and said "Aman" (peace); then taking hold of their wrists I forcibly made them shake hands. "Salam aaleikom" (peace be with you), at last said the guide. "Aaleikom asalam " (with you be peace), was the answer, and the combatants separated.

We now encountered a party of men and women who were engaged in unearthing a quantity of grass from a deep cutting in the ground. This grass had been mown in the previous autumn, and was thus preserved until such time as the owner required it; the extreme cold, or perhaps the dryness of the air, keeping the grass as fresh as the day it was cut. Our 1oad became less clearly defined, frequently making the most circuitous turns, and winding round in a northerly direction to turn once more due south. We passed by deep holes and chasms in the path. The chasms were caused by the heavy rainfall which occurs during the wet season. This would have made it dangerous travelling after nightfall if it had not been for the brightness of the moon and stars, which lit up the surrounding country and turned the night almost into day.

The camel-driver at last showed symptoms of recovery; the fever had left him, but he was wretchedly weak, and could not sit on his donkey, Nazar riding that animal, having given up his own huge steed to the Turkoman. Presently we came across some Kirghiz tombs which were constructed of clay dried in the sun. Some of them rose from thirty to forty feet above the ground. These marked the resting-places of the richer Kirghiz, who, like Abraham and the forefathers of old, wandered from place to place with their flocks and herds, seldom however omitting to select a plot of ground and build a tomb to contain their ashes.

So, like the vanity of the human race, we too build tombs in order that some distinguished personages may be remembered, whilst posterity soon forgets the very name of the departed.

How many Egyptians are there that know who built the pyramids, and for whom they were constructed? How many Englishmen can tell us in whose honour some of the statues in the parks and squares of London were erected? The poorer Kirghiz, like the poor in other countries, have no such honours paid to their remains—no pillar or stone marks the spot where their bodies are turned to dust. “Where the tree falls, there let it lie." This old saying well applies to them: a hole is dug, a few shovelfuls of sand are thrown over their remains, and, save perhaps by their horses and camels, the children of the desert are soon forgotten.

The guide and I had by this time ridden a long way in front of our caravan. We determined to await its arrival. We were on the borders of Khivan territory. It was impossible to say how the inhabitants would receive us.

We lay down by the side of the road, and in a few minutes were fast asleep. Indeed, after several days of almost incessant travelling, I found myself continually dozing off on horseback, and then clutching convulsively at the pommel of my saddle, as the animal swerved and threw me off my balance. When we awoke, the guide was anxious to know whether the camels had passed us during the night. Looking down on the ground, he carefully inspected the various tracks-one of our camels having a peculiar mark upon a hind foot, which enabled my man to distinguish her tread from that of a million quadrupeds.

The vision of the Kirghiz is very extraordinary

and my guide would often discern objects with the naked eye which I could barely distinguish with my glasses. His knowledge of locality was also very remarkable. Sometimes when no track could be seen, he would get off his horse and search for flowers or grass. If he could find any, he would then be able to judge by their appearance as to the district in which we were.

The Book of Nature was as familiar to this semisavage Kirghiz as the Koran to his moullah. Presently pointing to a chain of mountains, which, rearing themselves up before us, extended east and west of our path, he observed that Kalenderhana was just behind them; then making a sound suggestive of a kiss, he informed me that he should not be sorry to see his wife.

The scenery became more striking as we approached this mountain barrier. Picturesque crags and large masses of sparkling quartz dazzled the eye with their glinting. Broken patches of frozen snow at intervals carpeted the sandy soil, and formed a mirror which flashed beneath the midday sun. Many streaks down the rugged sides of the heights around us showed where the rain, pouring down on their crests in the early spring, diverged in foaming torrents. Here, dashing with irresistible force through the narrow pass, they would furrow a road before them; there, emerging from the gradually widening defile, they would rush in a hundred different channels to swell the volumes of the mighty Oxus.

This mountainous ridge was called by the guide Kazan-Tor. My first impression was that the pass, which gives access to some fertile plains, would prove a formidable obstacle to an invading column. How

ever, the chain of hills does not extend very far in an easterly direction. It comes to an abrupt termination about twenty-five miles from the track upon which I was travelling, and the flank can be easily turned. The defile is about a quarter of a mile broad, and about seven miles long, the ground having a stronglymarked auriferous nature; whilst, from the appearance of some of the rocks, I should say that a search for copper would not prove unremunerative to an engineer or his employers.

We emerged upon a vast plain, which was intersected by a quantity of water-courses, or canals. These, springing from the Amou Darya, are employed by the inhabitants of the adjacent villages for irrigating their fields during the summer.

CHAPTER XXVII.

Villages Fortified-The Turkoman Raids exaggerated-A Retrospect―The Cos sacks Invade Khiva-Urgentch-Peter the Great's Idea about Khiva and India -Prince Bekovitch-Careful Preparations for the Expedition-Points Selected by the Shores of the Caspian-Forts St. George, Alexander, and Krasnovodsk-March across the Ust Urt-Destruction of the Russians-Expedition in 1859-Chikishlar Taken-Military Posts Established-Chikishlar Occupied in 1871-Russian Statement about the Shah's Recognition of the Tzar's Claim to Ashourade-Russians Established at Four Points in Turkoman Territory-The Adayefs-Forced Contributions-Taxes Raised 150 per Cent. —Dissatisfaction-Letter from the Khan-Adayefs Overcome-The Khan's Letters to the Emperor and to the Viceroy of the Caucasus-The Russian Chancellor's perfect understanding with Mr. Gladstone's Government-Count Schouvaloff's Statement to Lord Granville-Positive Assurances to Parliament about Khiva-The Force Employed by Kauffmann in his Advance upon Khiva-The different Columns -Difference of Opinion between Kryjinovsky and Kauffmann-Capture of Khiva-Markosoff's Failure-War Indemnity— -Prince Gortschakoff's Principles-Treatment of the Turkomans-General Kryjinovsky's Statement about this Subject-Court Martial on Two Turkomans-Sentence of Death-Russian Treaty with Khiva-Khivan Territory given to Bokhara.

PRESENTLY we came to some kibitkas which were evidently constructed as a permanency. Wide ditches were dug around them, and high wattled palisades, which in every instance encircled the dwellings, showed us that the inmates feared attack. Indeed, from this spot until we crossed the Oxus, each village was fortified in some such a manner. Formerly the Kirghiz and Turkomans lived in a continual state of war. The Kirghiz made marauding expeditions into their neighbours' territory, and carried off horses and cattle. Their foe, in his turn, frequently crossed the Oxus in armed bands of from fifty to sixty horsemen,