Demetrius Charles Boulger

“ It is scarcely necessary to say that over a considerable portion of this extensive region the authority of Russia was, and still is, vague, and that even geographical information about it is not as complete or as accurate as could be desired. Yet, despite these weak points in the Russian administration over the Trans-Caspian district, it is the law that every Turcoman and every Kirghiz within that zone shall pay an annual tax to the Russian Government. The district or governorship is divided into two sections, that of Mangishlak and that of Krasnovodsk. ”

“ Of all Asiatic travellers the Russian Colonel Prjevalsky is the most distinguished. More than any other does he appear to possess the qualities of Marco Polo. His travels in China, Mongolia, the Tangut country, and more recently in Eastern Turkestan, are all entitled to rank among the most brilliant of modern enterprises. At the present time Prjevalsky is preparing to set out from Kuldja on a journey across the deserts and mountain chains of the farther portion of Eastern Turkestan, in an attempt to reach Tibet and to visit the capital of the Dalai Lama. ”

“ When Russia annexed Khokand in 1876 Karategin virtually became a Russian possession. The inhabitants of this region are represented to be an exceedingly primitive people, and the following particulars have leaked out concerning their customs. They have no conception of measure or weight, no booths, caravanserais, or fairs, such as are common to all nations, and Eastern ones more especially. They possess no knowledge of public institutions, but live on in a state of primitive equality that is generally considered synonymous with Arcadian myths. ”

“ The pith of the whole argument is to be found in the fact that we are now strong enough to solve the Central Asian Question wholly in our own favour. Are we to put off action until the tables are turned and Russia is more prepared than she is at present, while we may have grown less strong? ”

“ Under China, Kuldja contained two millions of people, and under Russia its population has not increased from the very small number to which Mahomedan violence had reduced it. China proved herself to be a thoughtful and considerate ruler ; Russia can in this matter be only compared to a thoughtless and improvident one.
Before passing on to those other Russian explorers whose scene of activity lies still further to the east, we may summarise what M. de Ujfalvy has written upon the subject of Central Asia as a field for sports- men. ”

“ The Zarafshan valley east of Samarcand is the haunt of wolves, lynxes, foxes, etc. etc. ; and eagles and vultures are frequently to be seen. But on the whole the wolves are of a cowardly race, and the Kirghiz hunter does not hesitate to attack them single-handed and armed only with a heavy riding-whip, which is made of wire woven into the lash. With regard to the Central Asian tiger, which M. de Ujfalvy states, on what authority we know not, to be larger than the Indian tiger, and particularly fierce, it seems to be an animal which is gradually disappearing. ”

“ Elsewhere in Central Asia the result of geographical research, and of individual courage and labour, can only be reaped after years of patient and persistent toil; but here the prize can be secured in a few months.
And what has been said with regard to Kara Kum applies with equal force to Kizil Kum. Although the latter desert is mostly within the Russian frontier, it is so barren that the Russian Government has never been at any pains to explore it, nor has it made any attempts at improving it. ”

“ Eastern Turkestan, which has passed once more into the possession of China, the third great power in Asia, is outside the sphere we have defined as Central Asia; but as some most interesting explorations have recently been made in the Tian Shan regions, it is proposed to include them in this chapter, which summarises the results, so far as they are yet known, of the discoveries of the last three years on the part of Russian explorers. ”

“ If the reader derives from the perusal of these pages a clearer insight into the causes of the conflict between English and Russian interests in Central Asia, and also rises with the conviction that the policy of Russia is such that it is worth a bold effort to paralyse its effects, the author will have been more than repaid for the three months' labour of writing them. The Central Asian Question should not be the monopoly of a few specialists, or even of the Anglo-Indian world. ”

“ The Russians in Tashkent have never ceased to hope and to believe that they could advance upon India through Balkh and from the Pamir ; and they have indulged in those hopes and beliefs chiefly for the reason that if they are not founded on fact they must give up all claim to the foremost part in any proposed invasion of Hin- dostan. Given the requisite number of troops, and the due amount of roubles, and Russia can always advance against India from Khorasan and the Atrek ”

“ It is intelligent, bold, and remarkably swift of foot. Among the Galtchas and the people of Pamir another dog, called gurdja, a species of basset with pointed ears, is to be met with. It is strong and intelligent, particularly in finding the track on mountains covered with snow or ice; but all attempts to take it out of its native haunts have failed, and even the short journey to Samarcand inspires it with an irresistible longing to return. M. de Ujfalvy has succeeded in bringing back to Paris three specimens of the tazi, which may be seen in the Jardin d'Acclimatation. ”

“ RECENT RUSSIAN EXPLORATIONS IN CENTRAL ASIA.
In commencing a work of this character, which aspires above everything to place the intricate phases of the Central Asian Question in a clear light before the English reader, it is necessary to state concisely what meaning we attach to the definition Central Asia. No term has been more abused in its use than that of Central Asia, for, geographically speaking, it has never been applied with accuracy ”

“ It is well to do justice to this solitary instance of the Russian authorities shomng that they have once recog- nised the wisdom of assisting an explorer whose explorations can bring them no political gain or military advantage. ”

“ There is a great scarcity of water and in the supply of meat in the Charchalyk region, and the Russian traveller suffered much from both these wants; but from what he says of the country lying immediately to the north of the great Altyn Tag range, which he discovered, it would appear that there was a possibility of its becoming by judicious government and some outlay a very flourishing settlement. The people certainly possess many features of attraction to foreigners, and are harmless and industrious in the extreme. ”

“ But we find, on the other hand, that remarkable enterprise is shown in Russian circles, military and scientific, in making science and exploration go before their armies. The territory that is already Russian is neglected; but that destined to become Russian is explored and mapped out with remarkable care. While Kizil Kum, S emir et chin sk, and list TJrt, are, comparatively speaking, disregarded, Hissar, the Pamir, Kara Kum, and Kashgar are explored with the greatest possible diligence, and information bearing upon those places is snatched up with the most eager avidity. ”

“ By encroachments in the first country our empire in India would be menaced more nearly than before ; and by any change in the second, other interests, scarcely less important, would be seriously jeoparded. But it is evident that all recent Russian explorations tend to show that the Russian Government has sanctioned them only for the further- ance of its own selfish ends. Science owes nothing to them, for not only have they not been undertaken in its interests, but their principal results have also been concealed. Russian explorations are but the pre- cursors of an advancing army ”

“ From Samarcand he went to Khodjent, Margilan, Andijan, Osh, and Houlsha, or Grulsha, at the northern entrance to the Terek pass ; and after a brief tour in the direction of the Pamir he went on to Kuldja. In this secluded quarter of the dominions of Russia M. de Ujfalvy found a temperate climate, not to be met with elsewhere in Central Asia in the same latitude. The winter, never very severe, lasts only for two months in the valleys of the Kash and the Ili, and the heat of summer is modified by the absence of those fierce dry winds which sweep across the steppes and sandy deserts of Turkestan. ”

“ During his ethnological pursuits he was struck by the fact that the art, or rather the business, of hunting was closely interwoven with the daily life of the people of Central Asia, and he at once came to the conclusion that this was worthy of attention even from a scientific point of view. The causes for this devo- tion to sport vary with the particular people referred to. Some hunt as a means of subsistence, being naturally loth to, or ignorant of, sedentary pursuits ”

“ The people of the towns have long forgotten their old skill and eager- ness in the chase ; and M. de Ujfalvy's remarks apply exclusively to the Kirghiz, the Kipchaks, the Aryan people of Trans-Oxiania, and the Turcomans. Of these, perhaps, the Kirghiz are the most skilled hunters, and this can be explained by the fact that they hold that mountainous and wild country which stretches from the Jaxartes to Lake Balkash and Semiretchinsk. ”

“ Colonel Prjevalsky tells a different tale of the Kuldja administration; but this is what M. de Ujfalvy informs us: "Since the Russians came here more than a thousand persons have sought the favour of being allowed to settle in Kuldja, but the Russians refused, as they are said to count upon having to give the country up to China. Since the civil war which ravaged the country for several years, the valley of the Ili presents a sad spectacle. The traveller passes dozens of villages in ruins; the fields are covered with weeds ”

“ The barrenness of their country is not redeemed by any feature of a brighter possibility such as is to be found in all the valleys of the Hindoo Koosh; but the total wealth of the district forms a common stock, out of which the necessities of the whole population are supplied. In times of dearth the suffering is often slight, as the whole community shares alike. ”

“ The former only engage with the combative animals when they interfere with the chase of those upon which these people, chiefly mountaineers, subsist ; but the latter wage war against the combative animals alone. ”

“ The valley of the Kran is singularly fertile, and from the Phara-sume monastery down to the town of Balbagai, a distance of about ten miles, the fields are in a high state of cultivation under the care of the native population, who are chiefly Eleuths and Kirghiz. ”

“ Water-fowl, herons, cranes, ibises, wild geese, swans, and a bird resembling a flamingo are also to be met with in immense quantities round Issik Kul and along the Syr Darya and its affluents. Bears are to be found in the rocky country, and a tame kind of gazelle, which is, however, never to be seen in greater numbers than five or six at a time. ”

“ Now, it is given on the authority of numerous travellers in all parts of China, and on the particular authority of one gentleman who has travelled across North-west China, that the ordinary lama is a thoroughly good fellow and boon companion. ”

“ In close connection with these Pamir explorations are the efforts that are being made to collect historical information concerning the Aryan races of the Upper Oxus, the Hindoo Koosh, and the Western Himalaya. The Russian Greographical Society has commissioned M. Minaieff to compile a systematic digest of whatever information has been acquired of those primitive peoples either by Russian, English, or native travellers. ”

“ Grain is raised on the steppe and exported to Samarcand and Katty-kurgan ; the crop is estimated to produce annually six thousand four hundred hundredweights of wheat, and three thousand two hundred hundredweights of barley ; rice is not cul- tivated, because of want of water. The bekdom of Guzar also is rich in wheat, and especially in cattle, which is bred on the hilly part of the bekdom. More than four thousand head of cattle may be seen at once in the weekly fairs of Guzar. ”