Through Russian Central Asia

Part 18

Chapter 182,976 wordsPublic domain

(3) Russia, through certain natural advantages, keeps her race pure, even on the outskirts of Empire. Why should we let our own people go to the United States, and try to fill up our Colonies with aliens who, in time of war, are ready to blow up Parliament buildings, powder factories, plot assassinations, and what not?

(4) Russia is self-supporting in food, fuel, and clothing. Why should not we be?

(5) The Duma is elected by the people not only of Russia in Europe, but by the people of the whole Russian Empire. Why should not we have Imperial representatives in the House of Commons--one man one vote for all white British citizens.

(6) The Russian Empire is a large unity with a growing consciousness of its own power. Why should not the British Empire realise similar possibilities of unity and self-expression?

Index

A

Abakum, Pass and Gorge of, 185, 186-7; advertisements in, 187

Africa taken by Attila, 48

Agriculturists, emigration of, 138

Alabaster Mosque, Cairo, 40

Alai Tau Mountains, 90

Alakul, Lake, 149

Alani, the, 47

Alexander of Macedon, 56

Alexander the Great, 44

Alexandrovsky Mountains, 90

Altai, Central, 218 _et seq._

Altai, flora of, 229

Altai Mountains, the, 8

Altaiskaya, 220, 228, 229

Altin-Emel, Government aid to emigrants, 150; the cross-roads for China, 173, 174

America--after the war, 265

Amu-Darya, 24

Anderson, Wm. C., an open letter to Lord Milner, 253-7

Anglo-Russian friendship, prospects of, 237 _et seq._

Antonovka, 94

Ants, ravages of, 129-130

Apples, the City of. (_See_ Verney)

Arabs and Semitic tribes, conquests of, 49

Arazan, dinner at, 184

Arbitration courts, 261

Arizona, 255

Artisans, emigration of, 140

Asbestos, the question of supply of, 246

Ascension Day, the Russian, 99

Asia, a former frontier of, 6; the deserts of, 17, 18

Askhabad, the railway station, 22; fall of, 65; extension of Central Asian Railway to, 68

Astrakhan, fall of, 64

Attila, Huns of, 48; conquests of, 48

Aulie Ata, captured by Russians, 64; a mysterious city, 101; a former Moslem shrine, 104; the native orchestra, 106; its cathedral, 113; sheep as payment, 114; frequency of earthquakes in, 114; population of, 123

Australia, irrigation possibilities in, 255; railway system of, 259; military service compulsory in, 259, 261; federation of, 261; the Press of, 261

B

Bactrain labourers, 19

Baku, 10; the bazaar, 11; the harbour, 12

Balkan war: the St. James’s Conference, 213

Balkans, the, 18

Balkhash, Lake, 149, 203

Balta, 3

Baltic, islands of, conquered by Attila, 48

Barber, a Sart, 181

Barber-photographer, a, 97

Baskau, River, 189

Beaconsfield, Lord, and the “keys of India,” 237

Belukha, Mount, 228

Bibi Khanum, wife of Tamerlane the Great, 51

Bielovodsk, 122

Blagoveshtchensk, Siberians _versus_ Chinese, 171

Bobrovo, 229

Bokhara, Ancient and New, 27

Bokhara, Russian Protectorate of, 25, 66; absence of hotels in, 27; scenes in, 27; a Mohammedan settlement in, 27; houses, shops, and bazaars of, 28; its silver coinage, 29; the sacred stork of, 31; Russia’s hold on, 32; power of Mohammedanism in, 35 _et seq._; Uzbeks in, 63; the Central Asian Railway and, 69

Bokharese, the, 31-2; and the battle of Irdzhar, 65

Bokharese delight, 29

Boxer insurrection, the, 171

Bozhe-Narimsky, 218, 220

_Brisbane_, the, a poem on launch of, 262-3

British Empire, the, necessity for consolidation of, 245-6; white population in, 249, 269; after-the-war problems, 249 _et seq._; and the Russian Empire, 249-270; expert development of resources necessary, 256; a Tasmanian view of future problems of, 258-262

British Isles, the, after the war, 265

Buddhism, attempted introduction of, into Central Asia, 49

Bulgaria, alienation of, by Britain, 213

Burnaby’s “Ride to Khiva,” 239

C

Cabbage pies, 8

Cairo, 40

California, 255

Camel-breeding, Kirghiz women and, 219

Canada, comparison with Siberia, 208-9; suggested after-the-war measures for, 254; aliens in, 264

Carlyle, Thomas: “Heroes and Hero-Worship,” 37-9; his pro-Russian proclivities, 239

Carpet-making in Transcaspia, 33

Caspian Sea, the, 10

Caucasians, author’s impression of, 5

Caucasus, the, future development of, 5

Central Asia, ethnology and, 44; races of, 44 _et seq._; Chinese attempt the introduction of Buddhism, 49

Central Asian Railway, building of, 66, 68, 69; consecration of, 69

_Cervus canadensis asiaticus._ (_See_ Maral)

Chamberlain, Rt. Hon. Joseph, 251

_Charchafs_, 26, 28

Chardzhui, 25; extension of Central Asian Railway to, 69

Cheesecakes, sweet, 8

Cherkask, 197

Chimkent, Russian capture of, 64; the cinema at, 86; the bazaar, 87; population of, 123

China attacked by the Huns, 45-6; the Great Wall of, 46; Russians in, 70; the Boxer insurrection, 171; land proportional to population in, 268

Chinatown, New York, 26

Chinawomen and maral horn, 220

Chinese, altruistic, 176, 182; a native circus, 176 _et seq._

Chinese Tartary, 8; Mohammedans, 36, 164

Chingildinsky, 165

Chingiz Khan, 49-50

Christianity _versus_ Mohammedanism, 37 _et seq._

Chugachak, 182

Churek-cakes, 29

Cinema theatres, popularity of, 61, 86, 104, 159, 211

Colonial preference, question of, 245

Colonials, British admiration for, 267

“Commonwealth, Prospect of a,” 249 (note)

Confederation of the Round Table, the, 249

Constantinople, Germany and, 242; Dostoieffsky on, 242; and the Great War, 243

Constantinovka, 132

Cornucula, 95

Cotton goods, 206-7

Crooke, William, letter to author, 258-262

Curzon, Earl, 237

D

Danchenko, Namirovitch, on Russian conquest of India, 238

Dariel, Gorge of, 5; the “Kremlin” of, 7

De Vesselitsky, M., 208

Deer-farming, 219 _et seq._

Dengil-Tepe taken by Kuropatkin, 65

Denmark, conquest of, by Attila, 48

_Derevnyi_, 122

Desert, the, railways in, 17; wheatfields in, 19, 20; antiquity of, 20; its flora, 20

Dockers, Persian, 12

Dolinadalin, 3

Dostoieffsky, Fedor, 210; on Russia’s demand for Constantinople, 242

Dukhobors in Canada, 264

Duncani, the, 36

_Dunkan_, a, 120

E

Earthquakes, frequency of, 57, 114, 156

Egypt, the shepherd dynasty of, 44

Electricity, a Caucasian contract for, 4

Emigrants, house-building by, 153-4; a suggested export tax on, 259

Emigration, compulsory, 260

Emigration, Russian, 138 _et seq._; inducements for, 141; restrictions concerning, 142; concessions on rail and steamer, 144 _et seq._

England and India, 241

England and Russia: the question of India, 241-4; rivalry of empire, 244-6; the trade treaty, 246-7; the basis of friendship, 247-8

English, uneasiness of, at Russian progress, 66, 245

Ethnology and Central Asia, 44

Europe, after-the-war prospects of, 249 _et seq._

F

Factory hands, emigration of, 140

_Falanga_, hairy-legged, 116

Falconry, the Kirghiz knowledge of, 200

Falcons in Bokhara, 29

Fatalism, Mohammedanism and, 42

Ferghan, grants in aid of emigration to, 152

Flint-hunting in the Caucasus, 5, 6

Fortoug, 3

Froude as pro-Russian, 239

G

Gavrilovka, 175

Geok-Tepe, 21; the railway station of, 21; storming of, 68

Georgians, 4, 16

Germany, conquered by Attila, 48; preparations for Great War in, 214; an enemy of Anglo-Russian friendship, 239; and Constantinople, 242; white population in, 249

_Gimnasistki_, 214

Gladstone, Right Hon, W. E., a pro-Russian, 239

Goths, the, 47, 48

Great War, the, Germany’s ambitions, 67; reception of news of declaration of war at Semipalatinsk, 213; Germany’s preparations for, 214; England’s unpreparedness for, 231

Gregoriefsky, 197

Grosnoe, 99

Grozdny, 10

Gusinaya Pristan, 216

H

Hassan, Sultan, Mosque of, 40

Havana cigars in Kopal, 182

Huns, the, 45, 46 _et seq._; of Attila, 48; Mongolian, 49

_Hydrotechnics_, Russian, 190, 193 _et seq._

I

Ikons, Russian, 10

Ili, River, 149, 164

Ili, valley of the, 162

Iliisk, 163

Imperial commission for after-the-war problems, an, 266

Ince-Agatch, 204

India and Russia, 237 _et seq._; Namirovitch Danchenko on Russian conquest of, 238; fear of Russian designs on, by British politicians, 241-2; the overland route to, 243; overcrowding in, 268

Indian frontier, the, 8

Indians, the, 44

Irdzhar, battle of, 65

Irrigation, artificial, in the desert, 20; engineering students, 190, 193 _et seq._

Irtish River, 211 _et seq._

Issik-Kul, Lake, 149

J

Jaiman Terekti, 189

Jangiz-Agatch, 175

Jarasai, 160

Jarkent, a jurisdiction of Seven Rivers Province, 148; rice-growing in, 149; Government aid to emigrants to, 150

Jerakhof, Gorge of, 3

“Jericho, trumpets of,” 106

K

Kabul Sai, 74

Kalmeeks, the, 46, 221

Karabulak, 175

Karachok, 168

Karakirghiz, the, 63

Kara-Kum, desert of, 24

_Karakurt_, the, 116, 162

Karasbi, 160

Katun-Karagai, 220

Kaufmann, General von, 62

Kazan, fall of, 64

Kazanskaya Bogoroditsa, 132

Kazbek mountain and Prometheus, 7

_Khalati_, 19

_Khodoki_, 124, 136, 137, 142, 143, 144, 152

Khodzkent captured by Russians, 65

_Khosaïn Tereka_, 4

Khiva, 44; Uzbeks in, 63; under Russian protection, 66

Kief, University of, student life at, 125

Kinglake: his pro-Russian sympathies, 239

Kirghiz, the, 19, 45, 46, 74 _et seq._, 116, 221; become Russian subjects, 65; their system of _pecunia_, 114; skill at falconry, 200; relieved of military service, 208

Kirghiz Cossacks, the, 63-4; women, description of, 83-4; wedding, 168; banquet, 191, 192; women and camel-breeding, 219

Kizil Arvat, 68

Kok-sa River, 175

Kokand, 63; Uzbeks of, defeated by Russians, 64

Kopal, population of, 123; a jurisdiction of Seven Rivers Province, 148; a walk to, 173; author’s arrival at, 175; a quaint clock at, 176; visit to a Chinese circus, 176-181; altruistic Chinamen, 182; boundary of, 182; facilities to sportsmen, 182

Koran, the, Carlyle and, 41

Kosh Agatch, 218

_Kosuli_, 116

Koumis, 80, 81, 86, 199

Krasnovodsk, 10, 15 _et seq._; a Georgian host in, 16; siege of, 65

Kruglenkoe, 174

Kuan-Kuza, 172, 173

Kugalinskaya, 174

Kugalinskaya Stanitsa, 174

Kurdai, 132

Kuropatkin, Colonel, 65

_Kursistki_, 214

L

Labour question in England, the, 268

Larse, a night at an inn, 4-5

Lava-Khedei, mosque of, 34

Law, Mr. Bonar, 251-3, 266, 267, 268

Lepers, 129

_Lepeshki_, 19, 29, 130

Lepsa, the, 203

Lepsinsk, 148, 186, 188, 192; “removal” of, 193; the information bureau, 194; a Cossack settlement, 196

Lermontof’s “Demon”: scene of story of, 6

_Lessovaya zemlya_, the, 20

Liamin, M., 165-172

Lignitz, battle of, 50

Linbovinskaya, 132, 133

Lodz: its production of shoddy cotton, 206

“Lodzinsky,” definition of, 206

_Ludzon_, 225

M

Mahomet, birth of, 49

Malo-Krasnoyarsk, 218

Maly Narimsky, 220

Mankent, 92

Maral, the country of the, 218 _et seq._

Maral deer horns, 219 _et seq._

_Maralnik_, cost of construction of a, 223

Mare’s milk. (_See_ Koumis)

Marlowe on Tamerlane the Great, 52

Mecca, Mohammedan pilgrimages to, 36

Medvedka, 220; a maral farm at, 222

Melba, Madame, 261

Merke, 117

Merv, fall of, 66; Central Asian Railway extended to, 69; annexation of, England’s attitude on, 237

Mesopotamia, a holy war in, 67

“Midsummer Night among the tent-dwellers,” 184 _et seq._

Milner, Lord, 253; an open letter to, 253-7

Mogul. (_See_ Mongol)

Mohammedanism and Mohammedan cities, 35 _et seq._; Mecca pilgrimages, 36; Cairo, 40; the Koran, 41; fatalism and, 42; characteristics of, 42-3; birth of Mahomet, 49. (_See also_ Bokhara)

Mongolia, Russians in, 70

Mongolian brick tea, 198; Huns, 49

Mongols, the, 47

Moslem pilgrimages to Mecca, 36

N

Narimsky Mountains, 218

Naturalisation, the question of, 260

Navy, the, necessity for increasing, 268

Nazimof, M., 126 _et seq._

Nevsky, Alexander, 63

Nikanorovitch, Mikhail, 223 _et seq._

Nikolaevski, 160

Nomadic tribes, 44 _et seq._

North Caucasian oilfields, 10

Northern Persia, Russians in, 70

Novy Troitsky, 122

O

Oil region of the Caucasus, 10

Orenburg falls into Russian hands, 65

Osmanli, the, 46

Ossetines, 4, 5, 6, 47

Oxus, the, 24; a State service of steamers on, 69

P

Pamir, 8, 63; grants to emigrants, 152

Passports, 15, 32

Pavlovska, Zoe, a pilgrimage to tomb of Bibi Khanum, 53-4

Paynim, the, 37

_Pecunia_, 114

Pekin, siege of, 50

Persia, roses in, 20 _et seq._; its future, 243

Persian dockers, 12

Persians, the, 44, 45

Petrovsk, 10

Photographs and free shaves, 97

Pigs’ liver, black, 4

Pishpek, fall of, 64; population of, 123; a meeting with a Government topographer, 126; climate of, 128; skin disease in, 129; a jurisdiction of the Seven Rivers Province, 148; Government grants for emigrants, 150

Police, Russian, 177

Polovinka, 174

Porters, Russian, 11, 12

_Proletkas_, 27

Prometheus, legend of, 7

Przhevalsk, 148

R

Railway concessions and fares for emigrants, 144 _et seq._

Railways, Russian, 17, 18, 56, 68 _et seq._, 244, 250, 268; scenes at stations, 19, 20; British distrust of Trans-Persian Railway, 243

Rice-growing, 149

“Ride to Khiva,” Burnaby’s, 239

River charges for emigrants, 147

Romanovskaya, 203

Rome burned by the Goths, 48; sacked by the Vandals, 48

Roses, Persian, 20 _et seq._

“Round Table,” the, 249 (note)

Russia, English entente with, 8; railway systems of, 17, 18, 56, 68 _et seq._, 244, 250, 268; conquered by Attila, 48; rise of, 64 _et seq._; colonisation of, 66 _et seq._, 70 _et seq._; powers of chief of police in, 177; mobilisation of, 234; her possible designs on India, 237; future of her empire, 244 _et seq._; exports of, 244-5; the question of a trade treaty, 247; the white population in, 249, 269

Russia and England: the question of India, 241-4; rivalry of Empire, 244-6; the trade treaty, 246-7; the basis of friendship, 247-8

Russia and India, and prospects of Anglo-Russian friendship, 237 _et seq._

Russian card games, 195; colonies: provinces open to colonisation, 138; information to intending colonists, 138; colonisation, 155; exports: the Tariff Reform view of, 245

Russian Central Asia, capital of, 57 _et seq._; commercial travellers in, 123-4

Russian Empire, the, and the British Empire, 249-70

Russian Turkestan, Uzbeks in, 63

S

St. James’s Conference, the, 213

Salt steppes, the, 10, 15, 17

Samarkand, the grave of Timour, 44; conquest of, 50; an impressionist poem on, 53; a Mohammedan centre, 55; foundation of, 56; Russian occupation of, 65; and the Central Asian Railway, 69; Government inducements to emigrants, 152

San Francisco, a Chinese underground city in, 171

Sandbanks, 18

Saracens, the, 47

Sarajevo tragedy, the, 212

Sarts, the, 26; in Samarkand, 56; natives of Tashkent, 59-60; their orchestra: music from 10-ft. horns, 106

Scandinavia, Attila’s conquest of, 48

Scythia, 45

Semipalatinsk, 207; Dostoieffsky in exile at, 210; shops of, 210-211; and the Sarajevo tragedy, 212-213

Semiretchenskaya Oblast. (_See_ Seven Rivers Land)

Semi-retchie, Northern, plain of, 186

Semitic tribes, with Arabs, conquer Persia, etc., 49

Serbia and the assassination of the Archduke of Austria, 212-213

Sergiopol, population of, 123; shops of, 205; a commercial traveller’s experiences in, 205-6

Seven Rivers Land, Russian penetration and occupation of, 64, 116, 148; fauna of, 116; its troika, 117 _et seq._; climate of, 149; Government grants to emigrants, 141,150; taxes, 151; military service, 151; timber, 151; cinema shows in, 159; the Pass and Gorge of Abakum, 185, 186-7

Shakespeare’s burlesque on Tamerlane the Great, 52

_Shashleek_, 105

Shaving extraordinary, 181-2

Sheep as payment for goods purchased, 114

Siberia, value of land in, 141; an old-established Russian colony, 207; compared with Canada, 208-9; population of, 209

Sirdaria, deserts of, 8; author at, 74; a Kirghiz settlement at, 75 _et seq._; Government grants to emigrants, 152

Skobelef, General, reduces Geok-Tepe, 21; in Transcaspia, 65

_Skobelef_, the, 13

South Africa, irrigation possibilities in, 255

Southern Siberia, steppes of, 8

Spider, black, 116, 162

_Stantsi_, 122

Steamship service, a national, 268

Stewart, Mr., “Boss of the Terek,” 4

Storks in Bokhara, 31

Strikes in war time, 261

Suffragettes, Russian opinion of, 195

T

Table Mountain, 3

Tadzhiks, the, 44

Talass, River, 113, 115

Tamara, 6

Tamara, Queen, castle of, 6

Tamerlane the Great, his conquests for Mohammedanism, 50; Emperor of Asia, 51, 63; Marlowe on, 52; conquest of India and Eastern Russia, 52

Tariff reform and Russian exports, 245

Tartars, enemies to Christians, 37; rising of the, 49

Tashkent, 57 _et seq._; water-supply of, 57-8; muezzin towers of, 59; an exiled Grand Duke at, 60; schools, 60-1; cinema shows at, 61; Russian atmosphere of, 61-2; Kaufmann Square, 62; taken by Russians, 64

Tea, Russian and Indian, 158

Tea dust, solidified, 198

Tekintsi, the, headgear of, 19; a great fortress of, 21

Terek, River, 3

Terek, the “Boss” of, 4

Thian Shan Mountains, 162

Timour the Lame. (_See_ Tamerlane the Great)

Tokmak, fall of, 64

Tolstoy, 264

Transcaspia becomes a Russian province, 65

Trans-Ilian Alai Tau Mountains, 90

Trans-Persian Railway, the, 243

Tribes, mediæval history of, 44 _et seq._

Triple Entente, the, 8

_Troika_, the Russian, 117 _et seq._

Tsaritsinskaya, 175

Tulovka, 220

Turkestan, cosmopolitan, 22; four great cities of, 44; value of land in, 141; restrictions as to emigration, 142; demand for labour in, 152; grants in aid, 152

Turkish tribes, the chief, 46

Turkomans, dress of, 19; one of the chief Turkish tribes, 46

Turks, the, 46

U

United Kingdom, the, overcrowding in, 268

United States, the, mixed races in, 249, 264; loss of British citizens to, 263 _et seq._

Ust-Kamennygorsk, 214

Uzbeks, the, 46; in Bokhara, Khiva, and Russian Turkestan, 63

V

Valens, Emperor, 47

Vandals, the, 48

_Vatrushki_, 8

Verney, fall of, 64; population of, 123; a jurisdiction of the Seven Rivers Province, 148; rice-growing at, 149; Government grants, 150; capital of Seven Rivers, 156; its apples, 156; the High School, 157; German sausages in, 158; newspaper record of cinema shows, 158-9

Visokoe, 99

Vladikavkaz, the military road of, 2, 4

Vodka in Russian Central Asia, 86

Vsevolodovitch Yaroslaf, 63

W

Wages boards, 261

Ward, Mrs. Humphry, 261

Wheatfields in the desert, 19, 20

_Wimmera_, the, 261

Wolves in Russian Central Asia, 87

Y

Yakuts, the, 46

Yaroslaf Vsevolodovitch, 63

Yellow Peril, the, 170

Z

Zaalaisk, Government grants to emigrants, 152

_Zollverein_, a, Chamberlain and, 251

PRINTED BY CASSELL & COMPANY, LIMITED, LA BELLE SAUVAGE, LONDON, E.C. F 15.416

FOOTNOTES:

[A] Connected by rail with Tashkent since my tramp across the country.

[B] As the Government never exercised a monopoly of the sale of vodka in Russian Central Asia the Tsar’s edict did not apply to these regions. However, I believe the sale of intoxicating liquor has been greatly restricted by the local authorities.

[C] _Pecus_ = a head of cattle, a beast of the field.

[D] This differentiation in hue is in case the persons holding the certificates should be illiterate.

[E] Counting the rouble as worth 1s. 6d. At the moment of writing it is worth rather less than 1s. 4d., but it should improve somewhat.

[F] See “The Round Table,” a review of the interests of the Empire, and “The Prospect of a Commonwealth,” an extraordinary after-the-war volume.

[G] American value, i.e. £1,000,000,000.

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:

Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.

Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.

Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized.

Illustrations have been moved to the nearest paragraph breaks. In some cases, these breaks are on different pages. The List of Illustrations has been updated to reflect these changes.

In the Index, it appears that two entries have been inadvertently combined into one: Russian card games. The text has been retained as printed.