UNIVERSITY OH CALIFORNIA SAN OIEGO MEEV M E B V A STORY OF ADVENTURES AND CAPTIVITY EPITOMISED FROM 'THE MEEV OASIS' BY EDMOND O'DONOVAN SPECIAL COKRESPON'DEXT OP 'THE DAILY SEWS' WITH A PORTRAIT LONDON SMITH, ELDER, & CO., 15 WATERLOO PLACE 1883 [All riylitt referred] ADVEETISEMENT. THE account of Mr. O'Donovan's Travels East of the Caspian, with his five months' residence among the Tekkes of Merv, having been published in two large volumes, which of necessity places it beyond the reach of many readers, it has been thought desirable to give an epitome of the work, which, leaving out political matters, presents the marvel- lous story of his adventures and captivity in a concise and popular form. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAOE Across the Steppe Delays in landing The Troika The Steppes Eussian stations A sporting country Thievish Tartars The Grand Hotel General Lazareff A dreary ride Beaching Baku . 1 CHAPTER H. A petroleum city Petroleum Fire worship A strange rite The Turcomans Chatte Flies and mosquitoes A reconnaissance In gorgeous array Caucasian horsemen The kandjar . . .12 CHAPTER III. Searching for sulphur mines A desert post Bitter waters The Black Gulf Sulphur Mountain Turcoman steeds A night alarm The attack A race for life Worn out 22 CHAPTER IV. Waiting to advance Water snakes Quaint humanity Caucasian cavalry Uniforms Ideas and fashion Punishment of the knout An angler's paradise 32 CHAPTER V. Sickness The death of an old friend Funeral at sea General Ter- gukasoff Notice to quit A start for Persia A slimy waste A home for reptiles Eobber Turcomans The faithful dog A Jack-of-all-trades Night alarms An unpleasant welcome Asterabad . 39 Vlll CONTENTS. CHAPTER VI. PAGE A Persian town Wild boars Sanitary features The bazaar Manu- factures Felt-making A finished carpet Persian costume A story-teller Persian pottery A lost art 52 CHAPTER VII. Humours of activity A fresh venture Another dismissal A snow- storm Severe losses Fresh plans General Skobeleff . .63 CHAPTER VIII. Persian boatmen A Persian river Sturgeon and silkworms The ice torture Venomous serpents A ghastly burden The ' Bite the Stranger ' Effects of a bite The kanots The Shah's capital His Majesty's servants Court splendour Flower-scatterers . 70 CHAPTER IX. Important telegrams Visit to a magnate The Towers of Silence Fortifications Dwellers in the tombs A false alarm Beauty of villages Bitten A human churn <..... 8& CHAPTER X. Female pilgrims Dervishes A strange escort Joining the hadjis A night march A council of hadjis A skirmish A threatened massacre Eesults of the fight An awkward position A weird procession A dangerous ravine A fresh halt . . . .92 CHAPTER XI. The caravanserai Flies and scorpions A Persian residence Offer of an escort An act of lunacy Insect pests Fond of the sword An awkward look-out The Emir's palace An Eastern dinner- table The Emir of Kuchan A banquet The following of a feast Critical illness After the fever Abundance of fruit Beauty of Meshed Bazaar inmates Persian officials Ancient coins My bedroom Meshed water 105 CONTENTS. IX CHAPTER XII. PAGE Persian obstruction Opening communications Turcoman heads Persian ruins Tarantulas and snakes A strange drink Kurdish castles Beauty of mountains A border chieftain The Khan's kiosk A Turcoman raid Held to ransom Brigandage . .128 CHAPTER XIII. A Persian passion play The theatre The drama An apology for grief A stage combat A stirring scene Sanguinary performance A religious dance Convenient pigtails Doing penance Dis- plays of grief The drama murdered, 141 CHAPTER XIV. Fresh obstacles Taken in ambush Fall of Geok Tepe The Russian advance The Tejend swamp Objects on the march SkobelefFs contribution Invited to Merv The Russian agent . . .153 CHAPTER XV. Onward to Merv Atmospheric deceptions The Merv Tekkes Taken for a spy Insect torments A meeting in the desert Turcoman wigwams A prisoner The Tejend river Boars and lynxes A wet night 162 CHAPTER XVI. The ' Queen of the World ' My personal appearance Reception by the Mervli An awkward position A sanguinary threat First impressions of Merv My residence Under inspection An eager audience The Merv chiefs Showy costumes A Merv Israelite The Ichthyar Petty persecutions -A mischief-making servant A formidable examiner Result of the council Held a prisoner . 173 CHAPTER XVII. My new home A hut interior The Turcoman costume Merv forti- fications Captured cannon Quaint ideas on artillery The great earthwork A weak defence A tour of inspection A naive pro- posal My purpose at Merv My servant's departure . . .191 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XVIII. PAGK The waterworks Holding the stirrup The guest-chamber How to show gratitude Delights of a siesta A generous host The Benti dam The sluice An awkward crossing A dainty dish Porsa Kala Snakes in the desert Hunting a runaway Glimpse of the old cities Homeward bound . 203 CHAPTER XIX. Makdum Kuli Khan Promised gifts A doubtful ruler Another present Small jealousies Signs of the times A Eussian prisoner 218 CHAPTER XX. A fresh council Political questions I become a Khan An expe- dition A visit to Baba Khan Merv vegetables Peculiarities of teeth The ride to the ruins An ancient city Traces of the past Crumbling palaces Old tombs Giaour Kala Rampart and citadel A caravanserai Brazen vessels Manners of prayer Religious customs Traditions of Alexander Treasure-seekers Tomb of Sultan Sanjar Melon-growing Strange offerings The voiceless wilderness 225 CHAPTER XXI. Mad racing Imitation raiders Ready for combat Heat of the desert Hospitable customs A Turcoman belle Danger of whistling An antique lamp Troubles of the night A cure for wounds Value of stones Snake-killing 249 CHAPTER XXII. The revohition Coming of the Khans A singular spectacle Over- throw of Kadjar The triumvirate A theatrical spectacle Dress Differences of clan Making presents Festivities My surprise Playing the host 261 CONTENTS. xi CHAPTER XXin. PAOF. A dilemma Branding horses A Georgian prisoner Other captives Prisoners in chains The black present A camel's bite Dread of poison Turcoman pipers A morning scene My pets An oil mill Offers of hospitality The Khan's vineyards Tea-drinking Tea etiquette The Guinea worm The Russian prisoner Tor- ture of Kidaieff Offers of ransom A cure for fever . . . 272 CHAPTER XXIV. Bazaar day An accident The market-place Food supplies Pun- ishments Turcoman steeds The town crier Sheep-tail fat Abundance of game Breakfast difficulties Starving out enemies My smnsa stealer Beg Murad's present Turcoman life Cus- toms Cleverness of women Carpets 292 CHAPTER XXV. Religious proposals Generous offers A request to Teheran Russia leather Raiding The Old Man of the Sword Mourning customs Effects of a storm Shampooing 30& CHAPTER XXVI. Diseases Thirst for remedies An unsatisfied patient Plans for the future A fast for liberty The Khan's proposal A change of front Squeezing a Jew Unwelcome visitors Traits of the people The Moullah's watch Ink v. blacking Marriage Settlement of divorce 318 CHAPTER XXVH. Breach of etiquette Important document My ultimatum Sale of a horse The last arrow ! Largess Summoned An imposing spec- tacle A Turcoman joke My advocate 332 CHAPTER XXVIII. Fresh delays Turcoman inertia Final presents Sun-burning The Tandara Pass Down with fever Back to civilisation . . 342 THE STOEY OF MEEV. CHAPTER I. Across the Steppe Delays in landing The Troika The Steppes Russian stations A sporting country Thievish Tartars The Grand Hotel General Lazareff A dreary ride Reaching Baku. I LEFT Trebizond at sunset on Wednesday, February 5, 1879, en route for Central Asia. It was my intention to travel to Central Thibet, but subsequent circum- stances obliged me to alter my resolution, and directed my steps to a locality perhaps not less interesting. I started by the English steamer ' Principe di Carignano,' reaching Batoum early on the morning of the 6th. I found that place wonderfully increased in size, even during the short time which had elapsed since the Rus- sian occupation. The number of houses had almost trebled, and, after the fashion of Russia generally, the majority of these consisted of rum and vodka shops. At least one barrel-organ was to be heard grinding in the streets, and, for the first time in the history of the town, public vehicles the Russian phaeton, or gig plied for hire. The same afternoon, the ' Principe di Carignano ' continued her voyage, arriving at the mouth of the Rion river in two and a half hours. Here one became fully impressed with the necessity felt by Russia for a 2 DELAYS IN LANDING. better naval station than Poti on the Southern Black Sea littoral. The extreme shallowness of the water obliged us to anchor at least a mile and a half from the low pebbly beach, and, owing to the violent off-shore wind which prevailed, which would neither allow us to send boats ashore, nor the usual tug steamer, employed for disem- barking passengers, to come off, two days and a half elapsed before the slightest chance of landing occurred. At length some of the fishing luggers ventured to put out from the river's mouth, and brought us and our baggage ashore. Arrived within the mouth of the river, we were taken in tow by a small steamer, which tugged us a distance of two miles, finally landing us at the town of Poti itself. The river banks on either side presented a dismal aspect. Everything seemed but lately to have been inun- dated. Eotting ' snags ' stuck out from the slimy surface of the semi-stagnant water ; the lower portion of those trees which stood along the margin looked black and rotting, and a general odour of decomposing vegetable matter permeated the air. Poti is notorious for its unhealthy, feverish climate, and, considering its imme- diate surroundings, I am not surprised at this. As a naval station there can be no comparison between it and Batoum. Leaving Poti late in the afternoon, after plenty of trouble and delays connected with passports and baggage examinations, one arrives by rail at Tiflis, the capital of the Trans-Caucasus, early on the following morning. The first thing that strikes the eye is the semi- Asiatic, semi-European aspect of the place the old town, with its narrow streets, its old-fashioned booths, and artisans plying their trades in full view of the public, together with Tartar head-dresses and fur-lined coats, contrasting violently with the palatial houses, wide THE TEOIKA. 3 prospects, and great open gardens, thronged with persons of both sexes, wearing Western European fashionable attire. I was unfortunate enough to miss seeing Prince Mirski, the governor of the town, he being absent in the interior ; so, after a couple of days' delay at the Hotel Cavcass, I prepared for my journey across the steppes. On the strength of the Eussian official order, which after a good deal of trouble I obtained, the people of the hotel undertook to find me the orthodox postal vehicle with the due number of horses and the official conductor. At the moment of which I speak I had never seen a troika, but I had a kind of preconceived idea about four fiery steeds and a fur-lined carriage, in which the traveller is whirled in luxury to his destination. Judge of my sur- prise when, on a raw winter's morning, I saw a nameless kind of thing drawn up before the door of the hotel. Though I had just been summoned from bed to take my place, I had not the slightest suspicion that the four- wheeled horror before me was even intended for my lug- gage. The hall porter and some chilly-looking waiters were standing around, impatiently awaiting a ' gratifica- tion,' and I was beginning to get stiff with cold. At length I asked, ' Where is this coach ? ' ' "Your Excellence,' said the porter, ' it is there before you.' When I shall have described a troika, no one will wonder at the excla- mation of amazement and terror which burst from my lips at the bare idea that I had to travel four hundred miles in such a thing. Imagine a pig-trough of the roughest possible construction, four feet and a half long, two and a half wide at the top, and one at the bottom, filled with coarse hay, more than half thistles, and set upon four poles, which in turn rest upon the axles of two pairs of wheels. Besides these poles, springs, even of the most rudimentary kind, there are none. B 2 4 THE STEPPES. The driver, clad in a rough sheepskin tunic, fitting closely at the waist, the woolly side turned inwards, and wearing a prodigious conical cap of the same material, sits upon the forward edge of the vehicle. With a com- bination of patched leather straps and knotted ropes by way of reins, he conducts the three horses. The centre animal is between the two shafts, which are joined by a high wooden arch of a parabolic form. From the summit of this arch a leather strap, passing under the animal's chin, keeps his head high, while two pretty large bells, hung just where he ought to keep his ears, force him to carry the latter in a painfully constrained position, while during the whole of the stage he must be almost deafened by the clang. The horses on either side are very loosely harnessed ; so much so, that while the central one is, with the vehicle, running along a deep narrow cutting, the flankers are on the top of high banks on either side, or vice versa. Once for all, I give a description of a troika as the species of carriage in which I made my journey to the Caspian. As the stations at which relays are usually found are but twenty-seven or twenty-eight miles apart, they are gone over, almost the whole time, at full gallop. In such guise, mingled with heterogeneous portions of luggage, and wallowing in thorny hay, I was whirled out of Tiflis, and across the long rolling sandy expanses that form the steppes past Mohammedan tombs, amidst whose walls nomadic shepherds cowered over their fires, with their flocks of sheep and goats hard by past strings of groaning camels laden with petroleum from Baku. Flocks of pigeons start from the dusty track. They fly on a hundred yards, and then, with a curious obstinacy, settle again and again before us, to be driven on again. Away to the left the giant range of the Caucasus trcm- KUSSIAN STATIONS. 5 bles in ghastly whiteness athwart the cloudless sky, and at its base stretches widely a blue mirage that mocks the Kur, alongside of which we go. To the right, farther off still, fainter and more visionary than the Caucasus, are the Persian mountains. Between, a vast dun expanse, fifty or sixty miles across, the horizon ahead, clear and uninterrupted as that of mid-ocean. At length, after a weary ride, the postal station is reached ; generally a collection of a few small buildings, under the management of a station-master, who, with his military uniform and flat regulation cap, is the only sign of officialism about the place. As a rule, I found these station-masters exceedingly obliging, and ready to afford the traveller every assistance. At each station- house is a ' guest-chamber,' as the Mohammedans style the apartment in their houses which is appropriated to the reception of strangers. It is generally a small room containing two wooden camp-beds, a table, a fireplace, and sometimes a couple of chairs. No bedding is provided, the traveller being supposed to bring this with him, as well as his food, tea, sugar, &c. A petroleum lamp burns all night within the chamber, and another is attached to the blue and white striped post at the door, which indicates the station, with its distance from the last centre of Government, in versts. Usually it is difficult to procure food, unless some of the women of the establishment can supply a few eggs and some sheets of the peculiar leathery bread, rivalling in size and consistency a cobbler's apron, which seems to pervade the entire East. The only thing the traveller can be certain of finding is the redoubtable samovar. This instrument is to be found in the humblest Tartar hovel, for tea morning, noon, and night seems an absolutely indispensable necessity 6 A SPORTING COUNTRY. of Kussian populations. Weak tea swallowed, the tra- veller again mounts his chariot, which at once dashes away in the most reckless fashion, utterly regardless of the nature or state of the road. The drivers make all kinds of short cuts, very much as a rider would after the hounds. In fact, at times I can only compare our progress to a headlong steeplechase over a violently accidented ploughed field, with continually occurring mad dances across steep-sided torrent-beds filled with large boulders, the banks on either side having a slope of thirty or forty degrees, sometimes more. At the third station from Tiflis the traveller may be said to bid adieu for the time to civilisation, and en- counters swampy riverside, primeval forest-patch, and endless temptations for the sportsman, for one is amidst the homes of the wild boar, the lynx, the wolf, and the wild cat. These latter are really formidable creatures little less in size than a leopard, of a lion-tawny coloured stiff fur, with flat heads and noses, half-way between those of an otter and a bull-dog. One had just been shot by a peasant close to the station. The habitations of the Tartar families are even more tro- glodytic than those of Central Armenia. In the latter place there is, at least, something like a slightly raised tumulus to suggest to the experienced eye that a dwelling exists, or did so formerly. Here advantage is taken of some scarped bank, into which a broad deep trench is cut. This is covered over with hurdles and branches, and the earth which covers all is scarcely, if at all, above the level of the surrounding surface. Here and there a wooden cask-like construction acts as chimney; but in most instances this last is simply a hole in the ground, with stone coping, and a small w r ooden fence erected THIEVISH TARTARS. 7 round it to prevent human beings or cattle from falling through. Buffaloes and goats wander at will over these singular house-tops. A stranger is often startled, while strolling over what he considers solid ground, to come upon an oblong opening, through which he can hear human voices, while huge wolf-like dogs are prowling about, making him pass them by with a sidelong edging movement by way of precaution. These places are very unhealthy. At one time I feared that I had caught the much-dreaded Astrakan plague, but I recovered after a couple of days and a good deal of quinine. A still worse mishap, however, occurred at one station. I had a small leather writing-case, closed by a lock, and con- taining all my maps, notes, and writing material. There are always prowling round a large station a number of thievish Tartars, and while seeing to the transfer of my baggage to the place where I was to pass the night, one of these itinerant gentlemen, evidently mistaking the article for a money-box, made off with it. On missing it I at once called on the officer at the station to despatch men to pursue the thief. Every- thing possible was done, but in vain, and in the interim my sword-belt disappeared. Endless objects of interest meet the eye to relieve the toilsome journey. Camels trailing loads of osiers, and looking like gigantic porcupines ; trains of huge waggons from Persia drawn by four or five horses abreast ; a Tar- tar cavalcade with indigenous ladies on horseback clad in staring red garments, and closely veiled ; and at last, all white in the glaring sun, you reach the half-Asiatic, half-European town of Elizabethpol, a sort of halfway house between the last traces of Europe and the Caspian shore. There are Tartar shops in the bazaar, there are 8 THE GRAND HOTEL. Tartar minarets on the mosques, there are kalpaked Tar- tars in the streets ; the latter contrasting with the patrols of from thirty to forty soldiers, with long grey coats and fixed bayonets, marching slowly along the public ways. There are Turkish cafes holes in the wall, as we should probably call them mere niches, within which the pro- prietor crouches, nursing his charcoal fire wherewith to light water-pipes for his customers. My battered conveyance drew up at the door of what I should be tempted to call a caravanserai, but it was the Grand Hotel of Elizabethpol, and here I was at last shown into a bedroom without bed, and where I could not wash because the basin was in use. There was a table-d'hote, but the bill of fare was an illusion, for the only things procurable were .ham and caviare. The latter is said to be a delicacy. A spoonful I once by accident tasted at Constantinople reminded me of cod-liver oil. Here, according to Eussian etiquette, I donned the best suit my saddle-bags afforded, and called at the palace of the Government, where I paid my respects to the local governor, Prince Chavchavaza. I was received in a chamber hung with ancient tapestry, the walls of which were garnished with arms of different periods, captured during the protracted struggle in which Schamyl led the Caucasians. The Prince was most courteous, but he did not understand French, and our conversation was carried on by means of his secretary. Here I learned news that entirely changed my plans. For after a short conver- sation on political matters, suddenly turning to me, the Prince fixed his dark eyes upon my face with a piercing glance, and said, ' Do you know that we expect an army corps shortly, bound for the shores of the Caspian ? ' * My prince,' I replied, ' I was unaware of the fact. Where are they going to ? ' * There is an expedition GENERAL LAZAREFF. 9 against the Turcomans,' he said, ' commanded by General LazarefiV This was news for me, and I resolved, instead of proceeding on my original mission, to follow the operations of the Eussian columns. Having thus deter- mined, nothing was left but to await the arrival of the Commander-in- Chief, General Lazareff, and to ask his permission to accompany his expedition. I waited several days, amid the usual spendthrift extravagance of Kussian border towns, and at length the colossal old general made his appearance. General Lazareff was no ordinary indi- vidual. He was over six feet in stature, and broadly made in proportion. A mass of jaw was surmounted by a more than Caesarian nose, and the large grey eye, half hidden by the heavy eyelid, denoted the amount of observation which as a specialty belongs to his race the Armenian. Up to the age of twenty years he worked as a journeyman tailor. Then joining the Eussian army he soon became sergeant. He was the capturer of Schamyl in his stronghold in the Caucasus ; and, later on, it was owing to his intrepidity and intrigues that Ears became a Eussian citadel, instead of remaining under Turkish rule. After two days I once more set off to encounter the same undulating plains, the same dust, the same groaning camels ; with an occasional change in the shape of mountain, river, and Armenian villages, with vineyards stretching around. Sometimes I was glad to walk over the rough ground to avoid the risk of broken bones, and pick my way through the rocks or miry loam. Here and there we came upon a solitary camel abandoned by some passing caravan, his depleted hump hanging over on one side like an empty sack, and indicating an absolute state of exhaustion. At last the road began to rise, and we crossed an 10 A DREARY RIDE. elevated mountain chain, the route leading us into the region of cloud, and cold, and mountain torrent. On one occasion we were five hours in traversing the most dread- ful mountain tracks, often along the top of some great landslip which the torrent at its base had sapped from the mountain side. The country seemed alive with field mice, rats, and ferrets. Leaving the mountain with its snow and fog behind, it was an inexpressible relief to reach once more the dry, warm plain that stretched to Shumakha, where I spent my night upon the rude benches of the guest-chamber. I started again early on the morning of Wednesday, the 27th, passing another ex- ceedingly disagreeable and difficult series of mountains deeply covered with snow, and at last, after endless troubles at various stations, where horses were wanting, with an obstinate driver who objected to leave the place on account of a wedding, and on my insisting upon pro- ceeding upsetting the troika and breaking the harness, it was at seven o'clock in the morning when, after a weary night drive, we came in sight of Baku, lying some ten versts off ; the Caspian, glittering beyond, being seen at intervals between the low hills that flanked its border. The country at this point is inexpressibly dreary and volcanic-looking ; the salt incrustations lying thick upon the earth. Here and there were straggling Tartar villages, with their flat houses and preposterously large conical chimneys, looking like gigantic mushrooms. From time to time we passed along the road the peculiar-looking carts characteristic of the country. The wheels were not less than eight feet in diameter, and very close to each other, the body of the cart being but two feet wide, a structure like a pulpit rising in front, gaudily painted, and probably intended for the use of the con- ductor. Entering Baku itself, the driver descended for REACHING BAKU. 11 a moment from his seat to tie up the bells hanging from the wooden arch above the central horse, the municipal regulations forbidding the entry of postal vehicles ac- companied by their usual jangling uproar, lest the horses of the town phaetons should take fright. 12 A PETEOLEUM CITY. CHAPTER II. A petroleum city Petroleum Fire worship A strange rite The Tur- comans Chatte Flies and mosquitoes A reconnaissance In gor- geous array -Caucasian horsemen The handjar. WHILE I' was staying in Baku I was a good deal in- terested in the peculiar nature of the soil. During the storms that are very frequent, dense clouds of dim yel- low dust arise, and this contains so much bitumen that the least glow of sunshine fixes it indelibly upon one's clothes. The streets are moistened with the coarse black residual naphtha that remains after distillation of the raw petroleum, and this effectually lays the dust for about a fortnight. Petroleum abounds in the neigh- bourhood, and its mineral springs are busily worked by means of well-borings which are sometimes sunk to a depth of 150 yards. At times the naphtha rises to the surface, and even flows over abundantly, occasionally springing fountain-like into the air to a height of eight or ten feet for hours together, as in the case of the artesian well. In such cases the ground around the boring is often flooded to a depth of six inches with the mineral oil, which, to avoid the danger of a conflagra- tion, has to be let off by channels constructed so as to lead it seaward. Under ordinary circumstances, it has to be drawn up from a considerable depth. The boring is generally ten, or at most eighteen, inches in diameter. A long bucket, or rather a tube stopped at PETROLEUM. 1 3 the bottom, and fifteen feet in length, is lowered into the well, and drawn up full of crude petroleum fifty gallons at a time. This, which is a blue-pink transparent liquid, is poured into a rudely constructed, plank-lined trough ui the door of the well-house, whence it flows by an equally rude channel to the distillery. Apart from the local use of petroleum for lighting, and its exportation for a similar purpose, is its appli- cation to steam navigation. With the old-fashioned boilers hi use, which have a central opening running longitudinally, no modification is necessary for the application of the new fuel. A reservoir, containing some hundred pounds' weight of the refuse (astatki), is furnished with a small tube, bearing another at its ex- tremity, a few inches long, and at right angles with ihe conduit. From this latter it trickles slowly. Close by is the mouth of another tube, connected with the boiler. A pan containing tow or wood saturated with astatki is first introduced to heat the water, and, once the slightest steam pressure is produced, a jet of vapour is thrown upon the dropping bituminous fluid, which is thus converted into spray. A light is applied, and then a roaring deluge of fire inundates the central opening of the boiler. It is a kind of self-acting blow- pipe. This volume of fire can be controlled by one man, by means of the two stop- cocks, as easily as the flame in an ordinary gas jet. Baku was one of the last strongholds of the fire- worshippers, not at all a surprising fact when I state that in some places I have seen fifty or sixty furnaces for burning lime, the flame used being simply the car- buretted hydrogen that issued from fissures in the earth. In the midst of the busy petroleum works, where the chimneys of the distilleries no doubt far surpass in 14 FIRE WOKSHIP. height the fire towers of old, is a real specimen of the religious architecture and practices of ante-Mussulman days. After stumbling through the black naphtha mud, and over uneven foundations, a hole roughly broken in a modern wall gives entry to a small chamber, twenty feet by fifteen, adjoining which is a smaller one to the right. In the opposite wall and to the left is another low door opening on a semi-circular yard, fifteen feet wide at its greater diameter. It is the remaining half of the once celebrated fire temple, or rather of the small monastery connected with it. The exterior wall, eleven or twelve feet high, on which is a parapeted walk, is composed of rough stone. From the courtyard one can enter thirty-five roomy cells, accessible by as many doors. These cells, formerly occupied by the monks or pilgrims, are now rented at a moderate price to some of the workmen who belong to the factories immediately surrounding, by the priest, the last of his race, who still lingers beside his unfrequented altars. The priest is called for. He dons a long white robe, taken from a rude cupboard in the whitewashed wall, and, drawing near a kind of wide altar tomb at the south-western corner of the chamber, railed off from the outer portion of the apartment by a low wooden balustrade, applies a lighted match, which he has previously sought for in a most prosaic manner in his breeches pocket, to a small iron tube. A jet of pale blue lambent flame is produced, rising to the height of eight inches or a foot. Seizing the rope of a bell hung over his head, he rings half a dozen strokes upon it, then takes in his hand a small bell, and, ringing it continually, proceeds to bow and genuflect before the altar. The light wanes gradually, and goes out. And then, advancing towards the curious spectator, the priest proffers on a small brass dish a few grains of barley or A STRANGE RITE. 15- rice, or, as I once saw, three or four pieces of candied sugar, which the envelope indicated had been manufac- tured in Paris ! A person in the East always gives a present with the view of receiving at least fifty tunes its value in return ; so we present the last of his race with a couple of roubles, and retire. On the afternoon of Tuesday, April 2, 1879, having received permission from General Lazareff to accompany the expedition against the Akkal Tekke Turcomans, a permission endorsed by H.I.H. the Grand Duke com- manding at Tiflis, I went on board the Russian war steamer ' Nasr Eddin Shah,' and three days later we anchored two and a half miles off the low sandy shore of Tchikislar, having to land in boats at a rude pier that ran out some hundred and fifty yards. The General was received by a party of Yamud elders, who, drawn up at the extremity of the pier, offered him, as he landed, a cake of bread, a plate of salt, and a large fish newly caught ; meantime, the guns in the small redoubt adjoining the camp thundered out their salute. The Turcomans of the entire surrounding neighbour- hood had assembled to do honour to the General, and were drawn up on either side of the pier along which he passed to the shore. At its landward extremity, a, number of these people held prostrate on the ground half a dozen black-haired sheep, and, as he passed, a knife was drawn across the throat of each animal, the blood streaming, hot and reeking, across his path, and flooding the ground to such an extent that our shoes were all ensanguined as we walked in proces- sion across it. It was the first tune I had had a good opportunity of seeing genuine Turcomans. Each wore the enormous sheepskin shako affected by the in- habitants of Central Asia, and a long tunic of some 16 THE TURCOMANS. bright colour, tightly girt at the waist by a broad white sash, knotted in front, a long dirk thrust through it. Over this was an exterior garment of some sombre tint, with long sleeves, which the wearers were continually pulling backwards in order to leave their hands free. Each, together with his poniard, wore a curved, leather- sheathed sabre, with cross guard. One might have imagined them a battalion of the Foot Guards, robed for the nonce in dressing gowns. Some, also, wore the enormous pelisse of sheepskin so common among the dwellers in Central Asia. The General then gave audiences to the chiefs of these Yamud Turcomans, and finding they had fifteen or sixteen prisoners of their enemies, the Akkal Tekkes, with a view of propitiating their companions of the distant oasis, the General ordered the immediate release of these prisoners, and sent them away to their homes, giving to each some trifling present in money or articles of European manufacture. To them, as well as to the Yamud chiefs and elders, he gave silver watches, silver- mounted hand/jars, pieces of bright-coloured cloth, and ^ such like articles as he thought might be pleasing to them. On the following morning, April 6, a little before daybreak, we started for the advanced post of Chatte, at the junction of the Atterek and Sumbar rivers, the former being the nominal division between Persia and the Kussian and Turcoman possessions. We were strongly escorted by Cossacks, and the early part of our journey was most unpleasant, for our wheels sank deeply in the sand of the low region, over which during a westerly wind the waters of the Caspian are often driven for the distance of a league. Two miles inland I saw the bleaching skins of the Caspian carp; and multitudes of sea anemones lay around. Far from the CHATTE FLIES AND MOSQUITOES. 17 shore, too, we met with Turcoman tdimuls, or dug-out canoes, lying about over the plains in the places where they had been left stranded by the retiring waters. The heat was intense, and the eyes were pained by the constant glare from the white plains, unrelieved by any- thing more than an occasional tamarisk bush or clump of camel thorn, the marl around seeming as if it had been calcined in some mighty furnace. Fresh water was extremely scarce, the expeditionary force spending much time in digging wells, while travellers upon these plains are often tortured by the mirage that oft- repeated atmospheric delusion which has frequently beguiled me into a bootless ride of many a league in search of the wished-for water. Chatte is one of the dreariest places imaginable. At the time of my visit the garrison consisted of two bat- talions. The heat was intense ; and the cemetery, not far off, and ominously large for so small a garrison, spoke in eloquent terms of the unhealthy nature of the locality. Fully eighty feet below, in the midst of their tremendous ravines, ran the canal-like streams of the Atterek and Sumbar, at this tune shrunk to comparative threads of water, all white with suspended marl, and almost undrinkable from the quantity of saline matter held in solution. Myriads of flies rendered life unbear- able by day, as did gnats and mosquitoes by night ; and the intense heat, aggravated by the simoom-like winds sweeping across the burning plain, made Chatte anything but a desirable abiding-place. ' I would ten times rather be sent to Siberia than left here any longer,' I one day heard an officer of infantry exclaim to a newly-arrived comrade. After a short experience I felt quite in the same mind as this officer, for between heat and flies by day, and mosquitoes by night, I never c 18 A EECONNAISSANCE. passed such a miserable time in all my existence. In view of the domed edifices and extensive foundations, spreading far and wide, there can be no doubt that a populous community once flourished there. Now, owing to the fact that the river has cut its bed low down in the marly soil, and that irrigation is impossible, civilisation has perished from the spot. Very possibly, too, Zenghis Khan and his hordes had something to do with laying waste what are now trackless solitudes. General Lazareff having made his reconnaissance, and satisfied himself, returned at once to the Caspian, to take the necessary steps before finally committing him- self to a forward movement into the heart of the enemy's territory. In the middle of one of the stages on our backward way, the horses of the General's carriage, broken down by the rapid pace at which we were pro- ceeding, had foundered, and we had to leave them be- hind us, gasping on the dusty plain. To replace them, Cossacks of the escort were ordered up. Each horse- man, taking one of the ropes which served as traces, placed it under 'his left thigh, held the extremity in his hand, and then galloped forward with the surviving horses of the team, over the plain already dotted with the bones of camels and mules, which, bleaching in the sun, strewed every foot of the way ghastly evidences of the dangers awaiting the traveller across these silent tracts. Save ourselves, not a living being of any description was in sight. Not even a prowling Turcoman was to be seen. The advanced guard, now that all danger was over for the moment, amused themselves with chasing the wild asses and antelopes which constantly came in sight as we topped some undulation of the ground, the horses seeming to enter into the sport quite as thoroughly as their riders, though we never had a chance of IX GORGEOUS ARRAY. 19 coming within shot. One of my last reminiscences of this journey was having supper with General Lazareff and his second in command, General Lomakin. We sat upon the edges of three drums, and bayonets stuck point downwards in the ground served us as candlesticks. In our company was the Caravan Bashi, a Khivan, whose dress merits description. He wore a silk tunic, of the brightest possible emerald green, with lavish gold em- broidery ; sky-blue trousers, of semi-European make ; a purple mantle profusely laced ; and, contrary to all Mussulman precedent, his fingers were covered with massive rings of gold. A gold-embroidered skull-cap was stuck upon the back of his head, and, perched forward, the brim almost upon the bridge of his nose, was a cylindrical cap of black Astrakan fur, which allowed almost the whole of the elaborately decorated skull-cap to be seen behind. We arrived in Tchikislar about six o'clock in the evening, and I hoped to obtain a good night's rest, so far as such was consistent with the presence of great red- bodied, long-legged mosquitoes, but to my dismay an aide-de-camp announced to me that I must be ready to go on board the steamer at nine o'clock to proceed to the northward. Krasnavodsk, which we reached at eight o'clock next morning, is simply a Eussian military colony. It would be impossible to conceive anything more bleak or deso- late-looking than the scarped, scraggy cliffs of rose- coloured alabaster which face the town. Did it lie in the bottom of a volcano crater, the barrenness and dry- ness could not be greater. The natural water of the site, very limited in quantity, is absolutely unfit for human use, and the needs of the place are supplied by the distillation of sea water, the wood fuel being brought at an immense cost from Lenkoran on the opposite c 9. 20 CAUCASIAN HOUSEMEN. Caspian shore. Here there has been made an attempt at a public garden ; but only a few very scrubby- looking tamarisk bushes have been able to hold their own in the midst of the sandy soil and the scorching sun-glare. The greatest care is necessary in order to foster even these few bushes, which would look faded and miserable beside the most withered furze bush that ever graced a highland mountain-top. One evening during our stay at Krasnavodsk, I had an opportunity of seeing the peculiar method of fighting of the Cauca- sian and Daghestani horsemen, who happened to be on the station. They are natives of the north-eastern por- tion of the Caucasus, and are esteemed among the best cavalry in the Kussian service. Their uniform is almost precisely similar to that of the Circassians, save that the Daghestani have their long tight-waisted tunics of white flannel instead of the usual sober colours affected by the Circassian horsemen. Hanging between the shoulders, and knotted around the neck, is the bashlik, or hood, worn during bad weather, this hood being of a crimson colour. On either side of the breast are one or more rows of metal cartridge-tubes, now worn simply for ornament, for I need scarcely say that these horsemen are armed with modern breech -loading carbines, and carry their cartridges in the orthodox regulation pouches, instead of after the fashion of their forefathers. Their sabres are of the usual guardless Circassian pattern, almost the entire hilt entering into the scabbard. Hanging from the front of the waist-belt is a handjar, or broad-bladed, leaf-shaped sword, very similar to the ancient Spanish weapon adopted by the Eoman soldiery, or resembling perhaps still more those bronze weapons found upon the old battle-fields of Greece and within early Celtic barrows. These weapons they are accustomed to use as projectiles, THE HANDJAH. 21 much as the North American Indians use their long- bladed knives. On the evening in question, a squadron of these Daghestani horsemen were paraded, in order that we might witness their skill in throwing the handjars. A large wooden target was erected, in front of which was suspended an ordinary black bottle. Then, one by one, the horsemen dashed up at full speed, hurling their handjars, as they did so, at the mark. It was intended to plant the point of the knife in the target, so close to the bottle that the flat of the blade should almost touch it. One after another the knives of the whole squadron were thrown, until they stuck like a sheaf of arrows round the mark, and so good was the aim that hi no one case would there have been the slightest possibility of missing so large a mark as a man's body. After this exhibition of skill, the Lesghi, as the Dag- hestani are occasionally called, performed some of their national dances, to the music of the pipe and tabor. Two dancers at a tune stepped into the circle formed around them by their comrades. Each placed the back of his right hand across his mouth, holding the elbow elevated in the air ; the left arm was held at its fullest ex- tent, sloping slightly downwards, the palm turned to the rear. In this somewhat singular attitude they commenced sliding round the ring with a peculiar waltzing step ; then, suddenly confronting each other, they broke into a furious jig, going faster and faster as the music increased in pace, and when, all breathless, they retired into the ranks, their places were immediately taken by another pair. Occasion- ally one of the more skilful would arm himself with two hand- jars, and, placing the points on either side of his neck, go through the most violent calisthenic movements, with the view of showing the perfect control he had over his muscles. 22 SEARCHING FOE SULPHUR MINES. CHAPTEE III. Searching for sulphur mines A desert post Bitter waters The Black Gulf Sulphur Mountain -Turcoman steeds A night alarm The attack A race for life Worn out. DURING my stay at Krasnavodsk, I made the acquaint- ance of an Armenian gentleman who had come there with the intention of scientifically exploring the neigh- bourhood, and discovering what its mineral resources might be. He was especially in search of certain sulphur mines reported to exist upon the shores of the Kara Boghaz, the great expanse of shallow water lying to the north of Krasnavodsk. He had succeeded in obtaining from General Lomakin a guard of fifteen Yamud Turco- mans, acting as Eussian auxiliary irregular horse, and, gathering from some conversation with me that I was interested in geological researches, asked me to accom- pany him on his expedition. We started early in the morning, and, mounted upon hardy little Khirgese ponies, climbed the horrid-looking, burnt-up ravines that lead through the amphitheatre of hills which guard Kras- navodsk, to the plain beyond. These rocks, as I have said, are of rose-coloured gypsum, though sometimes a blue and yellow variety is to be met with. Once outside the rocky, girding scarp, the Turcoman sahra, here affording an unusually luxuriant supply of coarse bent- grass, reaches away in one unbroken tract to the banks of the Sea of Aral. The Yamud shepherds, perched upon A DESERT POST. 23 every slight elevation around, kept watch and ward lest a party of Tekke Turcomans should sweep down upon them and bear both themselves and their charges into captivity. At the time of which I am writing some four or five thousand camels, destined for the transport service of the Akhal Tekke expedition, were concentrated in the neighbourhood of the town, the greater portion of them having been most unwisely sent to pasture at a distance of some twenty miles from the garrison. Though it was early in the year, the heat of the sun was overwhelming; and as in the midst of our wild- looking escort we rode across these naked, burnt-up plains, I could well appreciate how welcome was the ' shadow of a great rock in a weary land.' Far, far off, on either hand, loomed, faintly violet, some minor hills, which, my companion assured me, were replete with mineral treasures, especially with a very pure kind of natural paraffin, or mineral wax (osochei-yte), as it is commonly called. Apart from the stray camels and flocks, the only living things to be seen were huge spotted lizards, who stared eagerly at us as we went by, and tortoises, crawling about over the marly surface. It was two o'clock in the afternoon as we reached a Russian military post, some sixteen miles distant from Krasnavodsk. It consisted of a small rectangular re- doubt, garrisoned by two companies of infantry and about twenty-five Turcoman horse. The captain shared with us his not very luxurious meal of dried Caspian carp and almost equally dry sausage, washed down by the never-failing glass of vodka, and then we again started on our forward journey. We varied the monotony of the journey by racing, and dangerous work it was, for the ground was everywhere burrowed into by great chameleon- like lizards sometimes two feet long and every now 24 BITTER WATERS. and then a horseman came to grief, owing to his steed involuntarily thrusting a leg into one of these pitfalls. At ten o'clock in the evening we reached a kind of basin, situated in the midst of low hills, if I may call elevations of fifty feet or so by that name. This basin might have been a mile and a half across. Near its centre were half- a-dozen wells, which gave the place the name of Ghoui- Sulmen. Each well was surrounded by a low parapet of yellowish-grey nummulitic limestone, and close by the mouth stood a couple of rude troughs of the same material. Their workmanship was of the very rudest description, and I have no doubt that these traces of man's handiwork must be of great antiquity. The water lay at least forty feet below the level of the well-mouth, and could only be procured by being fished up in the nose-bags of our horses, let down by the united tethering- ropes of several of the party. This water was execrable in the extreme. I understand that it contains a large percentage of sulphate of soda and common salt; but whatever be the matter which gives it its peculiar taste and flavour, it is very nauseous, especially when it has become heated from being carried in the leather bags in which water is stored during long journeys in these parts of the world. It then becomes emetic, as well as strongly purgative. Coming from the great depths at which it lies beneath the soil, it is icy-cold when brought to the surface, but even then it is intolerable to anyone who has been accustomed to different water elsewhere. Not being able to drink, I tried to assuage my thirst by bathing my face and hands, but I soon discovered what a mistake I had made, for when the moisture had evaporated I found the surface of my skin covered with an extremely irritant saline matter, the eyes and nose especially suffer- ing. Our escort prepared their tea with this water, and THE BLACK GULF. 25 seemed to enjoy it, though after the first mouthful I was obliged to cease drinking. The Turcomans rarely smoke anything but a water- pipe, or kalioun, but as this is too cumbrous to be carried about on horseback, a simpler expedient is resorted to. An oblong steep-sided hole is dug in the ground, some five inches wide, and a foot deep. Some red-hot charcoal is taken from the camp fire, and placed in the bottom of the cavity. A handful of tumbaki, a coarse kind of tobacco used in these regions, is thrown in, and the smoker, kneeling beside the hole, places his expanded palms on either side of his mouth, stoops over the orifice, and inhales the fumes of the tobacco, mingled with air. Three or four whiffs from this singular smoking apparatus seem quite sufficient for the most determined smoker among them, and I am not surprised at it. I nearly choked myself at my first attempt. We broke camp about half-past one, and continued our journey towards the shores of the Kara-Boghaz (Black Gulf), on the borders of which lay the sulphur mines which it was the mission of my friend to explore. The stars gave but feeble light, and as the edges of pro- jecting strata now began to make their appearance the road became so dangerous that after two miles we were obliged to halt again and wait for dawn. As the sun was rising we found ourselves on the margin of a vast creek reaching inland from the Kara-Boghaz. The waters lay still and death-like, and the entire surroundings were more lifeless and ghastly than any I had hitherto wit- nessed. Not even a bird of any description was to be seen, far or near. To reach the level yellow shore at the water marge it was necessary that we should scramble down the almost vertical face of the cliff, some sixty or seventy feet in height. It was composed of terraced 26 SULPHITE MOUNTAIN. layers of whitish-yellow stone, similar to that which I have described as being found at the well-mouths; in some places tossed and tumbled in the wildest possible confusion. Dismounting from our horses, and leading them by the bridles, we proceeded to scramble, as best we could, down the cliff, being often obliged to hold on by the tamarisk bushes, and at last reached the shell- strewn beach below. Following the strand in a north- easterly direction, we reached a ravine which pierces- the cliffs in an easterly one. This was the spot of which we were in search. It is called by the Turcomans the Kukurt-Daghi, or Sulphur Mountain. My friend commenced his search immediately, for there was not a moment to be lost. We were on dan- gerous ground, where the nomads were frequently to be found encamped preparatory to one of their forays in the neighbourhood of Krasnavodsk. Strewn around were fragments of black and red lava, and the entire place bore unmistakeable signs of a more or less recent vol- canic disturbance. Lumps of sulphur were to be found in every direction, and here and there were nodules, em- bedded between the stone layers, and in the indurated beds of detritus. Though we found tolerably large ' pockets,' however, nowhere could we discover any real vein. There was no considerable deposit of the substance at least, such was the opinion of my friend, the geolo- gist. After an hour and a half's search, we mounted for the return journey, and I was not sorry to leave the spot. We took a new route on our way back, and, riding across a country exactly similar to that of which I have spoken,, two hours before sunset we got into a sandy, undulating area. The tamarisk bushes grew high and close, and were even mixed with a peculiar kind of osier. This infallibly denoted the presence of water. We were, in. TURCOMAN STEEDS. 27 fact, at the Ghoui-Kabyl, or sweet-water wells, the only place in the whole district where such a thing as really drinkable water is to be obtained. We washed the salt from our hands and faces, and then lay down to rest upon the soft, yielding sand, which afforded as comfort- able a couch as the softest feather bed, for it adapted itself perfectly to the form of the sleeper. As usual, several camp fires were lighted, for the preparation of the inevitable tea, without w r hich no true Central Asian or Eussian can get through a day's journey. The fires smouldered dimly around us, for the Yamuds were too cautious to allow a blaze to be seen in such a place. They did not go to sleep, but sat crouchingly around the fires, chatting to each other. The horses, each secured by one fetlock at the full extent of its tethering-rope, ran round in circles, screaming at and trying to kick each other. I have remarked this peculiarity about Turcoman horses, that while towards human beings they are the gentlest and most tractable of creatures, among them- selves they are the most quarrelsome that it is possible to imagine. Notwithstanding the noise which the horses were making and it was very aggravating, when after the fatigues of the past two days we were trying to snatch. an hour's repose I was sinking gradually into slumber. A calm seemed to come over the bivouac, and everything appeared tranquil. I turned over on the sand to make myself comfortable, when I became aware that an un- usual agitation prevailed among the ordinarily calm and taciturn Turcomans. They were whispering eagerly together. I raised myself upon my elbow, and looked round. Some were hastily saddling their horses, and before I had time to demand the reason of this proceed- ing, several of them came hurriedly up to where myself "28 A NIGHT ALARM. and my friend lay. There was something wrong, they said. The horses were sniffing the wind, with necks outstretched towards the east. Either strangers were approaching, or there was some other encampment near, and if this latter were the case, the encampment could only be a Tekke one. We held a council of war, and decided that the most advisable course to adopt was to move on immediately. Sand was heaped upon the camp fires, horses were rapidly saddled and packed, and, like a party of spectres, we stole silently away. Several Turcomans, with the apparently innate perception of locality, even in the dark, which is acquired by the habits of life of their race, led the way. For myself I had not the faintest notion towards what point of the compass we were directing our steps. During half-an- hour we forced our path among the bushes, and gained open ground. Four Turcomans were thrown out to re- connoitre in the supposed dangerous direction, and, anxious though I felt over the situation, I could not help wondering how they would ever find their way back. In an hour, however, they managed to rejoin us, and re- ported a large camp to the eastward. They estimated the number of its occupants at some hundreds, and believed they could be no other than Tekkes. The sun was well above the horizon as we sighted several hundreds of camels browsing, on a rising ground, on the scanty herbage, and tended by some scores of Khirgese nomads. We hastily communicated to them the news of the proximity of the Tekkes, and rode for- ward, as swiftly as might be, after our protracted journey, towards the Bournak post, which we reached about two hours after sunrise. We reported our intel- ligence to the Commandant, Captain Ter-Kazaroff, who took the necessary precautions for the safety of his THE ATTACK. 2 redoubt. I had slept a couple of hours at the shady side of the captain's tent, and was in the act of making some notes of the day's adventures, when scouts came galloping up in a headlong fashion with the news that the Tekkes were advancing in force, and that not a moment was to be lost if the camels were to be saved. Notwithstanding that a border post like that of Bournak is constantly on the alert, the rapidity with which the men were got under arms was surprising. The captain rushed from his tent, the bugle sounded, and in less than two minutes after the alarm the first company was moving to the front at the double. In fact, so rapid was the preparation that the captain had not even time to load his revolver, and I lent him mine. At the same time the irregular Yamud cavalry, some fifteen in number, together with the Khirgese shepherds, were driving in the camels, which could not be forced to accelerate their usual slow and dignified pace ; and, consequently, several of the shepherds were cut down by the foremost Tekke horse. Within ten minutes after the departure of the first company, the second, in reserve, marched with the camels carrying the spare ammunition, leaving only half-a-dozen men to garrison the redoubt. The first company was scarcely five hundred yards distant from the parapets when the leading Tekkes appeared in sight, galloping along the summit of the long undulation of the plain, and in a few minutes many hundreds of them were in view. Some affrighted Khirgese drivers who came in said that the greater number of their companions had been killed, a large proportion of the camels taken, and at least two thousand sheep swept away. They reported that the Tekkes were at least two thousand strong, and that a large number of them were horsemen, 30 A EACE FOE LIFE. the remainder being infantry mounted upon camels and asses. Firing had already commenced, and myself and my friend were sorely puzzled as to what course we should pursue. The position, for us, was an exceedingly difficult one. I much desired to go forward and witness the skirmish, but the condition of our horses, after two days' hard riding, with little or no food save the few handfuls of corn which we had in our saddle-bags, rendered it excessively dangerous for us to proceed into the press of combat, especially as it was as likely as not that the slender Eussian infantry force would be com- pelled to retreat, even if it were not annihilated. In the latter case, and with our jaded horses, we were certain to be captured, and mutilation, if not death, would have been our portion. To await the result of the fight in the redoubt, with its few defenders, was equally preca- rious, so we thought it best to make good our retreat, while there was yet an opportunity, as fast as our fatigued horses could carry us. Our baggage was rapidly packed, and we retired as swiftly as we could. Half a mile to the south of the post of Bournak is another reach of ground commanding an extensive view over the plain, and from this, though at a pretty long distance, I could, with the aid of my field glass, follow the movements of the Tekkes. It was not easy, however, to make out which way the combat was going, for the entire plain was covered with groups of combatants, and it was im- possible to detect to which side they belonged. Once outside of the protecting parapets of the redoubt, our most prudent course was to make the best of our way to Krasnavodsk. Our worn-out horses took at least three hours to cover the eighteen miles which intervened between us and that town. The heat was terrific, and I was in a WORN OUT. 31 general state of weariness. We entered the rocky circle of hills which shuts off Krasnavodsk and its immediate surroundings from the plains, and as we debouched from one horrid gorge, with its gaunt cliffs of burnt red rock, we met General Lomakin, the commander of the town, advancing with all his available forces. I had a short conversation with the General, explained to him all I knew about the situation, and once more pushed on. A little later I met one of the Yarnud horsemen who had formed part of the escort of myself and my Armenian friend. He gave it as his decided opinion that we must have been under the direct protection of Allah as we got off from the Ghoui-Kabyl that morning. Had we remained an hour longer on the spot, he said, we should certainly have been captured by the Tekkes. I was really very much knocked up by the expedition. The heat, want of sufficient food, salty water, and, above all, the absence of sleep, had quite prostrated me, and I find in my note-book the following entry, which is very descriptive of the situation : ' I am very ill, and my back is nearly broken. My nose is almost burned off, and my breeches are torn from hard riding. I must go to bed.' 32 WAITING TO ADVANCE. CHAPTER IV. Waiting to advance Water snakes Quaint humanity Caucasian cavalry Uniforms Ideas and fashion Punishment of the knout An angler's paradise. I REMAINED at Krasnavodsk up to the first of May, awaiting a definite move on the part of the expeditionary forces, and made a trip to Tchikislar on board the ' Ural ' war-steamer. During this excursion I had a good oppor- tunity of examining the island of Tcheliken, with its steep seaward marl cliffs, stained by the black flow of naphtha which has gone on for ages pouring its riches into the unprofitable bosom of the Caspian. On one of its highest portions is one of the tall, sentry-box-looking objects which stand over the petroleum wells worked by Mr. Nobel, the enterprising capitalist of Baku. Tchikislar, which I understand is now almost de- serted, was, at the time of which I speak, in all its glory. Several thousands of men were under canvas, the cavalry to the north, the infantry to the south of the original sand redoubt and signal station. The environs of the camp were in a filthy state, the Eussians neglecting the most simple sanitary precautions. The hospitals were full, and myriads of flies filled the air. Nothing was being done, so on the fifth I again went on board the 1 Ural ' to return to Krasnavodsk. I remained only ten days at this town, leading the accustomed life soirees at the club, dinners at the WATER SNAKES. 33 governor's, and driving about the neighbourhood. During one of the last excursions I made along the rocky shores of the bay, I was struck by the immense numbers of water snakes which, leaving the sea, had gone long dis- tances inland. I have met these reptiles between five and six feet in length, of a yellow colour mottled with brown, by threes and fours at a time, crossing the scorched gypsum rocks at least half a mile from the shore, and making their way to the water, into which they plunged and swam out to sea. From on board ship I have seen them in the waters of Krasnavodsk Bay five or six knotted together floating in the sun. On May 15 I was sent for by General Lomakin, who informed me that General Lazareff desired to see me immediately, and accordingly, on the following day, at one o'clock, I started for Baku, where the Commander- in-Chief was temporarily staying, but only to reach it after a long and tempestuous voyage, for Baku certainly deserves the title given to it by the old Tartars, ' a place beaten by the winds.' On the following day I had an interview with General Lazareff, who wished to obtain some unbiassed evidence about the affair at Bournak, in view of the complaints which had reached him from different quarters relative to the want of promptitude of General Lomakin in hurrying to the assistance of the two companies defend- ing the camels. He asked me whether I believed it was not possible for Lomakin to have pushed on the same evening and followed up the enemy. I had no other answer to give than that I believed he had acted with the greatest possible promptitude. General Lazareff afterwards told me it was quite possible that we should have to winter in the Akhal Tekke, and he declared his intention not to return until he had accomplished his 84 QUAINT HUMANITY. mission the 'pacification,' as he was pleased to term it, of the district. Further operations depended upon eventualities. Should the Merv Turcomans take part with their brethren of the Akhal Tekke, he would be obliged to move against Merv, but at present he had no definite instructions in the matter. He concluded by saying, * We must do nothing in a hurry ; we have plenty of time before us.' Baku is not at all an agreeable place to stay in, and I was not sorry to receive a notification from the Chief of Staff to go on board the ' Constantine ' mail steamer, to accompany General Lazareff across the Caspian to Tchikislar, which place we reached on Monday, June 3, anchoring as usual nearly three miles off shore, and we had the accustomed difficulty in landing. The arrival of the Commander-in-Chief with his staff, and the pre- sence of some additional battalions which had preceded us, greatly added to the liveliness of the camp. One of the most peculiar characteristics of Tchikislar was the presence of very large numbers of Khirgese and Turcoman camel-drivers, and of muleteers from Bagh- dad, who, under promise of high pay, had been induced to abandon their ordinary track between the latter city and Meshed, and to come to the Eussian camp for the transport service. There is a very wide difference be- tween the appearance of the Khirgese and that of the Turcomans. The latter are of a more or less slim and wiry figure, with approximately European features. They wear the huge sheepskin hat, and make a very fair attempt at a regular system of clothing. The Khirgese is as quaint-looking, awkwardly-dressed a figure as one could find upon a Chinese porcelain dish the same im- possible eyes, long, narrow, and dragged upwards at the outer corners, genuine Cathay hat, and occasionally an UNIFORMS. 35 umbrella, which would not be out of place in a procession of stage mandarins ; finally, he has a shuffling, slovenly gait, more ungraceful than that of a ploughman. His ordinary garment is a kind of dirty cotton sheet, twisted anyhow about him, or at most a very draggled and tattered linen tunic. In a burning sun he wears as much furry clothing as an Esquimaux. On his head is a movable conical tent of felt, which falls to the middle of his back, and which towards midday he supplements by another, and perhaps a couple of horse-cloths besides. Seated on the scorching sand, with his stolid mien, peep- ing eyes, and strange headdress, his general appearance is that of one of those squatting Indian deities of a pagoda, clothed in rags and skins. There were large numbers of Caucasian and Cossack horsemen, all in picturesque attire, and looking quite unlike anything we are accustomed to associate with the uniform of a regular regiment. Both Cossack and Caucasian wore tunic-like garments, fitting tightly at the waist, the skirt falling almost to the heels, and made of white, brown, grey, or black cloth. The breast was covered with one or two horizontal rows of silver or brass cartridge-cases, according to the rank of the wearer. They all bore the before-mentioned guardless Circassian sabre. The Russian officers serving in Asia for the most part affect this style of weapon instead of the regulation sword, carrying it by a belt slung across the shoulder, instead of girt around the waist. There is a very re- markable trait of character noticeable among the officers of Caucasian cavalry regiments, among the Kabardian officers especially, which is well worthy of a few words of comment. Each one feels bound to have both arms and belt mounted as massively and richly as possible with enamelled silver ; cartridge-boxes, tinder-boxes, D 2 86 IDEAS ON FASHION. poniards, and other accoutrements being decorated with equal richness. Many, however, regard a new coat, or one that shows no sign of wear, as entirely inad- missible and unmanly, and altogether in maiwais gout. When the dilapidation of a garment compels the wearer to order a new one, he straightway deliberately tears the latter in several places, and with his knife frays the edges of the sleeve, in order to give it the appearance of having seen service ; and so well is this peculiar taste recog- nised, that the tailor has been known to send home a new habiliment with the requisite amount of tatters, and with the lower part of the cuff artificially frayed. We had in the camp a band of irregular cavalry, formerly professional robbers and marauders from the neighbour- hood of Alexandropol, who were told off for the special duty of harrying the enemy's flocks and herds. They were under the command of a well-known brigand chief named Samad Agha, a Karapapak. These also affected the same style of dress and arms as the Caucasians. I saw at Tchikislar an example of what I had been led to believe was abolished in Eussian rule punish- ment by the knout. The Khirgese and Turcomans who had been hired, together with their trains of camels, to serve in the baggage train of the expedition, received a fixed sum per diem for the services of themselves and their animals, and in case of any camels suc- cumbing to the fatigues of the road, or being captured or disabled by the enemy, the owner was compensated to the extent of one hundred roubles in paper for each camel a sum then equal to about ten English pounds. Many of these people brought with them only the very weakliest of the camels in their possession, knowing that they would not be able to dispose of them at so good a price elsewhere, and took the first opportunity, when on PUNISHMENT OF THE KNOUT. 37 a long journey, to abandon them in the desert. In cases of this kind they were required, in proof of their assertions, to bring in the tails of the camels which were supposed to have died. A party of Khirgese and Turcomans were despatched with material from Kras- navodsk, and directed to follow the shore to the camp at Tchikislar. They abandoned their camels on the way, having first cut off their tails, which they duly brought into camp. Lazareff s suspicions were aroused, and he ordered a party of cavalry to proceed along the track by which the camels had passed, and to scour the country in search of their bodies. The horsemen came upon the camels, which were calmly grazing over the plain, in as good condition as ever they were but for the absence of their tails. The evidence against the culprits was overwhelming, and in order to make an example, and prevent the repetition of this fraud, each was sentenced to receive, upon the bare back, a hundred blows of a Cossack whip. This instrument in no way answers to our idea of a whip. It is more like a flail. The handle is of whalebone or cane, with flat leather thongs plaited round it. The thong of an ordinary whip is replaced by a similar combination, and united with the handle by means of a stout leather hinge. The delinquents were bound, stretched upon their faces, a Cossack sitting on the head of each, and another on his feet. Their backs were then laid bare, and the hundred blows were in- flicted. They were severely cut up, but notwithstanding the suffering undergone, not a single cry or groan escaped their lips. Each seized with his teeth some morsel of his clothing, to prevent his exclaiming, and doggedly underwent the punishment. Among these people it is considered very disgraceful to allow any amount of pain to wring from one of them any groan or exclamation, 88 AN ANGLEE'S PAEADISE. and I have been told that the man who exhibits such sign of weakness will not afterwards be able to find a woman to marry him. When I happened to observe to a superior officer that I had believed the punishment of the knout abolished in Eussia, he frankly replied that it was, but that the General took upon himself to administer this summary chastisement, inasmuch as the men them- selves would infinitely prefer it to being sent to prison in Baku, or perhaps to Siberia; and he was probably right. During the three long months that I remained in the camp, waiting in vain in the hope that a move in some direction would be made, I took advantage of a hunting expedition organised by Prince Wittgenstein to visit the delta of the Atterek, up which stream I had already been as far as Chatte, the result being that, on com- paring my own observations with those of others, I felt convinced that nothing worthy the name of a river comes within ten miles of the coast. The water is entirely absorbed by irrigation trenches or the great spongy surface of the marsh, whose shallows were alive with fish, so crowded as to be incapable of moving save by floundering and jumping over one another. They were chiefly, as is always the case in these waters, the sefid mahee, or large white carp. As we occasionally crossed the stream, our horses trod them to death by scores. In less crowded nooks huge pike were to be seen lurking under the bushes, but so stupefied by the foul water that the Cossacks took them in numbers by striking them with the point of the sabre, or simply whisking them out of the water by the tail. Owing to the con- dition of the fish, however, it was deemed inadvisable to use them as food. SICKNESS. 39 CHAPTEE V. Sickness The death of an old friend Funeral at sea General Tergu- kasoff Notice to quit A start for Persia A slimy waste A home for reptiles Robber Turcomans The faithful dog A Jack-of-all-trades Night alarms An unpleasant \velcome Asterabad. WHEN the charm of novelty wore off, time hung heavily on our hands in the camp at Tchikislar. Notwithstand- ing all precautions, I fell a victim to the prevailing malady, which was carrying off soldiers by the score. I allude to that curse of ill-regulated camps, dysen- tery. It is a disease which prostrates one almost imme- diately. Simultaneously the Commander-in- Chief had a virulent attack of carbuncles. In spite of his suf- ferings he sent an aide-de-camp daily to inquire after me, and I returned the courtesy by despatching my ser- vant to ask how the Commander-in-Chief progressed. Some of the people in the camp said it was a race be- tween us as to which should die first. The hour for the advance having come, the General was lifted from his bed into a four-horse vehicle, which was intended to carry him to the front. He reached Chatte, where the carbuncles were operated upon by the chief surgeon of the army. The General insisted upon pushing forward at four in the morning, but before he reached the next station he was dead. The doctors had told me that to remain at Tchikis- lar was to incur a more than serious risk of death, and from what I knew of military operations I was aware 40 FUNERAL AT SEA. that before definite hostilities commenced I should have time to recruit my strength in a healthier atmosphere, and amid happier surroundings. On August 22 I stag- gered from my bed, and was supported to the pier, where a man-of-war's boat was waiting to take me on board the ' Ural,' en route for Baku. During my voyage this vessel was crowded with barely convalescent patients from the camp, most of them, if not all, suffering from dysentery, and I had an opportunity of witnessing a burial at sea. An infirmary sergeant, ill with the pre- vailing disease, had postponed his departure to the last moment, and died after the first twenty- four hours. His body, sewn in a hammock, lay beside the gunwale, partly covered by the Bed Cross Geneva flag. Close by the head of the corpse was a lectern, on which lay a Eussian missal. One by one the comrades of the de- ceased approached the lectern, and read over in silence some passages or prayers devoted to the memory of the dead. Lieutenant Woltchakoff, an officer of the war steamer, was among those who read longest and most earnestly to the memory of his departed comrade-in- arms. In the afternoon all the officers of the ship ap- peared in full uniform. The great bulk of the invalids, soldiers from the interior of Eussia, many of whom had seldom seen any expanse of water larger than a river or a lake, were horrified when they understood that their dead companion was about to be committed to the waves. They grumbled, and said it was scarcely worth their while to run so many risks and suffer such great privations, to be treated in such a fashion when they died. As the final hour approached, the small sacred picture which garnishes the cabin of every Eussian vessel was brought on deck. The body was elevated on the shoulders of four seamen, and a procession, with GENERAL TEKGUKASOFF. 41 lighted candles, was formed, the boatswain, bearing the holy picture, leading. The entire circuit of the deck was made. The corpse was then deposited alongside the open- ing of the bulwarks, some iron weights were attached to- the feet, the Geneva flag was run up to the peak, and a twelve-pounder gun, ready charged, was run out close by. The whole ship's company uncovered. The body was slipped along a plank, and as it sank beneath the waters the gun boomed out a farewell to one of the many victims of the Akhal Tekke expedition. The grumblers at once took heart. Those who had felt so irritated at the prospect of being thrown overboard like dead dogs- when they died, now thought how fine a thing it was for officers in full dress to stand by bareheaded while a cannon was discharged in honour of their deceased com- panion a greater honour than any of them could hope for in life. I reached Baku, after being delayed by storms and shortness of fuel, on August 29. Two days afterwards, the body of General Lazareff arrived on board the ' Ta- mar,' enclosed in a rough coffin of blackened deal. A day was occupied in the embalming, and it was then car- ried in procession to the Gregorian Church in the great square, borne on the shoulders of the deceased veteran's compatriots. His decorations, each one borne upon a cushion by an officer, were carried in front. There was no military music, but priests and acolytes chanted. From the chapel the body was conveyed direct to Tiflis, where it was interred with military honours. On September 17, General Tergukasoff, the new Com- mander-in-Chief of the expedition, arrived at Baku, and on the 20th I accompanied him to Tchikislar. Almost immediately the General went on to Chatte, and thence to the extreme advance ; but he would afford me no 42 NOTICE TO QUIT. facilities, so I had to go slowly forward with some baggage- waggons as far as Chatte, where it was intimated to me by the Chief of Staff that military operations were at an end for the winter, and I was desired to return to Tchikislar. There was nothing for it but to go, so I returned there ; but a fortnight later the same officer intimated to me that I should be more comfortable at Baku during the dreary Caspian winter. I simply bowed in reply. ' When will you go ? ' said the Chief of Staff. ' Well, Colonel,' I replied, ' you know I have horses which I must dispose of; they are scarcely worth carrying across the Caspian ; I don't want them at Baku, and I should like time to sell them.' With this diplomatic answer our interview terminated. At the end of the week, as one day towards two o'clock in the afternoon I lay upon the carpet which separated me from the moist sand, trying to forget the restless hours of the night, a Cossack en- tered my tent, and, shaking me by the shoulder, told me that Colonel Shelkovnikoff, then occupying the post of commandant of the camp, desired to speak with me im- mediately. I rose to receive the Colonel, who said, rather abruptly, ' I think Colonel Malarna intimated to you that it would be better did you pass the winter at Baku, on the other side of the Caspian.' ' It is true,' I replied, ' but I have not yet been able to dispose of my horses.' ' Well,' rejoined he, ' horses disposed' of or not, the orders of the Commander-in- Chief are that you quit the camp for Baku by the steamer which leaves at seven o'clock this even- ing.' At this I grew indignant. ' Colonel,' said I, ' I ad- mit that the Commander-in- Chief has a perfect right to order me to quit his camp, or even Eussian territory, but I deny his right to dictate to me the route which I shall take in so doing. I will proceed at once to the A START FOR PERSIA. 43 frontier, and thence to Asterabad, the nearest point at which a British Consulate is to be found.' With this we parted. I waited until the hour fixed for my de- parture was approaching, and then ordered my tent to be struck and my horses saddled. A heavy downpour of rain was falling, and stormy gusts were sweeping from the landward. I sent my horses outside the camp, and followed them, lest notice should be taken of me, as would probably have been the case had I left mounted, and with baggage in marching order. Outside the guarded limits, I and my servant rode swiftly away in the direction of the Atterek River, the line beyond which Eussia claimed no jurisdiction. Towards six o'clock in the evening, on November 10, 1879, after wading across many a rain-filled channel and muddy expanse, I reached Hassan-Kouli. In this place the chief was a certain Moullah Nourri, by whom I was hospitably received, especially as I was believed to be a person who was well able and willing to make an adequate ' present ' when leaving. In the hurry of my departure I had forgotten to ask Colonel Malama for a passport declaring who I was and recommending me to the Persian authorities. However, halting for the night at the village, I gave instructions to my servant to ride off early in the morning to the Russian camp, and ask for the necessary document. It was a couple of hours after sunrise before my servant returned from Tchikislar, bringing with him the document kindly fur- nished by Colonel Malama, the Chief of Staff, which stated that I had been attached to the Russian columns, and recommended me to the Persian authorities at Aster- abad. I immediately ordered my horses to be saddled, and my scanty baggage put in marching order. Though the Chief of Staff had been good enough to furnish me 44 A SLIMY WASTE. with the passport to which I have alluded, I did not feel quite sure that, Pharaoh-like, he might not after- wards repent of his decision, and send a squadron of Cossacks after me to fetch me back to the camp, and force me to proceed to Baku, which Colonel Shelkovnikoff had intimated to me was the desire of the Eussian autho- rities. Our way lay in a south-easterly direction, across- a slimy waste of mud, in which our horses' feet sank fetlock-deep, and across which our progress was slow and disagreeable in the extreme. Away to the eastward are seen the low, sedgy banks of the Atterek proper, before it merges in the lagoon, and, further off, vast forests of giant reeds, amidst which nestle countless myriads of sea-birds. Ducks, cranes, flamingoes, and many other waterfowl of whose names I am ignorant, crowd these marshy solitudes, or wheel shrieking above the waters in such incredible numbers as to seem at a distance like an angry storm-cloud surging before a whirlwind. Whole battalions of waders fringed the muddy shores, and the all but stagnant waters of the lagoon were white with acres of gulls. Pushing on further still in a south- easterly direction, we crossed some disagreeably deep tidal guts, where the water reached to our horses' girths, and made us very cautious in our advance. Then a sand-spit was reached, and, at its extremity, a canoe, hollowed from a single tree-trunk, styled here a tdimid, and con- ducted by an elderly Turcoman and his son, a boy of some twelve years, awaited us. The saddles and other effects were placed within the canoe, in which I and my servant also embarked. For a hundred yards our pro- gress was more like skating over a muddy surface than floating upon water, but gradually, very gradually indeed, the depth increased ; our horses, whose bridles were held in our hands, stepped cautiously behind our frail bark,, A HOME FOR REPTILES. 45 slipping and floundering as they picked their way over the muddy bottom. Gradually the water crept higher and higher along their limbs, until at length the animals were afloat. Horses in this part of the world take things like this coolly enough, and without the least hesitation they struck out, swimming close to our stern. Towards the middle of the channel the current was pretty rapid, and our flat-bottomed canoe heeled over in an alarming manner as it was paddled swiftly across the stream. A