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_ ing a few versts over the snow. He
506
THE LAKESIDE LIBRARY.
VoL. IV.
to be supplied with the Berdan carbine, which is’
spoken of very highly by the Russian officers.
\, The Cossacks do not receive much pay—about
four shillings every third of a year, or a shilling a
month, being a man has for pocket-money.
‘daily ration is two and a half pounds of flour and
one pound of meat; one hundred. soldiers re-
ceiving one d of tea and three pounds of
sugar per diem, while each man is credited with
halt a copeck a day for vegetables. His horse,
uniform, arms, etc. are his own property, or the
property of the district which has equipped him
and: sent him forth to fight forthe White Tzar.
He receives about two pounds fifteen shillings a
year from the state, and is obliged to keep his kit
in repair with this sum, which the military au-
thorities say is sufticient for the purpose, although
the soldiers are of a different opinion. . -
These data were given ine by the artillery cap-
tain, who, leaving - hi panion asleep in the
tass, occasionally stretched his legs by walk-
ad seen a
good deal of service in Turkistan, and expected
yery shortly to obtain his promotion. Among
other things, he told me that when Russia was at
war with Bokhara, a Cossack officer was taken
prisoner. The Emir sent for him, and asked if he
could make powder. He said, “Yes, but not for
them.”. On their asking why, he declared that it
was manufactured with brandy and pigs’ fat, and
that this made the powder so strong. “The
Emir,’ continued my companion, “regards the
Sultan with feelings of the greatest’ veneration,
and has the honorary title of Grand Officer to the
Porte. He used to look upon England as the first
nation in the world; but he is beginning to fear
us now, and he believes more in our troops, who
are close at hand, than in those of the Sultan at
Stamboul.” . .
_ -It was getting late, and Yanusheff gave strict
orders to the sentry who was posted over the
horses to awake him an hour after midnight. The
man, however, neglected his duty, and was pun-
ished by having to walk the whole of: the next
day and lead his horse, the culprit being much
Jaughed at by the other Cossacks, who look down
upon all foot-soldiers with supreme contempt.
It was a picturesque sight, the march from this
encampment. First, the Cossacks, the barrels of
their carbines gleaming in. the moonlight, the
yashlik of a conical shape, surmounting each
man’s low cap, and giving a. ghastly appearance
to the riders, the distorted shadows reflectel on
the snow beneath, and appearing like a detach-
ment of gigantic phantoms pursuing our little! camp:
force. Then the tarantass, drawn by. two huge
camels, which slowly plowed their way through
the heavy track, the driver nodding on his box but
halt awake, the two officers in the arms of Mor-
pheus inside, and the heavy wood-work creaking
at each siride of the enormous quadrupeds, , In
the wake of this vehicle strode the baggage cam-
els, the officers’ servants fast asleep on the backs
of their animals, one man lying with his face to
the tail, and snoring hard in spite of the contin-
ued movement; another fellow Jay stretched
across his saddle, apparently a good deal the worse
for drink: he shouted out at intervals the strains
of a bacchanalian ditty. Nazar, who was always
hungry, could be seen walking inthe rear. He
had kept back a bone from the evening meal, and
was gnawing it like a dog, his strong jaws snap-
ping as they closed on the fibrous mutton. ze
I generally remained our biyouac fire an
hour or so after the rest of the party had marched,
and, seated by the side of the glowing embers,
watched the caravan as it vanished slowly in the
distarrce. .
My guide was utterly: crestfallen; he had been
severely reprimanded at the fort for taking me to
Khiva, and was now kept in such order by the
Cossacks that his | usual air of importance had en-
tirely disappeared.
Wo now arrived at a spot on the road where the
snow was so deep that the camels were unable to
draw the vehicle: in this dilemma the Cossacks
proved useful; for, attaching some lassoes to the4
tarantass, and spurring their horses, they succeed-
ed in dragging it: slowly forward, At this place
we met a Kirghiz who was taking the post to
Petro-Alexandrovsk. He rode one horse and led
another, carrying his letters, food, and forage on
the spare animal. The man, however, would
change his horses every two or three hours, and
expected to arrive at Petro-Alexandrovsk in about
ten days from the time he had left Perovsky—the
next fort the Russians ‘hold on the Orenburg and
Tashkent line, :fter passing Kasala,
On the following day we rode by an old Kirghiz
chapel, built in memory of some celebrated war-
rior. It was used in Summer-time for praying,
and in Winter as a sheep-pen, the Kirghiz being
indifferent about such matters, Finally we ar-
rived at a landmark known as being seventeen
miles from Kasala, .
Yanusheff and I now determined to let the cam-
els follow us, and to gallop on ourselves ahead of
the caravan, ‘fhe Cossack officer resolved to do
the same. My companions selected the best horses
' they could find from amidst the escort, at the same
time ordering the dismounted Cossacks to ride the
camels. The snow still slightly covered the
und, but not enough to stop our animals,
0
whieh, probably knowing that they were close to
home, raced against each other the whole way,
when we galloped across the Syr Darya and pulled
up at Morozoff’s hostelry at twelve o'clock midday,
February 12th. : oe :
We had ridden 536 versts, or 357 miles, in exact-
ly nine days and two hours, thus averaging about
thirty-nine miles a day! At the same time, it must
be remembered that, with an interval of in all not
more than nine days’ rest, my horse had previous-
ly carried me iles, In London, judging by
his size, he would have been put down as a Polo
ony. In spite of the twenty stone he carried, he
ad never been either sick or lame during the
journey, and had galloped the last seyenteen miles
through the snow to one hour and
twenty-five minutes, .
room was unoccupied at the inn,’ It was not
a very luxurious apartment, the furniture consist-
ing of a rickety table, a few chairs, and a wooden
sofa or divan; however, it was like Mohammed’s
seventh heaven, after the steppes.
young officer who was residing at the inn
now entered the room, and told me all that oc-
curred since my departure. There had beena
duel, in which several officers participated, and he
had been under arrest in consequence. . |
An emeute had taken place among the Uralsk
Cossacks. It appeared that the two thousand ex-
iles had become very discontented at the way in
which they had been treated, and from grumbling
had proceeded to threats: some of them had been
overheard, and it was said that afew of the mal-
contents had expressed a wish to cut the throats
of all the officers in the fort. As the Uralsk Cos- | t
sacks outnumbered the garrison, and the officers
slept in private lodgings, and not in barracks, it
was perfectly possible that the exiles might be
able to carry their threat into exeeution. For sey-
eral nights each officer had a guard slationed
round his quarters. . The district Governor had re-
ported the affair to the Governor-general at Tash-
ent. The latter officer had dispatched one of his
subordinate generals, with full powers of life and
death, to investigate the matter, and reports said
that several of the malcontents were to be shot.
Among the many rumors which were. rife at
Kasala, was one to the effect that-the Tzarevitch
would probably visit Tashkent in the course of the
Summer, when he would perhaps join in an ex-
pedition to be dispatched against Kashgar.. It was
remarked that a campaign against akoob Bek
would afford the Prince a capital opportunity for
winning his Cross of St. George, a military order
which must be won on the. eld of battle, and
which the Tzar wears,
In confirmation of the rumors of a Summer
ign, it was stated that a division of 10,000
men from the Orenburg district was now on the
march to Tashkent... This was a source of annoy-
ance to some of the officers in Turkistan, who did
not like the idea of the field for gaining crosses
and promotion being too much enlarged. In
their opinion, the forces then in Central Asia were
ample for any that might be dispatched against
Yakoob Bek.
_ CHAPTER XXXVIL
I now called upon the district Governor, and
found him at home, surrounded by a bevy of offi-
cers in full uniform. He told me that a Cossack
colonel had recently died of consumption, and
that the funeral ceremony was then going on in-
side the church, The men of the regiment were
all mounted, and drawn up facing the holy edi-
fice. The cold was very great, and the troops had
every facility afforded them for sowing the seeds
of their colonel’s malady. Indeed, the frost was
so severe that the district Governor and his friends
had found it inconvenient to remain inside the
church, and had returned to drink tea at home,
until such time as the service was concluded,
Among the guests was a naval officer who had
frequently cruised in the Sea of Aral : he said that
here was an island in it which was forty miles
round, and that no fresh water could be discoy-
ered, although antelopes and foxes abounded.
Some sheep had been turned out on the island a
year previous, but since that time no one had seen
them; while, according to my informant, there
were hardly any rocks in the Sea of Aral, and
navigation was not at all dangerous,
The possibility of gaining the Amu Darya and
Syr Darya by means of the Jana Darya was next
discussed; but most of the officers seemed to think
that in this case there would be too little water
left in the Syr Darya for the steamers to pass from
Orenburg to Tashkent. :
‘When [had the opportunity of speaking private-
ly to the Governor, I inquired if he had received
any communication with reference to the letter
which I had dispatched from Petro-Alexandrovsk
to the commander-in-chief at Tashkent, in which
letter I had asked to be allowed to return to Euro-
an Russia cia Western Siberia. However, the
‘ates were unpropitious; no reply had been sent,
and IJ had to return to the inn without any knowl-
edge as to what would be my next movements.
My quarters at Morozoff's were not quite what
asybarite would have selected, unless, like my-
self, he had been confined to Hobson’s choice,
The pipes of the stove were out of order, and
when heated there was an escape of charcoal-gas
into the room I inhabited, a frightful headache
being the consequence, If, on the contrary, I de-
sired the servant not to light the stove, furs had to
be worn day and night to keep out the cold.
The waiter was the most phlegmatie of his
species. When I complained of the gas, he never
moved a muscle of his countenance, but simply
observed, “One of noble birth, at Morozoff’s it is
always so;” and if I upbraided him on account of
the cold, he returned a similar answer. ,
Yanusheff now came to say good-bye. He had
not been able to find any good artillery horses at
sala, He intended to start the following morn-
ing for a large village in the neighborhood of Per-
ovsky, and visit the sultan of the district, a Kir-
ghiz chief, who owned 1,500 horses, :
A little later in the day I received a letter from °
General Kolpakoysky.. It was to this effect: that
as I had received orders to return immediately to
European Russia, he could not sanction my pro-
posed journey 77a Tashkent and Western Siberia,
for this would not be the shortest route; and that
the permission which I had received from General
ilutin_to travel in Russian Asia had been can-
celed. Presuming that the reasons given would
convince me of the necessity of my immediate re-
turn to European Russia by the postal road to Or-
enburg, he asked me to believe in his complete re-
spect, and had the honor of being, etc., ete. The
letter was very conclusive, and there was nothing
be done save to pack up my traps, order horses,
and start for Orenburg. :
The district Governor now called; he had also
received a letter insisting on my immediate depart-
ure from Kasala.. Although it was a holiday, and
all the official departments were closed, he said
hat he would at once send to get me a podoroj-
naya (a road pass). - :
I wanted to change some gold before I started
onmy journey. A Bokharan offered to take a few
of the Russian half-imperial pieces, but on look-
ing at them he refused to give the same value for
all the coins, as some of them were three and four
years old, and this, in his opinion, deteriorated
their value, Ieventually disposed of my half-im-
perials, and also of a few English sovereigns, to the
istrict Governor. These were looked upon as &
curiosity by the Russian officers in Central Asiag
and whenever it became known that I possess
some, all were eager to change them for me.
_ The sleigh was packed; the horses were pranc-
ing at the door; I had paid my bill, and sold my
horses, ete. My little black had not been a dear
purchase. I bought him for forty rubles (about
ve pounds), and had sold him for three pounds
ten shillings. He had carried me over 900 Tuiles,
and I had no reason to complain of my bargain.
Getting into the coffin-like sleigh, I said fare-
well to my friends, A wild huzza from the Tartar
driver to stimulate his horses, accompanied. by a
stinging reminder from his whip, and we were off.
_ Later on I met a Jew and aGreek, who were go-
ing to Tashkent, The latter, when Linquired how
he had obtained permission to travel in Central
Asia, told me that on arriving in Russia he had a
Greek passport, but aftera little while he managed
to procure a Russian one, and was then permitted
to cross the Ural. The Jew wasa Russian subject,
80 no difficulties had been thrown in his way. ...
On arriving. at another station, the inspector in-
formed me thata rich young Kirghiz widow was
in the waiting-room. He wished to know whether
Ihad any objection to her presence, as some Rus-
sian travelers disliked the natives sharing the
same apartment with them. To this I replied by
sending the lady a formal invitation through Naz-
ar, who was desired to say that an English travel-
er had heard of her presence in the station, and
hoped that she would drink tea with him. “y
azar departed with a broad grin on his coun-
tenance, this attention on my part to the young
widow of the Steppes piriking him as rather re-
arkable. ne of noble blood,” he
he quitted the room, * ‘ot manny nents
is of a different religion.” Presently he returned,
her tiny feet being incas
and her head covered with man: i
silk, worn in the form of a turban. Sands of white
n my offering her a chair, she sat down, and by
the means of Nazar we speedily commenced acon-
versation. 4 tel
ere are a good many ways of telling a wo:
she is pretty, but it is always difficult to do 80
through a third party; and the compliments whioh
I paid her in Russian I have no doubt lost consid-
erably in being translated into Tartar, though
Nazar assured me that the expressions he selected
were the most poetical with which he was ac-
oho his ideas of poet
As, however, his ideas of poetry were, likemy late
guide’s, limited to songs about the beauty of a
sheep and the delights of roast mutton, I fear that
when he was desired to tell her that she was the
most beautiful of her sex, Nazar translated it as
follows :
“He says ‘that thou art lovelier than asheep
with a fat tail’” (this appendage being a great
delicacy among the Tartars); “that thy face is the
roundest in the flock; and that thy breath is sweet-
er to him than many pieces of mutton roasted over
bright embers.” -
On Nazar informing her that I was not marri
she was a little astonished, and then observed tha
she‘ was not married, but would be in two years. :
It appeared that, according to the laws of her
tribe, she must become the wife of her late hus-
band's brother. The latter was only twelve years