Tensas gazette., 1916-11-10

llR-UAR, SA1ARkhND
I Of the sky. and the glittering gold and
.yellow of the Russian Orthodox
church edifices.
From Tashkent We started on q de-
tour Of KOkand, seeing en- route the
fertile cotton fields of the Ferghana
and Kokand districts, of which the
city Of SkObelOvO is the administra-
tive center. This town also is new
and without interest. Some miles
away is the old and ruined city which
it has replaced, whose crumbling mud
walls and deserted streets bear wit
ness to the power of the railroad to
draw people to itself.
Dead Age Is RevitaIized..
From Andijan. near the border OF
Chinese Turkestan. the Transcaspian
railroad stretches to the port of Kras-
novodsk, on the shore of the Caspian
sea, a distance of more than 1,100
miles, but the portion between Kokand
and Andijan is without interest for
the traveller except for occasional
views of snow-cOvered mountains on
the Chinese frontier. But on leaving
KOkand for the trip to the Caspian,
we leave the newer cities of the Rus
sian occupation and enter regions Of
old civilization and historic and
archaeological interest. After a dusty
journey through unwatered plains we
reached the old and delightful city of
Samarkand, known to all students as
one of the outlying seats of Greek cul-
ture. The'present town of Samarkand
is the third city to be erected on prac-
tically the same spot, although the old
est Greek settlement was laid out per-
haps three miles from the present site.
There is little to be seen of the place
now except bricks and outlines of
buildings covered for the most part
deeply in the sand which had drifted
and blown over them for so long.
Bazaars Are Interesting.
But it is not alone for its memories
Of the past that Samarkand is interest
ing to the traveller. There is a busy
but always sedate and grave business
present in the city. and a stroll around
the bazaars is full of surprises. The
streets of the native town are only
just wide enough for one carriage at
a time, and traffic would be greatly
blocked If there were more than a
very few hOrse-drawn vehicles in the
city. As it is, nearly all freight and
farm products are brought in on cam
els or on donkeys. The latter are the
same sturdy. gray, and intelligent lit
tie beasts seen throughout the East
and in Mexico and South America.
They take their duties sOlemnly and
refuse to be distracted by noise and
confusion. Whole professions Of the
little fellows pass through the narrow
ways or stop to be unloaded in front
Of the shops, which are nothing more
than platforms built at the side of the
street and surrounded with shelves for
merchandise. Some Of the streets in
the bazaar are so narrow that they
are like corridors In q building and
are covered from the houses on each
side by arched roofs, SO that one can
walk around and keep dry even in the
hardest rain.
On all sides there sit, gravely sip
ping their endless cups Of tea and
eating sweetmeats and dried fruits, the
dark-faced merchants. many Of them
with long boards dyed red and with
green turbans, showing that they have
made the long holy pilgrimage to
Mecca. The brilliance and charm OF
the scene are extraordinary. Men and
women are clad in long. flowing GOWNS
of the brightest silks in startling but
always harmonious combinations-yel-
low, red, blue, and green.
Not infrequently the little streets
are dwarfed by the appearance of a
long string of camels bringing huge
bales of cotton or the heavier kinds
of freight from the country districts.
These animals are picturesque, but so
stupid and vicious that they have to
be tied in a long line with one Of
the Intelligent little donkeys in front
to show them where to 60.
The next city Of importance on the
line of the railway on the way to
is Bokhara. The old his
toric town is some FIVE miles from the
with which 1t is connected
by a branch line and by one Of the
worst carriage roads ! have ever been
over.
New Bokhara or Kagan is the seat
Of a Russian political agent, who is
the representative Of the imperial gov
at the court of the emir Of
Bokhara, the most important native
Of this part Of the world. i
In its way Rokhara is the most in
teresting Of all the old cities Of Turke-
stan. 1t was for centuries celebrated
as a theological center Of Nohamr
mechanism.