which they place in pieces of wood. They burn also in wooden lampstands a kind of resin, found in the countrv precipitated on the rocks. Horned cattle, horses, scouts, and fat-tailed sheep are raised amon^ them, and they keep watch-du.L, r s. They now and then smoke tobacco mixed with the narcotic luic/ni, and frequently take snuff. The (ialtchas never dance, though the men play the guitar-like ifmitar, and the women a similar instrument railed tchilnianda , and both sin^ monotonous and melancholy song's. The physical as well as moral characteristics of the (ialtchas differ. M. l"]falvy says, from those of their brethren in the plains. 1 he skin is very hairy, the eyes ol'tener blue, and the space between them verv narrow. The teeth are often worn with eating dry truit. The hands and feet are larger than those ( >t the ordinary Tajiks, and this j-, ^\\\\ more apparent by comparison with those of the Kir^hese and Tatars, ['hey are very robust, excellent walkers, ^ood horsemen, and able to undergo LH'eat fatigue. They suffer from ophthalmia, some from stone, and there are whole villages affected with rheumatism in the bones that is attributed to a mixture they drink of milk curdled with a certain root. The (ialtchas are divided into six tribes- -the Marians, Kshtuts. FaliJ'hars, Matchas, Fans, and the Ya'mabs. 544 Jt CSS IAN CENTRAL ASIA. greater fineness and elegance in the general structure of the body. The skin is not so dark as with the gypsies in Europe. Those of the Zarafshan valley have become almost sedentary. They profess Muham- madanism, and speak Persian and Turki. The poor are idle, and given to nefarious occupations ; the women practise medicine, and seek to meddle in households with a view to gain. Both classes of gypsy women have the right to go unveiled, and the Mazang females enjoy anything but a good reputation. The Afghans that are met in the towns of Central Asia busy them- selves in commerce and industry ; but though Mussul- mans, they are not regarded with a friendly eye by reason of their rudeness and the violence of their character. In the neighbourhood of Samarkand and Katte Kurgan are from 2,000 to 3,000 Arabs leading a semi-nomad life, descended from the conquerors, who came to Central Asia in the ninth century. With regard to the number of population in the Zarafshan province, I was able to procure nothing new during mv stav, the authorities telling me that on O J s O account ol the small proportion of Russians, and the untrustworthiness of native figures, it was exceedingly difficult to obtain statistics. From the Tnrkistan Animal for 1876 I gather that in 1872 there were in the three districts ot Samarkand, Penjakend, and Katte Kurgan, in round numbers, 21^,000 native in- O *J habitants (119,000 men and 96,000 women).* Most of the Zarafshan towns are connected by well-made :: Divided ethnolog'ically as follo\v> :--Kir^hese, v^2 ; Tajiks, 07,862 ; Uzbeks, 140,154; Persians, 2,21 1 ; Hindus, 214; Jews, 1,074; or divided by grades, thus : Mullahs, 7,090; merchants, / ),^<)] : artisans, 2-^,865 ; a^ r riculturi>rs, ^5.429 ; and labourers, 73,9X6. Thev possess 5.000 domicile^, beside 1*0 iiniM, 30 schools, 2,001 mosques, ojo mills, 500 stamping-mills, or presses, and 32 markets. Thr numbers of beasts in THE ZARAFSHAN PROVIXCE. 545 highways. Resides the postal-road to Tashkent! there is another with good stations and even stone bridges to Katte Kurgan. There is likewise a military road from Samarkand to Penjakend, and other roads to Karshi, Shahr-i-sabz, and Urgut. Most of these are carriage- able, but even the byways in the Zarafshan province are relatively better than in other parts of Turkistan. And now, having indicated the roads of the province, 1 shall next show how I proceeded to the capital. the province were camels, 1,600; horses and asses, 46,000; horned cattle, 01,000; and sheep, 136,000. Once more, the principal crops were rice, wheat, barley, and lucerne, sown and reaped as follows : In ti>:i>. Rice. Wheat. IJarley. Lucerne. Sown . . 2,010 4,843 'o47 74 Reaped . . 18,849 2 '\H9 10,151 124,631 To the fores^oinic native population must be added the Russians living, in 1873, at the towns of Samarkand, (5,069); Katte Kurgan, (1,121); IVnjakend (28); and Kamenny-Most Fort (227); in all 6,451, of whom ^,600 were troops, leaving of civilians only 231 men, 329 women, and 28- children. There' are, besides, in the province, 8 villages, each with inure than 1,000 native inhabitants, IVnshambe with 4,380, and I'ojut with 10,200. CHAPTER XXXVII. FROM KHOKAND TO SAMARKAND. Locality of Khokand productive of goitre. Its causes and remedy. Departure from Khokand. Travellers sleeping in the street. Return to Khojend. History and name of town : its divisions, gardens, and public buildings. Climate and trade of Khojend. Stations to Samarkand. Long stage to Ura-Tiube. View of the town. Its sacred places, buildings, and trade. Religious and moral condition of inhabitants. The "Gates of Tamerlane. "- The Sart pastime of Kok-bari. Kirghese racing games. Native festivals. Flora of Zarafshan. Its exotic and remarkable plants. Fording the Zarafshan.- Approaching Samarkand. KHOKANL), though called "the charming," was voted by the few Russian officials we found living there as exceedingly dull. Moreover, though the situation of the city is pleasant, and on three rivers, yet the water is naught, or, worse still, is supposed to be a principal cause of goitre. In the town of Khokand and some of the adjoining villages this disease, called by the natives bnkak, and by the Arabians si/a, is remarkable for its exaggerated form, and attacks not only human beings, but horses, horned cattle, and dogs. It is worthy of observation, however, that there are quarters of the city where goitre scarcely exists. There are others where, out ol three inhabitants, one will be afflicted with it. Khokand goitre does not produce any acute suffering. In the majority ot cases FROM KHOKAXD TO SAMARKAND. 547 it gives rise to a slight swelling, and only in rare cases assumes monstrous proportions. On the occupation of Khokand by the Russians, goitre began to appear among their troops, which led them to study the local causes producing the disease ;* and since the town engendered other diseases also. especially fevers, it was decided to transfer the administration and the major portion of the troops to Marghilan, which has now become the Russian capital. There was no necessity for me to go there, since I had seen the Governor, General Abramoff, at Tash- kend. and had given to him books for the supply of the hospitals and prisons of Ferghana; so I accord- ingly prepared on Monday morning, September 25th, alter a pleasant stay with our gentlemanly host, to * The investigations were published in the Tiirkistnn Gazette for 1877, Nos. ii and 12. The causes were traced, as was suppo*ed, to local miasma, acting on the organism through tainted water and air. The abundant deposits of organic decayed matter, which mi^ht perhaps be combined with lime and magnesia, would serve, it was thought, for the generation of the miasma. Chemical analysis of the Khokand water* showed them to contain enormous quantities of organic matter and lime- the first, presumably, from the neighbouring rice fields, and the second from the numerous town graveyards. The miasma, too, would be spread the more by the hi^h-lyin^ condition of the *ub-surface water, often not more than 28 inches deep. According to M. Shalom, who was appointed to study the matter, and who ^u^estrd remedies, goitre especially attack* per.*ons of a lymphatic and scrofulous tendency, whose blood is in a poor condition, and those who live in damp places. Ru**ian doctor* treat i^oitre by outward application of iodine; but the natives attect to cure it by means of medicine they call clniin-diiri, produced from a marine plant, ot which the principal element is iodine, and i* u*ed in intu*ion*. pilule-, and powder*, or the leaf is sometime* sucked for about 40 day*, and thr saliva swallowed. Another remedy for goitre employed by the local doctor* (/d 'u'lix] is lii/Jic-nhir/ii n , a red polypus or coral, ground to powder. Sulphur is likewise used, mixed with powdered coral and amber. The natives procure the marine plant and coral from the Red Sea, of pilgrims returning from Mecca. 548 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA drive 260 miles to Samarkand. Our belongings were soon packed, the weightier now by reason of a Kho- kandian suit of mail that had been presented me, and which, with the native boots from Kashgar, the cham- bar or leather trousers from Tashkend, and a helmet of mail and battle-axe subsequently procured at Bokhara, made me a striking suit for a member of the Church Militant. Leaving M. Ushakoff at 10 o'clock, a di'iguitt piloted our carriage through the FROM KHOKAXJ) TO SAMARKAND. 549 labyrinth of streets to the city boundary, beyond which we continued through the walled gardens of the suburbs, on a fine morning, with snow mountains on the distant horizon. At Bish-Aryk they seemed to have received no notice ol our coming, but we obtained horses, and by eight in the evening arrived at Kara- Chukum. Here we had to wait three hours for steeds, which gave us opportunity to walk through the village, and to see people arranging themselves to sleep in the street,* some under a platform of the tiny bazaar, and some on couches, whilst others, apparently travellers, simply spread a garment or cloth and lay on the ground. One man, a late worker, was winding cotton by hand for making stockings, but many more were busy with a large saucepan preparing supper. We left about midnight, and early in the morn- ing reached Khojend. This was by far the oldest Central Asian city we had seen, and dated at least as far back as the fourth century before the Christian era. It was called the Alexandria of the north, and perhaps marks the farthest point northward of Alexander's conquests. .Since his days the town has changed masters many a time and oft. Chinese, Arabs, Persians, Mongols, and Turks have each poured out their blood m assaulting or defending it. f * Illustrating the naturalness ot tin- expression ot the two angels who said to Lot, " Nay, but we will abide in the street all ni^ht " {(ion. xix. 2) ; also the primitive state of things with Job, who could say, " The stranger did not Iodide in the street, but 1 opened my doors to the traveller" ( Job \.\.\i. 32}; and the want of hospitality in the lawless days ot ihe judges, \\hen the I.evite and his concubine were allowed for a time to sit down in the street of (libeali, for no man took them in to lod^e them (Judges \i.\. 15;. T Khojend, with I'ra-liube, fixakh, and the country round, for ninny year-- loaned a separate ->tate, governed by independent P>ek-,. In the bei^innin.Lj "f the eighteenth century Khojend \va> fortified, and the city divided into j.) ward 1 -. K.iriv in the present century it wa-* taken. 550 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. Khojencl is bounded on two sides by the Syr-daria, and on three sides by gardens and ploughed fields. On the south-west these stretch for nearly 5 miles, and on the east still further. The walls, double on three sides and single near the Syr, form an irregular polygon, with a circumference of about 8 miles, the town being entered by 8 gates and several small exits.* Our host the Nachalnik complained of the intensity of the summer heat at Khojencl. For June, July, and August the average temperature is about 84*20 , and the dust brought by the wind from the Steppe fills the air, and renders it very oppressive. The winter is milder than at Tashkend, the Syr here being hardly ever frozen. The wall of the Mogol-Tau, 4,000 feet high, on the opposite side of the river, helps to intensify the heat, sheltering the town from the north \vind, and absorbing and refracting the sun's rays. Summer, too, is longer than at Tashkend, and Khojencl fruits are ripe a fortnight before those of Tashkend, Ura-Tiube, or [izakh. The trade industry of Khojencl is represented by as I have said, by Alim-Kul, ruler of Khokand, and from that time till the invasion of the Russians the town was a constant apple of discord between Bokhara and Khokand. The name is alleged by some to be derived from K/iajianda. a daughter of Adam, by whom the inhabit- ants say the town was founded, and in accordance with which they claim that it is the most ancient in all Central Asia. Others say the name was corrupted to its present form from Kliopc/iiant, or built on a beautiful place. A third and more reasonable derivation is that ot K/wja and Kcinf, or "the abode of Khojas," and there really is of them an extraordinary number in the town. * Tlie 24 ancient wards were subsequently divided into So mahcilas, which still exist, named after their respective canals. Khojend is now divided into the A'uzerA', or western, and the Kalinaus, or eastern quarters, with 2, years old, was almost rebuilt 20 years asj;o, at the public expense, this mosque hoi nj^ almost the only fine specimen of Central Asian architecture now existing. It is called 1 laxret-Sheikh-Muslak-ed-din, in honour of the sainted personage whose name it bears, and who was a protector of the town of Khojend. There are in the town, in all, 2 | medresses, with s,}o students, and \o schools with 100 scholars; most cemeteries within the city bounds. ' Stations from Khojend to Samarkand \\ith intervening distances in versts: - 552 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. we sent back a message of thanks to Colonel Putimsoff for kindly arranging about our horses, and then break- fasted, by way of fortifying ourselves for the longest postal stage I think I ever took in Russia without changing horses. It is marked in the post-book 27 miles, but the driver declared it was 33 ; I believed him, and hired four horses, and they gave us another into the bargain, so that we drove off with two leaders under a postilion, and a troika. For about twenty miles the landscape presented nothing but an extensive desert, with scarcely a tree to be seen. Then appeared an oasis here and there, and cultivation came into view with fields of standing corn. During all the stage we met but one yemstchik, and few caravans, but saw r a man ploughing with oxen. This dreary drive took us the greater part of the clay, and we were not sorry, late in the afternoon, to come within sight of the picturesque fortress of Ura-Tiube. Ura-Tiube, or Ora-Tippa, is a city set on a hill 2,700 feet above the sea. The commandant was Colonel Vaulin. With much ado we got them to drag the carriage up to his house, where he was expecting us, and received us heartily. He kindly gave us some dinner, and seemed thoroughly to participate in our enjoyment, for so dull was the place, there being only five persons in it to constitute "society, "that he seemed as pleased with our visit as were we. The view from the terrace before the Colonel's house was one of the most extensive we saw in Central Asia. The town is situated at the foot of two eminences, one being sur- mounted by the citadel, whilst on the slopes of the other lies the north-western portion ot the town. On our right was the citadel, with a monument raised to the memory of the Russians killed in the si eye on the FROM KHOKAXI) TO SAMARKAND. 553 ist November, 1866. The gateway of the fort had been turned into a small Russian church. On our left we had a good view of the barracks and the town, which has a circumference of about four miles, and is encircled by a double wall.* I inquired at Ura-Tiube concerning the religious and moral condition of the people, and was told ot two adjacent places sacred in Muhammadan eyes, with traditions attached worthy of Papal Rome. One was the tomb of a saint about half a mile out of the town, and over which was built an arch that in process of time began to drop in the centre, whereupon, with a view to propping it up, they cut no less than 100 trees in succession, not one of which, by some strange fatality, would exactly fit ; whereupon the hewers of wood decided to sleep upon it, and lo ! whilst they slept, the hundred trees walked off to Mecca, whence Muhammad sent back a stone pillar, and this the sleepers, on waking, found erected where the tree was to have stood. Another saint having been buried in Ura-Tiube, water began to issue from his grave. * For some reason now unknown, it is divided into ^ unequal n i!\'tziirs, corresponding to the niiihntiis of Khojend, but there are hardly any gardens in the town, the land beini; tnonopoli/ed by its 1,400 houses. I'll i.' gardens are in the suburbs, whither tlu-ir proprietors n-pair in summer, and leave the town almost deserted. Two of the medresses are of kiln-burnt brieks, one of them having been built, }jo years a^ r o, by Sultan Abdul-l.atif. The inhabitants, according to Kostenko, number 4, Sou, of whom nou are I'/be^s. and a tew Jeus and Hindus, hut of no other races. The Kir^hese are ^aid not to i ome except to sell wood, coal, and cattle, or to buy such necessities as their o\sn industry is incapable of producing. There are S^o shops in the to\ui, and a ba/aar containing O^o more. To jud^e trom the ('olonel's account, Russian ^oods are dear. Candles cost io, 27, but in the unearthed remains of Pompeii. The women at Vra-Tiube were said to be better, but very dirty. FROM KIIOKAND TO SAMARKAXD. 555 \Ye passed two villages lying under the hill-side, with tlat roofs and walled yards, and then entered a valley of the Kara-Tan chain, through which runs the stream Jixakh just referred to, whilst the road leads through a defile not more than a hundred yards in width, called the Gates of Tamerlane, though there appears to be no local reason lor the name. This important pass connects the Syr-daria and Zaralshan valleys, and has witnessed many a sanguinary conflict for the possession of one or the other. On our right rose the scarped cliff some 400 feet high, of a pyramidal slaty rock. On its surface are cut two Persian inscriptions, untranslated in any book that I have met with, except that of Dr. Schuyler. The first commemorates a campaign to, and the return in safety from, the country of the Mongols in 1425. by Ulug-Bek, the celebrated grandson of Tamerlane ; and the second informs the traveller ol a victory in 1571 of Abdullah Khan, who with 30,000 men put to flight an army of 400,000. This victory is attributed " to a fortunate: conjunction oi the stars," and it is added that so many were- killed that tor a month blood continued to run in the river to Jixakh, and then it concludes, " Let this be known." This was an instance ol setting up a memorial tor those who should come alter, and amongst the nomad Kirghese I had met, as I have said, with the raising a heap tor a similar purpose; but I do not remember meeting in Central Asia any exemplification ot the custom of setting up great stones, plastering them with plaster, and writing thereon. ' ( )n emerging from the defile we were again on the steppe, with signs of irrigation, and of distant sno\v- 556 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. covered peaks to the south. As we approached Yany- Kurgan, we saw what looked in the distance like a company of Cossacks exercising, but on nearer approach proved to be a hundred or more of natives playing their favourite game of Kok-Bari, or grey wolf. It was market day, and on such occasions, when horsemen congregate, a goat or kid is good- naturedly seized upon, belonging to someone well-to- do, who has had a birth in his family or some other piece of good fortune, and the animal is killed. The president of the game then takes his position, if possible, near some steep or elevated place, and hands the goat to a horseman, who dashes down the slope at the risk of breaking his neck, and is immediately pursued by the field, each of whom tries to snatch away the goat before the man can bring it back to the president. Men of various ages were on the ground, and some had mounted their boys before them to see the fun, which was in some respects not unlike a game of football. The race goes on till the carcase is torn in pieces, whereupon it " goes to pot," and is boiled for a feast. Then the company is ready to seize another goat and commence again. We passed but few houses on the road to Sarailyk, and then proceeded across extensive plains, frequently through cultivation. By evening we reached Kamenny- Most, or Stone Bridge, guarded by a Russian fort, and beyond this point descended into the lower valley of the Zarafshan, the. road lying through numerous fields. \Ve had now entered, in tact, one of the gardens of Turkistan, the flora being almost unknown to naturalists till fifteen years ago, when a scientific expe- dition was sent thither from Moscow under Professor A. P. Fedchenko. I shall need to speak more fully of FROM KHOKAND TO SAMARKAND. 557 this expedition hereafter, but it will be interesting to notice here certain peculiarities concerning the tlora of the valley.* Among useful trees is Tukhmiak, or Sophora Japonica. Although but four species are found in Samarkand, they are numerous in Khojend and Khokand. The flowers in bud are collected and dried ; from these, by infusion in cold water, an excellent yellow dye is obtained. Another interesting plant is kanap, by which general name several fibrous plants are known, f A still more noteworthy, and for a long time enigmatical, plant is sunibnt, kept so jealously from the Russians in Turkistan (as was the Ginseng in Manchuria), that Fedchenko was denied access thereto by the Bek of Maghian. \ One more plant of a remarkable character is worth notice here, called s/iin's/i, of the lily family. It has a smooth stem about 3 feet 6 inches high, and an inch in * SIT .Appendix on tin; tlora of Turkistan. t llt'inp is so called, for instance, in Samarkand, also Ap<>cynui sihiricuiii, termed in Semirechia kcnt/yr. One particularly valuable specimen j^iven to M. 1'Ydchenko \vas Ifih/scns ciinnabinns. It i^rew 16 feet lii.^'Ii, with ripe fruit in the beginning' of September. A special point to be noticed about two of these plants is that tin- Tnklinn\ik is a native f Japan, and the Jfilnscus is cultivated in India. The latter i^ r ives excellent fibre for rope and cord that has had hitherto to be brought from Russia. The existence, therefore, of these plants in Turkistan seems to prove that they misfit be acclimati/ed in certain parts of tin- country for industrial uses, at least to supply the local population it not fi >r export to Russia. + M. 1'orshtchoff was authori/ed to promise jo half imperial.-, for a specimen for instruction, but the reward remained for some time un- claimed. Hy close questioning, however, he ascertained that it x'rows in mountain valleys watered by over-flowing rivers, such as the upper courses of the Oiirchik and Syr-daria. l-'edchenko obtained a bulb and planted it in the botanical garden of Moscow I 'niversity, where it blossomed and it-- fruit ripened, thus rendering possible a detailed investigation of tin- plant, and rejoicing the heart of the explorer, who said that if tin- lick of Maghian chose to -" to Mosi ow lie mi^ht see there in perfection the 55 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. diameter, with a thick spindle-shaped root, the bulbs resembling those of the dahlia or beet, but much larger. In autumn, when the plant becomes ripe, the stems are cut off and dried for fuel ; the root is dug up, dried in the sun, and crushed, and the triturated powder, of a green-greyish hue, is called Shiriash* Shirish grows abundantly in Turkistan, and shiriash has an impor- tant trade value throughout Central Asia, where it is employed in alabaster works, for stiffening cotton, and for thickening certain colours used in printing cotton fabrics. These remarks on flora have been suggested by our entrance to the cultivated portion of the Zarafshan valley. We had telegraphed in the morning from Jizakh to Samarkand to General Korolkoff to inform him of our approach, hoping to finish our journey that night ; but when we reached Djimbai it was already dark, and since between that station and Samarkand we had to ford the Zarafshan, the post-master advised us to wait till dawn, and not risk the danger of a night crossing. I therefore sat up till midnight writing, so as to have as much leisure as possible in the capital, and before it was light I stirred up the yemstchik to put to plant he had tried to keep so exclusively in his o\vn mountains. Sumbul {SiumbiuJia) is a bulbous plant belonging' to the family Unibellifcrcc, and is considered to constitute a new genus approximate to Ferula and Peucedanum. Its root has the smell of Musk and Archangelica, and is therefore used as a cosmetic in the richer harems of Turkistan. * Shiriash, if not identical with, is very much like burnt starch, lustrine, Icioknin, and other trade denominations of dextrine prepared from starch. The powder is easily soluble in cold water, does not take a blue colour when mixed with iodine, and is capable of precipitation by strong spirit. On first investigation under the microscope the powder did not reveal the presence of an atom of starch, and it was therefore supposed that the dextrine formed in the process of drying ; but subse- quently dextrine was detected in the fresh roots a fact said to be unknown previously to physiologists. FROM KHOKAND TO SAMARKAND. 559 the horses. We started about four o'clock, and in the grey dawn came to the banks of the " gold -strew ing " stream, the fording of which I saw was to be a more serious matter than aught of the kind I had previously undertaken. Not only is the stream very swift, but the depth so varies from day to day in different parts of the bed that men are kept on the spot to study the river's caprice and help travellers across. Our goods were all taken out of the tarantass. and. with our two selves, were placed in a high native cart, and thus, accompanied by horsemen, we forded the river with no worse mishap than the falling out ot our bread- bag, which was rescued by one of the horsemen. The tarantass was dragged through, and did not get so soaked as we feared it might have done, so that we had only to put back our goods and proceed. We passed the hill of Chupan-Ata, and soon found our- selves on a well-made road, with trees on either hand. Along this we passed to the palace of the Governor, and thus arrived at the ancient capital of the Timurids. CHAPTER XXXVIII. THE ANCIENT CAPITAL OF THE TIM U RIDS. History of Maracanda. Tamerlane's capital. Ancient ruins. Anti- quities of Tamerlane's day. Ulug-Beg's observatory. The Russian Governor's palace. The Gur-Emir: its tombstones, history, and relics. Mosque of Shah-Zindeh : its legends, ornamentation, and places of devotion. Ruin of Bibi-Khanum medresse : its architec- ture, and miracle-working- lectern. Bibi-Khanum's tomb.- The Citadel Palace and the Kok-tash stone : its legendary history and uses. Timur's palace of Ishrat-Khana. WE saw little or nothing of antiquarian interest north of Tashkend, unless it were a few Kirghese tombs, not apparently very old. Nor did matters improve much until we approached Samar- kand, the one town of antiquities that Russia possesses in the whole of her dominions. Its foundation, according to KhanikofF, goes back to the heroic age of Persian history, and is attri- buted to Keianide Kei Kaous, son of Kei-Koubad. But, however this may be, we know that at the time of the invasion of Alexander the Great, he took in Transoxiana a town Maracanda. in 329 i;.c., which he made his head-quarters during his contests with the mountain tribes. It was here, in a fit of drunken passion, that he killed his friend Cleitus, and from hence he went to winter at Zariaspa, which Khanikoff connects with the Khivan Hazarasp. In Alexander's THE A NCI EXT CAPITAL OF THE TIMURIDS. 561 time Maracanda was said, by Ouintus Curtius, to have walls eight miles in circumference, with a citadel surrounded by an inner wall. .Afterwards it became the capital of Sogdiana, one of the provinces formed out ot the ruins of Alexander's monarchy. I he Greeks and Gra^co-Bactrians had their day, and were succeeded by the Vuechji, apparently Steppe nomads, mentioned by the; Chinese General, Chyan Tsian, about 125 ii.c. At what date the valleys of the Oxus and Jaxartes were conquered by the Celes- tials is not known ; but. in the seventh century alter Christ, these parts of Asia were considered the western provinces of the Kmpire of China. They called the town Sie-mu-sze-kan. The Arabs were the next in- vaders, conquering Samarkand in 675. The Khalits' direct reign lasted until A.I). 888, when the: depen- dent dynasty ot the Samanids succeeded, but collapsed in A.D. 1004, to be followed by Turkish princes of the Seljuk dynasty. The Greeks brought with them Western ideas and customs, the traces ot which have long since: passed away, save: that now and then Gra'co-Bactrian e'oms are tounel, and some of the Tajiks ot the: mountains claim descent from the: Gre:at Iskaneler. 1 he Arabs, however, introduced a new religion and civilixation that no subsequent vicissitudes have elfaceel. l-nder the Samanids, Samarkand became the- home' of peace: and science, and for some centuries alter the Mussul- man conquest it was also the see ot a C hristian bishop. It early became one ot the large towns ot Asia, tor whe-n the great Mongol conqueror, (inghix Khan, overturned the: city in 1221, he was opposed by 110,000 men, about three-Fourths of whom he put to the: sword. A quarter ot a ce-ntury later, however, VOT.. i. ;/, 562 RUSSIAN- CENTRAL ASIA. the Christians were said to be in a flourishing state, by virtue of privileges bestowed on them by Jinghiz Khan ; and Marco Polo testifies that in his day there was a Christian church in Samarkand. Jinghiz was succeeded by Mongol heirs for nearly 200 years, till his dynasty was set aside by Timur, or Tamerlane, who made Samarkand the capital of his vast dominions. Out of it he marched on campaigns that lasted for years, and from which he returned with captives and spoils, bent on making his capital the finest city of the world. It was on his return from one of these campaigns, in 1404, that he received Don Ruy Gonzales de Clavijo as ambassador from Henry III. of Castile. Hans Schiltberger, of Munich, was in Samarkand about the same time, though he tells us little or nothing about the city ; but Clavijo, on his return, wrote such an account of his adventures, and of the splendour of Tamerlane's court, as made Europe marvel. Nearly a hundred years later, in 1497, when Samarkand had 150,000 inhabitants, Baber, one of Timur's descendants, speaks of its pleasant situation, saying that the wall was 10,600 paces in circumference. Two years later, however, the Uzbegs, under their Khan Sheibani, seized the capital, and once for all drove away Timur's descendants. Around the standards of the Sheibanids rallied various Turkish peoples, who soon acquired ascendency over nearly all the Central Asian countries, formerly ruled by the Timurids ; and though they were somewhat checked by peoples of Persian blood, the: I .. zbcgs held in subjection the valleys of the Zarafshan till the coming of the Russians. Under the Uzbegs, Samarkand, once the capital of a great monarchy, declined to the condition of a barbarous town, and at the b THE AXCIEXT CAPITAL OF THE TIM T RIDS. 563 of the eighteenth century, after devastation by the nomaels, possesseel scarcely any inhabitants. Thus the site of Samarkand, having been occupied for me)re than two thousand years, might be expe-cted to be rich in objects of high antiquity. It must be remembered, henvever, that in remote? times the inhabitants of the Zarafshan valle?y live?el very much in tents, and, when they built, did se> with mud rathe:r than stone ; as, for instance, in Tamerlane's time-, when, on one occasion, he ordered a mosque te) be? built in the space of ten elays. The most ancie-nt ruins are thought to be those on the hill Kaleh-i- Afrasiab in the? northern outskirts of the present town. These- are- connected, in the minds of the? native-s, with the mythical Turkish hero Afrasiab. who is supposed to have knight with Alexander of Mace-elon, anel te) have founded Samarkand. Another story is that the- giant Afrasiab, being unable to take the ancient city by assault, burieel it unde:r the? sanel. The extent of these ruins, or rathe?r ol this dreary elesert. is inime-nse, and presents a scene? ot scattereel kiti'gan, or tumuli, and of heaps e>t earth, the? re?mains. probably, of former clay erections. In 1-^75. some? unsyste-matic excava tions were? made, and ruins ol house's and an ancient pottery discovered, including tugs, as \\'ell as gla-^ ware-, suggestive: ol Chinese workmanship, together with e'oins and gla/e-d tiles. " Kurgan." similar to those ot Afrasiab, orrur in various other plaevs around the present ( 's or remains o si< me the- Zaralshan, the r 564 RUSSIA A T CENTRAL ASIA. which I must have passed, though I do not remember noticing it near the hill of Chupan-Ata, which perhaps is the greatest antiquity of the neighbourhood.* The chief antiquities to be seen in Samarkand in the present day date from the beginning of the fifteenth century, and onwards, the oldest of them being con- nected with the name of Timur. These include his place of burial, called the Gur-Emir, with that of his wife, Bibi-Khanum, and another beautiful mosque, called the Shah-Zindeh. There are also four remark- able medresses, called the Tillah-Kari, Shir-Dar, Ulug-Beg, and Bibi-Khanum. There is likewise an- other object of interest in the citadel, where, in the reception hall of the Emir of Bokhara, is preserved the ancient koktask, or coronation stone of Tamerlane. North-east of Samarkand, on the hill Chupan-Ata, called Kohik by Baber, was built an observatory, three stories high, by Ulug-Beg, son of Shah Rukh, and grandson of Timur, who provided it with astronomical apparatus, and whose memory has been secured to posterity by means of the astronomical tables that bear " Dr. Schuyler and M. Ujfalvy both allude to it, and the latter gives an engraving showing its two enormous arches, built of stone and brick, at right angles to each other, with, apparently, the ruins of a tower at the corner. M. L'jfalvy gives no information respecting its origin ; and Dr. Schuyler says that he could get none. I observe, however, that M. Khanikoff, writing thirty years earlier, after speaking of the desirabilty of exploring the ruins of Afrasiab Kaleh, says, ''It would be not less curious to ascertain if there exist the remains of a bridge over the Zarafshan, known to Arabian geographers under the name of Kantarei Samarkand, and of which they speak as a marvel." Here, then, seems to be the answer to M. Khanikoff; and if this can be substantiated, this bridge will probably prove the oldest building near Samarkand. What may be brought to light hereafter under the Afrasiab ruins, by organized search, remains to be seen. Meanwhile archaeologists will be thankful that von Kaufmann would not have these and similar places disturbed until he could secure the attendance, as he hoped to do, of competent antiquarians to superintend the work of excavation. THE AXCIENT CAPITAL OF THE TIMURIDS. 565 his name.* Nothing now remains of the observatory ; and the hill derives its present name from the small tomb of a saint placed on the top, Chupan-Ata being the patron of shepherds, as well as of the city of Samarkand. It was from this direction, as I have said, that we approached the city on the 28th September, and sighted, from the Tashkend road, the enamelled dome of Timor's tomb, as prominent an object in miniature as the dome of St. Paul's from London Bridge. The road passed through an ancient cemetery, and continued past the place of Bibi-Khanum, and the bazaar, to the; Rhigi- stan. or market-place, bounded on three sides by the medresses U lug- Beg, Shir-Dar, and Tillah-Kari. Instead of following this road, however, our driver turned to the right on passing inside the wall, and drove down an avenue, planted by the Russians, on tlie eastern side ol the citadel, and so brought us to the grove of trees, where is situated the palace of the Governor. General Ivanoff, as I have intimated, was at Tashkend, but the soldiers in charge of his house * lie caused instruments to be constructed of :\ better pattern ami greater dimensions than any that had hitherto been u-ed for making astronomical observations. Anion^' these was a stupendous ',i/::, the radius of which is said to have been as lii^li as the dome of Santa Sophia at Constantinople ; but this is supposed to lie an exaggerated de-cription, or to have been only a gnomon. In the course ot some investigations undertaken bv I "lu^-Ue^'. he found thai certain star-- in Ptolemy's catalogue, reduced to iiis own epoch, did not accord unit the observations made at Samarkand, and he therefore undertook the laborious task of making a new set of astronomical tables, and o! re- observih;;' the whole of the catalogue, llenee tile origin and i ause o; " MiiL 1 ,- I'-e^'s Table ,." They are divided into four parts, refemm; to respective treatises on the epochs and era-', on the knowledge o! Mim . on the course ot' the planets, and on the position- The tables are reckoned by far the best of an v of tho-- us by the M uhanimadans. See /'/-<>CC( -;:';;^'\ of f/tc K Soc/f/\', \'ol. xiii. 5 66 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. were expecting us ; and, seeing that Samarkand has no hotel, it was no small treat to find ourselves in the best quarters in the town, with everything clean and comfortable, including the luxury of a bath. The palace is an oblong, lofty building on one floor, with a massive porch midway on the longer side. The interior is divided lengthwise into two suites of rooms, the front door opening into a spacious hall. To the right of this is the dining-room, and to the left sitting and sleeping rooms, whilst the other half of the house is taken up with offices and bed-room at either end, and ball-room and drawing-rooms in the centre. The O Russian Government provides houses of this descrip- tion for governors of provinces, and furnishes them, so that I was fairly familiar with the interior arrange- ments of the house ; but this palace at Samarkand was surrounded by finer gardens, and had a more imposing approach than any other similar residence I remem- bered to have seen. General Korolkoff, who was temporarily acting as Governor, was not living in the palace, but, though early, we went to him at once, and found in him one of the most polished and intellectual of Russian officers it has been my good fortune to meet. Botany is one of his studies, and apart from the intro- duction of Generals Abramoff and Ivanoff, I had another to him from M. Regel, the director of the Botanical Gardens at Petersburg. The General spoke l ; rench, and was able to give me a good deal of information, so that our time spent indoors was both pleasant and instructive. We were impatient to see the "lions" of the town, and made our way first to the Gur-Kmir, a small but lofty mausoleum surmounted by a melon-shaped dome, the top being perhaps from 200 to 250 feet high. On THE AXC1EXT CAPITAL OF TfJE ThMCRIDS. 567 the sides of the building rose two minarets, one being already in ruins, and the other not safe enough to ascend. Near at hand is a tall arch, also much dilapidated. That which imparts to the building its striking appearance on the exterior is the colour of its enamelled bricks, built in mosaic, and made to repre- sent round the cornice enormous Arabic letters, that could be read, I should think, more than a mile oft. The building is approached under a mosaic portal across a paved court planted with a score of karagach, apricot, plum, and white: mulberry trees. Formerly the court was enclosed within a wall, and Yambcry so found it, but now the gateways alone remain. The front of the building, as the law directs, is towards the south, but the entrance is on the west, and over the gateway we entered is written in white letters on blue ground, " This is the work of poor Abdullah, son of Mahmoud of Ispahan." \\ e. mount five: stone steps, and at the: distance: of six paces another step, and then arrive; at the first woode-n door le-ading to a vestibule, the door being moele-rn and plain without, but carve-d inside. The next door is of ane'ient carving, inlaid with ivory, and over it is a low, square, wooden window of open work ; above- this is a second window of alabaster, and yet higher a third, also of alabaster, the latter two with oval pediment-. On the- right is a door admitting to a long chamber, where- are buried some of the female members of rimur's family, and similarly on the left is a door opening into a low, arched chamber, surmounted by four cupolas, wherein, according to Fedchenko, are the tombs of rimur's son Mirxa-Shah-Rokh and his familv. Still further to the left, in a \v;ng ol the principal building, is an entrance, M. I italvv savs, of unknown purpose, leading to 568 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. the tombs. Probably it is that referred to by Fedchenko in the crypt, in the wall of which, he says, " there was once a door through which the dead were brought in, but it is now built up with bricks. At one time there were four entrances into this building, signi- fying that people flocked from the four quarters of the world to the tomb of the great Emir." On entering the principal doorway we found our- selves in an octagonal chamber, ten paces in diameter, wainscoted to a height of nearly five feet with yashma, or jasper, as I was told, and as is commonly said, but which Dr. Schuyler asserts to be " hexagonal plates of finely-carved transparent gypsum." I brought away a piece found among the debris outside, and on show- ing it at the Museum of Natural History in South Kensington, it has been pronounced to be white, translucent, and massive carbonate of lime. Above this are three rows of niches carved in sandstone, a foot and a half high, then inscriptions, formerly blue, 1 8 inches in height, also in niches ; and above all this a continuance of niches, beautifully carved, and crowned by a line arch. The colour of the whole is greyish white, and looks somewhat dingy and old. In the eastern wall, lacing Mecca, is an arched recess called the Mihrab, wherein rest the remains of Said-Mir-Omar, son of one of Timur's preceptors. Opposite the doorway by which we entered stood a pillar perhaps four feet high, surmounted by a dome, under which was formerly kept burning, says Ujfalvy, "the lamp of perpetual tire."* 1 cannot answer for ; Reminding' one of the Jewish tabernacle. "And the lamp to burn always," Exodus xxvii. 20, an imitation of whieh I remember meeting with at Worms, where in an old synas^o^ue they showed a lamp said to have been burning since the ^th century, in honour of two Christians who then saved the Jews. THE AXCIENT CAPITAL Ot THE TIMURIDS. 569 the perpetuity of the fire at Samarkand, but I found there a dirty three-lipped lamp of unusual form, left probably by a pilgrim, and the like to which I was told 1 could get in the bazaar ; whereupon I begged the mullah in charge to let me have that, and I gave him money to purchase another in its place. I was glad to have secured this lamp from so interesting a spot, and the more so because in my subsequent wanderings 1 did not meet with another ot precisely the same form. The pillar is said to indicate. I believe, where the head lies, and near it is erected a rough pole, from which hangs, as usual over a Muham- madan hero, a banner and horse-tail. ( )n the floor ot the mausoleum, surrounded by an open-worked railing ot carved alabaster, an: seven tombstones. Near the pillar I have mentioned is the: highest but least elegant tomb, that of Mir-Said- Barak, or Mir-Kulan-Said-Baraka, Timur's preceptor and friend. In a line with this is Tamerlane's own tombstone, and near it that of his grandson, I lug-Beg, who, accord- ing to the inscription, died in 1440. The other stones cover the graves of 'I imur's descendants or friends. I he one stone really remarkable, said indeed to be. unique, is that over the tomb of Tamerlane. It occupies the exact centre of the mosque. I lie other tombs are ot white marble, but his is greenish black, <> feet long. 17 inches wide, and 14 inches thick, and ol a single block ot nephrite: or jade, the largest mono- it that material known. I he surface is covered with tracery, and around the edge is a complicated inscription in antujiie letters, giving, says I )r. Schuyler, " Innur's name and titles, together with those of his ancestors, and the date ot his death. 1405."* ; ~ I he stunt' i-i IjV'iken ur rut in the centre, the br.'.irh Iicin^' a'trilmte,! 570 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. The floor of the mausoleum near the tombs is covered with hexagonal stones of what is said to be jasper, but more probably is of the same stone as the wainscoting. A spiral flight of steps of wide span and of grey burnt brick leads into the crypt, where are the graves, and over them slabs of white limestone, seven of them being arranged exactly under their respective representatives above. These, too, are nearly covered with quotations, it is said, from the Koran. The Gur-Emir was built by Timur over the remains of his preceptor Said in 764 (1386), some time before his own death. Timur died in Otrar, within 400 miles ot Samarkand, but his body, according to his own directions, was laid by the side of that of his pre- ceptor.* The famous monolith was brought to Samarkand, Khanikoff says, quoting Muhammad Fassikh, in 1415. Some say that it was the present ot a Mongol princess. Devotees and pilgrims used to flock with great reverence to Timur's grave, but the place seems to have fallen into neglect until the coming of the Russians.! to its fabulous journey to Nadir Shall, who, having hoard of its wonders as a bo/oar, ordered it to be brought to .Meshed. Dr. Sehuyler refers to one of the lower corners as broken off, and M. I 'j fa Ivy mentions an act of vandalism bv a Russian geologist, who stole into the place at night, and cut out a piece for the purpose, as lie said, of making" scientific analysis, but which he was compelled to restore to its place as well as it could be done with plaster, thanks to the outcries of (ieneral . \bramoff. * Schiltberger tells a story of his stay at Samarkand, that " after Ta merlin was buried, the priests that belong to the temple heard him howl every night during a whole year. His friends gave large alms, that he should cease his bowlings. But this was of no use. They asked advice of their priests, and went to his son and begged that he would set free the prisoners taken by his father in other countries, and especially those that were in Samarkand, who were: all craftsmen he- had brought to his capital, where they had to work. lie let them go, and as soon as they were free, Tamerlin did not ho\vl any more.'' f When Khanikoff was there in iJS.) i, he says that to get into the crypt it THE AXCIEXT CAPITAL OF THE TLMUR1DS. 571 About a hundred paces from the Gur-Kmir there is a small building called Ak-Serai, where, tradition says, some of Timur's wives are buried. The place is now in ruins, and serves as a stable, but in Vambery's time there was hanging aloft on the side of the dome a skein, said to contain hair from the beard of the Prophet, which was supposed to have protected the dome from further decay. I saw nothing of the Prophet's beard, though I may mention that the dome of the Gur-Kmir was cracked from the effects of a recent earthquake, and at the time of my visit was undergoing repairs. This gave me an opportunity to get specimens of the enamelled bricks, for which purpose I mounted the scaffolding, accompanied by a number of boys, who readily searched among the dcln'is for suitable pieces, and one of them brought several in his lap to the palace. The object in Samarkand next in interest to Timur's tomb is, beyond question, the mosque of Shah-Zindeh, which Lehmann, Khanikoff, and Yambery call Tamer- lane's Summer Palace. Fedchenko, however, is not of this opinion, and until proof to the contrary is forth- coming, I venture to agree with him ; for the building docs not consist of habitable chambers, like any palace I saw in the Kast, but rather of places set apart lor religious purposes. was necessary to crawl on hands and knees. At the date <>! Vamberv's vi-it in iSii^.there were at the head of the graves two /\',i /'''. or leetern--. tor supporting sacred volume--, \\here the mullah-- in turn lead the Koran day ami ni^ht. There was a lectern al.io in the c Iv'fan upon it written in folio by Othman. Muhammad': and the third Khalif, a relic -aid to have been brou-ht bv liron >.-.. i. and \\htch wa-, kept secretly in Samarkand leM ot madan countries kno\\in^ of the irea--ure should be ]eal were al-M> preserved upon j;, according to |\o-.tenko, some Khalil's blood, whu was slain \\hilst .sitting on the copy o volume. 572 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. The legend related by the mullahs concerning the building of the place is that a thousand years ago there lived a saint, whose name was Hazret-i-Shah-Zindeh, who one day dug a pit and disappeared in it, saying that he would live there for ever. Time ran on, but there were unmistakable signs of the continued exist- ence of the saint. Timur, wishing to be convinced of the miraculous preservation of the holy man, caused several persons to be let down into the pit. But none of them came again to the top, whereupon one man volunteered to descend, directing, however, that he should be lowered head foremost, because he said it was not respectful to go clown feet foremost to the saint. When this man reached the bottom of the pit he found the saint in prayer, and was so struck by his appearance that he fainted, remaining senseless for three days. When he recovered, the saint told him all was well, because he was evidently a God-fearing man, but that if he uttered a word of what he had seen he and his children to the eighth generation should be dumb. On regaining the earth's surface, the man, threatened by Timur with death, told everything, and it came to pass that he was struck dumb. Whereupon Timur, in the interest of the poor man, for whose sin he was himself answerable, prayed to the saint, and, to propitiate him, erected in his honour the splendid edifice called the Shah-Zindeh (or living king). Nevertheless, says the legend, that man and his children to the eighth generation were all dumb.* The mosque of Shah-Zindeh, or more properly * Dr. Schuyler, and in part Professor Vambery, gives a similar story of a Kasim Ibn Abbas, who came to Samarkand in carlv Moslem times, and preached the Koran with threat success, till on this very spot he was overcome by the infidels and beheaded. Whereupon, adroitly seizing his head, Kasim leaped into a well hard by, where he THE AXCIEXT CAPITAL OF THE TIM UR IDS. 573 Kasim-bin-Abbas, is situated about a mile beyond the city gates, built, as it were, in stages on the side of a hill, on which is an immense cemetery, still used, and from whence are visible the seven domes of the mosque. The gateway opens upon the road, and is approached by several steps. On the right at entering is a small court, with chambers for the mullahs, and a well of excellent water, whilst on the lett is a hall or mosque, where Muhammadan service is held. When we entered, worship was being conducted by a Muham- madan sect called Xadamat, closely resembling the service I had seen at Constantinople of the "howling" dervishes, and which I shall describe later on. Mount- ing a flight ot 37 high and broad steps, which were once covered with marble, we came to a long un- covered gallery, flanked by two lotty chambers, open at the side and capped with cupolas. Along this gallery were pointed out to us several tombs, and among them those ot a sister and an uncle of Tamerlane, the enamel work on all of them being more beautiful than any I saw elsewhere in Central Asia, unless, perhaps, at Kunia Urgenj.* In I )r. Schuyler's time he says that there were: quantities of fragments to be picked up, but the Russians have since done much to restore the building and remove still remains, ready to come forth at some future day as the defender of Islam. * The ornamentation, moreover, was of several kinds. H,-re were mohairs built of tini-coloured bricks. In other parts were brick*-, eat li with various shades of colour. whilst there \\ere in several part.*, sm.iil pieces, ol brick faced wit h colour, and tit t in^ into one another in nio-.iic. and a fourth kind of enamelling; on an embossed surtace ot squares, circles, and stars. One of the mosques had a melon-shaped dome, witli the tiles nearly all fallen nil". The interior walls .if the buildings are covered \sith mosaic, and the domes, supported by slender, carved, wot nl en columns, are full ot bold, yet elegant , pendent work in alabaster. Tin; walls alone; the staircase were formerly covered with tiling. 574 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. the dtlbris, as at Tamerlane's tomb. I found the mullahs abundantly willing to get me some specimens, and, though making heavy baggage, I was thankful to secure some of each kind. At the end of the gallery we came to the ancient mosque with its courts, chambers, and crypt. In one of the rooms was a door of iron grating, secured by a fish-shaped lock, having behind it, dimly distinguish- able, a monument, or object covered with cloths. In an adjoining room was an immense Koran, 6 feet by 4 when open, and we were shown an underground cell, where devotees might shut themselves up for 40 days' fasting and praying to the saint. In reply to my inquiry how much those fasting ate, I was informed that of the 10 or 15 who come there annually, some eat on the evening of each day, some only once in three days, and all as little as possible. In former times the rulers of Samarkand paid their reverence at Shah-Zindeh before entering the city in triumph, and the mosque became a famous place of pilgrimage. In Yambery's day there were offered for the faithful to kiss, three flags, an old sword, and a breastplate, as relics of Timur, and also there were said to exist certain relics of the saint; but I saw nothing of these, and when I wished to look down the- well of Shah Zindeh, I was asked not to do so, the mullahs saying that even von Kaufmann, the Governor-General, had respected the holy place, and did not enter there. These things naturally reminded me of the so-called holy places on the European Continent, but the votive offerings left at the holy places of Islam are fewer and much poorer than the offerings at the shrines of Roman or Russian saints. Here they consisted merely of prayer-cloths, on which Moslems have knelt, and of THE AXCIEXT CAPITAL OF THE TIMURIDS. 575 pictures brought by pilgrims from Mecca. I found the mullahs by no means fanatical, for they thankfully accepted a Persian Bible, and appeared delighted to get t. Returning down the Shah-Zindeh avenue, between rows of gypsies who sit like Bar Timaeus " by the way-side begging," the traveller regains the Tashkend road and comes to the Place of Bibi-Khanum, or Oueen Bibi (khct)i and khaiuoii meaning king and queen, lord and lady), where are ruins ol other two buildings that date from the time of Timur. The Bibi is spoken ot as his favourite wife, and the daughter ot a Chinese emperor, who, from her private purse, built the rnedresse that bears her name, according to Muham- mad Fassikhi, in the year 1404.* There re-main several indications showing that the Bibi-Khanum medresse must have been one ot it not the finest in Central Asia. Its chief mosque is said by Khanikofi to have been built by the side ot the medresse in 130^. by Timur. It is crowned with what is for Turkistan a gigantic double dome; but what struck me most was the lotty graceful arch of the I y i$litak* or trout entrance. Its proportions seemed to me perfect ; and whether it was the contrast to the i li\' a fniir-funiiTi-il luiililin 576 RUSSIAJV CENTRAL ASIA. surrounding ruins, and crumbling minarets, or what, I know not, but as I gazed I began to think the arch one of the loftiest I had ever seen. I tried to compare with it, by the eye of memory, the east window of York Minster, and it was not till I measured the breadth of the Bibi-Khanum arch, which I found to be 50 feet, that I could bring myself to realize that its height could not exceed from 100 to 150 feet. Still, I am quite disposed to agree with M. Uj fairy, that the contour and lines of this ruin show it to have been the finest of the buildings in Samarkand. The depth of the portal was 30 feet, and the walls of this and other parts of the building were once covered with polished mosaic, striking for its medley of colours. The design has been skilfully executed, and bears marks of culti- vated taste. The colouring and gold in many places still look fresh, but none of the porcelain is of open work like that of the Shah-Zindeh. On either side of the principal entrance is a slender hexagonal tower measuring ^4 leet round, from which O O -J i the mosaic is peeling last. Not lar distant is a large square stone slab, sloping towards the centre, for Mussulman ablutions, and in the middle of the build- ing is an immense Rahle, or lectern, of white marble, O 7 feet long by 6 wide, having the appearance of two sloping desks joined at the lower sides and supported on nine low pillars. On this formerly used to lie a huge copy of the Koran, seen by the: Russian Ephremof, who visited Samarkand in 1770. The lectern, with its parchment book and large characters, was placed within sight of a high window at which tradition says Bibi-Khanum used to sit and read. The chief merit of the lectern now consists in its miracle-working power of curing for life pains in the back-bones, pro- THE ANCIENT CAPITAL OF THE TIMURIDS. 577 viclecl the sufferer manages to crawl beneath, which the faithlul do in all directions. Bibi-Khanum lies buried in an adjoining octagonal building, called Bibi-Khanum-Gur-Khana, which at the visit of Khanikoft was much defaced. When the Russian authorities were clearing the courts of the impresses of rubbish, they found this small mosque, which had been concealed by the surrounding build- ings and almost forgotten, but wherein they were told was the tomb of Bibi-Khanum. A short time after, the roof, falling in, broke through the floor, and exposed a large vault containing grave-stones, with inscriptions of prayers in ancient characters, but without names or dates. I entered the vault, and saw there five tombstones, all lying east and west, and said to be those of Hibi and four children. The mosque and medresse of Bibi-Khanum arc: too much dilapidated to be repaired or restored, but the Russians have cleared away the debris, and sur- rounded them with palings to keep them from further injury. From these: buildings we went to the citadel to see another curiosity said to date from Timur's days namely, a coronation stone, called the Kok-tash. In this citadel was a palace built tor the Kmir \asr-l Hah, and in the palace a court that was used for state occasions, which Vambery calls "Talari 1 iinur, or "the reception-hall of Timur." The court is oblong, and on the sides other than that where we entered, there runs round the building a raised covered veranda, or cloister, supported by wooden columns, whilst at the end opposite the entrance is placed the lamous stone called Kok-tash.* 5/8 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. The Kok-tash is an oblong block of greyish marble, with dark streaks, polished on the top, carved in ara- besques on the sides, and with small pilasters at the corners.* There is a railing put round the stone now to keep it from injury, and behind it, on the wall, is affixed an object alluded to by both Vambery and Schuyler, though I have no recollection of seeing it namely, an oval piece of metal like half a cocoa-nut, bearing an Arabic inscription engraved in Cufic letters, t and grey, which Schuyler varies by whitish-grey ; the fact being, ac- cording to Fedchenko, that though Kok does mean green (as also grey in Kok-biira or grey wolf), yet Kok-tash means simply "' marble." Dr. Schuyler, however, suggests another origin of the meaning of the word from Baber, who speaks of the palace Timur constructed in the citadel of Samarkand as being four stories high, and famous by the name of Kok-sarai, just as his palace in Kesh was called Ak-sarai, or white palace. The Kok-sarai, Baber says, was remarkable in that every prince of Timur' s race, who mounted his throne, did so there, and it was there also that usurpers to that throne were put to death. The Kok-tash is said to have served for the foundation of Timur's throne, and so perhaps received its name from being the famous stone in the Kok-sarai. * My notes record its rough measurement as 10 x 5 x 3 feet, but Dr. Schuyler doubtless is more accurate, who gives its length 10 feet 4 inches, breadth 4 feet 9 inches, and height 2 feet without the brick and plaster pedestal. Vambery gives its height at 4?, feet, and says that when it was to be mounted by the sovereign some prisoner of illustrious birth was always forced to serve as a footstool. When the Russians took the city there was a decorated slab of hard plaster, forming a back to the stone, and making it appear like a throne. This, however, was thought to be of recent date, and when it fell oft' it was not replaced. \Yhen the elevation of the sove- reign on the Kok-tash had grown into a custom, a legend arose that the stone had fallen from heaven, and would not allow a false Khan to approach it. So late as 1722 complaint was made that Abul Feiz Khan had never gone through the ceremony of sitting on the Kok-tash, and rebels proclaimed in his place Regin Khan, who was consecrated in the usual manner. f It is a pity that such an Oriental scholar as Professor Vambery does not give the translation, and thus confirm or correct that of Dr. Schuyler's interpreter ; for, if the version of this latter be true, this 7 HE AXCIKXT CAPITAL Ol- THE TIMUR IDS. 579 When we walked down from the gallery some 3 or 4 feet, into the central space below, somewhat resembling an arena, there was pointed out to us in the middle a large octagonal stone some 3 feet high, in the top of which is a cylindrical hollow, like a water basin, but which served, we were told, for the execution of offenders.* The mention of one more- ruin will complete the list of those immediately connected with Timur. I mean the Ishrat Khana, in the suburbs of the town, whither, according to tradition, Timur was wont to repair tor recreation. One may still perceive in the ruin small apartments in addition to the large central hall in the: second floor. The inhabitants of Samar- kand relate that Hibi-Khanum built this for her tomb, but that Timur, on paying a visit of inspection on the completion of the: building, was so delighted that he kissed his wife, whereupon, confused and pleased, Bibi-Khanum said, " Let this be Ishrat-Khan's house of gaiety and pleasure ; a repository for my re-mains shall be built elsewhere." 1 shall now proceed to mention some: of the- later Muhammadan antiquities, and also such information as 1 was able to gather respecting the- jews in Samarkand. must be the oldest known relic 1 in Samarkand. It is said to have beer, brought from tin- treasury of the Sultan l.ava/id Yildirin, ami to have served one of the Khalifs as an amulet. The inseription is interpreted to read, "This is the tomb of the Sheikh Imam, the Hermit Khoja Akhme! Kodoveri l*hak Kl Khivi. May heaven forgive him ami his parent^, and all Mussulmans who have died. hated the _>jnd day of the month Moharrem, in the year ^50 (117-'} of the llejira of Muhammad." *' 1 kn<>\v not if this be true, but coupling with it the stateim nt of Maber that usurpers were put to death at the Kok-s,irai. and ree.illin- lie tact that the Kmir Xasr-l'llah. even on his death-bed. caused to be brought the sister of one of his adversaries, to be slain in his presence, the position of this stone, as an alleged plaee uf exerution, sc:enis to illustrate Luke xix. jj, " lint tiiose, mine enemies, whieh would no! that I shnuld reiij'n over them, hrimj hitlier and slav them ! n'/"/'c ;;/(.' CHAPTER XXXIX. MUHAMMADAN AND JEWISH SAMARKAND. Bird's-eye view of Samarkand. Its former and present dimensions. Khoja-Akhrar medresse, and remarkable enamelling". -Koran of Othman. Tradition of Tamerlane's library. The Rhigistan, with medresses of Ulug-Beg, Shir-l)ar, and Tillah-Kari. Varieties of enamelled bricks. A butcher's shrine. Visit to Jewish quarter during the Feast of Tabernacles. Synagogue choristers. Visit to rabbi. Local traditions of Jews in China. Hebrew pronunciation. ON reaching a foreign city for the first time, it is a favourite endeavour of mine to mount some lofty pinnacle from whence to obtain a view of the whole. I lost no time in doing this at Samarkand ; for having arranged our effects at the palace, we called after breakfast at the telegraph office, and on General Korolkoff, and then visited the Gur-Emir before lunch, after which we proceeded, under the guidance ot a Russian officer, to the Rhigistan. Here we ascended one of the minarets of the Ulug-Beg Medresse, said to be 45 gliiaz, or 150 feet, high. \Ye gained from hence a capital view of the town. To the north, five miles off, lay the; wooded and culti- vated country on the banks of the Zarafshan, with the Chupan-Ata hills on the north-east, and nearer were the Shah-Zindeh, and the Bibi-Khanum ruins, as well as the Tashkend road, and the avenue by which \ve Ml'IfAlfMADAX AND JEWISH SAMARKAND. 581 had arrived. On the east was the Kalendar-Kareh gate and the roads leading to Penjakenel and Urgut. On the west was the citadel with the Kmir's palace, having the Koktash; and beyond the citadel, radiating like: a fan, were the straight and regular streets of the Russian quarter, with its public garden. Governor's palace, and shady promenade ; whilst on the south rose the graceful dome ot the Gur-Kmir. and beyond it the Khoja-Akhrargate. The wide streets, and the coloured roofs of the Russian houses, presented a marked con- trast to the low mud house-tops, and the narrow, tortuous lanes of the native city, in which, however, the direction of the principal thoroughfares did not appear to us so hopelessly irregular and intricate as at Tashkend and Khokand. Moreover, the city is seen to In- large, and full of gardens, and these, watered by three streams, give to it an aspect less dismal than most of the towns we had seen. At the same time, it is a long way from an Englishman's idea ot what the native poets have called it " a terrestrial paradise- " This euphuism may have: re:ferre:el. however, to ancient times, \vhe:n the: cultivation of the- surrounding country was much gre-ater than it 'now is. The' high walls with embrasures now measure' e> miles round.* 1 he citaelel is the largest in CYntral Asia, ami is girt with its own battleme:nted wall, S feet high, and 10 feet thick at the base. In circumference: it measures a mile ami a halt. '" Th>; Around the city i overed in former times is judged to have been more considerable, since the ruins ,.f .in old \\.ill tli.it onre apparent:-, surrounded it are no\v } miles distant on the western side ; and on the ii'irth. over tlie sp;uv between the present wall-, and the XaraNh.ui. the ground is strewn with the ruins called . \frasiah. Tin-- extension muM have been before the time of Timer, in \\lios,. dav Samarkand \va-< compri-ed within it-- present limits, only that the eardens, jud-m^ from present traces ot them, extended further. .sS2 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. Here are now the barracks, Russian church, arsenal, Government stores and stables. The city had six gates. One on the south, called Khoja-Akhrar, leads to a medresse of that name, about four miles distant, in the court of which is a pool of water and some venerable plane-trees.* This medresse is interesting also, because it is said to have once possessed the Koran of Othman, which I previously stated to have been lodged in the Gur-Emir.f There is another tradition interesting to literary antiquarians that I ought perhaps to mention here, respecting the collection of Greek, Syrian, Chaldean, * The mosaic tiling here is still in good preservation, presenting some of the most beautiful designs to be seen in the country, and con- cerning which M. Ujfalvy observes that he found there mosaics of flowers ; bright blue, orange, and green hues being mingled with deli- cate pink to represent, not merc-ly arabesques, but the petals of large flowers. As far as I remember, these representations were usually conspicuous by their absence ; for the Sunnite Muhammadans are particularly strict in portraying nothing that has life, whether animal or vegetable. Dr. Schuyler mentions, however, that on this mosque, as on the Shir-l)ar, are represented Persian lions, which probably indicates that both buildings were erected by Persian architects, who, being Shiites, are not in this respect equally strict. t Dr. Schuyler gives the manuscript a somewhat different history. According to his version of the traditional story, Khoja-Akhrar was a rich saint who lived 400 years ago in Tashkend, and became the head of the religious order of Nakshbendi. One of the younger brethren of the community, being at Constantinople on pilgrimage, cured the Khalif of disease by reading a benediction Akhrar had given him, whereupon the Khalif bade his benefactor ask what he would. The pilgrim chose to have the Koran of Othman, and brought it to Tashkend to his master, who subsequently removed to Samarkand. Here it was placed in the Khoja-Akhrar mosque, and so remained till the coming of the Russians, when it was sold to them for .12. Dr. Schuyler adds that it is a beautiful manuscript, written on parchment, in Cufic characters, which not one' of the learned natives could read, and that when they saw the value put upon it by the Russians, some of the more fanatical thought to remove it to Bokhara. This, however, was forbidden by General Abramoff, whereupon the Imams said that, as it would no longer bring them in monev from pilgrims who came and paid for the privilege of kissing and touching it, thev might as well dispose of it. MUHAMMADAN AND JEWISH SAMAKKAXD. 58 ^ and Armenian manuscripts said to have been brought to Samarkand by Tamerlane. The Armenian his- torian, Moses Khorensky, compiled his work to a large extent from a chronicle he states to have been drawn up by Marabas Godin, who was commissioned by a Persian prince to collect mate-rials from Chal- dean and Persian sources, fora history of the- Armenian nation. This chronicle, it would appear, is now lost, and the story says that Tamerlane, who several times ravaged Armenia, seized all her manuscripts, including that of Marabas, and carried them to Samar- kand.* ' Accordingly, since: Marabas Goclin's chronicle filled so important a place in Armenian literature', the Armenians living in I urkey a tew years since applied to the Russian Ambassador in Constantinople', General Ignatief, asking him to move: the: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Governor-General of Turkistan to cause inquiry to be: made tor the- precious Armenian manuscript. Hut the Russians, on occupying Samar- * Tliis story, it is true, is not much more than a verbal tradition. The chronicler, Thomas Metsobctsi, who was in Armenia at the time of Tamerlane's invasion, which he describes in detail, says nothing of the. collection of books and their bein^ sent to Samarkand, nor do other contemporary Armenian historians and chroniclers. There is an allusion, however, thereto by Father Michael Tchamchiyan of the Venetian Brotherhood of Mkhitarists, a historian of Armenia, who added to Ills history of Tamerlane the following: -"It is written in several places that l.an-Tamer. having collected all tin- Armenian and Persian books that he could find, sent them to Samarkand, and placed them in a tower there. 1 'nder the severest penalties he forbade the books beiiiLj taken tnun the lower, but those desirous of reading them were permitted to ^o to the tower, not bcin^' allowed to n main there very IOIIL;', however." Tchamchiyan, who usually places ihr names of his authorities in the margin, placed opposite ihe tore-'oin- Kisha- iakaran" (whatever that may mean', and added, immediately after, the quotation. " lUit however this may be. no one can -ay whether thesf books exist at the present time." sS 4 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. kancl, could find no trace of the library, nor could the natives throw any light upon the matter.* As far as I could judge, opinions differed widely as to my chance of finding manuscripts in Central Asia, but some thought it possible that, on the approach of the Russians, the books in Samarkand might have o been taken to Bokhara to the palace of the Emir. Accordingly, one of the few things I asked of his Majesty, during my audience at Shahr-i-sabz, was that 1 might be allowed to see his library. He replied in the affirmative ; but when I reached his palace at Bokhara I was shown nothing of the kind, nor did the officials left in charge seem to know anything about a library ! On another occasion, in reply to my question as to the whereabouts of the Emirs books, one of the officials told me, with the utmost simplicity, that when the Emir went away for the summer, he took his books in a cart with him the man meaning, I fancy, his records and account books. My small efforts, therefore, for the discovery of Tamerlane's library were fruitless, and nothing that I saw or heard led me to think that anything of the kind exists. But I have been descanting upon these antiquities * The author of an article in the Titrkisfan Annual for 1874, pp. 40=,-6, to which 1 am indebted for information on this subject, points out that, since the natives have got to know the Russians somewhat better, and to be more confiding", there have been found with certain Mullahs and imams rare manuscripts, such as the " Tarikhi- Narshakhi," and also another called " Tavarikh-Mir-Baraki," in which, among other things, is described the campaign of Hatu in Russia, and consequently that perhaps on some fortunate day the Armenian manuscript may come to light. Professor Vambery could find no trace of the library at Samarkand in 186}, and pronounced tin- tradition a fable, originating, lie says, from the over-strained patriotism of an Armenian priest, named Hadjator, who insists that he came from Cabool to Samarkand and discovered in the latter city large folios, with heavy chains, in towers into which no Mussulman, for fear of i ] inches, and of great purity of colour ; also some of Mosaic- like Class 3, and a small piece of Class 5, only that this last is of altogether finer pencilling-. I have thus described somewhat full}' these enamels, because by some writers they are made much of, and they represent one of the very few branches of art to be met with in Central Asia. They are also interesting as specimens of what could be done by Asiatics ^oo years ago, though poor enough as compared with \\V-tern productions. MUHAMMAD AN AND JEWISH SAMARKAND. 589 and, to me, more interesting religion namely, that of the Central Asian Jews. We had not been many hours in Samarkand before we made the acquaintance of one of the Jews. He was on the official staff of interpreters, and General Korolkoff would have sent him with us for our guide about the town, but that we had come during the seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles, wherein their law said, "Ye shall do no servile work therein" (Lev. xxiii. 36) ; and he therefore explained that he could not drive with us to Tamerlane's tomb, though his conscience was so far unfettered that he expressed his willingness to walk there. \Ve therefore set out, and he told us on the way how much more strict in keeping their law are the. Asiatic than the European Jews. He left us on our return from the Gur-Kmir, and we set off to the Rhigistan with another interpreter ; but after seeing the three medresses and the Shah-Zindeh, already de- scribed, we went by a cross-cut to the Jews' quarter, and met again the Jewish interpreter at the house ot a fellow-Israelite, Raphael Moses Kalendaroff. I fancy he was one ol their wealthy men, perhaps he who built the synagogue, for he bore the- same name, and it was in his house- we were to see how they kept the Feast ol Tabernacles. In his court or garden was erected a cotton tent, out- side ot which nothing might be eaten for seven days. Here I presented the Lord Mayor's letter and the introduction of the Moscow rabbi, received at once a welcome, and was invited to eat. The ancient [ewish law directed (Lev. xxiii. ^q 44 ; Xeh. viii. 1410) that the people should dwell in huts,* which is still interpreted to mean that the roof, if not the sides, * nZD, not ^n'X, \vhu h hitter i^ a trnt of -kin-- i>r rlnth. 590 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. should be of branches ; but these would not be easily obtained in sufficient quantity in Samarkand, and I am under the impression that not even the roof was so formed. My host, however, had remembered the injunction of the law in providing, at least, " the fruit of goodly trees," if not "olive branches, and pine branches, and myrtle branches, and palm branches, and willows of the brook." Perhaps these latter were represented by the leafy decorations over our heads in the form of a large framework, something like a chan- delier, from which were hanging apples, quinces, and saffron flow r ers, whilst on the carpeted floor were placed dishes of parched peas, pistachio nuts, grapes, peaches, and apples, as well as mutton and carrot pies, and roasted apricot and plum kernels. Many came in, and, kneeling down, sat upon their haunches, but not cross-legged, round the four sides of the tent. I began at once to ply them with questions respecting their condition and that of their brethren in Bokhara. In the case of the latter we heard again the story related at Khokand, how that the Bokhariot Jews may not build enough synagogues for their need, that they may not buy a house from a Mussulman without the Emir's permission, that they may not ride on horseback in the town of Bokhara, that their head-covering must be a black calico cap, worth a few pence, and the girdle about their loins, not even of leather, but of rope ; also that when a Mussulman beats or insults a Jew, the latter must always look down and humbly submit. Another hardship I had not heard of before was that under the Emir's government, if two Jews disagree, their dispute must be settled by Mussulman law ; and my informants said that so intimidated were the Bokhariot Jews that the}' dared not come to ask MUHAMMAD AN AND JWISH SAMARKAND. 591 the Russians for help. I inquired whether I could do anything by interceding with the Kmir on their behalf, but they said " Xo," for that such a course would only make matters worse. On leaving the tent I was invited to look at a new house my host was building, evidently thought to be very grand. The many-coloured decorations of the walls, .itter the fashion of the Sarts, was the principal feature that struck me, and we then walked on the Hat root, where apricots were drying in the sun. \\Y could see down into a neighbouring yard, where was a young fewess, unveiled. This would have called for no remark in Kngland. but directly she caught sight of me she ran away, as it it were improper to be seen unveiled by a stranger. Perhaps this would not have been so. however, had my host been alone, as I believe the ['-wish women in Central Asia are veiled only in the- streets to protect themselves from insult. On leaving, Moses, our Jewish interpreter, pressed us to 592 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. come and look at his festal tent, which we did, and noticed, among the things suspended, a plant whose seeds were said to cure squinting. We then went to the synagogue, allowed to the Jews of Samarkand only since the Russians came, where the best chorister in the region was that evening to sing. The crowd was dense, and in a short time two singers appeared; the "priino" a delicate, modest- looking man, who blushed at the eagerness with which his arrival was awaited, whilst the " sccondo " was a brazen-faced fellow, who carried his head on one side, as if courting attention, and with the assurance that he should have it. They were introduced to us, and began at once, that we might hear. The singing, so called, was the most remarkable that up to that time I had ever heard. The first voice led off in a key so high, that he had to strain for some seconds before he could utter a sound at all. After this he proceeded very slowly as to the number of words he sang, but pro- longed his notes into numerous flourishes, screaming as loud as he could in falsetto. The second voice was an accompaniment for the first ; but as both ba\vled as loudly as possible, I soon voted it anything but good music, and intimated that it was time for us to go. The congregation, moreover, were crowding round, without the smallest semblance of their being engaged in divine worship. They were anxious to detain us, however, as long as possible, and the rabbi having read my documents, showed us such objects of interest as they possessed ; among others a specimen ol very diminutive writing, and he asked my acceptance, as a souvenir, of a picture, brought, I fancy, from Jerusalem, and hanging in their synagogue. After this we wen, 1 obliged to hurry away, the rabbi urging us to pay him MUHAMMAD AN AND JEWISH SAMARKAND. 59} a visit, and another Jew assuring us that, if we would call upon him, we should meet with a better reception than they had been able on that day to give us. We returned to the palace, and next day General Korolkoff took us to a school, where we saw that of the 77 boys, no less than 30 were jews. It was note- worthy, moreover, that, as with boys of the same race; in Kurope, their abilities were remarkably good, putting in the shade those of their Russian and Sart school- fellows.* I asked to hear the Jew boys read ; but here again sprung up a question of conscience, or rather of law, for it was a feast day, and though they had come to school because ordered by the Russian authorities to do so, (1 suppose that I might see the school, for I fancy it was a holiday) yet they might not read, because that would be to work. Two days later we: called on the rabbi, who was still keeping the feast in his tabernacle', where he received us, and of whom I was glad to make some inquiries respecting his people. He said there were 2,500 persons dwelling in 400 houses in Samarkand. He confirmed the traditional interpretation 1 had read in I )r. \Vollfs book, that by the Habor. in 2 Kin^s xvii. 6, and xviii. 11, they understand Bokhara. Samar- kand, and the region round about.' With reference to the lost tribes, he related a well-known Jewish tradition that on the Sambation (n*tS2ED, \v A superiority not confined apparently to the present century, tor : n Xebuchadne/xar's court in I'abvlon, "in all matters of wi-dom and understanding that the kin^ ini|uired of ; Daniel, llananiah, .\I : -haol. and A/ariah", he touml them ten times bettor than all the ma^ii ians and astrologers that wore in all hi- r< aim " Dan. i. jo . ~i" He ottered no reason that would at all affect, however, (anon Ra\\ 1 in -on's statement in the P.ible I )ict i unary, tha' 1 labor is idi-n tilled beyond all reasonable doubt with a famous allluont of the luiphrates. -till known as the K/nil,-. VOL. I. 594 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. located in China, but which others, I believe, affirm to be in Africa) lives a people whom the Chinese call sons of Abram, and that Mussulmans profess to the Jews in Samarkand to have seen their brethren in China ; but the Samarkand Jews have not done so, and for this wonderful reason, that the aforesaid river is hot on six days and cold only on the seventh, on which day it would be unlawful for the Jews to cross ; but the Muhammadans, not being similarly bound, embrace the opportunity to do so.* Another traditional Israeli- tish story was that Samarkand had been destroyed seven times, and that therein had perished 24,000 Kohanim Jews, these having had a separate cemetery from the Israelites. Tamerlane, he informed me, was said to have brought from Meshed seven families of Jews, and that their descendants were still living at Bokhara and Samarkand. But all these, I fancy, were very much of the nature of " idle tales," for the rabbi said that the Jews had not been in Samarkand more * With this story told to me of Jews existing in China, which I heard also at Khokand, it is interesting to compare the account of Mr. Finn respecting " the orphan colony o! ' Jews " in the city of Kae-Fung-Foo, who (in 1870) were all but absorbed into the surrounding Chinese and Muhammadans. Tablets on their synagogue testified to several migra- tions thither, the first in the Chow dynasty between B.C. 1122 and P,.C. 249, and a third as late as A.D. 1163. In 1843 a letter was addressed to them, and sent through the Jvnglish consul at Xing-po. Five years later, tidings were heard of the people; and a little later a letter from them was received, telling of the decay of their religion and synagogue. Some supposed, from the information given, that the colony arrived from Khorassan and Samarkand on the way from Persia, because Persian words were found in >ome of the inscriptions of their sacred books. Messengers were sent to the colony from Bishop Smith, of Victoria, and some of their Hebrew writings purchased. The remnant of the people was again visited in iSuo by J)r. Martin, an American Presbyterian missionary, and considerable interest in their desolate condition has been shown by both Jews and Christians, though J am not aware that any practical suggestions on their behalf have been successfully carried out. MUHAMMAD AX AXD JEWISH SAMARKAND. 59; than a century, and he added that they were from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh. The rabbi then said they were Sephardim or Spanish, and asked me whether the English f ews wen- " Ashkena- zim," that is, Eastern, like the German Jews, a question they quickly answered for themselves ; for after asking the rabbi to repeat to me a few verses in Hebrew from the beginning of Genesis, that I might hear his pronunciation, I proceeded to do the same to him. They said at once that my pronunciation was that of the Ashkena/im.* The rabbi gave us fruit, and appeared quite to expect us to dine, but we knew the General would be waiting for us, and so had to ask to be excused. 1 laving thus described the most ancient as well as the later monuments of the Muhammadans, and alluded to the fews living in Samarkand, 1 shall now speak of the modern town, as 1 saw it under the Russians. CHAPTER XL. RUSSIAN SAMARKAND. Visit to military hospital. Sart disease : its characteristics and treatment. Hospitals for native women and men. A case of spastic paralysis. Russian and native education. Turkistan troops, forts, arms, and uniforms. Education and morals of officers and men. Samarkand bazaar, ^population, and in- dustries Characteristics of woven products. Public-houses of Zarafshan, and the Turkistan liquor traffic. Governors in- formation respecting the soil, crops, and trees of the province. Attendants for our journey, and Asiatic interpreter. Pur- chase of antiquities and distribution of the Scriptures. General Ivanoff. ON Friday, the morning after our arrival at Samarkand, General Korolkoff took us to visit the military hospital. It was situated without the city on the south-west, beyond the Russian town, having two kinds of erections namely, well-built houses oi brick ior the winter, and summer tents, from which latter the patients were to be transferred, if I remember rightly, on the morrow, September 3Oth. The general arrangements were similar to those we had seen at the military hospital in Tashkend, but on a smaller scale, there being only 117 patients. The skin diseases were the most interesting, and among them a case ol rcshta or kind of guinea worm, JtCSSfA.V SA2)fARKAXD. 597 peculiar to Bokhara and adjacent towns. The medical officer kindly gave me a specimen of the parasite, which I brought safely to London. To this I sha 1 return when we reach its proper locality, Bokhara, but we saw likewise at Samarkand several cases of an endemic skin disease, common in Turkistan, resembling lupus crytkematodcs, and known among the Russians as Sart sickness, or disease. It is the Afghan yaria or plague, and is known also as pasha-kkurda, or consuming fly. This disease, which takes the form of eruptions of the skin, prevails over a considerable portion of Turkistan. It more frequently appears on the face, and spreads to the upper extremities, the neck, the lower extremities, and the body itseli.* Among natives the disease appears almost always during early child- hood, though it is also seen among adults of every age up to litty. I had an opportunity of testing its prevalence among children in the boys' school at Samarkand, where, out of a class of 16, only three had escaped, and I was told that the finer the skin of a child, the; more likely is it to be attacked. The disease is not painful, but sometimes there is experi- enced an uneasiness or a slight itching. II left alone-, * The disease is diagnosed by the appearance of a spot of a round or irregular shape, two to upwards of live line:-, in diameter. The colour of this spot is at first slightly red, it then becomes a bright red. and sometimes a reddish yellow, and even blue. To the touch the spot seems most solid, at its ed^'es. This thickening, in time, becomes knotty, and spreads over the surface of the skin. After this follows suppuration. The sores issue from each separate node, and. in propor- tion as the-,e soften, run into each other, until at la-t thev form one lar^e and open sore. This gradually dries up. leaving a velL>uish brown, or dark -co loured scurf. I f the disease be nut cured, the Mippu- ration will spread more and more, but alwavs within ascertainahle limns. When it heals, each \\uund leaves a scar or ^ash proportionate to that ot the surface which the sore covered. 598 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. the ailment will pass away of itself, but it takes more than a year in doing so.* On the following day we visited two hospitals the Russians have established for native women and * The cause of Sart sickness was formerly imputed by Russians and by natives alike to the water they use, because in the first place the disease usually attacks the face and hands that are brought more often into contact than the other parts of the body with tainted water; and next, the disease oftener appears in June and July, when the \vater is at the highest temperature. But the opinion is now gaining ground that Sart sickness is disseminated by the transfer of poisonous matter from diseased to healthy organisms, either by indirect or direct communication. When the Russians first came, and lodged in native houses with unfavourable sanitary conditions, many were attacked, but, with improved sanitation among Russians, when it now appears it is in a milder form. Sart sickness is a local ailment, requiring treatment according to circumstances. This treatment consists in eradicating the abnormal growth, which can be done either with the lancet, or by corrosive means. The latter is preferable, and the following acids have been employed : Argentina nitricnni, Kali chromicum, Ziticuni muriaticum, Kali causticiim, Mercnrhts prae- cipitatiis ruber, Sodium, lodo glicerimum, and Cuprum sulphur i- ( it in. Of all these, the use of Kali cuusticuni seems most to be preferred. The scab, after the application of caustic, falls off gene- rally in from 7 to 20 days. If it be desired to reapply the caustic before the expiration of this time, the scab can be removed without any trouble by smearing its surface over with glycerine or oil, and then applying fomentations. Native physicians, by whom at first even Russian patients preferred to be treated, use also corrosive sublimate, vermilion, arsenic, copper, vitriol, and Spanish ily. These they employ in the simplest form, pricking the sore with a needle, and rubbing into it powdered vitriol or corrosive sublimate. As a rale, however, these caustics are but some of the component parts of a plaster, made up also of mutton fat, castor oil, cochineal, and the resin of some local tree. Of plasters more generally used there are two kinds, in one of which vitriol preponderates, and in the other Spanish Ily and resin. The use of vitriol is quite painless. The composition is smeared on pepper moistened with mucilage, and the plaster laid on the sore, to be replaced after an interval by another. The application of the Spanish fly and resin is resorted to oftener than the first, but it causes violent pains in the sore, and reactionary symptoms, which, however, disappear in the course of about two days. Owing to the presence of the resin, when this plaster has to be removed, force must be used. This causes pain, and Miuietimes lf SAMARKAND. 509 men.* The most interesting medical case was one of o atrophy of the muscles, that Mr. Sevier called spas- modic paralysis, arising from degeneration of the lateral column of the spinal cord, a rare disease, and recently studied, of which he knew none to have been cured. f The hospital was particularly well built and clean, the patients eating in a common hall. From the military hospital the General took us to see two schools and an asylum, established by the considerable loss of blood, and always results in tin. 1 removal of a certain portion of the diseased surface adhering to the plaster. "Investigations" upon this disease were published by 1 )r. Satin-k in the '1'nrkisfan dazcfte for 1*77, Xos. _js _}X, and in the Jino'iia! <f Clinical Mc>iiciiic for February. 1^71. * Fifteen patients in the former were all suffering from the effects of prostitution, and had been sent bv the police. The women's hospital was lari;'e and airv, in the midst of a capital garden, with summer tent covered with matting and rushes, but there were no oth disease sometimes ri^in^r to a maximum .]"> cases in both ho-pital- , anil one with in* * rli us sc >'u fit /os is. t Mr. Sevier thought thi- a remarkable patient, an.i dc-cribed ir.- i -ondition tlniN : " A ca-e of -pa>t ic paralv-is in the sta.^e of coa'.r.i - lure. Youth of 17 years, verv poor, u^ed to woi'k ver\ h.ird. ; ; '. :I;L; i r,ieil\- in the streets by be^^'iiiL;", exposed io all \\'eather-, and sonn - time> nearly starved. \\"h'-n brought to hospital he could not \\.I.L: his lo\\ i-r extremities, e^pei-iali\ - the muscle^ of calf, in a h'^lilx at ropim slate, so that the doit.ir dia^'iio-^ed onl\- mn^cuiar a;i'o|>hy. Un examining liim I found him Ivin^ in lied with hi.-, le^-s lixedlv do,\i; toward- lii^ buttoi-ks ; thev \vcre uilh ditficult\' stretched, and uiien ic: loose, returned to their contracted position. Tiie ankle-, al-o ri^id. .-'ill I produced capital ankle cionu-. All oilier rcllexc^ nun h exagge- rated; sensory functions pcrt-'t t. On Irving' to mo\e liiin I -..i\\ ;ii,|- hi- thi-h-, were stroiiLrlv attr.ntid to each other, -o thai the knte loiiched, and the feet were al-o iii\crti d, and the bi^ toe jiointcil down- ward.-. Muscles of calf very much ati'ophied, others pr- :;v i^oud : no ;n\ oociiema in mii-cle.- ot calf.' ' 6oo RUSSIAA T CENTRAL ASIA Russians in part for the education of natives. In the boys' school were 77 scholars, of whom 22 were Russians, 30 Jews, and the remainder Sarts. Among the last was the son of the native police-master of the Sart town, a boy of 14, who had been three years in the school. He was dressed in a khalat, with printed cotton trousers, yellow boots, and a white turban. He had, moreover, a watch and chain, and was evidently a grandee, rejoicing in the name of Sevarkul Bek Sultanbekoff. Another Sart boy sported a watch by " John Salter, London." I did not gather that the Sarts showed any extraordinary capacity, or that they were particularly keen for instruction. The Jewish boys in the school mentally excelled all their schoolfellows, and came in goodly numbers ; but to the girls' school, whither we next \vent, neither Sarts nor Jews would send their daughters, though both schools were free. This, I presume, would be too great an innovation on their Oriental ideas. The 24 scholars in the girls' school were all Russian. Besides these two institutions, I heard of a boarding-school in Samarkand, where the boys wear uniform, and we visited an asylum for orphans and poor children, sup- ported by voluntary contributions, the funds being raised, as so oiten is the case in Russia, by concerts, bazaars, etc. The building contained, however, only four girls and five boys.* * According to the Tnrkistau A nniial for 1876 the number of Russian >chools throughout the province numbered 3 (the third being at Katie-Kurgan), with 6 teachers, 64 boys, and 2} girls, maintained at a cost of ,{'2 xv Native education throughout the /araishan province was carried on in 1876 in 968 incktelikhdiia or elementarv schools, and in } i medrcs^es. There were 999 teachers, with 8,642 scholars in winter, 2.260 in summer. These places of education were situated in 17 localities, or districts, and were supported by the vakufs, or endowments, usually connected \\ith the colleges ; or by the communities, and in one case bv RUSSIAN SAMARKAND. 60 1 After visiting the schools we went to the Bibi- Khanum medresse and mosque, already described, and then to the citadel, where are the town barracks, whilst the camp was situated, as we afterwards saw, i 5 miles on the south of the town. Hitherto I have not said much respecting military affairs in Russian Turkistan. At the time of my visit all was peace, and I cannot give with accuracy the number of troops in the various places through which I passed ; but taking matters on a war-footing, as they were in 1877, anc l remembering that Turkistan at that date included Semirechia and Kuldja, then we have for the Turkistan force some 40,000 troops, inclusive of non-combatants ; but if we deduct the non-com- batants and the local troops, there would be lett an available field army of 25,800. This number, however, does not include the Cossacks, nor any regular cavalry. The Cossacks would add a further force of 18,500 men and 52 juns, making in all 44,000 men and i 16 guns. *-x o O i i O In time of peace the troops are widely distributed in torts and redoubts, going under canvas in May and returning to barracks in September. During these concentrations manoeuvres are carried out, preparations for which we saw as we left Samarkand. The drills are continued also after the return to barracks, the autumn temperature being much more- favourable than the summer heats. The Turkistan forts, it may be observed, arc: grouped in two lines, the outer or advanced, and the inner or reserve line.* t hr scholars themselves. Their total revenue in money amounted to _/, \n\ , and not less than \2 tons of corn, though In >\v much more one cannot sav, since it is common lor parents lo semi presents to the teacher of food, ami even clothing. Moreover, these revenues are not exclusively tor the teachers, but are in some cases shared by, and in one case taken wholly hv the scholars. On the adv. meed line there are usuallv two or throe 1'oriiiied points 602 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. I have from time to time examined the arms of the Cossacks, and found them very dissimilar. Among the Siberian Cossacks the flint firelock may still be found. In Turkistan they have, or had until quite recently, carbines of 1818, dragoon carbines with bayonets, etc. The rifle brigade are armed with the Berdan rifle of 1868, the frontier battalions and local troops with the Carl rifle, and the sapper company with the Krinka rifle. Field artillery, and also the mountain battery, have breech-loading guns. The provisioning of the troops with warlike stores is effected from Tashkend, but with many drawbacks. All the cartridges and ammunition are brought from Russia, for though there is lead in the Kara-Tau mountains, it is found more advantageous to bring it from Russia. So, for the same reason, the deficiency of wood for artillery pur- poses has to be met by Russian supplies. The appearance of the Turkistan soldier differs widely from that of his compatriot in Europe. For the greater part of the year he wears a linen blouse, on the frontier of each khanate. Thus Khiva is dominated by Petro- Alexandrovsk, and Xukus, a redoubt ; Bokhara by Samarkand and Katte- Kurgan ; Kashmir by forts at Karakol, Xaryn, Mu/art, and (lulsha; and Kuldja by the redoubts at Baklity and Borokhudxir. The inner forts are those at Knzala, Perovsky, [ulek, Turkistan, Chimkent, Khojend, Aulie-Ata, Tokmak, Yierny, Kopal, and Serinopol. The garri- sons in these outer forts, with certain exceptions, usually consist of a com- pany, or sometimes even half a sotnia (half a hundred) only of Cossacks, whilst the garrisons of the forts of the inner line are still smaller. Tash- kend is the central point, wherein is concentrated the bulk of the troops forming a reserve to the whole of the advanced line. The distribution of the advanced forts in Russian Turkistan therefore is alon^ a semi- circular arc, convex towards the enemy, the forts of the inner line beini^ disposed alon,^ a parallel arc. The forts of the inner line, moreover, are connected by a post-road, from which other roads branch off to the outer arc. The Turkistan forts have been either erected by the Russians, chiefly amon^' the nomads, or have been adapted from native fortifica- tions. Neither could offer resistance to Europeans, but they present a sufficient obstacle to a Central Asian foe. RUSSIA A? SAMARKAND. 60.} with cloth shoulder-straps, chamois leather trousers dyed red, and a white cap with a flap, believed to shield the back of the head from the sun's rays. Instead of a knapsack he carries a linen haversack.* \Ve were thrown into the company of a good many officers in Turkistan, and the impression they left on my mind was favourable. f I thought Russians seemed rather fond of telling us that many of the Turkistan officers were of questionable character, having squan- dered their fortune in vicious living at Petersburg, and then come to Central Asia to recover themselves. Others, again, were supposed to be there for the extra pay, and the; opportunities in war time of rapid advance- ment. Drunkenness, the report says, is the chief vice among the troops, and the great majority oi crimes and offences are committed by the men in this state. During the severe expedition to Khiva, when the * The leather trousers, called c/in m j hir, were adopted from the natives ; they are durable, cool in summer, and protect the le^s from spear v;rass. C'os sacks, instead of the linen blouse, wear shirts of camel's hair, called uriniachina. The food also of the Turkistan soldier is dif- ferent, in that he lias wheaten Hour instead of Russian rye; Croats are likewise issued, millet, barley, and rice. IViseuit is prepared by baking in the oven or baking in the sun. The latter method is usii.illv adopted during the verv hot weather tor the preparation of a ten-days' supply. Wheaten cakes are spread on reed mats, and house-roofs for two days to the sun's rays. This sim-dr not s\\ell to the same extent as that baked in the ovei more easily damaged during transport. Provisions are furnished by contract , the price ol \\ heat varying from | v. to s.v. per cw to _'>,/. in Aulie-Ata. and barley trom \:~. S.<., but I am uncertain whether they were of Russian or native make. * These are statistics compiled by M. Virsky in the Tiirxisfan Annual for ]^J'">, whilst the 'litt'kisfan (.'a/cn/lar tor i s /i gives information concerning distillation and the drink traltio in Turkistan ; that there were used for distilling, in 1^7^-0, of rye Hour }" tons, wheat Hour .\^i) tons, rice ^ tons, and malt i^j toils. Also that in tS-o then' Were issued from the Cellars of tile distilleries "},_'')_' gallons ot sp;;-;;. ( )f beer and mead breweries, in tS-o, there were 10 ; of works for mak : 'ig ;/',/ from grapes and fruit ~ ; and from wine S. The number , licenses issued in the latter half of the year to houses in \\liich dnr.k was .suld \vas~i: wine-cellars 100; beershops ^5 ; that is, joo pl.ii for the sale of aVoholie drink, \\hils; the In enses t.ir te i-hinises .;;.( buffets numbered -t>. The number of distilleries in i\~ r| -; was o, and fermenting cellars ^5, \vith a capacity of 5^,000 gallon-. 608 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. with the presence of General Korolkoff, and sometimes of his brother, Colonel Korolkoff, Colonel Alexandroff, and others ; and as the acting Governor was well posted in the affairs of his province, I gained from him a great deal of information, especially in matters that touched at all upon botany and agricultural produce. There are in the province 4,4/5 square miles of irrigated land, and of non-irrigated 35,804. They have not much black earth, but very fertile, argillaceous loess,* which in certain places, when there is plenty of rain, has been known for one bushel of wheat sown to yield 90 bushels ; even where the ground is not much worked, but irrigated, the yield is from 40 to 45-fold, and on an average the cultivated land throughout the country gives a 2o-fold crop.f I have already mentioned the wild trees of Turkistan generally, and need only add that in the Zarafshan province they have at least three species of juniper (J- pseudo-sabina, J. faetidissiina, J. kokanica], the birch, pistachio (Pistachio, vera], and whole forests of * Loess, or inundation-mud, a fluviatile loam, belongs to the plei- stocene period of Lyell, and analysis shows its composition to agree with that of the mud of the Nile about one-sixth part is carbonate of lime. Enormous deposits, several hundred feet thick, and, with rare exceptions, unstratified, are found in the valley of the Rhine, between Bingen and Basle. The characteristic shells (terrestrial, fresh-water, and amphi- bious mollusks) are Succinca cluii^af-n , I' it pa iniiscoriini, and J fc/ix liispida. Mr. Delmar Morgan refers to Baron Richtofen's " China " for interesting remarks on the physical history of the Aralo-Caspian basin, especially in its relation to human settlement. t In the autumn they sow barley and wheat, harvest it in May, and in June sow with rice, or the same crop again, to be cut in October. They also sow, after barley and wheat, sorghum, so\a liispitia, scsa/ii/int. orientale (for oil), melons, water-melons, cucumbers, carrots, and other vegetables. They cultivate cotton {gossypium herbaceutti} in summer, but no hops. The yield of rice is ^o-fold, and in special cases 83 -fold has been reaped. Of sorghum, which they plant to cut green for fodder, one ton yields 400. This sorghum sells for i.v. i it/, to 2^.4^., barley is. k>d., wheat 2S. lod. to js. y/., and rice 6,v. to Q.V. per cwt. RUSSIAN SAMARKAND. 609 sycamore (Platanus oricntalis] and almond trees ; many species of cherry and plum, apples, pears, apricots, and willows ; certain kinds of elm {U linns campestris, etc.), and walnut (Jug/tins rcgici), but no oaks. To these may be added one kind of Celt is, ZizypJins sat ha, the vine clematis, and roses. They have the euonymus, some species of spinea, two kinds of ivy, and several species of ferns. The General told me that he had found in the mountains a very pretty maiden-hair fern, and an evergreen fern-tree from 12 to 18 inches in height. The Osmunda rcga is he said was not found there. Besides these subjects of general interest, we- dis- cussed my future journey. Thus far 1 had accomplished a posting journey of about 2,800 miles by the hire ol upwards of 800 horses, and the question now arose as to how I was to proceed to Bokhara. Tlie direct road, that might be traversed in the taranta^s, was through Daul and Chimbai to Katte-Kurgan on the frontier, a distance of 43 miles, for which one could get post-horses; but for the remaining 100 miles to Bokhara there v, ere no post-horses; and if any animals could be hired, it would be to Bokhara only, and not beyond I was specially desirous, however, to have an interview with the Kmir, who was staying for the summer at Shahr-i-sabz, to which the nearest rout*,' lay over a mountain road, impassable for wheeled vehicles. 1 determined, therefore, to go on horseback to Shahr-i- sabz, and to send my tarantass to await me at I\ar>hi, which I should have to go through on my roundabout road to Bokhara. I laving thus determined, it was necessary to b;iy two horses for myself and Mr. Sevier, and to purcha>e or hire a sumptcr horse; tor baggage. Several were brought tor inspection to the palace alter lunch on VOL. I. 6 10 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. Saturday, and I fixed upon two stallions, a chestnut for myself, and a black for Mr. Sevier, at what I thought the wonderfully cheap price of 9 1 2^. for the two. Just as the bargain was being struck, a native rode up on a tall, graceful creature worthy of Rotten Row, for which he asked ^10. Had I wanted one for pleasure only, or to bring to England, I should have chosen this, but we were advised that our former choice was better for the work before us. My horse in particular was pronounced to be excellent, and in the course of the afternoon we rode out to try our steeds, and took the opportunity to call on the Uyezdi nachalnik, M. George Alexevitch Arendarenko, who very obligingly offered to place at my disposal two cljiguitts, who might accompany us as far as the Oxus. This was a great kindness, the full value of which I did not realize at first. Besides this, M. Arendarenko gave us advice as to our proceedings, and certain points of Oriental etiquette to be observed in Bokhara. It was further necessary to secure an interpreter who could speak Russian and Turki, and I should have been well pleased to take the [ewish official interpreter, to whom I have alluded, but he could not leave during the feast, so General Korolkofi kindly found for us a Tatar, who spoke Russian and Turki and Tajik besides. This was so far well ; but as we should be entirely at the mercy of this man, it was a comfort when M. Arendarenko called upon us, and said that one of our native djiguitts spoke also Russian, so that, if the interpreter did not comport himself satisfac- torily, we might send him about his business. As we were leaving Russian territory, I supposed it would be necessary to change my Russian rouble's into the gold and silver coin of Bokhara, though RUSSIAN SAMARKAND. 6n Colonel Alcxandroff, who dined with us from the camp, said he had passed from Khiva to Bokhara and found Russian money received in payment every- where. I thought perhaps his uniform might have something to do with it, but when the money-changer came to the palace with his gold tillahs, my native interpreter seemed also to think it quite needless for me to take them, and I changed only the trilling amount of ^"20, for which I was given in silver 764 tengas, and ottered in gold 50 tillahs, equal to i 3-.V. 4e and fixakh, situated at passes in the southern Khokand range, and so deprive the Kmir ol his standing in the Syr-daria valley. The Governor-General took per- sonal part in the expedition, and on October 2nd I'ra- 1 mbe was occupied, and also [ixakh a fortnight after- wards. I here still remained one point it was important to possess, because, from its situation in front of | ixakh, it commanded its waters, and completely enabled the Bokhariots, in the event ol a siej>'c, to 624 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. place the garrison in a critical situation. This was Fort Yani-Kurgan, which, in the spring of 1867, the Russians proceeded to occupy. The Emir was now glad to sue for peace. Negotiations, with that object in view, had been commenced at the end of 1866, but a treaty was not finally ratified, as will presently be seen, without another appeal to arms. So extensive had the Russian conquests now become that a new form of administration seemed desirable. To accomplish this plan the Ala-Tau district was enlarged into the Semirechia oblast, which, added to the recently-formed military district of Turkistan and the newly-taken possessions south of Chimkent, was to be cut off from Orenburg and to constitute the general government of Turkistan, Adjutant- General von Kaufmann being entrusted not only with the ordinary powers of a Governor-General, but with plenipotentiary authority in political matters, to negotiate and conclude treaties with all the independent rulers of Central Asia. The new Governor-General arrived at Tashkend on the igth November, 1867. At that date negotiations for peace were still proceed- ing with the Emir, who seemed so little to like the terms proposed by the Russians, that he delayed signing the treaty, and thereby gained time for further preparations for war. Meanwhile irresponsible bands of Bokhariots attacked or pillaged the Russian frontier. In March, 1868, 500 Cossacks were despatched tor the purpose of securing quiet, and also to choose a site near Samar- kand for the erection of a Russian fortress, as pro- posed by the terms of the treaty, but which the Emir had not ratified. Inasmuch, however, as this fort would be a direct menace to both Samarkand and Bokhara, it THE RUSSIAN OCCUPATION OF TURKISTAN. 625 is little matter for surprise that the progress of the Cossacks was opposed at Uchum. The Bokhariots were put to flight, of course, and as the Emir still delayed to sign the treaty, and proclaimed a holy war, the Russian troops marched to Samarkand, and on the ist ot May captured it without a shot. To secure themselves in this position, which, by reason of its controlling the waters of Bokhara, brought that city entirely under their power, the next move of the Russians was to occupy the strong fortress of Katte- Kurgan, on the road to Bokhara, and this was done on May v soth, though there continued for some days incessant fighting and skirmishing. The Emir then determined to make a last stand at Zerbulak, near Katte- Kurgan, whither von Kaufmann hastened to meet him, completely routed him on the i_|.th July, iS6S, and then turned back in time to relieve Samarkand, which, in his absence, had been attacked by a force oi 50,000 men. After these defeats the Emir was obliged to submu to the Russian conditions of peace ; but his troubles were not at an end, nor did the Russians sheath their swords, for the eldest son of the Emir and the Beks of Shahr-i-sabx raised revolt and seized Karshi, whereupon the; Emir asked the Russians to interfere. According!) deneral Abramoff marched against Karshi and cap- tured it, the rebels fleeing for a time to Shahr-i-sab/, whence they were dislodged in August, [S~o. Alter tins the Russians, not wishing to encroach further on Bokhariot territory, and, greatly to the surprise' <>l the Emir, invited him to take over the management oi that part of his country the)' had rescued from the rebels, and he was allowed to retain his crippled independence. Thus Bokhara was subdued .is Kho- VOL. I. 40 626 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. kand had been, the sovereign bein^ left in either case O O to the principal part of his possessions. The scene of Russian annexation was now transferred to the Hi. In the year 1862 rebellion had broken out in Sungaria and spread to the Hi valley, where in 1864 the Dungans and Taranchis united to throw off the Chinese yoke. The results of the insurrection, so far as Russia was concerned, were the destruction of their consulates and factories in Kuldja and Chuguchak, the entire cessation of commerce, an influx of ruined and plundered emigrants into Semirechia, and perpetual disturbances on the frontier. In keeping, however, with existing treaties, Russia declined to interfere or to lend help to the Chinese generals, who in 1866 were completely beaten. The rebels next quarrelled with each other for supreme power, and in the following year occurred a wholesale slaughter of the Dungans, the Taranchis being left to rule. The same policy of non-intervention was continued for a time towards the new government, the number of refugees increasing, and petty quarrels caused by the raids and robberies of the nomads rendered the defence of the frontier more and more difficult. Nor did it become easier to keep the peace after the arrival ot von Kaufmann, for when in May, 1870, the Taranchis, who guarded the Muzart Pass, had attacked live Russian Kirghese, the Governor-General directed the Pass to be occupied, much to the dislike ot the Taranchis, because it was the only passage in the Thian Shan range that united the Hi and Altishahr provinces. The movement, however, was thought to be desirable just then, because it was leared that Yakoob Beg, pursuing his conquests in Kashgar, might attempt to come by that way to occupy Kuldja THE RUSSIAN OCCUPATION OF TURKISTAN. 627 where the Kashgarians, says Terentieff, could not be tolerated, otherwise increased difficulties might be expected, since the proximity of even the Taranchis had obliged the Russians to maintain three detach- ments of troops on the frontier. The Taranchi sultan, however, insisted upon the recall of the Thian Shan detachment, and threatened, in case of refusal, to have recourse to arms. Matters being thus brought to a head, a report was sent to Petersburg suggesting that Kuklja should be annexed, and asking permission for a movement. Forces at Borokhudzir were strengthened, to be commanded by General Kolpakovsky in the spring of 1871, and reconnoitring detachments sent out. One of these detachments was attacked by the Taranchis, and thus open hostilities commenced. But the campaign was over in a fortnight. The troops left Borokhudzir on June 24th, and four days later defeated 4,000 of the enemy at Alim-Tu. On the 5Oth the Russians con- quered Chinchakhodzi after a fight, and on the next day, without opposition, occupied Suidun. On July 3rd the sultan surrendered himself a captive of war, and on the morrow General Kolpakovsky entered Kuldja. This occupation of the Hi province was treated as a purely temporary affair, and the Russian Government at once assured the Court of Peking that it was their intention to take over the administration of the country until such time merely as tin- Chinese were strong enough to resume possession. I hat time, as some ot the Russian officers told me, they thought wou never come; but. as we shall presently see, it ( i< for Chinese troops were despatched westwards under a military i/overnor, Tsin-Tsiann' Tsiun. who estab- 628 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. lished himself at Chuguchak, with a view to regaining the revolted territory in the west of the Empire. This occupation of Kuldja preceded almost im- mediately another expedition that had long been meditated, against Khiva ; the reasons for it being continuous robberies by the Khivans, their collection of taxes from Russian Kirghese, their incitement of the Kazaks to revolt, and the capture and enslaving of Russian subjects during the course of many years. More than one attempt had been made to chastise the Khanate, but each expedition had failed through treachery or the difficulty of approach. When von Kaufmann arrived at Tashkend in 1867, he wrote to the Khivan Khan, informing him of the plenipo- tentiary authority entrusted to him, and that a Russian detachment had been sent beyond the Syr-daria to punish marauders who pillaged caravans. This com- munication elicited only a delayed and haughty reply from the Khivans, who were puffed up at the weaken- ing of Bokhariot power, and, surrounded by the desert, fancied themselves secure. They continued their former practices, and further letters of remonstrance from the Governor-General were either unanswered, or answered insolently, until in 1870 von Kaufmann reported to Petersburg the necessity of an appeal to arms, lor which permission was given. .Accord- ingly, during the summers of 1871 and 1872, the part of the Kyzyl-Kum lying to the north of Bokhara was surveyed, and small detachments were sent irom Ka/alinsk to investigate the country on the way to Khiva. Besides this, detachments were sent to ex- plore the country south of the Kmba, and others to investigate the old bed of the Oxus. When all was in readiness, the forces placed at 7777^ RUSSfAX OCCUPATION OF TURKISTAN. 629 the disposal of General von Kaufmann for the Khiva expedition started from three bases of operation from the Turkistan district, from the Orenburg district, and from the Caspian. The result showed that the column from Orenburg would have been ample tor the taking of Khiva, for the Khan made the poorest resistance, and ran away. He was recalled, anil nominally placed in his former position, but with a tine imposed that he would require twenty years to pay. Moreover, the delta and right bank of the Oxus was taken by Russia ; the Oxus closed to all vessels except Russian and Khivan, and a Russian iortress built at Petro-Alexandrovsk. Thus was humbled the last of the three Khanates, a considerable slice having been cut ott trom each wherewith to increase the general government <>t Turkistan. The next accretion was made three- years later, in 1876, by adding the; remainder of the Khanate of Khokand. 'I he general government had now attained in si/e, to one-twentieth part of the- Russian K mpire, and so remained until the death of von Kaufmann. Subsequently this enormous territory was divided, in |SS2, into two general governments, with tie first heads of which I was brought in contact at the time of my visit, whilst in the following year, the I'll province was ceded back to the Chine.se, thereby bringing what I have called Russian Central Asia (apart from Turkmenia) to its present proportions. CHAPTER XLII. DO WE KNOW THE TRUTH ABOUT SIBERIAN PRISONS? Different estimates of "Through Siberia." Doubts of sceptical friends. Prisons supposed to have been prepared for my visits. The supposition examined. Opinions of residents in Russia and Siberia. Testimony of a Swede. Examination of statements con- cerning Siberian Prisons in "Called Back." Prince Krapotkine's censure, and its value. The class of facts borne witness to in "Through Siberia." WHEN I returned from my long journey across Northern Asia I gave to the world " an unprejudiced statement of what I saw and heard in the prisons and mines of Siberia." One Russian prison inspector, of high standing, volunteered the remark that what I had said was so perfectly correct that my book might be taken as a standard even by Russian authorities ; but another Russian writer has allowed himself to go so far as to say that my book " in so far at least as it is concerned with gaols and convicts can only convey false ideas." 1 he worth of this latter criticism may to some extent be gauged by the fact that, although "Through Siberia" has been translated into three languages, and has been honoured with more than 200 literary notices and reviews, yet no such misstatement has been pointed out SIBERIAN PRISOXS. 631 as to make it necessary in any one of four subsequent editions to alter what had been printed at first. I say this, not boastfully, still less defiantly, but as affording some sort of proof that I did not write at random. But I am not so sanguine as to suppose that all are, or are likely to be, convinced. Even among my friends there are those who think I did not see things in their O normal condition. This suspicion was pleasantly hinted, before my book appeared, by the late Dean Close, who, writing to me on another subject, play- fully added, " I suppose those letters in the 1'imct were yours. ... I should very much doubt whether those cunning Russians have not deceived you. They knew what they were about when they gave you apparent liberty ot access to all their prisons. I)o you suppose, if there were any horrors, they would show them to you ? Xo. They saw in a moment that, if they could apparently open all Siberia to you, they would get what they have got, a whitewashing in the Times! I am not a violent Anti-Russ; but I don't believe that they would show to any Englishman all their heavy irons in Siberia." Others have-, said, " I )o you not think that tlv prisons were prepared lor your inspection ? ' .\nd this question was answered in the- altirmative by the St. fames s (iazette, on the authority of "a I\tis>i in informant," stating that " official orders were sent bet< >r< me to the prisons to make things wear a favourable aspect for my visit.'' I'pon seeing this 1 wrote to the editor "that if his Russian informant, or any other, thinks that I have been duped or misinformed, 1 am perfectly ready to be, questioned, and shall be happy to discuss the question in the public press, provided only that my opponent give tacts, dales, names, ;m 1 652 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. places, and do not hide behind general statements and impersonalities." This rejoinder the editor did not publish, and I therefore inserted the challenge in the second, third, fourth, and fifth editions of "Through Siberia," but no one has taken up the challenge. Let us suppose, however, for a moment, that official orders were sent on before me to make things wear a favourable aspect : then how far could this in all cases have been carried out, and to what extent ? I told the authorities in Petersburg, in May, that I was going to Tinmen, Tomsk, Irkutsk, and Kiakhta, whence I purposed to retrace my steps. In keeping with this, they certainly could have telegraphed that I was coming, but as to when I presume they would be at a loss to say, for I did not know myself. I reached Tinmen in i / days, and can only say that, if the prison authorities there had received orders to make things wear a favourable aspect, they had not efficiently carried them out. But the next place, Tobolsk, is more to my purpose. I had not decided to go there at all, and even it the Governor had known generally of my coming, he could not have been expecting me on the morning of June 2nd, when the floods were out, and necessitated our driving through water up to the axles. In fact, the post-road was at this moment supposed to be impassable ; the Governor himself was waiting, with packed trunks, to accomplish by steamer the reverse journey we had done by road, and one of his first questions was, " How in the world did you get here?" \Ye asked to see the prisons at once. The police-master was sent for, and in a few minutes we hurried off in vehicles to the prisons. In this case, then, where was time to make things wear a favourable SIBERIAN PRISONS. 633 aspect ? Next, at Tomsk, finding I had to wait a week, we took a run of 230 miles to Barnaul, entirely off our road, and not down in my programme. We arrived in the night, and next clay stirred up the police-master before he knew, I suspect, of our exist- ence. A third variation from my pre-announced plans was the visit to the Alexandrevsky Prison, near Irkutsk, to which town I thought to go and thence drive out ; but we cut across country instead, and reached the prison at dusk. Here they could hardly have ex- pected me, for the Vice-Governor wanted to tele- graph to the capital for permission to show us the prison, but could not do so because in the fire at Irkutsk the telegraph lines were broken. Yet here I entered early in the morning, and went wherever and saw whatever I asked. But, further, supposing for the sake of argument that all had been prepared from Petersburg up to this point, I now altered my plans for the fourth time, in this case radically, and, instead of retracing my steps, went on to the Amur, through the very heart of the convict country. At Chita the supposed expectation oi my coming did not by any appearances betray itself. At Kara, indeed, my coming was heralded by telegraph ; but on reaching Khabarofka, had I been a hunted hare I could not have more completely doubled upon my pursuers, for, whereas my papers set out that I was going 600 miles south to Yladivostock, the steamer having left, 1 elected straightway to go Ooo miles north to Xikolaefsk, and on my arrival I next morning pre- sented myself to the prison officials. It, then, after detailing the.se live changes of plan, the reader still thinks that the Russian authorities managed to keep ahead of me with their messages and O 1 O 634 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. telegrams during my five months' journey over 8,000 miles, then I must acknowledge that he has a belief in the foresight and consummate watchfulness of Siberian officials such as I do not possess ; and I would ask next, What were the things the Russians did not permit me to see ? or, What were the steps they took to " make things wear a favourable aspect " ? because, until the aforesaid " Russian informant," or some other, can back up his assertions or suspicions by something like proof, the answer I must give to my friends is this : In certain instances, as at Kansk, Irkutsk, Kara, and Vladivostock where my visit was definitely expected some hours previously things may- have been made to wear a holiday aspect, so far as rooms being brushed out and dust removed, with an extra wash and so forth ; but in many cases, notably at Tiumen, Tobolsk, Tomsk, Barnaul, Krasnoiarsk, Chita, and Nikolaefsk, there was not time between my arrival at the town, or the presentation of my cre- dentials and the moment of my admittance to the prisons, to allow even for this ; and in no case could I honestly say that I have reason to suspect things were made to simulate for me a deceitful appearance. But what do my friends say who live in Russia and Siberia ? I must not withhold the fact that two of them share the suspicions or prejudices of friends in England. The first savs : " I read the book o * ('Through Siberia') with great interest, and must acknowledge that I found one fault ; that is, I think O you give the Russians too much credit." The second is my old host, Captain de Yries, who has now passed away, but a correspondent wrote to me : '' During one of my last visits the Captain informed me that though he considered your work ' Through Siberia ' well SIBERIAN PRISOXS. 635 written, and a correct statement of what you really saw and heard, yet he could not rid himself of the impression that you did not see matters in their every- day aspect ; but that, notwithstanding your avowal in the preface to the contrary, the officials were informed beforehand of your visit, and consequently prepared lor your reception." Another correspondent, however, in Siberia speaks difterentlv ; and a Swede living in Russia savs : "I ^ ' o J have read your ' Through Siberia ' with deep interest, and can only say that I never read anything so lair and impartial printed in the English language relating to matters in Russia. Ever since the Crimean \\ ar, 1 have seen matters relating to Russia grossly mis- represented in the English press and in English books, and always felt sorry ; for surely it is not creditable to a great nation (to say the least) to deviate from the plain truth in speaking about others. As far as my own experience goes, there may be many things said respecting a wide field lor improve- ment here, but irom general experience I can testily that I always have seen prisoners in Russia treated with much kindness by olticials as well as the public at large. At the; lime ot the last rising m Poland in iS')2- > V-l- I served as locomotive superintendent on Moscow-Xijny railway. As may be supposed, feeling ran high, but I never saw a single act of unkiiulness against any of the Polish prisoners, who were carried on the Xijny railway in large numbers at the time in question. Nor have I ever since seen any prisoner treated anything but well sometimes even, according to my notion, too well ; that is to say, the prisoner has got less work, more food, more! clothing, and better lodgings, than many a tree man can get by his labour, 636 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. and often enough the prisoner has experienced more kindness at the hands of prison officials, than the free man from his employers." These testimonies, then, wholly unsought by me, I leave to speak for them- selves. Besides the suspicions of friends, however, I have been confronted with the Siberian chapter in the story of" Called Back," by " Hugh Conway," and have been asked how that tallies with my account. Here- upon I would first inquire, Is the story fiction or fact ? As fiction, I have little to say to the novel, except that the author has not learned his lesson perfectly. When, however, he says, " I expect to be believed All else save this one thing I could prove to be true," does the author wish his readers to understand that he really went to Siberia and saw the facts he records? If so, then I detect in "Called Back " another of the series of apocryphal books on that much-abused country, and can only regret that the popular tale will " carry the lie round the world, while Truth is putting on her boots." Still, I have no intention of charging the author with deliberate misrepresentation. He dipped his brush in colours which I can well conceive he thought mishit be true, and I fail to see in him the animus which certain Russian writers betray.* * Will the reader be Lionel enough to judge the grounds of my adverse judgment t The hero of " Called I'ack " goes to Siberia in search of a prisoner, and on arriving at Petersburg lie says : " \Ve received a passport authori/ing me to travel to the end of the Czar's Asiatic dominions if 1 thought fit. which was worded in such a way that it obviated the necessity of obtaining a fresh passport wherever a fresh government district was to be traversed." Again, "All convicts were iirst sent to Tobolsk. . . . whence they were. 1 drafted off at the pleasure of the Governor-General to various places. ... If 1 wished, the Governor of Tobolsk should be telegraphed to ; but as I was bound SIBERIAN PRISONS. 637 I now proceed to the articles of Prince Krapotkine,* who permitted himself to say that, concerning gaols and convicts, " Through Siberia '' could only con- vey false ideas ; and whose testimony has been set against mine. How, then, stands the matter ? Prince Krapotkine gets his information from three sources, any way to t^o to that town, it would be just as well if I made my inquiries in person "; and it was at Tobolsk the author expected to "await the pleasure of the Governor-General." Now here is a small pickle of mistakes to beirin with ! For, a />ti.\~s/><-f does not entitle the holder to travel by post, but a pndoro/na , which .^ives a claim to horses between two points; but it is immaterial whether, in reach- ing one's destination, the traveller passes through one government or half-a-doxen. Next, all convicts are tmf distributed from Tobolsk, but from Tinmen. It is here the author should have ""one to make his ima^inarv inquiries, and then he would not have been " bound any way to ^'o to Tobolsk," but could have driven direct to Tomsk. Besides this, the Governor-General did not live at Tobolsk, but 700 miles distant at Omsk! Next, our author's i^eo^raphy is somewhat fault}', as is his knowledge of posting customs, lie savs : "A trille of some .(GO miles from Fkaterinebur<_;~ to Tinmen " (this should be 2O.-|\ and "at the east bank of the Irtish, Siberia proper begins" (this is w nm 54- by 150 miles}. Then he speeds on so fast that he " left the \i'istchik no time for refreshment." But why should her I )oes he think that the yenistchik, like an interpreter, accompanies one all the way, or has he to learn that he merelv drives the traveller to the next station, perhaps an hour's run, and then L;'OCS back with his horses-* lint a sentence most dama^in^ to "(.'ailed Back" as an authority on Siberian aliairs is this : " \\'e passed many j^an^'s of con- victs plodding alon^' to their fate. Ivan told me that most ,,f them were in chains. This I should not have noticed, as the irons are only on the le^'s and worn under the trousers." No\v, I have seen scores, not to say hundreds, ot Russian le^-chains. and 1 have a pair, \\ith a prison suit, in my o\\n possession. I put them on and was pi: : .- graphed, and the illust ration in " Through Siberia," p. 155, of " (,'onv ict Summer Clothing and C'hains," represents " your luimbli- servant" in all but the features. From this picture it will be seen thai the chain, }o inches lom^, fastened to e.n h ankle, t'u,-/.',/ /;,>; be worn under the trousers. Yet our humane author add- beings, my heart ached for them!" And so, ,[on manv of his readers especially ladies Inn quite n chains worn under the troiisei's are bin a hoax. * i am indebted for intormation concern;;).; 1'raice Krapotkine d 638 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. and so do I : from what he sees, what he hears, and what he reads. As regards the last, I at once yield to him, as better able to inform the public than I, since he writes of his own country, and from books in his own language. When, however, we come to testimony from seeing and hearing, things are not quite the same. My critic, as far as I understand, has seen the inside of two prisons in Petersburg. I have seen more than twenty times two, all over the Empire ; and although, if I had as a visitor seen ten times this " Stepniak," a former editor of a Russian revolutionary paper, who, in " Underground Russia," gives a slight sketch of "Peter Krapotkine," to the effect that, having been educated at the College of the Pages, he \vent, in 1861, to Siberia to study its geology. (I have seen two pamphlets, which I presume to be the outcome of that journey.) Ten years later he travelled in Belgium and Switzerland, and (says " Step- niak ") " became an internationalist, and adopted the ideas of the most extreme party, the so-called anarchical party, of which he has always remained a fervent champion." In 1872 he was admitted to the Russian revolutionary circle, and "entrusted with the duty of draw- ing up the programme of the party and its organization, which "was afterwards found among his papers." In the winter of 1^72 he com- menced his secret lectures, was caught, and confined for three years in the fortress prison. Then he was removed, according to his own account, for three months to the " House of Detention at Petersburg " before his transfer to the military hospital. In a few months (says " Stepniak ") his health was re-established, but he did everything in his power to hide the fact. He induced those in charge of him always to believe him to be in extremis, etc. (p. 162). He walked with the step of a dying man : he spoke in a low voice, as if merely to open the mouth were a painful effort. The doctor ordered him frequent exercise : when one fine day in fulv, the gates of the yard being open for laying in wood, he suddenly takes to his heels leaps into a carriage prepared by his friends, and leaves behind the sentinel, and the officer tearing his hair and exclaiming that he is ruined. Thus much from " Stepniak " : except that lie says, " Peter Krapotkine is one of the must sincere and frank of men : he always says the truth pure and .simple, without any regard for tin.' amour propre of his hearers, or for any consideration whatever. This is the most striking and sympathetic feature of his character. Every word he says may be absolutely believed. . . . This absolute sincerity renders him the best of friends, and gives especial weight to his praise or blame.''' PRISOXS. 639 number, it would not make my testimony upon certain tilings so valuable as his, yet upon some things it ought to be a great deal better. It stands to reason that, upon such matters as the conduct of the turnkeys towards prisoners, and the various details of prison life and discipline that do not meet a visitor's eye, my testimony is as nothing compared with that of a prisoner, and I willingly yield precedence to my critic. But "one need not eat a whole leg of mutton to know how it tastes," and one need not be in a prison a month to know whether the rooms are large or small, crowded or empty, light or dark, airy or close, lately whitewashed or bedaubed with dirt, appa- rently dry or fungus covered ; and it is precisely to this class of facts I have professed to bear witness. Not one of my alleged facts, however, so far as I know, has been disproved ; but horrible pictures have been drawn by " 1 > . Krapotkine," in the XinclccntJi Century"' and by others, of certain prisons, which for the most part I have not visited, and so cannot contradict from personal testimony, except perhaps in the case of the fortress prison in Petersburg, to the description of which I shall now invite tin- reader's attention, and notice certain other objections in passing. January, June, and DecvmlKT, i^S^, and Maivli, i>S.|. CHAPTER XLIII. THE FORTRESS PRISON IN PETERSBURG. Difficult}' of obtaining admittance, and facility of misrepresentation. Letter alleged to have been written therefrom in blood. Descrip- tion of Troubetzkoy Bastion : its cells, occupants, and diet. I he Courtine of Catherine II. Place for visits of friends, and for trials. The library. Cells for military officers, and garden. Inquiry for oubliettes and underground dungeons. Testimony of official eye-witnesses. Testimony of ex-prisoners. Examination of state- ments in the Nineteenth Century. Insufficient evidence as to alleged torture of prisoners. T HE prison for political offenders in the fortress of SS. Peter and Paul at Petersburg has long been an exhaustless mine for the horror-monger, whose delineations iound, at any rate until quite recently, negative support in the extreme jealousy of the authorities of any investigation by outsiders. I asked to see this particular prison or the one at Schlusselburg (I forget which), in 1878, but was denied. When, however, in 1882, I found the authori- ties willing to grant me all I desired with regard o o o to Central Asia, I made bold to ask Count Tolstoy, the Minister of the Interior, whether I might not also be allowed to visit the State prison in the fortress. His Excellency had kindly assured me that he would do everything for me that he could ; but, on receiving THE FORTRESS PR f SOX AV PETERSBURG. 641 this request, I fancied he winced a little, and at first said " Xo." I urged, however, that the enemies of Russia, and those who would rather not hear any good of her, had said that in my inspection of Siberian prisons the worst had not been shown me ; also that in the fortress prison abominations were commonly alleged to exist, which I could not gainsay so long as I had not personally inspected the building. This seemed to fetch the Count, who told me I might come on the following Saturday for a " Yes " or "Xo"; the reason for the delay being, I after- wards heard, that on the Friday the Minister in- tended to submit my application to the Emperor. I went on the Saturday morning, and was told that / uiiglit sec everything, and choose my own time to do so. I elected to go within a very few hours on the afternoon of the same day being not unmindful of what had been said about prisons being prepared for me. As a Russian gentleman, who had accompanied me in the city to interpret, fought shy of going with me to the prison, lest it should in any way bring him under suspicion, the police-master spared me his sec- retary. Thus prepared, I went to the-, fortress, was introduced to the Commandant, General Ganet/ky, one of the heroes of Plevna, and then, accompanied by the secretary of the fortress and the go\ ernor of the prison, proceeded to my inspection. 1 described my visit in the Contemporary /\V;v<\v for February, iSS^, and the contribution was ad- versely criticised in the following [une number of the \ineteenth Ciu(nr\\ by Prince Krapotkme, whilst in the 77//;-0/Vr name ol this part of the building, but it has occurred to me that its cells or rooms are what several writers have called the " I nderground casemates" ol the fortress. At least I saw no other parts ol the building that agreed with this expression. Webster describes a casemate as a " bomb-proof *The letter writer states that "under the pretext of searching the women, they often cause them to be stripped naked in the presence ot a bevy ot gendarmes." But why should they: I'here are plenty ol female warders across the river, it not in the fortress, uheiv ihere are the wives of the soldiers, who. " Kn^li>liman " says, wait on the wppinen when necessary. 646 RUSSIA W CENTRAL ASIA. chamber, usually of masonry, in which cannon may be placed, to be fired through embrasures ; or capable of being used as a magazine, or for quartering troops," and the French dictionary describes a " courtine " as "a wall between two bastions." Both these descriptions agree with the Courtine of Catherine II., and the casemates are in a sense "underground," in that earth is put on the roofs to make them bomb-proof, or again as the London high-level railway arches with ballast on the top might by an abuse of language be called " underground." In fact, the interior of one of the cells with rounded roof reminded me exactly of a London railway arch turned into a store- room, with the floor a few feet below the springers. The embrasures had no cannon, but were glazed, and the windows, with several feet of scarp wall below, looked out on a garden and over the Neva. I did not measure the rooms, but they struck me as larger than those in the Troubetzkoy Bastion, and I observed no damp on the walls. The rooms below, I was given to understand, are no longer used as cells; though I observe that "Englishman" speaks of the bottom of these walls as clamp, and says that the lower part of the prison is used only when the 72 cells of the Troubetzkoy Bastion are full. They have usually from 20 to 40 prisoners. At the time of my visit there were 38. We entered first the place in which prisoners see their friends, behind wire grating as in other prisons, hut with square apertures larger than usual, through which prisoner and friend could see each other clearly, and pass commodities in the presence of an officer. A couch and cane-bottomed chairs were provided for friends and prisoner alike, and the place looked THE FORTRESS PRISON IX PETERSBURG. 64; somewhat less gloomy than in many prisons. Further on, however, was a chamber that called up ideas any- thing hut pleasant. It was a large room, with low vaulted root, in which commissioners formerly sat to conduct trials, commencing to do so in 1861. Some celebrated trials in 1866, I was informed, were con- ducted here : but the chamber, after serving this purpose tor 1 2 years, ceased to be used, though it is still to some extent furnished. As at Newgate, the accused could be brought from their cells to the place ot judgment without going outside the prison gates. Beyond this hall of judgment was the library, which I could not enter, as the librarian was away. It was said to contain from 600 to 700 volumes in Russian, French, German, and Fnglish. The prisoners, I was told, read a great deal indeed, I saw many so doing. A copy ot the; Gospels or ot the New Testament is placed in every room, and the library books may be had tor the asking. Periodicals and newspapers are also provided, but not less than a year old, the authorities not thinking it desirable that persons awaiting their trial should see themselves fitniriiiLi' in print. Should new books, however, be O O 1 required, ot a scientific or technical character lor instance, they are allowed.* The prisoners' rooms in the Courtine were not numerous, though there- were other unused chambers cu suite. The men confined in this part were chiefly, it not entirely, military officers, the Russian code prescribing that certain military ottences (not neces sarily political) should be expiated by imprisonment 648 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. in a fortress for a period not exceeding three years and three months. There were six chambers for ordinary prisoners, and also three very large rooms for those condemned to death, with whom are placed two warders (as in England) from the day on which sentence is passed to the hour of execution. There was no one in the fortress condemned to death at the time of my visit, but I entered one of the rooms, and then proceeded to the cell (if such it could be called) of an officer sentenced to four months' confinement. The room was furnished with Vienna chairs, had a bouquet of flowers on the table-cloth, and contained, among other things that attracted my attention, a neat carpenter's bench, and an amateur's box of tools. Xone of the fortress prisoners are obliged to work, but this officer chose to employ his time in making fancy and fretwork articles, specimens of which were seen about the room. The prisoners in the Courtine had a less unpleasant time than their comrades in the Troubetzkoy Bastion with regard to exercise, for they could, if they chose, spend the greater part of the summer day (from noon to eight) in the garden, and that in company of one another. I walked round the enclosure, which com- mands a splendid view of the Neva, and was fairly taken aback by what I saw. There was no lack of flowers (tended, I believe, by the prisoners), and an abundance of shady trees, between two of which a hammock was swun^, whilst not far oft were a pair of gymnastic bars, a summer-house, and a tent. The animal world was represented by a goat cropping the; grass, and two playful puppies belonging to some officers, who, in a knot of four, were lounging about under no visible surveillance. In the garden, in one THE FORTRESS PR I SOX IX PETERSBURG. 649 place which was damp, there was an offensive smell, but I detected nothing of the kind elsewhere. Need I add that I saw no torture-chamber, or any similar abomination ? What, then, can have become of the " cacliots" "oubliettes," and dismal chambers which have been connected with the " Peter and Paul " by so many, and by some, too, whose testimony is worthy of respectful consideration ? I do not allude to the exaggerated and vindictive expressions of released prisoners, who overreach their aim when they vilify the land of their punishment ; nor to the stories of the Great Peter's days that have descended trom father to son, and been questioned by neither though garnished by both. I am thinking rather of the testimony of such men as the Decembrists, one of whom told me that not he, but one of his comrades, was confined tor many years in the fortress in a cachot ; and another, writing an account, which still exists in manuscript, of his exile, tor his wife and children, describes his cell at the for- tress at Petersburg as "very small, dirty, and dark. I can only reconcile these statements with what I saw by one of two suggestions. It will be remembered that the insurrection of the Decembrists took place in 1825, in December (whence their name), and that not a mere handful of assassins, but whole; regiments led by their officers, attempted to deprive the Emperor Nicholas o! his throne. The number of per- sons arrested must therefore.- have been very great, and the. fortress may well have been overfilled, so that every possible corner would have to be occupied ; and if one remembers what our own prison-- in England were half a century ago, it need not seem surprising if some at least ol the places of detention in the fortress could be described as "dark, dirtv, and 650 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. small." The occasion and the number of the prisoners was abnormal and temporary, and the then exceptional condition of things ought not, without additional proof, to be brought forward as representing the condition of things now. The other suggestion is that a part of the fortress now altered or taken down may have contained these gloomy places. More than one of those whom I told of my visit asked if 1 had seen the " Alexeievsky Ravelin," and upon my replying in the negative, they said that a third prison of the fortress had not been shown me. But an official, high in the prison administration, and whom I have known for some time, told me, a day or two before I went, that the part of the fortress in the thick wall of which cells were long ago formed, is no longer used as a prison, and that the cells are abolished. I expressly asked, when going over the buildings, it there were any subterranean chambers or cells, and was told " No.'' Inasmuch, then, as I have not yet detected the Russian prison authorities on any one occasion trying to deceive me, I am bound to believe what they say, until someone can show proof to the con- trary. It anyone denied to me that there were dark cells in Newgate I could in six lines give so minute a direction that a Russian entering the prison for the first time should be able to find them ; but for anyone to say, like the "blood-red" letter writer, that there are in the fortress "underground cells where a ray of sun- light never enters, where offensive water oozes through o o the walls, and fungus grows on all sides," is not suffi- ciently definite as to locality. Prince Krapotkine, after speaking of the Troubetzkoy Bastion, says : "The tloor ot the cells is covered with a painted felt, and the walls are made double with felt to prevent the prisoners from THE FORTRESS PRISON IN PETERSBURG. 651 speaking to one another by tapping," a very proper device of the authorities if it were so, but it was not the case in the cells I entered or looked into. Again, he says that the prisoners I saw were awaiting trial, and that it is after trial that they are put into the horrible places he describes ; but his testimony fails to convince me because he does not sufficiently particu- larize the locality of the cells so that an independent person might test the accuracy of his statements. So much, then, for what I saw ; and, had I left Russia immediately after my visit, this is all I could have said ; but, as I continued my journey, I met here and then- persons who knew the fortress, and with whom I could compare notes. So contradictory to current opinion on the subject was my experience, that with a view to publication I wrote a short paper, and read it to several Russians, including a legal gentleman who had held a prominent position in the %l third section," and who on one occasion, summoned by telegram, went to the: for- tress to receive from a noted offender some statement he wished to make. My informant told me that In: went to the Alexeievsky Ravelin, out of which, he said, prisoners did not come: without permission of the Km- peror. He descended to cells underground, which were large and airy, but lighted from the corridor above, hardly enough, he said, to read, though the prisoner might call for a lamp. This was about ^ o'clock in the afternoon, but whether winter or summer I know not ; it the former, then the deficiency of light at that time of day in Petersburg would easiK be accounted tor, and it also leaves room tor doubt whether the lawyer may not have been mistaken as to the cells being underground. This was the only time- he visited the prison, and I suggest the possibility of 652 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. his being mistaken, because the position of the cells does not agree with what was told me further on, by a chief of gendarmerie, whom I met at dinner, who knew the fortress, and said there used to be a part of the building, of three stories, called the Alexeievsky Ravelin, but he knew nothing of cells underground. The " oubliettes" he thought, had not been used since the days of the Emperor Paul, and he did not believe in the torture of prisoners in the fortress now. But besides the testimony of these two witnesses I met other two, who had been confined in the for- tress. Both of them are now filling important positions, are highly respected, and no one, or almost no one, about them has any idea ol their having been in prison. Of course, therefore, I cannot give their names ; but I shall call them Messrs. Jones and Robinson. Mr. Jones, who is a British subject, had the misfortune to fall under the suspicion of the authorities, through being found in the same lodgings with a political miscreant. Accordingly, about 1866, he was taken one night from a restaurant by the police, placed on a droshky, hurried off, and lodged in the fortress. The next morning a clerk came and asked him sundry questions, and among others whether he knew where he was. The clerk, however, declined to answer, in turn, any questions put by the prisoner, who asked in vain for books, though he was allowed to have pens, ink, and paper. His food, he told me, was good, but he had no white bread or tea. He was not allowed to smoke, or send out for cigars. When necessity required him to leave his cell, he was taken out and brought back by gen- darmes, but during the few days lie was in prison he was not let out tor exercise. I asked him about " tor- ture," but he said that no violence was used towards TJfK FORTRESS PR I SOX IX PETERSBURG. 653 him, though a friend of his. confined in 1866, had told him that during his examination he was switched with a rod as punishment, but not with a view to extort con- iession. On the fifth day my informant was taken to the arched chamber for examination, and, while waiting i;i the ante- room, heard another prisoner inside swear- ing and stamping with rage. His own examination lasted about a quarter of an hour, and on the seventh day he was whisked out of prison, much in the fashion he had been brought in, at i o'clock in the morning. o o I pass now to the testimony of Mr. Robinson, a Russian, in whose presence I had been speaking ot my visit to the fortress, when he called me aside and said, " You will be surprised, perhaps, to hear that I know the fortress. \o one in this town is aware of it, but 20 years ago I was imprisoned there, on political charges, for three years." A revolutionary correspon- dent, he told me, had written to him, proposing that he should be chief commissioner for a certain city, for the distribution ot revolutionary publications, that the letter had been opened and IK; had been arrested on the strength of it. Accordingly I made an appointment to set: him in private, and on my not arriving quite so early as he expected, he busied himself in making a pen-and-ink sketch, which is now in my possession, of his cell in the Alexeievsky Ravelin. It was furnished with table, chair, commode: taken away immediately after use and cleaned by a soldier, and a bed, with two leather pillows, a pair ot sheets, blanket, and woollen coverlet. The cell measured iS feet S inches long, by i 6 feet 4 inches broad, and o feet 4 inches high. I'he window was nearly 7 feet high, and doubled in winter: the two lower sashes being whitewashed, but not so the top, out ot which the prisoner could look bv standing 654 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. up. The room was yellowwashed and painted once a year, during which operation its occupant was removed at various times to four or five other cells like his own. The painted floor was washed once a week, but not by the prisoner. He said he had no trouble about his room, for at half-past seven a.m. four soldiers entered his cell. One poured water in Russian fashion on Mr. Robinson's hands, and another held his comb, whilst the remaining two cleaned the room. This sort of attendance was continued at the bath, visited once a fortnight, where the soldiers waited on him, even to putting on his socks. He wore the prison clothes, including a grey flannel dressing-gown (or k/ialat), and had clean linen for bed and back once a week. At eight o'clock there was brought a glass of tea, sugar, and white bread. Dinner followed at one, consisting ordinarily of three dishes, but in Easter week of four, preceded, if he chose, by a glass of vodka, or spirits. The first dish was of soup, with the beef, veal, or chicken of which it had been made ; the second was of roast beef, fowl, or game, but so varied that the same second dish did not appear twice in any week during the whole three years he was there. The third dish was of rice pudding, buckwheat, jam pancakes, etc., etc., the portions, always well cooked, being so large that he could not eat the whole. At six o'clock came again tea, sugar, and white bread, black bread being served only for dinner. After making notes of this. and that he might ii he chose purchase extras, I was tully prepared to hear Mr. Robinson say that at the end of three years he left the fortress heavier by 30 Ibs. Russian than he entered, his former weight being 14-j.lbs. English. He said that he was in solitary confinement, but that a captain came almost daily to ask it he had THE FORTRESS PR 1 SOX IX PETERSBURG. 055 complaints to make, which complaints when set forth were duly attended to. The Commandant of the fortress came once a month ; and once a year also a special messenger (chief of the gendarmerie) from the Emperor. Mr. Robinson spoke of the prison officers as even "polite," and said that the chief (when not drunk !) used often to come and talk for an hour. Again, that on one occasion Me/entseff (chief of the secret police, w r ho was murdered by the Nihilists in 1879) asked him if he would like to smoke, in which case he should be supplied with a { Ib. ol tobacco lor cigarettes every other day. He also asked if he would like to paint or write ; and books from the library and drawing materials were brought to him. It was in this fortress prison, he said, that he read "Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire." This testimony of Mr. Robinson is in striking con- trast to the article to which I have called attention, saying that in the Ravelin was disallowed " everything that might help to occupy the attention," tor here was written the Russian novel, Tclito Hycalit ? (" What's to be Done?"), published in 1865 in the SovrcMcnnik (or Contemporary]. Mr. Robinson told me that Tcher- nichevsky, the author, was with him in the Ravelin, and wrote it there. So that Tchernichevsky's mind did not decay for want of occupation. Mr. Robinson said that he; never heard or saw anything corroborative of prisoners being tortured in the lortress. I have heard of prisoners being ted with salt herrings, and given no water to drink. Prince Krapotkine, too, asserts that at least two revolutionists were submitted to torture by electricity. But he declines to giv any particulars to support his statement. \\ hen persons have told me of such tilings I used to ask the ((lies- 656 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. tion, " Out of the hundreds of prisoners who have passed through the fortress, do you know of one \vhohas asserted that he was put to torture?" and an affirmative answer has not yet been forthcoming. If torture in the fortress is inflicted, can no one be found to tell us with some closeness of detail when, ^tJicre, and how he was made to suffer ? Such things, if done, could not well have been hid. Further, Robinson had a friend who had been four times in the fortress, and many other acquaintances likely to know the truth, but none of these had ever spoken to him of cruelties enacted there. I have no information respecting sickness, deaths, or insanity in the fortress. During Robinson's three years' confinement two prisoners went mad through their own fault and secret sin. But the writer of the apocryphal letter perpetrates a strange anachronism when he says, " Even those who become mad are not treated any better. They are strapped down and beaten with the knout." Now, I am informed by a Russian nobleman that the knout was not at any time used as an instrument of correction in prisons, but instead of capital punishment. But, however this may be, the " knout " proper (which is the Russian word for a whip) was abolished so long ago that I have been unable to get one for my collection of prison curiosities, and it was with great difficulty, when writing " Through Siberia/' that I found an old man who could describe what it used to be like. I have no recollection of seeing any chapel in the prison, though of course there is the well-known church close at hand within the fortress wall. Mr. Robinson did not go to church during his imprisonment, but a priest came thrice a year, and administered the THE FORTRESS PR I SOX IN PETERS BUR(i. (^ sacrament once. On these occasions the prisoners learned from him something of what was going on in the outer world. Otherwise my informant said that tor the first nine months he was not allowed to see any of his relations, and, even then, only his father, mother, and sister, in the cabinet of the Commandant. The reader will have perceived, of course, that the above statements respecting the visits of frienels, and the rich table of diet in the case of Mr. Re>binson, do not agree with what came under my own notice; in the prison itself. I do not think it necessary to attempt te} reconcile the two accounts, but conte;nt myself with having given LI faithful record oi what 1 saw and he-Lird, having extenuated nothing, nor set down aught in malice. \Yhether or not what I have said in "Through Siberia.'' on Siberian convicts and gaols, " can only convey false ideas " I must leave to those; best quali- fied to judge, begging them to remember that what I am committed to is simply an "unprejudiced states- men t of what I saw and heard in the; prisons and mine.-, of Siberia." Arounel that word " unprejudiced " I suspe-ct the remaining contention gathers, for Prince- Krapotkim- and I elo not se;e; things from the same standpoint. My critic calls some; of his prisone;r frienels " heroes," which is a synonym tor Nihilists I could by no means accept, nor could I rece-ive; his doctrines enunciated in the; Xiiiclccn/Ji Ccu/nrv (January, iSS^). "The principle; of the; /c.v talioni.^ of the- right of the- com- munity to ave:nge; itself on the criminal, is no longer admissible. \\ e have come to an understanding that soe'iety at large is responsible tor the vices that grow in it. even as it has its share in the glories o| its heroes ; ami we generally admit, at least in theory, that when Vol.. I. \2 658 KL'SSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. we deprive a criminal of his liberty, it is to purify and improve him." This, however true and excellent in the abstract, must, when interpreted by Nihilistic events, be taken to mean that when a dynamitard, for instance, has made a mine and blown a score or two of Cossacks into eternity, or wrecked a train, in which some individual may be, whose murder is decreed, the perpe- trator is not on that account to be made to endure suffer- ing as such, but to be compassionately patted on the back, and segregated to apartments where under more favourable conditions he may be purified and improved. A comfortable doctrine truly, but one not likely to find favour among the Cossacks' widows and orphans, or the maimed and mangled passengers ! The fallacy of so pernicious a principle is self-evident, and there are few who would not say that such a criminal, irre- spective of his future improvement, deserved tp suffer severely, and that whether acting for himself, or urged on by others to his dastardly work.* There is room, no doubt, for difference of opinion as to what should be done to this class of offenders when * I kn<>\v not who the Kng'lishman iruiy be who went to the fortress prison, and wrote to the J'nll J\fa/I Gtizcffe, but he says: " I inquired into the history of many (of the prisoners) I there saw, especially of the women. It was the same sad story. Kew had finished their education anywhere ; some had been to several gymnasia, and had been forced to leave, either through insubordination, idleness, or intellectual in- capacity. At war with the school authorities, often smarting 1 under a sense of injustice real or supposed, they leave school at war with what- ever the\ have known of law and of authority. Thus predisposed, the}' fall a ready victim to men of far more experience than themselves, who, bv appealing to the daring, the enthusiasm, the courage of youth, urge them on to deeds the}' dare not do themselves. Most of the young women entangled in the fatal net of Nihilism were but inexperienced < hildren when thev first began. Main' young girls sent to Swit/erland lor their education were sedulously sought after by the Xihilist refugees I here. Appeals to their love of country, their enthusiasm, their youthful lunging 1 - to be something to do were but too successful; and young T/ih FORTRESS PRfSOX AY PETERSBURG. 659 caught, how the majesty of the law should he vindi- cated, the body politic protected, and the criminal reformed. For my own part, though it is not a pretty sight to see a man's hack bared and a couple ot soldiers birching him, yet I never asked a prison official in Kngland whether governor, turnkey, or chaplain who did not agree with me that, if we had tar more ot this mode of punishment than we now have, we should have far fewer of a certain class of criminals. I still believe in the wisdom ot the code that directed judges to justify the righteous and con- demn the wicked ; and if the wicked man were, worthy to be beaten that the judge should cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, though not without mercy, lest the offender should be made: vile.* In concluding this chapter, then, let me 1 re-state what I said in my preface to " Through Siberia," con- cerning the prisons and penal institutions of that country, namely, that " much has been written con- cerning them that is very unsatisfactory, and some things that are absolutely false."! This I still main- tain, but by no means thereby imply that more cannot be correct]}' said in their disfavour than 1 have noticed. *;irl>, a! the very outset of their careers, tiiul themselves bound by oaths, to be broken at the risk of sudden and secret death should their courage tail, or should thev hesitate to obey. Here lies the real and ruthless tyranny; and the cowardly plotters, sate, .skulking in some foreign land, are alone responsible. ( )ne reads with a teelin- of loathing and disgust ;m appeal to himianit v from Mich cowardly assassins. The heart throbs with pity for their inexperienced and too credulous dupes ; but one boils \\nli contempt and loathing at the very thought ot these vanity in. id. cowardly misleaders." ' 1 >eut . \\.\i. i. i I added. " One author published ' Mv K.xile in Siberia ' ul went there": and to this Prime Krapotkine has taken strong ex sa\inu' thai the words " in Siberia " we- re added bv the publish not by Hert/en, the author. I wrote IM the publishers, bi through whose hands the transaction pa>sed is no ii.n- 660 Al'SSIA!? CENTRAL ASIA. I have never maintained that Russian prisons are what they ought to be. I do not believe they are what they might be, and I am sure they are not what those highest in authority would like them to be ; but all this does not justify the representation of them to be what they are not. Had a pamphlet been put forth saying that Russian prisons are the best in the world, that there is not a speck of dirt to be found in one of them, that every prisoner is as well employed as those in the prisons of London, Paris, or Breslau, that the efforts for their moral and spiritual welfare are better even than they were in Newgate a string of superlatives, in fact I should have declared that they were utterly untrue ; and then I can imagine myself being regarded as a detractor, as some would now make me a defender, of Russian prisons, whereas I disclaim to be regarded as one or the other. If readers have drawn the con- clusion from anything that I have written or said, that I thought Russian prisons in general needed no improvement and no reform, then I have been alto- gether misunderstood, and I hasten to say that there is abundance of room for both. But having now, as I hope, justified my position with reference to what 1 said of the prisons ot Siberia, and related what I know of the fortress prison in Petersburg, I shall change the venue and relate: what I saw of the prisons of Russian Central Asia. The firm cannot find any record upon tin- subject. It does not materially affect the truth, however, of what ! said, though, if the statement about the publishers be true, it is, of course, a pity that an author should thus be laid open to suspicion he does not deserve, and I therefore recall the sentence, ^ivin^ him the benefit of the doubt. CHAPTER XLIV. THI-: PRISONS OF RTSSIAX CKXTRAI. ASIA, Visit to prison at Omsk. -Difficulties in providing prisoners with literature. Kxajjsfernted statements as to urn-leanness of Russian prisons. -Visit to prison at Semipolatinsk. A Raskolnik fanatic. Criminal statistics of Semipolatinsk. Visit to prison at Vierny. Ottieial report of the prisons of Semirechia.-- -Local voluntary com- miitees. My distribution of books.-- -Visit to prison at Tashkend. Alleged overcrowding of Russian prisons. Visit to prison at Khokand. Prison visitation in Samarkand. Lavatory arrange- ments, and misrepresentations concerning them. My testimony and its limits. ri I E visitation of prisons anil hospitals \vas a principal object that took me to Central Asia, just as three years previously it had led me to visit Siberia. Accordingly I thought it better to devote a chapter to this subject than to interrupt the narrative of the journey by del; tiled descriptions en )\utlc. The first prison we visited was in the suburbs of Omsk, a building of da/./.ling whiteness, both without and within, with accommodation for 2 jo prisoners; but the average number of 135 on its books. I here were 22 rooms lor ordinary use, a hospital with 5 rooms more, and i s cells. The two punishment cells were dark, or could be darkened (I forget which), but not with the Egyptian darkness that reigns m the. 662 JtCSSSAJf CENTRAL ASIA. punishment cells of Newgate. I never saw anything to equal that in any prison of Russia or Siberia. As we entered room after room I inquired how many of the occupants could read. Out of 9 men in one ward, 2 could read ; in another, 3 out of 4 ; in a third, 2 out of 4 ; but in the next chamber not i out ol 7. These last were all Kirghese, of whom one had had his ncse bitten off in a quarrel. Another room contained 1 5 women, none of whom, if I remember rightly, could read. There were in the building, at the time ot our visit, 1 7 women and 2 children ; but the average number of women is 8. The daily allowance to the prisoners was 2^-lbs. (Russian) of bread, and ~ Ib. of meat. This latter, I presume, is withheld on hist days, but on feast days it is increased to :/- Ib. They have soup, and on Thursdays and Sundays porridge, besides buckwheat or barley gruel. The church in the building was attended by the prisoners on Sundays and the great feasts, as was the Roman chapel by the two prisoners ot this creed then in prison. In 1879 I sent to General Kaznakorf, then Governor-General oi Western Siberia, upwards of 300 Xew Testaments, Gospels, and Psalms, also a large number ot tracts and pamphlets for the hospitals, prisons and schools of the provinces of Akmolinsk and Semipolatinsk, and we found in this prison at Omsk what looked like a portion ot the gift, but they were in a cupboard in the library, precisely where I had asked they might not be, the reason alleged being that when they had placed the books in the rooms, the prisoners had torn them."* THE PRISOXS OF RUSSIAX CEXTRAL ASIA. 66$ The worst feature we noticed about the Omsk prison was one common to most of the Russian houses of detention, for, apart from the necessary work of the establishment, they had not six men employed. I observed that one room was somewhat close and stuffy, but, upon my calling attention thereto, was re- minded that persons of the class that prisoners are most commonly drawn from, prefer an atmosphere they call snug and warm to fresh air. In winter especially, they told us, "the prisoners stuff up all the holes with coats, or rags," as it wholesome air were their greatest enemy. This fact should be; allowed for when we are asked by certain writers to believe in the horrid condition of the atmosphen; of Russian prisons.* The next prison we entered was a civil one at wherein is represented on the wall a placard, worded thus : " Xotice is hereby i^iven, that should any of the I libles. prayer-books, or other printed bonks which are deposited in the ward lor the u.se of the prisoners, be injured, mutilated, or defaced, every prisoner in the ward where Mich offence may occur will be held responsible, and be subject to Mich punishment as the keeper may direct." ' The author of " Called Hack," on his way to Irkutsk, talks of prisoa "rooms reeking with tilth, the Hours throwing out poisonous emana- tions" ; and when at last he finds the prisoner he is in search of. it is in a room thus characterixed : " From the stench which rushed through it, that open door mii^ht have been the entrance to some pestilential (avern at the bottom of which all the impurities of the world wen- rotting and putrefying. As it passed you, you felt that the thick airwas poisonous with disease and death." T hen , as if this a^'t'e^ate of Miper- latives were instifVicient, the author continues: " Filth! the place was one mass of it. Filth under toot ; filth on the wall-, the ratters, and the beams; lilth float in^; about in the hot, heavy, pestiferous air." I he^ the author's pardon, but this is -real nonsense. 1 have friends more than once, " Are not Russian prisons dirtv - answer has been both "Yes" and "Xo." There a hn^land where the inmate of a cell must have every lessly clean : or, as a Russian prisoner t broom and pail is almost demoniac." rs are polished with the heel of a wine and I have seen prison schools and 664 RUSSIAXT CENTRAL ASIA. Semipolatinsk, whither we were accompanied by the police-master. Here a felon might have to remain as long as four years. There were 78 prisoners, of whom 25 were Kirghese. The latter are sometimes birched with rods up to 60 stripes an appeal to their feelings that is much more effectual than the leisure of mere confinement, and the supply of better food than they habitually get outside. No less than 20 of the prisoners were accused of murder, and 35 of robbery. The morals of the inmates at Semipolatinsk seemed to me better cared for than in most Russian prisons ; for not only did the prisoners attend church every Sunday, and often on feast days, but a sermon was said to be read to them after every service, and, what I have never before heard of in a Russian prison, a priest came every Tuesday to the dining- room, and explained the Scriptures. There was a religious curiosity in this prison in the person ot a Raskolnik or dissenter, whose equal for sectarian ignorance and self-righteousness I have not asylums so hyper-clean, even in Russia, that, to use a familiar ex- pression, "one might have eaten oft" the floor." Compared with buildings such as these, the average Russian prison must be allowed to be "dirty," or, compared with a countess's drawing-room, even "filthy." But if such an expression should convey to a reader's mind what it did convey to the mind of the friend who pointed out the passage to me, and who thought f:eeal tilth was intended thereby, then such language is a libel. The nearest resemblance I can think of, for the moment, to the floor of a Russian prison is the tloor of a dirty national school, over which a pack of boys have run for a week with the dirtv boots of winter. I do not remember ever seeing anything in Russian prisons worse than this, and in the majority of cases things were better ; whilst as for the atmosphere, and the exaggerations talked about it, I have been in Russian prisons at all hours of the da}', before some of the prisoners were up in the morning, and just before they were going to bed at night, but in none was the air so vitiated as that which some of the peasants to my knowledge c/wsc to have in their own houses, or, to come nearer home, such as I used to meet with in parochial visiting when curate of Greenwich. THE PRISONS OF RUSSIAX CENTRAL AS/A. 605 often met. What had brought him to prison I do not exactly know ; but we were told he came from the Urals, and would neither serve in the army as a conscript, nor obey the Government. I imagine that he belonged to the narrowest sect of the S/(in):-crs, or old believers, who regard Peter the ( treat as Antichrist, and set immense store by old i/cous or sacred pictures, and ancient service books. The only things this man possessed were an old ikon, and a Liturgy and daily prayers in manuscript. Such idols did he make of these that I believe he would have parted with twenty years of his life rather than one. ot his treasures. I need hardly say he rejected my ofter when 1 asked whether he would sell them. Of course I could not but in a fashion admire his steadfastness, and, thinking to meet his prejudice against reading the Bible in modern Russ, 1 offered him a New Testament in Sclavonic : but lie declined it, saying that he did not want it. Thus he preferred to be confined to the book his own hands had \vritten. to exercising his mind and heart in reading that which he had been taught to regard as the Word of God. In this prison I left matter for the prisoners to read, and sent to the Governor, General 1'rot/eiiko, a sufficiency for the remaining 5 prisons, and the 17 hospitals, ot the province.'* ' The pri-niis \vrrc as t'ullo\v> : Srmipolatin>k military prison I'm- i jo primmer-. civil .. 100 Puvlndar l st- Kainciu IL^I >r>k Karkaralinsk ., .. -' th 666 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. Thus far the prisons I have mentioned resembled those I saw in Siberia in 1879; but on reaching Vierny we had before us something comparatively new. The Vierny prison, built in 1875, was surrounded with trees and gardens, and enclosed by a high wall. It rarely holds any female prisoners, and there is only one room intended for them; but out of 157 prisoners at the time of our visit, 6 were women, and of these 4 had murdered their husbands. One woman had promised ^"40 to two Cossack under-officers to kill her husband, but the captured perpetrators of the dark deed told us they had not received the money. There was a dark ceil in the building, in which a prisoner might be con- fined from 4 hours to 6 days. The prisoners were of varied nationalities Russians, Tatars, Kirghese, Dungans, Sarts, and Taranchis. Most of the Kirghese were in prison tor theft ; a gipsy for horse stealing ; one Dungan tor attacking a caravan, and another had been a commander of a Chinese regi- ment at the time of the rebellion in Kuldja, whence he had escaped and become a robber chief, but on coming back to Kuldja was arrested. In a room by himself was a Russian major confined for attempted wife murder, and in another room 1 1 ^0 murder. The number of persons chiefly Kirghese tried was 1,200 males and 12 females. The age of the majority of the criminals was between 21 and 30, and next from 31 to 40. Of 49 persons con- demned, 2 were females, and 49 persons were retained on suspicion. From the year 1880 there remained 186 prisoners 235 were added in the course of the year, and 258 released, leaving a balance of 163 in prison throughout the province on ist January, 1882. The report further states that the temporary prison at Karkaralinsk is unsatis- factory by reason of age and want of accommodation. The administra- tion of the prison is vested with the Semipolatinsk committee, and its branches and the ladies' committee at the capital. The receipts of the committee amounted to ^j,j;o, of which .241 were carried forward to the next year's account. THE PRISOXS OF RUSSJAX CEXTRAL ASIA. 667 prisoners tor rape, murder, and robbery. The chapel was in exceedingly good order, and in the library I found, to my satisfaction and surprise, some \e\v Testaments, Gospels, and other books. The; Xew Testaments had been supplied by a Russian society tor tile distribution ot religious literature, at the instance, \ve heard, ot a M. Pantusoff, who had given several books, and had others bound at his own expense. \Ve heard of further good deeds of this Russian gentleman, but were not so fortunate as to meet him. 1 am indebted to him, however, tor some ot my information on Kuldja, respecting which pro- vince he has compiled statistics. \ ierny being the capital of the Semirechia province. I asked the Vice-Governor tor statistics of the prisons. and a copy was made for me of the official report tor the preceding year. I nowhere else during m\ journey got anything so detailed, but as the prisons 668 RUSSIAN' CENTRAL ASIA. we subsequently entered at Tashkencl and Samarkand were better, if anything, than the one at Vierny, I assume that the report does not give an exaggerated idea of the condition of prisons in Russian Turkistan generally. A prominent feature of the report is the interest taken in the prisoners by voluntary com- mittees who manage many of the prison affairs.* Instead, for instance, of the prisoners each receiving 3^. a day for food, the committee undertook to cater for them, deputing the inspector to carry out their instructions. Each member of the committee came on duty by turns for a week, visiting the prison daily, inspecting the rooms and the kitchen, and after- wards writing remarks in the visitors' book. This book was, on a certain day, submitted to the Vice- President, who saw that the irregularities noted by the directors were rectified. In 1881 an abundance of vegetables was grown in the prison garden, such as cabbages and potatoes, carrots, fennel, parsley, garlick, cucumbers, water-melons, and melons, and in addition each prisoner was allowed, daily, :} Ib. of meat. So cheap, however, are provisions at Vierny, that, after supplying bread and other eatables, the committee * Speaking first of the Yierny prison, it says that, at the- time for making annual repairs, the building \vas clean and in good condition, but 66 had been expended for repairs during the year, and out of money saved the outer walls of the prison church had been plastered and whitened. A belfry also was added to the church. ^"250 only of the cost of 620 being borne by the Government, the committee under- taking the remainder, and paying some irom a fund at their disposal for extraordinary expenses. Of tin- total number of prisoners, one- eighth only were Russians, and of Tatar.-- rather le>s. The weather at Yierny is hot in summer, and the committee, instead of straw mattresses had bought i_jo felts, upon which the natives an: accustomed to sleep, ami had also made 30 new hammocks, costing ^18. The committee had expended from its own special resources, on wages for overseers, cook, baker, etc., ^231 . I'HE PRISONS OF RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. 669 effected a saving in the maintenance of prisoners of ^344, which was applied to other needs. For the moral good of the prisoners, the report says, the committee did all in its power, but nothing is mentioned beyond the church services on Sundays and festivals. A Cossack prisoner confessed to the prison inspector the murder of his cousin. " All prisoners of the orthodox faith prepared lor and were favoured by the reception of the Holy Sacrament." Prisoners who could read and write (of whom, however, there were usually very few) were supplied with books. Xo con- verts, the report says, were made to the orthodox faith. There is no infirmary in the prison, prisoners seriously ill being sent to the military hospital, and /, i 20 in iSSi was paid tor their maintenance. Those with minor ailments were treated gratis by M. Sobolevsky, a member of the: committee, to the: num- ber of 300. (This, I presume, includes not only local offenders, but prisoners en route to exile.) Only very few of the Yierny prisoners knew any handicraft, and the whole amount earned in the prison was only about ,{, 10, (jf which halt was given to the prisoners at the time, and a trifle remained for them on their release. The value of the vegetables grown in the garden was /, 25, the reserves tor winter consisting of 300 bushels of potatoes and 541 gallons of salted cabbage. Pri- soners on their entrance were inspected by the physi- cian, sent to the bath, and supplied with new clothes. 1 here were no juvenile offenders, nor prisoners tor debt in i SS i . Among the gifts sent to the prison during the year, the report mentions two bells, and building material for the church bellry ; a tailors sew ing machine, for the employment of the detained, and tea and siiLfar at Christmas to the value ot / q. 670 RUSSIA A 7 CENTRAL ASIA. After thus describing what has been clone at the prison in the capital, the report deals with the smaller houses of detention in Kopal, Karakol, Lepsinsk, and Tokmak. I need not repeat in this connection features that have already occurred in the prison at Yierny,* but I have allowed myself to enter somewhat in detail into the prison affairs of Semirechia, because the report gives some idea of the prisons even in the remotest part of the mountains, and also, instead of vague commonplaces on Russian prisons in general, makes definite statements that are in a measure capable of disproof if they are not true. I left at Yierny with M. Aristoff, the Yice-Governor, a quantity of litera- ture, in addition to distributing some myself, and since my return to England I have received an account of the distribution, which is ail that I could wish.t * At Kopal the prisoners \vere from 4 to 8 in a room, and those who could read were supplied with religious books. The report adds, that with each party seeing 1 away (that is, 1 presume, prisoners on the march) the regulations issued by the Most Holy Synod (probably con- cerning religious service) we're rigorously complied with. Xo donations were received at Kopal except from members of the committee. At Karakol, a small place far away in the Thian Shan mountains, civil prisoners were kept in the military guard-room, the priest tolerably often praying with the prisoners in their rooms and reading to them. At this place the prisoners' allowance was given them in cash, and they bought wood for boiling tea to the value of 2. One prisoner only was ill during the year. At Lepsa, prisoners were confined in a private house co-itaining' 5 rooms, one being- a guard-room. The rooms were fairly large, and ventilated by louvres in the windows. Prisoners awaiting trial were kept separate from the condemned. Lastly, in the Tokmak district, prisoners were kept in a former telegraph office at Pishpek, and in guard-rooms at Tokmak and Xarvn. At Pishpek the articles of dre purchased during the year were 6 sheepskins and 6 pairs of felt snow-shoes. These articles were given to prisoners en j'oitfe, who could go no further in summer clothing. The sum of 12 kopecks per day for food allowed of something being put by towards the purchase of butter for the preparation of prisoners' gruel. At Tokmak, besides the subscriptions of the committee, gifts were received from the surrounding villages to the amount of /j S.v. f M. Aristoff writer: "The books and pamphlets that you were so ////:' /Vv'AVaV.S' OF RUSS/AA" CEXTRAL ASIA. 671 But to proceed. If the surroundings of the Yierny prison were attractive, those of Tashkent! were still more so, for the building stood in quite a park of poplar trees, planted in avenues, and affording shade in the intensely hot summer. There were,- in confinement 379 prisoners, of whom 6 were women, 5 natives and one Russian (this latter having poisoned her husband). The number ot Russian male prisoners was 57, the majority ot the remainder being Sarts. ( )n going into the kitchen we found the soup excellent, and learned that on Sundays the prisoners received an extra plate ot rice porridge. In fact, when we saw the Sarts and Kirghese sit down to their clean wooden pannikins ot soup, alter having seen something of native lite outside, it made no great claim on one's beliet when the chiet ot the town, who accompanied us, observed that the, Sarts tared tar better in prison than in their own homes. There was in the building a mosque, with rostrum tor Muhammadan preaching on Friday, when, as also on their festivals, as many Mussulman prisoners as pleased attended. There was, kind a-. ti> L, r ive me for the hospitals, schools, ami prisons of the pro- vince of Semirechia, have been sen! and distributed in the folloum-- manner and quantities : v i '' To the Yirrnv military hospital, ^ (iospels. Xew Testaments, and Psalms; ^j) Vierny prison, i o copies of the same, with i eopics of the Kir^'hese Xrw Testament ; \\\ to the smaller prisun-, a! Kopal, l.epsa, and I'ishpek, have been sent 2 copies of the Russian and i of the Kirghese books; ^.|) to the small militarv hospitals ;\\ Kuldja and Kopal, j copies each of the Russian book--; > .1 cop\- each of the Kir^hese Xew Testament to the Kir^he^e schools 1:1 Karakul and Vierny ; (d) a tew religious tract-. \\-ere ^iven to thr infan: asylum of Vieruv. and all the remaining" books and trarts were left a! the dis])n-al of the Inspector of the school-, of Semirec hia. In sending the book- to the liMspitals and prisons. I re.|tiired i the admmi -t raters. ;u-cordinL; to your desire, that thev should be let! m the rooms under the responsibility of the chief, and not placed in the librarie.-.. AS to the Inspector, I a^ked him to di-;ribu;e the bonk-- and pamphlets anvil:;'--! the piqiiU of the school-, nf the provini'e." 6-2 RUSSIAN' CENTRAL ASIA. too, a Russian church, and a small library. In the lavatory, with cabinets, there was no offensive smell, and there was a large, flat, basin-shaped depression made in the floor for the Muhammadans to perform their ceremonial washings. I inquired for the rods used in corporal punishment ; but they said they had none. The rooms were clean and airy, and each was furnished with a lamp. I may add that the prison is built to accommodate only 200 inmates, whence the obvious inference would be that the building o was much crowded. But this was not the case ; for outside the prison under the trees were erected 1 1 felt tents, one lor the soldiers on guard, and the remainder for the prisoners crowded out of the building, and who, doubtless from their manner of Eastern life, would be only too thankful lor the freedom ot a tent, as compared with what to their nomad ideas would be the stuffiness of a room, however airy.* As we left the Tashkend prison, there was a crowd of prisoners' friends waiting outside with melons and other fruit to give to those within. I thought the place one of the least repulsive of its kind I had seen in Russia ; but things were not so good at Khokand. Here the prison was near the Khan's palace, and had formerly * I \vould ("ill attention to this provision much 1 for surplus prisoners. because 1 have more than once seen verv strong statements made as to the overcrowding of Russian and Siberian jails, without any notice bein^ taken of supplementary erections to meet an occasional emer- gency. Nothing is commoner in Russia and Siberia than to see hospital patients living under canvas in summer, and at Tinmen 1 remember bein^ told that, during the march of the exiles, which takes place in the -ummer months, they frequently put up temporary tent accommodation tor a sudden influx of prisoner--. 1 do not mean to imply for a moment that Russian prisons are not in manv cases overcrowded, for J know they are, but I wi>h to point out that, in some instances at all events, an effort i- made to meet the emergency. TtfE PRISOXS OI- RTSSIAX CEXTRAL ASIA. 67.5 served as a barrack for the cljiguitts of his Majesty, and the place was temporarily crowded, whilst another chamber, I suppose a prison proper, was being made ready. None of the prisoners were Russians, and many of them were petty offenders. One native, for stealing a horse, had been sentenced to six months by a native tribunal, and another for a like term for the adulteration of tea with sand, etc. Of two women prisoners, one, at the age of 25, had strangled her husband ; another, at 19, was a danscitsc and a thief. In Bokhara, they told me the Kmir did not allow girls to dance in public, and put them to death for doing so. I imagine, therefore, that the practice of this art was accompanied in the case of women by more than it implied, as is sometimes the case with the batcJius or dancing boys. Two months before our visit the Khokandian prisoners had tried to escape in a body, and had been tired upon by the sentries, with the result that I were killed, a nephew of the late Khan among them, and 2 mortally wounded. Some who escaped were retaken and chained, and \\ould be sent, it was thought, to Siberia, and a murderer then in confinement with them. This was the worst place of detention under the Russians that 1 saw in Turkistan, but it was a very palace as compared \\ith the native prisons I saw and heard of in Bokhara ami Khiva. There was yet one prison torus to visit in Russian territory, namely, the town prison at Samarkand. This is a brick building \\ith a large garden enclosed In a high wall. There were in it only S Russian prisoners, but ot the total 145 there v, ere So charged with serious crimes, namely: murder .\2, robbery 2(), theft J, running away ID. Cases such as these are generally examined \:.. i. 43 6;4 KUSSfA^V CENTRAL ASIA. and finally decided by two local courts, one being a court of first instance, and the other of appeal. Exceptional cases, however, require the confirmation of one of the Departments of the Senate, which sits at Petersburg, such as : the condemnation of individuals belonging to the privileged classes with loss of all civil rights ; crimes committed by a band of criminals, etc., also complaints brought against the incorrect juris- diction of any of the local courts. The Senate is the highest court of justice in Russia, which, like the local courts, is entirely independent of the influence of the administrative governmental authorities. There were several rooms full of prisoners whose papers were 3,000 miles distant; at Petersburg. One man's case had begun TO years before, in February 1872, and in April 1873, charged with the murder of a native, he came to prison. Matters had been compli- cated by his having escaped. His sentence was 15 years' hard labour in Siberia. One room was full of men bound for the same destination. In another room were two women who had escaped through the ceiling of their prison at Katte- Kurgan. Some tew of the prisoners had work to do, but not those charged with serious crimes. We visited this prison in the company of General Korolkoff, the acting governor of the province, and doubtless saw things at their best ; but there was this advantage in going on an inspection day, that I repeatedly saw prisoners using their right on such clays of appealing or complaining to the monthly visitor. His Excellency told me afterwards that their conversation usually takes the form of a question as to when their papers are coming or how their case is going on. Sometimes complaints of administration were made, but usually without reason, and not often of serious THE PK/SO.VS OF RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. 675 matters. The prisoners were supplied with felts to lie on, and the cleanliness of the place was no doubt partly maintained by meals being taken in a common hall, and no food eaten in the rooms. To the foregoing I may add that the lavatory in this prison was particularly clean, nor, from the adjoining cabinets, was there the least unpleasantness, thanks to a stove that was said to be always kept burning, as a means ot ventilation.* Here, then, I conclude my brief account, such as it is, of the prisons of Russian Central Asia. Some of ' I would call attention to this a^'ain in contrast to what is said in the Nineteenth ( 'cntnrv for (anuarv, 188^. " (The prisoners) lie there . . . in rooms of inconceivable foulness, in an atmosphere . . . which is charged with the emanations of the horrible />ti/'tis/iti a basket kept in the room to serve the necessities of a hundred human beings." And a^'ain ^from Madame C 's account) : '' The water-closet was a lan^v pond : it had to be crossed on a broken ladder, which .^ave way under one of us and plunged him in the filth below." And then the writer says, " It must be owned that the picture is horrible." And I a^ree with him. Only, then he adds, " P>ut it is not a whit overcharged," -and here 1 disagree with him ; for 1 think it overcharged by a ^ood manv "whits."' 1 thought I was tolerably familiar with the furniture of Russian prisons, but I have, never once seen the l>iiskct here referred to. In a recently-published life of Howard. Dr. Stoii-'hton, speaking of Scotch prisms at the be^innin^" of the present century, says, " Mr. ( iu nicy depicts the prison of I hinbar in terms similar to those em p loved by Howard in his early researches. 'Small room--,' 'extreme tilth,' ' a little .straw,' ' a tub for every dirt v purpo>e ;' " and it this last !>< \s ha: the Nineteenth Ceiitit>'\ writer intend-., then I do remember meeting with such a covered tub in a room in a prison in the north ot Finland : also at the Alexandrcvsky prison, near Irkutsk, attention to the tact of his having coutr convenience outside the doors of the wards, but memorv with having seen anvlliin^ 1 of 'he kind certainly deny that Madame (' 's < ill tairly representati\ p e of whai I havi been my practice. \\'heu inspecting;' pri- every hole and corner, and verv disa^r '.vlle'l I lia\'e ^'i)t there, and ihe soonei 15ut th.is remark ma\' _;"<> turther. |.e Russian interior, including \\hat \\ a - h"tel in liaku, where mv senses -i:tier< 676 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. the objections that were urged against my former testimony will hold good as to this, namely, that I travelled quickly, and was therefore liable to receive false impressions, and form erroneous conclusions. 1 trust, therefore, as I said before, that no one may be misled by taking my testimony for more than it is worth. I have tried to be accurate, and that is all I can say.* The prisons of Khiva and Bokhara I shall notice here- after in the course of my journey, the next stage of which will take me over the Bokhariot frontier to Kitab. entered ; and let it spread to the Russian peasants, where they have such places at all (for I have met with instances of this in Russia, as I am told was the case within a score or t\vo of years in the west of Ireland, in Connemara, and even in the extreme north of England), but let not the strictures of the Nineteenth Century be confined to Russian prisons. The fact is that such places therein are much the same as at the houses of the great mass of Russian prisoners, sometimes perchance :i little worse, but sometimes also certainly better. * I may perhaps as well add that the foregoing chapters on prisons have been kindly looked over, as on a previous occasion, by a Russian official high in the prison administration, who says that, after reading them with the greatest attention, he finds no mistakes. With reference to the alleged preparation of the Siberian prisons for my visit, he assures me that the Ministry of the Interior made no such prepara- tion, in fact, could not well have so done, adding also, that he personally would be obliged for any proof that can be brought con- firmatory of such precautionary measures having been taken. CHRONOLOGY OK RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. ( Vol. 1. is to !>c HiiiicrstosJ. HH/CSS at/m-sisc mentioned. ) DATE P.C. PAOE 329. Conquest of Maracanda by Alexander the Great . . 560 125. Gnuco-Bactrians succeeded in So^diana by the Yuechji . =,61 sg. Country about the Thian Shan subjected to China . . 202 A.U. 420. Archbishopric of Merv made Metropolitan . . . ii. 456 627. The "western country" placed under a Chinese viceroy . 202 675. Conquest of Samarkand by Arabs ..... 561 680. The Khivan Khanate (Kharezm) possessed by the Arabs . ii. 273 874. Commencement of Samanid rule in Bokhara . . . ii. 67 888. Succession of Samanid rule in Samarkand . . . 561 903. Bokhara becomes the ascendant state in Central Asia . ii. 456 995. Mamun-ibn-Muhammad, Kint, r of Khare/m . . . ii. 273 1004. Seljuk dynasty commenced in Bokhara .... 561 1016. Kharexm made a province of Khorassan . . . . ii. 273 1092. K'ithb-ud-din assumes the title of Kin^ of Kharexm . . ii. 275 1122. Migration of Jews to China ...... 594 1155. Birth of Temuchin or Jinghix Khan . . . . . ii. 68 1196. Seljuk dominions added to the Kharexmian empire . . ii. 273 1200 -1850. Travellers in Central Asia . . . . ii. 4^7 12 K). Kuthb-ud-din, the greatest prince in Central Asia . . ii. ^73 1220. I'r^'enj and Merv sacked by the Mongols . . . ii. 0<), ^40 |in^liis Khan captures Samarkand . . . . .501 Tch'am^- Teh' un's account of the Steppe .... 478 Triple division of jinghiz Khan's empire . . . . ii. Oo Lake Ala-Kul mentioned by Jean dc Piano Carpini . . 177 -1^00. Kuropean missions rv7eath of 1'imur. I ,ord ot Samarkand .... ;,(ig 1417. Sea of Kharexm -tated to be non-e.xi-tent .... ii. 404 678 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. DATE A.D. PAGE 1421. Building of Ulug Beg Medresse in Samarkand . . 585 1449. Death of Ulug Beg, the astronomer, grandson of Timur . 569 1450. Chinese conquered by Oirat Kalmuks .... 202 1480. Breaking of Tatar rule in Eastern Europe . . . 401 1504. Eerghana wrested from the descendants of Tamerlane . 502 1505. Occupation of Merv by Uzbegs . ..... 11.456 1506. Decline of Central Asia with the last of the Timurids . ii. 69 1510. Death of the Uzbeg Khan Sheibani . . . . . ii. 71 ,, Kharezm again comes under dominion of Persia . . ii. 274 1512. Sultan Ilbars proclaimed Khan of Kharezm at Kunia Vezir ii. 274 1533. Death of Abdullah Khan, of Bokhara . . . . ii. 71 1552. Uzbeg proposal of trade relations with Russians . . ii. 71 1558. Visit of Jenkinson to Urgenj and Bokhara ii. 149, 274, 341, 404 1571. Abdullah's victory recorded at " Gates of Tamerlane " . 555 1574. Land of the Bashkirs annexed to Russia .... 402 1575. The River Oxus takes a fresh course . . . . . ii. 341 1579. Yermak invades Siberia . . . . . . . 121 1594. Tara built on the Lower Irtish . . . . . .122 1595. Khivan envoys sent to Russia . . . . . . ii. 274 1597. End of Sheibanid rule in Transoxiana . . ii. 71 1598. Tashkend and Turkistan conquered by Kazaks . . 306 1603. Urgenj plundered by Cossacks . . . . . ii. 274, 341 1604. Tayan, a Tatar prince, submits to Russia . . . . 123 1618. Erection of the Shir l)ar and Tillah Kari medresscs . . 586 1642. Abulghazi Behadur becomes Khan of Kharezm, or Khiva ii. 275 1648. Central Asian merchants permitted to trade in Siberia . 124 1649. Russians and Kalmuks establish friendly relations . . 125 1663. Resignation of Abulghazi, Khan of Kharezm . . . ii. 275 1665. Russian mission by way of Sungaria to China . . . 124 1700. Envoy of Khan of Kharezm to Peter the Great . . . ii. 275 1713. Gagarin proposes to erect forts on the Irtish to Yarkand . 127 1714. The Khan of Kharezm sends an envoy to Petersburg . ii. 275 1715. First Russian forts erected in Turkmenia . . . . ii. 461 1717. Omsk founded ......... ^9 ,, Bekovitch's expedition to Khiva . . . . ii. 276, 405 1718. First fortress built at Semipolatinsk ..... 128 ,, Kazaks appeal to Russia for help against Kalmuks . 284, 404 1 723. Kazaks dispossessed of Tashkend and Hazret by Sungarians 306 172=;. Visit to Khiva of Florio Benevini . . . . , ii. 276 1732. Kazaks of Lesser and Middle Horde's submit to Russia 404, 4 i^ 17321812. Disquietude of Kazaks under Russian government . 407 173^. Orenburg founded on south-eastern frontier of Russia . 40.) 1737. End of Astarkhanid rule in Transoxiana . . . . ii. 72 1740. Russian proposal to build a fort on the Syr-daria . . 408 1752. Orenburg forts connected with those on the Irtish . . 129 1756. Chinese massacre of 600,000 Kalmuks . 130, 202 CHRONOLOGY. 679 DATE A. Ii. PAGE 1756. Kashmir taken and Taranchis transported to Kuldja 206, 505 1759. Khokand submits to Chinese influence .... 503 1760. Submission to Russia of Kaxaks under Sultan Abdul Fai/. 284 > 1770. Visit to Samarkand of the Russian Fphremof . . . 576 1771. Return of Tor^out Kalmuks to the Hi valley . . 203, 214 1784. Russian propagation of Muhammadanism in Semirechia . 285 ,, Be<, r innini, r of Man<, r hit rule in Transoxiana . . . ii. 72 1793. Sivers penetrates to the Tarbai^atai mountains . . . 287 Visit of the oculist Blankenna^el to Khiva . . . ii. 277 1794. Merv destroyed and its people deported to Bokhara . . ii. 456 1803. Abdal tribe of Turkomans taken under Russian protection ii. 460 1806. Succession of Muhammad Rahim as Khan of Khiva ii. 277, 456 1808. Kirghese settled at Semipolatinsk ..... 285 181 1. Russian caravans proceed to Kuldja and Chuguchak . 133 1811 56. Turkoman overtures to Russia . . . . . ii. 460 1*12. Russian administration introduced into the Syr-daria Steppe 410 1*13. Turkish versions of the Scriptures revised for the Tatars . 282 1*17. Xew policv initiated by Russia towards the Kir^hese . 407 1818. I'urkish version of St. Matthew revised for Kirt^hese . 282 1819. Muravieff's visit to Khiva . . . . . . ii. 277, 406 1821. Bubeninof, a merchant, penetrates to Kashmir . . . 288 1824. First Russian caravan to Bokhara ..... 407 1826. Xasr-l'llah succeeds as Kmir of Bokhara . . . . ii. 73 Muhammad Rahim, of Khiva, succeeded by Allah Kuli ii. 277 1*30. Khivan erection of forts on the Kuvan-daria . . . 615 ,, Settlement of Tekkes in the Merv countrv . . . ii. 4^0 1831. Russian settlement at Ser^iopol .... 144, 288 First visits of Dr. \Volffto Bokhara and Merv . i8}2. Visits of Burnes to Bokhara and .Merv 1833. Fall of the Kir^hese Khanate ...... 407 1834. Federof penetrates to the mouth of the l.epsa . . . 288 Foundation of Fort Xovo-Alexandrovsk on the Caspian 40*, ii. 461 Demaisoiis and Vitkovitch visit Bokhara . . . ii. ~ \, 74 Russian fishing station established at Hassan Kuli Bay . ii. 4 }<> \(i. ( iovernor of Orenburg seeks friendly relations with Bokhara ii. 74 I'larember-'s exploration ot the old bed of the Oxus . ii. 40(1 3*. Colonel Stoddart sent as envoy to Bokhara . . ii. 7) Ascent of the I'pper Oxus by 1 .ieutena nt \Vood . . ii. i <)} V). (ieneral IVrovsky's military expedition to Khiva . . ii. 277 40. Travels of Karelin ami Sehivnek to the Ala-Tan Visit 'it' 1 luteneff and other- to Bokhara . . . . ii. 7=, Abbott, Shakesp, Mr, and Coiiolly at Khiva . ii. 7'.. _>;-'). }.ji ji. The town of Kopal founded . . . 1*7, 289 Visit of Khanikotf lo Samarkand . . ^70 jj. Kxecuiioji nt Stoddan and C<>nolly a! B"khara . . . ii. 70 Danilevski's first Russo-Khivan tivatv 68o RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. DATE l 1842. I8 43 . 1844. 1847. 1848. 1851. 1854. I855- I8.S6. 1858. l8 59 . 1860. 186*1. 1862. 1863. 1864. if- 65, Journey to Merv of Shakespear and Taylour Thompson . ii. 474 Mission of Dr. Wolff to Bokhara ii- 77 Visit of Sir Taylour Thompson to Merv . . . . ii. 457 Submission of the Great Horde of the Kirghese . 289, 410 Second visit of Dr. Wolff to Merv . . . . . ii. 457 Turkoman attack on Khivans . . . . . . ii. 457 Insurrection of the Kirghese under Kenisar Kasimoff . 408 Russians place steamers on the Syr-daria and Aral . . 409 Russian advance to the Syr-daria ..... 615 Russians begin to colonize Semirechia .... 292-3 Butakoff surveys the Sea of Aral . . . . . 410 Russian line pushed down to Khivan territory . . . ii. 282 Division of the Kirghese Steppe into 54 " distances " . 411 Commercial treaty between Russia and China . . . 133 First Russian expedition south of the Hi . Capture by General Perovsky of Ak-Mesjed . . 390 Almati district occupied and Vierny founded . 270, 291. Return of the Alieli and Imrali Turkomans from Geok Tepe and Askhabad . . . . . . . ii. 451 Last expedition to Merv of Muhammad Emin . . . ii. 457 Semenof's first scientific exploration of the Thian Shan 152, 294 Kungrad visited by the Russian mission with E. Kiihlewein ii. 351 290 6,7 618 . 11 203 1868. 1869. 1870. Administration of Steppe transferred to Ministry of Interior Khivan dams built on the Taldyk and Ulkun-daria . Dandevil's reconnoitring force repulsed by Turkomans Russian Mission of Valikhanoff in disguise to Kashgar . Treaty of Pekin and Chinese frontier line .... Zimmermann seizes the forts of Tokmak and Pishpek Building at Merv of the Katishid Khan Kala Defeat by Tekkes of a Persian attempt against Merv Taranchi and Dungan rebellion in the Hi valley Vambery's visits to Central Asia . . .571, ii. 282 Russian reconnaissances of Ha/ret and Aulie Ata Russo-Khokandian battles at r/un-Agach and Hazret 353 Kirghese of the Syr-daria transferred to Ministry of War . Formation by Russia of the Turkistan oblast Tashkencl captured by Chernaieff ..... Bokhariots routed at Irdjar . . . . . . ii Civil war between Dungans and Taranchis Colonel Poltoratzky's expedition towards Kashgar . Formation of " Turkistan " and " Semirechia " The Syr-daria province and its colonization Russian capture of Samarkand and Katte Kurgan , Foundation of Krasnovodsk ..... Bekships of Zarafshan added to Russian conquests . Russian occupation ot the Muzart Pass 411 242 461 47' 297 298 456 457 626 34 1 618 619 411 6:>o 622 CHRONOLOGY. 68 1 BATE A.l>. I'AC.K 1870. Shahr and Kitab taken by Russians and given to Bokhara ii. 32 ,, Provinces of Karategin and Uarwax submit to Bokhara . ii. 53 ,, Russian survey of the Trans-Caspian and old Oxus bed . ii. 406 , 1871. Kuldja added to General Government of Turkistan . 370,627 ,, Fedchenko visits the Alai ....... 492 ,, The approach to Khiva surveyed . . . . . ii. 282 1872. Russian expedition against the Akhal Tekkes . . . ii. 462 ,, Captain Marsh's ride through Khorassan . . . . ii. 466 1873. Ashton Dilke travelled to the Hi valley .... 249 ,, Khiva conquered by Russia . . 370,436; {1.242,342,462 ,, Colonel Glukhovsky explores the Oxus bed to Sary Kamish ii. 407 ,, Settlement of present inhabitants in the Attek oasis . . ii. 451 1874. Geological exploration about the Lower Oxus . . . 426 ,, Travels of Herbert \Yood on the Aral and Oxus . . 429 ,, Captain Napier's travels on the Persu-Turkoman frontier . ii. 466 1875. Journey of Maieff from Samarkand to Karshi . . . ii. 50 \ ,, Entire direction of the old bed of the Oxus made known . ii. 407 Colonel C. M. Macgregor's "journey through Khorassan " ii. 466 1876. Prejevalsky's expedition to Lob Xor .... 244 ,, The Khanate of Khokand annexed by Russia . 370,512,629 ,, Russian reconnaissance of the northern Pamir . . . ii. 103 Survey of Oxus between Charjui and Kilif . . . ii. i<>6 ,, A trade route proposed from Khiva to Krasnovodsk . . ii. 408 Captain K. \V. H. Butler at the Perso-Turkoman frontier, ii. 4(16 1876- 8. General Petrusevitch's explorations in Turkmenia . ii. 407 1877. Russians send missionaries to the Taranchis in Semirechia 171-2 1877 8. Severtsoff's scientific expedition to the Pamir . . 404 1878. M. Oshanin's travel in Karategin . . . . . ii. 53 ,, Steam voyage from Petro-Alexandrovsk to Khoja-Saleh . ii. 107 1879. Alpheraky's journey to the Yuldus plateau . . . 240 I )r. Regcl reaches Turfan beyond the Hi valley . . 249 1880 81. Mennonites ot the Volga migrate to Turkistan . . ii. 350 1881. O' Donovan's ride to Merv . . . ii. 407 1882. Division of Turkistan into two General Governments . (129 Alikhanoft in disguise visit-- Merv . . . . . ii. -171 M. Lessar twice visits Merv . . . . . . ii. 172 1882 4. Journeys of Lessar between the Murgab and lleri Rud .......... ii. 455 1883. The Hi province retroceded by the Russians to the Chinese 133 Signs of the coming submission of the Mervis . . ii. )3 CENTRAL ASIAN MONEY, WEIGHTS, AND MEASURES. With approximate Russian and English equivalents, compiled by the Author from the Turkistan Kalcndar, Starchevsky's Dictionary, and other sources, the rouble being reckoned at 2s., and silver at $s. the ounce. Authors, however, are not always agreed concerning all the items. (/. 4 roubles }>.*'. Kara-ten ja ^16 pul) . . copper 5 kopecks i !,/. Tenga or . copper kokan (60 pul) , silver :'; kopeck .,-.(/. 20 ko|)eck> ^ia. Tillah. small (9 kokan) . Tillah, large (18 kokan) Various Pul-cheka or Utak-pul . . copper \, kopeck Ka.ra-pul (Tajik) . - ,, . \ k(jpeck Mn . ,, . 5 kopecks Tenga (contains 60 dols pure silver) silver 20 kopeck.- Ber-tenkalik kagaz (Tatar) . . i rouble 2s. Ushak-tillah (10 tengas) . . 2 roubles Tillah (Sart) 77v dols of pure gold . 4 nmble.. 46 kopecks 8s. i'i./. Kiatta-tillah (large = 20 tengas) . gold 4 roubles 8s. WEIGHTS. 683. \VKir.nis. k'uuija Miskal' . . . . . Sar or Lot (lin (16 Ian) .... 100 i;iii . . . . . A'/n'r.i Ai, r rcc, 90 mi-kal Ari-chirik .:'.-. sari Ikke-yarimari /',- llish-arri i . . On-arri I [ Yig5jc-nnari_ 2\ sari- Kurk-ari 5 I'n-sari IO Yarhn batman 20 .. liatman 40 Kiatta v or double) batman I'tin't'its- Nim-nim cha (San), 5 miskal . Nim chcrik .... Cherik (at Samarkand) . Cherik (at Tashkeiid) Kadak (Sart) .... Yokcha (Sart), 4 khitcha, 8 nim-itcha. 2O paisya, or [ chcrik Chakhsa, katacherik.Ikchcrik ( icopai-ya: I'an-ir, small, or iHinim Sir (4 cheriks) . 1'an-ir, larj^c (8 cheriks). Dasir :2 paiisir= 16 cherik- = .'. batman). Da-ir. small ([ batman) . Sii.-ary (Sart ). 3 1 >akh-ir Batman (Tatar) .... Batman '64 cheriks) at JSokhara Ta-hkend ,, Aulie-Ata ,, Shahr-i-.-abx Mani (Turkoman), a (|viantityoi -ilk. the weight of 60 c-i^'s . Nimclia Tajik), 107 small or 20 laiu;e Mi-k.d . . . Sari (Tajik) \im--ari ., 2 elu-rik I )unim--ari ,. 4 Slii-li-clu-rik .. (> .. . Ash chcrik S .. D-i-ir .. 10 I'.ei In ii i! larym ( k ir^he-e) 1'e-y.ir kii^hc-el, and kh.n\,u >.:ii) . Seum Talari, 8 boi .'u lin.,1. I '.ii ~ya i >ai ' . .',. elirrik . Nim-iti-ha i Xii ', ). ' , cliei ik khitcba i >ar; , 2 iiini-n ,'. i-lu-rik . Yik-ha i Sari KNI.I.ISH. Avoirdupois i\; zolotnik -13:; o/. 9 /oli. :iuks j ^ o/. 1-47 Ib. Ru-sian 21 '212 o/. 147 Ib-. Russian i picul, 132^ r,. 11.. 12-96 oz. .:' li). 14 Ib. ,", ll>. 28 11). ; ib. 50 Ib. i^ 11 .. I-I3 Ib. 2.J Ibs. 2-2 5 Ibs. 10 Ibs'. 9-02 Ib-. 20 11)-. 18-04 Ibs. I pood 36-08 Ibs. 2 poods 72-I6 11,.-. : ib. 9-02 o/. I 1 Ib. I 11). 2'04 o/. 5 11*. 4 Ibs. S'lO o/. 6.1 Ibs. ^ Ibs. I i , : 07. "i Ib. I4'43o/. 6 lli. Russian I 111. 7-0007. 10 Ibs. 9 ll.s. 0-3 ox I pood. 30-08 Ib.-. 2 poods 72-10 1!,-. 4 poods 144-32 Ibs. 2 poods 72-10 11.-. 12 p i> 432-90 Ib.-. 4 poods 144-32 Ibs. 8 pood- 288-64 Ib.-. 10.1 poods 378-84 liis. I2i poods 4 5 I Ibs. 1 6 pood- 577-28 Ibs. '684 RUSSIAN CENTRAL ASIA. ASIATIC. RUSSIAN. LINEAR MEASURES. Kiildja Soon ..... Tehee ..... Li Khiva Ghiaz (from finger-end to tip of nose : in Bokhara to middle of breast) Tash ..... Parasang .... Various Karysh (Tatar) .... Olchine (Bokhara, from elbow to end of forefinger) .... Maja (for cloth), 4 kara or 8 karat Kulatch (Bokhara) Karwi-Yalan-Karwi (Sart) Tchakrym (Persian), distance at which the human voice may be heard (" wihin call '') Farsakh (Persian) 'Tash. Seng. Farsakh (Sart and Tajik, 18,000 olchines= 12,000 paces) Beiless (Kirghese) Kiunduk-jer (Kirghese), a day's journey SUPERFICIAL MEASURES. Kismet (Turkmenia), 20 sq. net or reeds Tanap (Tashkend). a square measure, of which each side equals 60 ghiax Tanap (Tajik) .... Tanap ( Khiva) .... Tanap (Bokhara; Kiunliuk (Sart), "of one day." about 2 tanaps .... Kosh (Sart), 48 to 50 tanaps MEASURE Tash (Sart) Kiu/ya (Sari ) . Chuyeh 'Bokhara) for oil and honey DRY MEASURES. Kuldja Tibeteika (Karaiegin), a capful . Shin . Doo, Koora Kho ENGLISH. -4 vershok i| inches. 0-447 arshin or 7'i6 ! vershoks 12^ inches. 50 versts 33 miles 264 yards. i{ arshin 6, 7, 9 versts 8 versts j arshin 2 feet 1 1 inches. 4, 5, 6 miles. 5 miles 535 yards. 7 inches. '6 arshin I ft. 6 in. about I arshin 2\ arshins 2\ arshins 2 ft. 4 in. 5 ft. 10 in. 5 ft. 10 in. about I verst 7 versts i, 1 66 yards. ; 4 miles 1,128 yds. 8 versts 7 10 versts about 50 versts ; 5 miles 535 yar^ 4i to 6^ miles. 33 i inil<- J *- {- desiatin J desiatin ; 'j desiatin ^ desiatin about I cubic foot of water 1 vedro variable 2^ garnets I2j garnets 25 garnets '675 acre. 675 acre. 9 acre. I "05 acres. Imperia! -Measuri 6-23 gallons. ' }0 gallon. I '36 gallons. 8.J gallons. 17 gallons. THROUGH SIBERIA. By HENRY LANSDELL, D.D., F.R.G.S. Illustrated with Engravings and Maps. FIFTH Emims. IN ONE You MI:. 10s. 6d. [A fc- copies remain of the Library Kdition at 308., in two volumes, primed on thicker paper with more engravings, a photographic frontispiece, and an ethnological map.] LONDON: SAMPSON LOW & Co., 188, FLKKT STRKKT, E.C. AMERICA: HOUGHTON. MIFFLIN, & Co., BOSTON. GKRMAN TRANSLATION ; HERMANN COSTENOBI.K. JENA. SWEDISH TRANSLATION: ALBERT BONNIER, STOCKHOLM. DANISH TRANSLATION: o. H. DEI-BANCO,T COPENHAGEN. Ann Extracts from Two Hundred Notices of the English, Irish, Scotch, American, Australian, French, Finnish, German, and Swedish Press. The Times. (One column.} "The reader will . . . find in Mr. Lansdell's volumes all that can interest him about Siberia." The Athenaeum. (Five columns} "With the exception of Mr. Mackenxie Wallace's ' Russia,' the best book on a Russian subject which has appeared of late years is Mr. Lansdell's 'Through Siberia.' '' Eraser's Magazine. (Thirteen pages.} "His testimony ... is simply the best that exists." O. K. . . . (a Russian writer.) The Guardian. (Two columns.} " It touches upon political and social questions of great interest, and offers information upon the internal administration of the Russian empire, which is wot readily obtained elsewhere." Harper's Monthly Magazine. (One column.}"- Since the time of Howard, no one lias given us so full and fair an account of Russian prisons as is now presented to us by Mr. Lansdell." Church Missionary Intelligencer. (Four pages} " It is alto- gether different from even the higher class of books of travel. It teems with information of every possible kind." The Academy. (Four columns.} "We are of opinion that ' Through Siberia ' is much more entertaining, and certainly more readable, than many novels." The Baptist. (Two columns} " A man who undertakes to set matters in a true light before the eyes of the world deserves the gratitude of all parties. This Mr. Lansdell has done." The Church Times. (Two columns} "Englishmen have every reason to be proud of this work ; for it ... can only result in making the name of our country more honoured and respected than any mere victory of arms would do." The Field. "The utmost commendation must be given to the reverend author, not only for his personal work, but for the good taste that has impelled him to describe his religious labours in language understanded of the laity." Revue des deux Mondes. (1'wclvc pages} " Qu'on n'aille pas s'imagincr apres cela que M. Lansdell soit tin fanatique ... II estime qu'unc sage philosophic et une piete sincere ne sont irreconciliables ni avec la belle humeur ni avec res honnetes petits plaisirs qui assaison- nent la vie." Helsingfors Dagblad (l-'inlaun}. - " ' Through Siberia' has won for itself recognition here, by reason of its veracity and conscientious- ness, as well as tor its shedding light upon various Siberian matters. "- Lef/cr from Sf. feferslntrg. The Globe. (One column.} -"The work as a whole deserves no slight measure of praise." Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society. -" Contains much incidental detail likely to be of practical utility to oilier travellers." The Rock. '<1ne r///// inn.}-"- The volumes arc got up with great care, and remarkably well illustrated. The books will aniplv repay perusal." NOTICES OF THE PRESS. 6*7 SnTilandspOSten (Sweden}. " The principal merits of the Author- are great power of observation, and an objective but lively style." . . . "An interesting book on a piquant subject." The Saturday Review. (Three r//e>ntis)."\\\- take leave of our author in the hope that, on the one hand, neither his philanthropy nor his love of travelling is exhausted ; and that, on the other hand, his first venture in the world of letters may be so favourable as to tempt him to a second . . ." The United Service Gazette. (Three columns.]- "There is plenty of real novelty in Siberia without troubling the novelist any more. Certainly no more entertaining book of the kind, combined with usefulness, has been issued from the press for a long time. . . . Every- where there is something new to tell us, and we wonder why in the world it is that Siberia has been left out in the cold so long." The Record. (One cn/inui/.} " The interest of ' Through Siberia' is varied, and the revelations of the book will attract various minds. The Christian will find herein much which will move his pity for souls; the ecclesiastic will note with attention many striking passages which will assist his studies in comparative religion, and supply links between different ages and differing Churches ; the philanthropist will engage himself with existing human wrongs, and seek for suggestions as to methods for redressing and removing them ; the statesman may lind light, lurid, indeed, and terrible, cast on pressing- questions of State policy and relation of classes ; while the man of science will not search these pages in vain for facts in ethnology, geography, geology, climato- logy, sociology, and philology, which will enrich his stores and supply missing links in his world of study/' The Pall Mall Gazette. (Tn-n col inn us.}- "In some ways Mr. I.ansdell has a better ri^'ht to speak about Siberia than any previous western traveller. He went right through the country, from I mmen on the I'ral boundary, to Xikolaefsk on the Pacific coast. . . . His view-' upon the Russian penal system are undoubtedly founded upon honest personal conviction \part even from its main subject, it. teems with useful information about the country and the people, some tribes of which Mr. I.ansdell has perhaps been the first so tully to describe.' ' The Fireside. (Three /W^v.v/ "As a work of rare interest, we commend to our readers Mr. Lansdell's charming traveller's sjory, a book of which three-fourths of the first edition were sold before it had fairly reached the publishers' counter. . . . That lie lias succeeded ja gathering a mass (l |' reliable information is evident: for a Kiis-iaa Inspector of Prisons writes respecting the proof-sheets of' the work: ' \Vhat you say is so perfectly correct, that your book may lie taken as a standard even by [\ussian authorities.' The Illustrated London News. " \Ve can pmmist o! Mr. Lansdell's book a great deal of entertainment, combined -.\;:h instruction, in the survey of MI. h an immense ii,-M ,,f topography, natural history, and etiinolo-y, and in the plentiful a necdoies of \\avsi de experience ami casual observation. . . . Hi- -tatetneu:- art charac- terised by an imposing air of precision, and are fortified by ottii ial statistics, which claim due ar.euiion troin 'hose candidly dispos,-,! to investigate the subiei ;." UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. DEC 2 0196I nr? 1 5 REC'D LD-URt 'XUG 1 1 196? SECT LD-U iifik * WPR d ' JAM 1 ? i9g ****^ J I