FRANK AND FRED IN THE TURCOMAN COUNTRY.--THE TRANS-CASPIAN
RAILWAY.--SKOBELEFF'S CAMPAIGN, AND THE CAPTURE OF GEOK TEPÉ.--ENGLISH
JEALOUSY OF RUSSIAN ADVANCES.--RIVERS OF CENTRAL ASIA.--THE OXUS AND
JAXARTES.--AGRICULTURE BY IRRIGATION.--KHIVA, SAMARCAND, AND BOKHARA.--A
RIDE ON THE TRANS-CASPIAN RAILWAY.--STATISTICS OF THE LINE.--KIZIL
ARVAT, ASKABAD, AND SARAKHS.--ROUTE TO HERAT AND INDIA.--TURCOMAN
DEVASTATION.--THE AFGHAN BOUNDARY QUESTION.--HOW MERV WAS
CAPTURED.--O'DONOVAN AND MACGAHAN: THEIR REMARKABLE JOURNEYS.--RAILWAY
ROUTE FROM ENGLAND TO INDIA.--RETURN TO BAKU.
[Illustration: MAP SHOWING THE RELATIONS OF RUSSIA AND ENGLAND IN THE
EAST.]
Our young friends were up early, in their eagerness to see the country
of the Turcomans. They found themselves looking at a comparatively flat
region, quite in contrast with the chain of the Caucasus, that filled
the horizon to the west of Baku, and interposed a formidable barrier
between the Caspian and Black seas. The steamer headed into a narrow bay
which formed the harbor of Mikhailovsk, the new town whence the
Trans-Caspian Railway takes its departure in the direction of India.
[Illustration: SAND-STORM IN THE DESERT.]
Everything indicated the newness of the place. Houses, barracks, piers,
railway-station, all were new, and many of the houses were not even
finished. Russian soldiers and Russian officers were numerous in the
crowd at the landing-place, and there were scores of mujiks busily
engaged in handling goods destined for the railway or for the steamers,
but they did not by any means have a monopoly of the labor market of
Mikhailovsk. Tartars, Kirghese, Turcomans, Persians, and other Asiatics
were there in considerable numbers. They appeared to be quite as
industrious as the mujiks, and every way as keen to scent a job wherein
money was to be earned.
It is an interesting circumstance that the Turcomans, now that they are
forbidden to indulge in raiding, have turned their attention to steady
industry, and promise to make good citizens. Whatever may be their
faults, they are not a lazy people; they gave up their raiding habits
very unwillingly; but when once convinced that they must live by
industry, they seem to have accepted the situation.
[Illustration: TURCOMAN COURT OF JUSTICE.]
Mr. Ivanovich, the gentleman who invited our friends to cross the
Caspian, was connected with the management of the Trans-Caspian Railway,
as the line from Mikhailovsk is called. During the voyage from Baku he
gave the youths an account of the building of the railway, and matters
connected with it, of which Frank made the following notes:
"The Trans-Caspian Railway," said Mr. Ivanovich, "owes its existence to
a military necessity that arose in 1879. When the Russians first
occupied the Turcoman country they built fortifications, and settled
down to stay. General Skobeleff always claimed that we made a great
mistake in doing so; the Government did not think it safe to make a
movement directly into the Turcoman country, and consequently several
years were occupied in doing what Skobeleff thought should have been
done in one. The Turcomans knew nothing about regular warfare, and we
might have crushed them in a little while with our trained battalions.
But we waited so long that they learned how to fight, partly through our
own instruction, and then it required the best of fighting to defeat
them.
"It looked at one time as if the Turcomans would altogether prevent us
from getting any foothold in their country beyond the shores of the
Caspian. Skirmishes almost without number occurred, in which sometimes
the Russians and sometimes the Turcomans had the best of the contest.
Skobeleff, then a captain, was one of those who landed at Krasnovodsk in
1869. He made more successes in the fighting with the Turcomans than
anybody else; but in 1873 he was called away in the campaign against
Khiva, and from that time to 1879 nothing of moment was accomplished.
[Illustration: KIRGHESE TOMB.]
"In 1878 Tekme Sardar, a Turcoman chief, submitted to the Russians, and
was received into their camp at Krasnovodsk. He remained there several
months, and then, for some real or fancied injury, fled from the camp,
and collected his followers with the determination to make war on the
invaders. At a place called Geok Tepé he formed a junction with other
chiefs, and established a camp.
"Tekme Sardar had made good use of his eyes during his stay among us. He
showed his people how to build forts. About forty thousand Turcomans,
with their families, collected at Geok Tepé, and threw up an immense
earthwork exactly like the defences built by the Russians. General
Lomakin advanced against this earthwork in 1879, and after a series of
skirmishes outside the walls he attacked the Turcomans in their
stronghold, and was severely repulsed. He retired to the shores of the
Caspian, and thus ended the campaign for that year.
[Illustration: CHARGE OF RUSSIAN CAVALRY AGAINST TURCOMANS.]
"General Skobeleff was then appointed to the command of the Turcoman
district, and the Government told him he could have anything he wanted
in men or munitions of war.
"The Government had a hundred miles of railway material somewhere on its
south-western frontier, which was intended for use in case of the
failure of the Berlin Congress. Skobeleff asked for this material, and
it was at once transferred to the Caspian. He changed the base of
operations from Krasnovodsk to Mikhailovsk, and at once began the
construction of the line. The whole movement was made so quietly that
hardly anything was known of the work until the track had been laid
about half-way to Kizil Arvat, one hundred and forty-four miles from
Mikhailovsk.
"Skobeleff could not wait for the completion of the railway. While the
road was being constructed he pushed forward to Bami, a strong point in
the Akhal oasis, where he built a fort, and gradually collected the
materials for the siege of Geok Tepé. When everything was in readiness
he advanced and began the siege, which lasted fully a month.
"Perhaps the following figures will interest you: The Russians were
between eight and ten thousand strong, of all arms, infantry, cavalry,
and artillery. The artillery comprised sixty-nine guns, while the
Turcomans had no cannon to oppose them with. When the siege began,
Skobeleff found that his cannon made little impression upon the clay
walls of the fort, so he ordered his artillery to fire over the walls
and into the enclosed space, in order to demoralize the people within as
much as possible. In fighting against Asiatics, artillery always has a
prominent part. Its moral effect in frightening them is certainly ten
times as great as its destructive power.
[Illustration: RUSSIAN ARMY ON THE TURCOMAN STEPPES.]
"During the siege the artillery fired from one hundred to five hundred
shots daily, and the infantry used from ten thousand to seventy thousand
rounds of ammunition in the same time. Skobeleff sunk a mine under the
rampart, and exploded more than a ton of gunpowder at a single blast. It
made a wide breach, through which the Russian army poured into the fort,
with very little opposition on the part of the Turcomans. The latter
fled in the direction of Merv, but were pursued by the Russian cavalry.
The slaughter is said to have been fearful, and the Russians say that
twenty thousand Turcomans perished in the siege and capture of Geok
Tepé. During the assault and pursuit the infantry fired 273,804 rounds,
the cavalry 12,510, and the artillery 5,864; 224 military rockets were
also used.[8]
[8] Marvin's "The Russians at the Gates of Herat."
"Many careful students of the history of Central Asia," continued Mr.
Ivanovich, "consider the siege and capture of Geok Tepé the most
important victory ever achieved by the Russians in Turkestan. It
opened the way for the Russian advance to the frontier of India, and
carried the boundaries of the Empire southward to those of Persia. In
the interest of humanity it was of the greatest importance, as it broke
up the system of man-stealing and its attendant cruelties which the
Turcomans had practised for centuries. The people of Northern Persia no
longer live in constant terror of Turcoman raids; the slave-markets of
Central Asia are closed, and doubtless forever."
Frank asked if the English Government was as well pleased with the
result of the siege as were the Russians.
Mr. Ivanovich said he did not know exactly how the English regarded the
victory, but from the tone of their press and the utterances of British
statesmen, he did not think they would have mourned if the Russians had
been repulsed. "England," said he, "is jealous of Russian advances in
Turkestan. Lord Salisbury believed that the Turcoman barrier against
Russia would last his lifetime, and many other English statesmen and
officers shared his belief.
"No doubt they were very sorry for the sufferings of the Persians, who
were sold into slavery after seeing their homes plundered and their
fields devastated, but I question if they were willing, for political
reasons, to see the Turcomans wiped out as they were at Geok Tepé. I
think I have read much more in the English papers about the loss to
English commerce by the Russian occupation of Central Asia than of the
gain to humanity by the suppression of the Turcoman raids.
"The interests of British trade are the first consideration of the
British statesman. Many thousands of Africans and Asiatics have died by
British bullets and sabres that the commerce of England might be
extended. Unless I mistake the temper of the British Government, I am
afraid that the advisers of the Queen would prefer the old state of
things to the new on the Turcoman steppes. The sale of a thousand bales
of Manchester cottons in the bazaars of Turkestan is of more consequence
to England than the enslavement of a thousand Persians and the
desolation of their homes.
"But that is wandering from the subject," said Mr. Ivanovich, with a
smile. "I may be prejudiced, but can't help regarding England as a
disturber of the peace all over the world, whenever the disturbance will
benefit her trade. She doesn't believe in monopoly, except where she can
be the monopolist, and for that reason she is jealous of the way we
Russians are trying the monopoly business for ourselves. We have the
trade of ten millions of Asiatics: no great thing to be sure, but we
don't propose to hand it over to England just because she wants it. We
have cotton factories and other manufacturing establishments, as England
has, and the more markets we can have the better it will be for us."
The gentleman paused, and gave Fred an opportunity to ask if there were
any navigable rivers in Turkestan, and, if so, what they were.
[Illustration: WINTER CAMP IN TURCOMANIA.]
"There is no navigation worth the name," was the reply. "Central Asia
contains only two rivers of any importance--the Oxus and the Jaxartes.
The Oxus is sometimes called the Amoo Darya, or Jihoon, and the Jaxartes
the Syr Darya. The Oxus is the largest; it rises in the Pamir district,
in a lake fifteen thousand feet above the sea, and in the upper part of
its course receives several tributary rivers that drain Bokhara and the
north-eastern part of Afghanistan. It is about twelve hundred miles
long, and flows into the Aral Sea; for the last eight hundred miles of
its course it is navigable for small steamboats, but its mouth is
divided into so many shallow channels that boats have great difficulty
in entering it. The Russians have half a dozen steamers on the Aral Sea,
and as many more light-draught steamboats for navigating the Oxus."
"Haven't I read that the Oxus formerly emptied into the Caspian Sea?"
said Frank.
"Quite likely you have," said Mr. Ivanovich, "as there is little doubt
that such was the case. The old bed of the Oxus can be distinctly
traced, and geographers are generally agreed that the river entered the
Caspian by three mouths. Ptolemy and Strabo both state distinctly that
in their time the Oxus flowed into the Caspian, and formed the principal
trade-route between Europe and Asia."
"How came it to change its course?"
[Illustration: TURCOMAN IRRIGATING WHEEL.]
"Much of the region traversed by the Oxus is a desert, and the only
agriculture possible there is by irrigation. In order to increase the
area under cultivation, the Turcomans built dams that turned the Oxus in
the direction of a vast plain which contains the Aral Sea. Since the
occupation of the country by the Russians, it has been proposed to
return the Oxus to its ancient bed, and bring it down to the Caspian. It
is not likely that this will be done, as the result would be that the
whole lower course of the Oxus, where there are many flourishing farms
and gardens, would again become a desert waste. Much less water flows
through the Oxus than in former times, and the engineers who have
studied the question do not think the river would be navigable when
returned to its ancient bed.
[Illustration: SCENE AT A FERRY ON THE OXUS.]
"The other river of Central Asia, the Jaxartes, or Syr Darya, is smaller
than the Oxus, and about eleven hundred miles long. It rises in the
Pamir region, and empties, like the Oxus, into the Aral Sea. Its course
is generally parallel to the Oxus, and in the same way it fertilizes a
large area of what would otherwise be desert. Its volume has greatly
diminished in the last few centuries, and is even known to be
considerably less than it was sixty or eighty years ago. The Oxus enters
the southern end of the Aral Sea, while the Jaxartes comes in
considerably farther to the north. The diversion of these two rivers
would probably result in drying up the Aral Sea, a shallow body of water
two hundred and fifty miles long by half as many wide."
[Illustration: MAP OF THE RUSSO-AFGHAN REGION.]
Fred asked if the Caspian was higher or lower than the Aral Sea.
"They are of the same level, or nearly so," was the reply, "though some
engineers say the Aral is about one hundred and fifty feet higher than
the Caspian, and the indications are that the two seas were formerly
connected. The whole plain of Turcomania is thought to have been at one
time an inland sea. At its southern extremity the Aral is bordered by an
immense marsh, and it is through this marsh that the Oxus discharges its
waters.
"Khiva stands near the Oxus, in the midst of beautiful gardens, all
nourished by the water from the river. Khiva, Bokhara, Samarcand, and
Kokan would become masses of ruins if the Oxus and Jaxartes were dried
up, and you may be sure the Russians will give the subject careful
consideration before disturbing the course of the waters. Nowhere in the
world will you see more careful irrigation than along these rivers, with
the possible exception of the Nile valley. All through Central Asia the
only possible agriculture is upon the watercourses, or where there are
never-failing wells. Canals and irrigation-wheels are everywhere, and
you will often see evidences of excellent engineering abilities in the
construction of some of the artificial water-ways.
"General Annenkoff, the officer in charge of the construction of the
Trans-Caspian Railway, has a scheme for creating a new oasis, capable of
supporting two hundred thousand people, near the disputed boundary
between Turkestan and Afghanistan. He proposes to turn one of the
tributaries of the Oxus for that purpose, and is confident that he can
make a fertile area of several hundred square miles by carefully
utilizing the water of the stream."
On landing at Mikhailovsk, our friends were introduced to several
Russian officers, some of whom had been in America, and who heartily
welcomed the trio of travellers from that far-away land. They were
invited to the club-house, where they were lodged and cared for; the
town did not boast an hotel other than a very indifferent khan, which
had all the discomforts of the Orient, with none of its good points.
Frank and Fred endeavored to find the time-table of the railway, with a
view to making an excursion into Turkestan. Their inquiries were
rewarded with the information that there was no regular time for running
the trains, as the business transacted on the line was nearly all of a
military character. But a train was to leave in the morning for Kizil
Arvat, one hundred and forty-four miles, and if they cared to make the
journey they were at liberty to do so.
Finding they would have time to go to Kizil Arvat and return before the
departure of the steamer for Baku, they accepted the invitation, which
included the Doctor as well as themselves. Early the next morning the
train rolled out from the station; it consisted of a locomotive and ten
or twelve carriages. One carriage contained the officers of a regiment
of infantry that filled the remaining vehicles; the regiment was bound
for the frontier, where England and Russia have latterly been discussing
the question of the boundary, and a discussion of this kind is
materially assisted by the presence of soldiers.
[Illustration: TURCOMAN WOMAN SPINNING.]
We will refer to Fred's account of the railway journey in Turkestan.
"We were invited to seats in the carriage where the officers were
riding. They did everything to make our journey agreeable, and we were
indebted to them for a great deal of information about Central Asia.
Some of them had been to the British frontier, and one had visited
Cabul, Herat, and Candahar.
"The route of the railway was partly across the desert, and partly along
the valleys of two or three small rivers of no special importance except
for their usefulness in supplying water for the line. For a considerable
distance the line lies near the Etrek, a river that was of great use to
General Skobeleff in his advance upon Geok Tepé. At times it is simply a
dry channel, but water can generally be found by digging a few feet in
the sand that forms, in the rainy season, the bed of the stream.
[Illustration: VILLAGE OF TURCOMAN TENTS.]
"The country is a plain, with here and there a few hills not worthy to
be called mountains. Sometimes the plain is flat for a long distance,
and again it is undulating like the rolling prairies of our Western
States. Vegetation is scanty at best, and a large part of the country is
absolutely desert. The great need of Central Asia is water. If a million
springs could be opened, all giving a copious flow like some of the
great springs in our Rocky Mountains, the next ten or twenty years would
see a great change in the aspect of Turkestan.
"One of the officers told me that the country was of the same general
character all the way to the frontier of Afghanistan. 'The railway can
be extended without trouble,' said he, 'as far as we wish to carry it.
There's not an obstacle at all formidable to railway engineers.'
"I asked, with some hesitation, where they wished to carry their railway
line. I knew the subject was not disconnected with politics, but the
question was innocent enough, and he could answer it as he chose, and
probably did.
[Illustration: THE NEW RUSSO-AFGHAN FRONTIER.]
"'We built the line,' said he, 'first to Kizil Arvat, one hundred and
forty-four miles, and then extended it to Askabad, one hundred and ten
miles farther. We are now building to Sarakhs, one hundred and
eighty-five miles from Askabad, and there we may stop. Perhaps it will
be pushed on to Herat, two hundred and two miles from Sarakhs, but it
can not be under the present political situation. Afghanistan is under
English control. You know the English Government gives the Ameer of that
country a large annual payment of money for his friendship; and until we
are willing to give a higher bribe he is not likely to permit us to
build railways in his territory.
"'From Sarakhs our next line will be to Merv, the rich oasis that came
under Russian control a few years ago, or possibly Merv may be reached
by a branch from Askabad. Perhaps there will one day be a line from Merv
to Samarcand and Bokhara, but this is far in the future. From Merv a
railway may be run along the valley of the Murghab to Herat; but it is
not a direct route, and we are much more likely to reach Herat by way of
Sarakhs, along the valley of the Heri-Rud. Whichever way we take, the
building of the road would not be at all difficult. The Murghab route
has the disadvantage of being longer than that of the Heri-Rud, but its
cost per mile would be much less, as the country is smoother.
"'I suppose,' he continued, 'that there is a sort of race between
England and Russia to get to Herat with a railway. England is building
north from India, while we are building south from the Caspian. The
terminal points of the two lines are now less than eight hundred miles
apart, and it is very evident that the English and Russian locomotives
will be whistling in the hearing of each other, and blowing steam in
each other's faces, within the next few years.[9]
[9] Early in 1886 the Central Asian Railway was completed to Kaakha, a
distance of 590 versts (390 miles) from Mikhailovsk. The line was
completed to Merv in April, 1886, and the echoes of the Turcoman oasis
were awakened by the shriek of the locomotive. At the latest advices
work was being pushed between Merv and Chardjuya, on the Oxus, and
General Annenkoff had promised to complete the line to the banks of the
historic river before the end of the year. The Emir of Bokhara has
agreed to provide the material for a bridge across the Oxus, and the
Russian engineers have completed the survey of the line as far as
Samarcand. It is hoped that the railway will reach Bokhara and Samarcand
by the end of 1887. The entire railway as planned will extend from
Mikhailovsk, on the Caspian, by way of Kizil Arvat (245 versts), Askabad
(445 versts), Kaakha (590 versts), to Merv (770 versts, or 510 miles);
thence to Chardjuya, on the Amoo Darya (Oxus), and Bokhara to Samarcand,
a total distance of 1065 versts (700 miles), of which no less than
five-sevenths is practically now completed. All the rails, sleepers, and
rolling material for the Trans-Caspian Railway are supplied from the
Russian Crown depots. Apart from this, the total cost of making the line
from the Caspian to the Oxus is estimated at 12,250,000 roubles, or
about 16,000 roubles per verst.
The Russians have a grand scheme for another line of railway through
Asia, which was originally proposed by M. de Lesseps. The first step
would be to complete the railway connection along the lower Volga,
between Tsaritsin and Astrachan. The Asiatic line would start from
Astrachan, pass through Khiva, Bokhara, and Samarcand into Chinese
Turkestan, where it would touch Tang-Kissar, Kashgar, and Yarkand, in
addition to other cities and towns of lesser note. It would skirt the
shores of Lake Lob, and after descending the valley of the Kan (Han)
terminate at Hankow, on the banks of the Yang-tse-Kiang, six hundred
miles above the mouth of the great river of China.
"'If we were not confronted by diplomacy we could reach Herat
considerably in advance of the English, as we have the shorter and
easier line to build to get there. But with our scrupulous regard for
treaties and agreements, we may be hindered in our railway building, and
have the mortification of seeing our rivals there ahead of us. The
English consider Herat the key to India, and are determined that we
shall not possess it. We don't care much for it anyway, but are
perfectly willing to place it beneath the sheltering wings of the Black
Eagle.
"'When you are considering Sarakhs,' he continued, 'remember that there
are two places of that name. Old Sarakhs is a mass of ruins; only a
single building remains, and that is a tomb in which the body of Abel is
said to rest. Another tomb a few miles away is known as the tomb of
Cain, and there is a tradition that the Garden of Eden was in the
neighborhood of Sarakhs. The Russians have occupied Old Sarakhs, and
will establish a military post there of considerable importance as soon
as the railway is completed.
[Illustration: OLD SARAKHS.]
"'Old Sarakhs is near the Heri-Rud River, which here forms a dividing
line between Persia and the Turcoman country. The Persians have built a
town called New Sarakhs on their side of the river, and protected it by
a fort; they keep a small garrison there, and as we have no quarrel with
Persia, and are not likely to have, it is quite sufficient for all
purposes of peace.
"'I wish you could go with me through that country and see the effect of
the Turcoman raiding system which was continued through generations, and
has only recently come to an end. Centuries ago the valleys of the
Murghab and Heri-Rud contained a large population, and the same was the
case over a wide extent of country.
"'Ride where you will, you find the traces of irrigating canals in great
number. In the third century this region was said to contain a thousand
cities, probably an exaggeration, but indicative of the dense population
it sustained, and might still sustain. In many places the valleys of the
Murghab and Heri-Rud are several miles in width and perfectly flat.
There are ruined canals all over these wide places, showing that they
were once cultivated; they might be cultivated again and rendered
fertile as of old by the same system that was once in vogue. The country
is a desert because it is not tilled, and it is not tilled because it
has no inhabitants. Turcoman raids have made the desolation by
enslaving, killing, or driving away the people that once lived here.
[Illustration: SARIK TURCOMAN WOMAN.]
"'Since the raiding ceased the Sarik Turcomans, who were formerly as
much addicted to it as any others, have turned their attention to
agriculture. They have occupied parts of the Murghab Valley near
Pul-i-Khisti and Ak Tapa, where they have cleared out the old irrigation
canals, set their ploughs and other implements at work, and seem to be
forgetting altogether their former mode of life. They have settled into
villages, but live in kibitkas in preference to houses of mud or other
solid materials. Considering their recent subjugation, they are quite
friendly with the Russians; they know we will never allow them to resume
their predatory life, but as long as they behave themselves they will
find us to be kind masters, and our military and engineering work in
their country will assure them a good market for their surplus produce.'
"I asked the gentleman to tell me the difference between Pul-i-Khisti
and Pul-i-Khatun, which we had read so much about in the newspapers, at
the time of the conflict between the Russians and Afghans.
"'Pul-i-Khatun is on the Heri-Rud or Tejend River, a few miles south of
Sarakhs. In the Persian language "pul" means bridge, and "khatun" lady,
so that Pul-i-Khatun may be translated "Bridge of the Lady." The bridge
that bears this name is said to have been erected in the time of
Tamerlane, the great conqueror, at the request of one of the ladies of
his family. It is of brick, in six arches, and has not been repaired for
a long time; the central arch is broken, but the others are in
serviceable condition.
[Illustration: PUL-I-KHISTI AND AK TAPA.]
"'Pul-i-Khisti means "Bridge of Bricks," and is over the Murghab River,
where that stream unites with the Kushk. It became famous as the scene
of the fight between the Russians and Afghans, in the early part of
1885. Each party throws the blame of the affair upon the other;
naturally enough I think the Afghans were at fault, but as I may be
prejudiced on the subject it is not worth while to discuss it.
Pul-i-Khisti is close to Penjdeh, which is nothing more than a mass of
ruins where a town once stood; the Russians may be able to make
something out of it, and the next time I go there I shouldn't be
surprised to find a strong fort.
"'The English wanted to make the boundary so that it would leave Penjdeh
in the possession of the Afghans, but we persuaded them that the place
would be safer in our hands than theirs. You will find on the map the
boundaries as they have been arranged, and as long as England keeps to
her agreement there is not likely to be any trouble. Of course we shall
faithfully abide by our promises, but one can never tell when the
treacherous Afghans will cross the boundaries and make depredations upon
our peaceful subjects. Then we will defend our rights; it is for such
defence we have built the railway on which you are now travelling, and
we shall maintain a good-sized force of troops on or near the frontier.
By means of our railways and steamers we can get to the frontier a great
deal quicker than England can possibly reach it from her capital; and if
she chooses to make war on us she will find us ready.
[Illustration: PENJDEH.]
"'With the Vladikavkaz Railway finished to Petrovsk on the Caspian, and
the Trans-Caspian Railway completed to Sarakhs, we could bring troops
from Moscow to the latter point inside of a week. There would only be
the crossing of the Caspian, which is little more than a ferry, between
Petrovsk and Mikhailovsk, to break the continuous journey by rail. From
Sarakhs to Herat, as I before said, is about two hundred miles, which
could be covered in two or three weeks by a Russian army. We think we
can get to Herat more quickly than England can in case of war, but let
us all hope that the necessity for the experiment may never come.'"
Fred thought there was a confident smile on the face of the Russian as
he pronounced the above words. It was very evident that the Russians in
Central Asia had an abiding faith in their ability to take care of
themselves in case of a conflict with England.
While conversing with another officer, the youths ascertained that he
had accompanied the first Russian expedition to the Merv Oasis, or
rather the expedition that converted that stronghold of the Turcomans
into Russian territory, with the loss of only one man. The gentleman
said the Oasis was watered by the Murghab, which practically terminated
there; the river was diverted into a great number of little streams, and
the country included in these streams formed the Oasis. The Mervis were
more peaceable than their fellow Turcomans, but very jealous of
strangers, and not willing to admit anybody to their limited territory.
They had a fort larger and stronger than the one against which
Skobeleff's army was nearly shattered to pieces at Geok Tepé; it was an
enclosure with high, thick walls of mud, and large enough to hold the
whole population with their flocks and herds. The Oasis is about one
hundred and twenty miles from Askabad and ninety from the nearest point
on the Tejend; it was formerly incorporated with the surrounding
provinces of Turkestan, but for many years has been independent.
[Illustration: COLONEL ALIKHANOFF.]
"We wanted Merv," said the Russian officer to whom allusion has just
been made, "but we didn't want to fight for it; so we resorted to
diplomacy, and through the skill of General Komaroff and Colonel
Alikhanoff, aided by a few others who were in the secret, we came into
peaceful possession of the place. I have no doubt the Mervis are all
very glad we are there, now that the thing has been done.
"Colonel Alikhanoff went from Askabad to Merv in company with a Russian
merchant who had a dozen camels laden with goods. They remained there a
fortnight, and then returned safely, accompanied by several delegates
from the Mervis who wished to consult with the Russian commander at
Askabad about some camels that had been stolen from them by the
Persians. The delegates were kindly received, and went home with a
favorable report which ultimately led to the occupation of Merv by a
small force of Russian cavalry and infantry. A fort was built, and a
bazaar opened for the exchange of Russian goods for the products of the
Oasis, and ever since then the Russians and Mervis have been on terms of
friendship. Of course there were some of the Mervis who opposed the
advent of our soldiers, but they are now our earnest advocates, and
would be the last to ask us to leave.
[Illustration: THE GREAT HIGHWAY OF CENTRAL ASIA.]
"Merv is about two hundred and forty miles from Herat, and if we should
ever be obliged to march against that Afghan stronghold, the Oasis will
be an excellent point to start from after accumulating the necessary
stores and material of war. It promises to be a good centre of trade,
and its importance was easy to comprehend when the English Government
made such a fuss as it did about our taking it.
"Before we were established there," continued the officer, "an English
newspaper correspondent, Edmund O'Donovan, went to Merv by way of
Persia, and lived in the Oasis for five months. At first the people
treated him coldly, but he gradually won their confidence and convinced
them of his friendliness. They made him one of their elders, and
appointed him to a place on the Governing Council; he has told the story
of his residence among these strange people in an interesting volume
entitled 'The Merv Oasis.'
"One of the most remarkable journeys ever made on the Turcoman steppes,"
said the gentleman in conclusion, "was accomplished by another newspaper
correspondent, an American named MacGahan, during the campaign against
Khiva in 1873. Without an escort, and accompanied only by a servant and
two guides, he started from Fort Peroffsky, on the Jaxartes or Syr Darya
River, near the Aral Sea, to overtake General Kaufmann's army, that had
gone to the attack of Khiva. Its exact whereabouts were unknown; he had
eight or ten days of desert travel before him, and if he had fallen into
the hands of the Turcomans or Kirghese who roam over the desert, his
fate would have been certain death.
"The Russians at Fort Peroffsky refused to allow him to start, as they
considered it impossible for him to make the journey, and he was obliged
to slip out of the place in the night. He had several narrow escapes,
but managed to get through all right and join General Kaufmann's column
just as the fighting before Khiva began. The officers told him the
chances of his getting across the desert with his life were not more
than one in a hundred. He remained with our army till the end of the
Khivan campaign, and every officer who knew him felt that he had lost a
personal friend when the news of MacGahan's death came a few years
later. The story of his adventures is told in his book--'Campaigning on
the Oxus and the Fall of Khiva.'
"In 1875 a similar journey was made by Captain Burnaby, an English
officer of the Guards. He has given an admirable account of his
experience in a book entitled, 'A Ride to Khiva.'"
"Conversation such as this," writes Fred in his journal, "beguiled the
tediousness of the ride over the flat and desolate region through which
the railway passes. At the few oases where we stopped, we saw little
villages of Turcomans, but they were so much alike that the descriptions
you have already read will answer for them all. At Kizil Arvat we found
an oasis containing altogether half a dozen square miles of tillable
land, on which were several Turcoman villages, and a Russian town of
perhaps a thousand inhabitants.
"We call the town Russian from the flag that waves over it, rather than
from the nationality of those who live in it. They are Russians,
Turcomans, Kirghese, Persians, Armenians, and Jews, and I don't know how
many other races and kinds of people. There is a good deal of commerce,
mostly in the hands of Armenians and Russians, but much less than when
the railway terminated here. The business of Merv and the Penjdeh
district is at the end of the railway; in this respect the commerce of
Central Asia is much like that of our far-western country, and changes
its base with each change of the means of transport.
[Illustration: TURCOMAN FARM-YARD.]
"There is a fort at Kizil Arvat, and also a bazaar, and we are told that
Askabad is similarly provided. Whenever the Russians establish
themselves in any part of Turkestan, they build a fort and a bazaar
side by side. Hardly has the army pitched its tents before the shops are
opened and the natives are invited to come in and trade. All who come
are kindly treated; in a little time whatever hesitation the natives may
have possessed is gone, and the cheapness of the goods on sale converts
the former enemies into friends. There is no doubt that Russia
thoroughly understands the Asiatic nature, and deals with it
accordingly.
[Illustration: MAP OF TURKESTAN, SHOWING ROUTE OF THE TRANS-CASPIAN
RAILWAY.]
"Most of our return journey to Mikhailovsk was made in the night, which
we did not specially regret, where so much of the route was through the
uninteresting desert. We were told that when the railway was started, it
was intended to make a narrow-gauge line that would be taken up as soon
as the capture of Geok Tepé had been accomplished. But the undertaking
had not gone far before the plans were changed and a well-built railway,
on the standard gauge of Russia, was the result. The line is well
equipped with cars, and at no distant day will form a link in the
overland route from England to India.
"When the Russian and Indian lines form a connection near Herat or
Candahar, the Vladikavkaz Railway will be completed to Petrovsk, on the
Caspian. The traveller may then go from London to Bombay or Calcutta in
nine or ten days. His entire journey will be made by rail, with the
exception of the passages of the English channel and the Caspian Sea,
the former requiring two hours, and the latter an entire day. Russia is
already talking of an extension of the line from Tsaritsin, along the
lower Volga and around the northern end of the Caspian to a connection
with the Trans-Caspian Railway. Should this line be made, the journey to
India would be wholly a land route, with the exception of 'The Silver
Streak,' between Dover and Calais."
While our friends are musing on the possibilities of the railway to
India, and its benefits to commerce and civilization, they have
recrossed the Caspian and are once more in the Petrolia of Europe. And
now behold them seated in a train of the Trans-Caucasian Railway for a
ride to Tiflis and the Black Sea.
A letter in the _New York Herald_ of April 19, 1886, says:
"The Russians have established a military and naval station at Novi
Golfe, on the Caspian, twenty-two versts north-west of Mikhailovsk,
and connected it with the latter point by railway. In case of war
with England, the Russians are prepared to strike heavy blows in
Asia. They have two army corps in the Caucasus, and another in
Turkestan ready for service on their south-eastern frontier. The
vessels of the Kavkas and Mercury Steamship Company, Noble's
naphtha fleet, and the Greek and Armenian vessels on the Caspian
(which all fly the Russian flag), would be immediately pressed into
the service. The Russians believe that, barring bad weather, they
could, with these steamers and a number of sailing-vessels in
tow, transport sixty thousand men across the Caspian from
Astrachan, Baku, and Petrovsk to Novi Golfe and Mikhailovsk in
three days.
[Illustration: CROSSING A RIVER IN CENTRAL ASIA.]
"The Russians would thus dispose of about one hundred and fifteen
thousand men--Army of the Caucasus, sixty thousand; Turkestan,
thirty thousand; and fifteen thousand Turcoman auxiliaries. These
latter will supply the advance of the Russian columns heading
southward from Askabad and Merv.
"The Russians have shown great tact and cleverness in the
management of their Turcoman subjects. There is at Merv a skeleton
army, or _cadre_, of three hundred Turcomans, under the command of
a Cossack officer named Kalotine. Of the three hundred, one hundred
are from Merv, one hundred are Tekkes, and the remainder from other
tribes. These men (irregular horse) remain in the service six
months. During that time they are paid twenty-five roubles a month,
and at its expiration are discharged with the rank of sergeant, but
remain liable to military duty in time of war. This plan was
adopted to secure good native non-commissioned officers for the
fifteen regiments of irregular cavalry. The son of the last Khan of
Merv is now a Russian sergeant. Ten native Turcomans hold the rank
of captain in the Russian army, and four that of lieutenant,
besides which many decorations have been given to those who took
part in Alikhanoff's foray.
"The construction of the railway between Askabad and Merv presented
great difficulties, on account of the absence of water in many
places. To overcome this, artesian wells were dug. The width and
current of the Tegend-Bud necessitated an iron bridge at Kara-Bend.
The Trans-Caspian Railway is built upon the model of the
Trans-Caucasian one, the stations on both being near together,
solidly built and comfortable. There are sixteen stations between
Mikhailovsk and Askabad (four hundred and twenty-two versts).
_Mikhailovsk to_
Mallakara 22 Versts.
Bala Ischen 35 "
Aidin 29 "
Paraval 15 "
Atchai-Komm 16 "
Kasandjik 31 "
Ossausan 16 "
Ouchak 23 "
Kizil-Arvat 30 "
Koteh 28 "
Barni 24 "
Arolman 30 "
Baharden 30 "
Keli-Atta 27 "
Geok-Tepé 25 "
Besmeni 21 "
Askabad 20 "
[Illustration: A NATIVE TRAVELLER.]