Afghanistan (Hamilton, Angus)/Chapter I

# The Orenburg-Tashkent Railway

By a coincidence of singular interest in Central Asian affairs the completion of the Orenburg-Tashkent railway occurred simultaneously with the evacuation of Lhassa by the troops of the Tibetan Mission, the two events measuring in a manner the character of the policies pursued by the respective Governments of Great Britain and Russia in Mid-Asia. Moreover, if consideration be given to them and the relation of each to contemporary affairs appreciated, it becomes no longer possible to question the causes which have determined the superior position now held in Asia by our great opponent. If this situation were the result of some sudden cataclysm of nature by which Russia had been violently projected from her territories in Europe across the lone wastes of the Kirghiz steppe into and beyond the region of the Pamirs or over the desert sands of the Kara Kum to the southern valleys of the Murghab river, our periodic lament at the mastery of Central Asia by Russia would be more comprehensible. But, unfortunately, the forward advance of Russia to the borders of Persia, along the frontiers of Afghanistan to the north-eastern slopes of the Hindu Kush, has been gradual; so gradual indeed that as each successive step became accomplished we have had time to register recognition of the fact in bursts of indignant chatter, accompanied as is not unusual with us by a frothy clamour of empty threats. Unluckily noisy outcry has been mistaken for action; but from the moment when Russia first moved into Trans-Caspian territory there appears to have been nothing but vague realisation of the acute possibilities with which the situation in Central Asia from that hour became impressed. As time passed and the several phases vanished our indifference and supineness have increased, until no chapter in the history of our Imperial affairs offers more melancholy reading than that which deals with the period covering the "peaceful" penetration of Asia by Russia.

In order to secure sufficient momentum for her descent railways were needed; and, while the line so lately completed between Orenburg and Tashkent is a more material factor in the situation than hitherto has been recognised, the laying of the permanent way between Samarkand and Termes, Askhabad and Meshed, approximately gauges the duration of the interval separating Russia from the day when she will have rounded off her position in Mid-Asia. Just now, therefore, and for ten years to come, strategic requirements should alone be permitted to influence the arrangement of our policy in High Asia. Commercial developments within the vexed sphere of the Russian and British territories in this region should be regulated by circumstances which, actually inherent in our Asiatic position, have been too long ignored. No question of sentiment, no considerations of trade influenced the creation of railway communication between Orenburg and Tashkent, the construction of the Murghab Valley line or the extension of the Trans-Caspian system from Samarkand to Osh. Strategy, steely and calculating, required Mid-Russia to be linked with Mid-Asia, the irresistible expansion of empire following not so much the line of least resistance as the direction from which it would be placed in position for the next move. Continents have been crossed, kingdoms annihilated and provinces absorbed by Russia in her steady, inimical progression towards the heart of Central Asia; until there is nothing so important nor so intimately associated with our position in Afghanistan to-day as the intricate perplexities which have emanated from this untoward approach. From time to time attempts have been made to effect an adjustment of the points at issue. The result has been unsatisfactory since the patchwork application of pen and paper has come, as a rule, in response to some accomplished *coup* upon the part of our astute opponent. Indeed, there is nothing in the result of any of these compromises which can be said to do credit to our knowledge of the existing situation. Indifference, coupled with a really lamentable ignorance, distinguishes the conditions, if not the atmosphere, under which these rectifications of frontier and modifications of clauses in previously accepted treaties have been carried out. But now that we have witnessed the joining of the rails between Orenburg and Tashkent let us put an end to our absurd philandering; and, appraising properly the true position of affairs, let us be content to regard all further extension of the Russian railway system in Mid-Asia as the climax of the situation. To do this we must understand the points at issue; and to-day in Central Asia there are many causes which of themselves are sufficient to direct attention to them.

Years have passed since the delimitation of the Russo-Afghan frontier and the definition of the Anglo-Russian spheres of influence in the Pamirs were made. In the interval, beginning with the acceptance of the findings of the Pamir Boundary Commission of 1896, Russia ostensibly has been engaged in evolving an especial position for herself in North China and providing railway communication between Port Arthur, Vladivostock and St. Petersburg. In this direction, too, war has intervened, coming as the culminating stroke to the policy of bold aggression and nigg\*rdly compromise which distinguished the diplomatic activities of Russia in Manchuria. Yet throughout these ten years the energies of Russia in Mid-Asia have not been dormant. Inaction ill becomes the Colossus of the North and schemes, which were *en l'air* in 1896, have been pushed to completion, others of equal enterprise taking their place. Roads now thread the high valleys of the Pamirs; forts crown the ranges and the military occupation of the region is established. Similarly, means of access between the interior of the Bokharan dominions and the Oxus have been formed; caravan routes have been converted into trunk roads and the services of the camel, as a mode of transport, have been supplemented by the waggons of the railway and military authorities.

The great importance attaching to the Orenburg-Tashkent railway and its especial significance at this moment will be appreciated more thoroughly when it is understood that hitherto the work of maintaining touch between European Russia and the military establishment of Russian Turkestan devolved upon a flotilla of fourteen steamers in the Caspian sea - an uncertain, treacherous water at best - and the long, circuitous railway route *viâ* Moscow and the Caucasus. This necessitated a break of twenty hours for the sea-passage between Baku and Krasnovodsk before connection with the Trans-Caspian railway could be secured. The military forces in Askhabad, Merv, Osh and Tashkent - including, one might add, the whole region lying between the south-eastern slopes of the Pamirs, Chinese Turkestan, the Russo-Afghan and the Russo-Persian frontiers—embracing the several Turkestan Army Corps, were dependent upon a single and interrupted line. Now, however under the provision of this supplementary and more direct Orenburg-Tashkent route the entire military situation in Central Asia has been dislocated in favour of whatever future disposition Russia may see fit to adopt. All the great depots of Southern and Central Russia - Odessa, Simpheropol, Kieff, Kharkoff and Moscow, in addition to the Caucasian bases as a possible reserve of reinforcements - are placed henceforth in immediate contact with Merv and Tashkent, this latter place at once becoming the principal military centre in these regions. Similarly, equal improvement will be manifested in the position along the Persian and Afghan borders, to which easy approach is now obtained over the metals of this new work and for which those military stations - Askhabad, Merv, Samarkand - standing upon the Trans-Caspian railway, and Osh, now serve as a line of advanced bases. It is, therefore, essential to consider in detail this fresh state of affairs; and as knowledge of the Orenburg-Tashkent railway is necessary to the proper understanding of the position of Afghanistan, the following study of that kingdom is prefaced with a complete description of the Orenburg-Tashkent work, together with the remaining sections of railway communication between Orenburg and Kushkinski Post.

The journey between St. Petersburg and Orenburg covers 1230 miles and between Orenburg and Tashkent 1174 miles, the latter line having taken almost four years to lay. Work began on the northern section in the autumn of 1900 and many miles of permanent way had been constructed before, in the autumn of 1901, a start was made from the south. The two sections were united in September of 1904; but the northern was not opened to general traffic until July, nor the southern before November, 1905. Prior to the railway communications were maintained by means of tarantass along the post-road, which led from Aktiubinsk across the Kirghiz steppes *viâ* Orsk to Irghiz and thence through Kazalinsk to Perovski, where the road passed through Turkestan to run *viâ* Chimkent to Tashkent - a journey of nineteen days. In addition to the galloping *patyorka* and *troika* - teams of five and three horses respectively - which were wont to draw the vehicles along the post-road and the more lumbering Bactrian camels, harnessed three abreast and used in the stages across the Kara Kum, long, picturesque processions of camels, bound for Orenburg and carrying cotton and wool from Osh and Andijan, silks from Samarkand and Khiva, tapestries from Khokand, lambs'-wool, skins and carpets from Bokhara and dried fruits from Tashkent, annually passed between Tashkent and Orenburg from June to November.

Of late years, the Trans-Caspian railway, begun by Skobeleff in 1880 and gradually carried forward by Annenkoff to Samarkand, has supplanted the once flourishing traffic of the post-road, along which the passing of the mails is now the sole movement. The new railway, too, is destined to eliminate even these few links with the past, although in the end it may revive the prosperity of the towns which through lack of the former trade have shrunk in size and diminished in importance. The line does not exactly follow the postal route; but from Orenburg which is the terminus of the railway from Samara on the Trans-Siberian system, it crosses the Ural river to Iletsk on the Ilek, a tributary of the Ural, from Iletsk the metals run *viâ* Aktiubinsk and Kazalinsk along the Syr Daria valley *viâ* Perovski to Turkestan and thence to the terminus at Tashkent.

Originally one of three suggested routes the Orenburg-Tashkent road was the more desirable because the more direct. Alternative schemes in favour of connecting the Trans-Siberian with the Central Asian railway on one hand and the Saratoff-Uralsk railway with the Central Asian railway on the other were submitted to the commission appointed to select the route. Prudence and sentiment, as well as the absence of any physical difficulties in the way of prompt construction, tempered the resolution of the tribunal in favour of the old post-track. It was begun at once and pushed to completion within four years - a feat impossible to accomplish in the case of either of the two rival schemes. The former of these, costly, elaborate and ambitious, sought to connect Tashkent with Semipalatinsk, the head of the steamboat service on the Irtish river, 2000 miles away, via Aulie-ata, Verni and Kopal. Passing between the two lakes Issyk and Balkash alternative routes were suggested for its direction from Semipalatinsk: the one securing a connection with the Trans-Siberian system at Omsk, the other seeking to pass along the post-road to Barnaul, terminating at Obi where the Trans-Siberian railway bridges the Obi river. The supporters of the scheme, which aimed at uniting the Saratoff-Uralsk railway with the Central Asian railway, proposed to carry the line beyond Uralsk to Kungrad, a fishing village in close proximity to the efflux of the Amu Daria and the Aral sea. From Kungrad, passing east of Khiva, the line would have traversed the Black Sands following a straight line and breaking into the Central Asian system at Charjui, opposite which, at Farab, a line to Termes *viâ* Kelif has been projected; and where, too, an iron girder bridge, resting on nineteen granite piers, spans the Amu Daria. It is useless at this date to weigh the balance between the several schemes; one of which, the Orenburg-Tashkent route, has become an accomplished fact to provide, doubtless in the near future, matter for immediate concern.

From Orenburg, of which the population is 80,000, the line 4 versts from the station crosses the Ural river by an iron bridge, 160 sagenes in length, running from there south to Iletsk, formerly the fortress Iletskaya Zashchita and at present a sub-district town of the Orenburg government with a population of 12,000.

From Iletsk a short branch line, rather more than three versts in length, proceeds to the Iletsk salt mines. Running eastwards and crossing the Ilek river from the right to the left bank by an iron bridge 105 sagenes in length it reaches Aktiubinsk, a district town in Turhai province. At this stage the railway traverses the main watershed of the Ural, Temir, Kubele and Embi rivers, arriving at the Kum Asu pass across the Mugodjarski range. The passage of the line through the mountains, extending 26 versts and a veritable triumph of engineering, imposed a severe test upon the constructive ability of the railway stall. Beyond the range the line turns southward following the valleys of the Bolshoi, Mali Karagandi and Kuljur rivers until, 600 versts from Orenburg, it arrives at Lake Tchelkar. The line now runs across the Bolshiye and Maliye Barsuki sands, where there is abundance of underground fresh water, to the northern extremity of the Sari Tchegonak inlet on the Aral sea, where it descends to sea-level moving along the north-eastern shore. The military depot at Kazalinsk - sometimes called Fort No. I - now approaches. This point founded in 1854 has lost its exclusive military character, ranking merely among the district centres of the Syr Daria province. Thirty-six versts from Kazalinsk, at the next station Mai Libash situated in a locality quite suitable for colonisation, a branch line, 4 versts in length, links up the important waterway of the Syr Daria with the Orenburg-Tashkent system, extending the facilities of the railway to shipping which may be delayed through stress of bad weather in the gulf or through inadequacy of the draught over the bar at the mouth of the river.

The main line keeps to the Syr Daria, running through the steppe along the post-road to Karmakchi or Fort No. 2. On leaving Karmakchi it diverges from the post-road to wind round a succession of lakes and marshes which lie at a distance of 50 versts from the river. The railway continuing its original direction now runs along the basins of the Syr Daria and the Karauzyak, a tributary which it crosses twice by small bridges, each constructed with two spins 60 sagenes in length. The character of the country from Karmakchi to Perovski, a distance of 138 versts, differs considerably from the region preceding it. The low-lying ground, broken by swamps, is everywhere covered with a thick overgrowth of reeds; while the more elevated parts, watered by ariks, are devoted to the cultivation of crops. The town of Perovski is situated in flat country 1½ versts from the station. From there to Djulek the line returns to the post-road and some distance from the Syr Daria passes between the river and the Ber Kazan lakes to Ber Kazan. At Djulek, the name being adopted from a small adjacent hamlet, it diverges from the post-road to run direct to the village of Skobelevski, one of those curious peasant settlements which located in the uttermost parts of Central Asia preserve in their smallest detail every characteristic of remote Russia. At such a place life savours so strongly of the middle ages that one scarcely heeds the purely modern significance which attaches to the Iron Horse.

Barely 30 versts from Skobelevski and situated close to the Syr Daria there is the station of Tumen Arik, which gives place to Turkestan, beyond which for 120 versts the line runs parallel with the post-road. The station is 2½ versts to the north of the town of Turkestan, one of the most important towns in the Syr Daria province and only 40 versts from the Syr Daria. The next station Ikan is associated with the conquest of Turkestan, a famous battle having been fought about the scene where the station buildings now stand. Twenty versts to the north of the station, close to the post-road, there is a memorial to Ural Cossacks who fell during the fight. Otrar the following station is identified with the tradition, derived from the existence of an enormous mound standing amid the ruins of the old-time city of Otrar, that Timur when his army crossed the Syr Daria ordered each of his soldiers to throw a handful of earth upon the ground at the point where the river was crossed in safety. Beyond Otrar the line runs along the right bank of the Aris river, crossing it at 1570 versts from Orenburg by a bridge of 90 sagenes in three spans of 30 sagenes each. Aris station is placed further along the river bank at a point where at some future date branch lines between it and the town of Verni, as well as to a junction with the Trans-Siberian system, will be laid. After leaving it the railway, still ascending, ultimately crosses the pass of Sari Agatch in the Kizi Kurt range, 267 sagenes above the sea.

The descent from the pass leads to Djilgi valley where the line crosses three bridges; passing over the Keless river by a single span bridge of 25 sagenes, over the Bos-su arik by a bridge of 18 sagenes, and over the Salar river by a bridge of 12 sagenes. Seventy-two versts further the line runs into its terminus at Tashkent which is now classed as a station of the first degree, although commercially it stands only sixth among the stations of the Central Asian railway ranking with Andijan and yielding priority of place to Krasnovodsk, Samarkand, Khokand, Askhabad and Bokhara. It is proposed at Tashkent, which lies 1762 versts from Orenberg, 1747 versts from Krasnovodsk and 905 versts from Merv and where it is evident that the needs of the railway have been carefully studied, to double the track between Orenburg and Tashkent. Large stocks of spare rails and railway plant are held in reserve in sheds, one important feature of this very efficient preparation being the possession of 20 versts of light military railway. The erection of engine-sheds, waggon-sheds, workshops, supply stores and quarters for the staff has followed a most elaborate scale, these buildings being arranged in three groups around the station. The railway medical staff and the subordinate traffic and traction officials occupy the first; the chiefs of the traffic, telegraph and traction departments are in possession of the second; the remaining employés securing accommodation in the third set of buildings placed at the end of the Station Square. Along the opposite face are the spacious workshops where between five and six hundred men find daily employment; in juxtaposition with the general depot are the railway hospital, where there is accommodation for 10 beds, the main supply stores and a naphtha reservoir with a capacity of 50,000 poods.

The country in the neighbourhood of Tashkent as seen from the railway presents the picture of a bountiful oasis. For 20 versts there is no interruption to a scene of wonderful fertility. Market gardens, smiling vineyards and fruitful orchards, not to mention cotton-fields and cornlands, cover the landscape. This abundance in a measure is due to careful irrigation and to the excellent system of conserving water which has been introduced. In support of this 113 specific works have been completed, each of which - and the giant total includes water-pipes by the mile and innumerable aqueducts - was a component part of that scheme of irrigation by which life in Central Asia alone can be made possible.

Although work upon the Orenburg-Tashkent line began in 1900 immediately after the completion of the original survey, wherever more careful examination has shown an advantage to be possible alterations have been made. The cost of construction, estimated at 70,000 roubles per verst, has been materially lessened by these means - a reduction of 24 versts equally divided between the Orenburg and Kazalinsk, Kazalinsk and Tashkent sections having been effected. By comparison with the old post-road the railway is much the shorter of the two lines of communication, the advantage in its favour amounting to 134 versts on one section of the road alone; the actual length between Tashkent and Kazalinsk being by post-road 953¼ versts and by railway 819¼.

In its local administration the railway is divided into four sections:

No. 1. From Orenburg to the Mugodjarski mountains about 400 versts.

No. 2. From Mugodjarski mountains to the sands of Bolshiye Barsuki, 400 to 560 versts.

No. 3. From the sands of Bolshiye Barsuki to Kazalinsk, 560 to 845 versts.

No. 4. From Kazalinsk to Tashkent, 845 to 1762 versts.

In the northern section the line is supplied everywhere with fresh water - in the first instance from the Ural river and then by the smaller rivers Donguz, Elshanka, Ilek, Kulden, Kubele, Temir and Embi; Koss lake and finally from wells.

Here are the Iletsk mines, famous for their rock salt. They despatch annually to Orenburg more than 1,500,000 poods of salt. The deposits cover a field 4 versts in extent with an unvarying thickness of more than 85 sagenes. The section now in working contains 100 milliard poods of salt. The annual yield may be reckoned at 7,000,000 poods. At the present time considerably less than this output is obtained, the high freight charges upon landcarried goods and the insufficiency of the labour available being responsible for the disproportion.

In another direction the Iletsk district is of importance; the veterinary station Temir Utkul, through which pass large herds of cattle on their way to Orenburg from the Ural province, having been established there. In the course of the year many thousands of cattle are examined by the surgeons of the Veterinary Board - the existence of the numerous cattle-sheds and the constant arrival of the droves adding to the noise and bustle of Iletsk, if not exactly increasing its gaiety. Further on, in the Aktiubinsk district of the Turgai province and along the whole valley of the Ilek river, where much of the land is under cultivation, wide belts are given over to the pasturage of these travelling mobs of cattle. Upon both banks of the river, too, there are Kirghiz villages. The area of the Aktiubinsk district is:

From an agricultural point of view this locality, on account of its paucity of population and fertile soil, is regarded with high favour by the immigration authorities. In the town of Aktiubinsk itself there is a yearly market of cattle, corn, manufactures and agricultural implements. This as a rule returns a quarter of a million roubles. Now that the railway has been completed and opened to passenger and commercial traffic, it is expected that it will give an immediate impetus to this region and that it will be possible to carry out a more careful examination of its mining resources, of which at the present time there are only indications. Copper has been traced along the Burt, Burl, Khabd and Kutchuk Sai rivers; deposits of coal have been found near the Maloi Khabd, Teress Butak and Yakshi Kargach rivers; iron has been located by the Burt river and naphtha on the Djus river; while there is reason to believe that gold exists in the vicinity.

On the second section, the line derives its water from springs in the Djaksi mountains, the basin of the Kuljur river, the Khoja and Tchelkar lakes. It abounds with Kirghiz villages but minerals do not play an important part in it. A few seams of coal are believed to exist in the ravine of the Alabass stream; and there are lodestone mines in the Djaman mountains and in the Kin Asu defile. Cattle-farming is more remunerative to the local settlers than cereal production; as a consequence there is very little cultivation. The district, which is 160 versts in length, occupies:

On the third section, which extends from the sands of Bolshiye Barsuki to Kazalinsk covering an area of 285 versts, the water-supply is obtained at first from shallow surface wells; but 45 versts from Kazalinsk the railway enters the Syr Daria valley, where water is abundant. The southern areas of this belt alone possess any commercial importance, owing to Kirghiz from the northern part of the Irgiz district who, to the number of some 10,000 *kibitkas*, winter there. The northern part is largely the continuation of a sparse steppe. The Kazalinsk district, beyond which the Orenburg-Tashkent railway enters Turkestan, is one of the least important divisions of the Syr Daria province, it embraces:

Around Kazalinsk itself, however, there has been but little agricultural activity. In the main, development is confined to the fertile Agerskski valley and along the Kuban Daria a tributary of the Syr Daria. The return is meagre and the population has not sufficient corn for its own needs. Large quantities of grain are annually imported into the neighbourhood from the Amu Daria district by boat across the Aral sea or by camel caravan. Railway traffic in this section nevertheless will not rely upon the carriage of cereal produce - live stock, which until the advent of the railway was sent to Orenburg by boat along the Syr Daria and then by caravan-road to the city, representing the prospective return which the district will bring to the line. The population is composed of:

 Dissenters | 1165 | Mahommedans | 4995

In the town there are:

 Synagogue | 1 | Native universities | 2

The revenue of Kazalinsk is 21,880 roubles. The town contains the residences of a district governor and an inspector of fisheries, together with district military headquarters, the administrative offices of the treasury and the district court, besides a district hospital and a public library. There are no hotels. In early days in the conquest of Turkestan, when the Kazalinsk road served as the only line of communication with European Russia, the town became a busy mart for Orenburg, Tashkent, Khiva and Bokhara; even now the Kirghiz in the district possess 770,000 head of cattle. Trade was obliterated by the advent of the Central Asian railway; but it is hoped that now the Orenburg-Tashkent line has been opened to traffic it may revive.

The village of Karmakchi which is situated on the banks of the Syr Daria is another point in this district. It boasts only a small population, in all some 300 odd, an Orthodox church, post and telegraph office, two schools, hospital and military base office. Importance attaches to the post as it is upon the high road along which is conducted the winter trek of the Kirghiz.

The value of the annual export trade of the region is:

 Cattle |  | 400,000

The value of the annual import trade amounts to:

With the opening of the line to traffic the transportation of fish by the railway has shown a tendency to increase. It is believed that the development of the fishing industry throughout the Aral basin is only a matter of time. At present the yearly catch of fish there reaches a total of 300,000 poods of which not less than one half is sent to Orenburg, the trade realising about 1,000,000 roubles. Hitherto little has been attempted. With the assistance of the railway a speedy expansion of the trade is assured - the interests of the fishing population and the general welfare of the river traffic having been advanced through the construction of a harbour upon the gulf of Sari Cheganak, in connection with the railway and only 5 versts distant. Aral sea, the station at this point, is 790 versts from Orenburg.

The fourth and last division, from Kazalinsk to Tashkent, runs along the valley of the Syr Daria. It is fully supplied with good water and possesses a larger population than either the second or the third sections. In it the line traverses the following districts of the Syr Daria province:

 Tashkent | 40,380 | 500,015

The Perovski district notwithstanding the good qualities of its soil produces very little corn; its chief population consists of nomadic Kirghiz who together own 990,000 head of cattle, the export cattle trade for the district amounting to 2,000,000 roubles annually. Small tracts of wheat and millet are cultivated here and there with the aid of *tchigirs*, native watering-pumps. The water is brought up from the river by means of a wheel, along the rim of which are fixed earthenware jugs or cylindrical vessels of sheet iron. These vessels raise the water to the height of the bank, whence it is very readily distributed. The best corn-lands are situated in the Djulek sub-district; but the primitive methods of agriculture existing amongst the nomads, in conjunction with the deficiencies in the irrigation system, explain at once the lack of cereal development in these areas.

Perovski was taken by Count Perovski on July 28, 1853, and in honour of the occasion by Imperial order the fortress was renamed Fort Perovski. Close to the town there is a memorial to the Russian soldiers who fell during that engagement.

 Synagogue | 1 | Military hospital | 1

together with district administrative offices similar to those established at Kazalinsk. The water-supply is drawn from the Syr Daria by means of wells. There are no hotels. The town revenue is only 12,350 roubles; although the importation of various goods from Russia into the Perovski district represents an annual sum of 2,900,000 roubles. With the advent of the Central Asian railway the commercial importance of Perovski, once a point through which caravans destined for Orenburg or Tashkent passed, waned. Now its trade is dependent upon the numerous Tartars and Ural Cossacks who have settled there. The place is unhealthy, and the settlement is affected by the malaria arising from the marshes which surround it. In spring and summer the lagoons swarm with myriads of mosquitoes and horse-flies; so great is the plague that the Kirghiz together with their flocks and herds after wintering along the Syr Daria beat a hurried retreat into the steppe, driven off by the tiresome insects. Many months elapse before the nomads return; it is not until the cold weather has set in that they appear in any numbers. Quite close to Perovski there are two immigrant villages - Alexandrovski and Novo Astrakhanski - erected in 1895, where the inhabitants are occupied with cattle-farming and the sale of hay in winter time to the Kirghiz. The district possesses nothing save a pastoral population and a small settlement of 200 souls at Djulek. This place, formerly a fortress founded in 1861 and now half destroyed by the floods of the Syr Daria, contains the administrative offices of the commissioner of the section, with a postal and telegraphic bureau and a native school. To the south of Djulek there is Skobelevski, another small village founded by immigrants in 1895 and containing some fifty-six houses. It is watered by the Tchilli arik. Skobelevski is rapidly developing into a trade-mart, the source of its good fortune being contained in the advantageous position which it fills in the steppe. Throughout this region, plots of land with a good quality soil and well watered have been granted to colonists.

The Chimkent district similarly possesses a rich and fertile soil, derived in the main from its network of irrigating canals. Its population is more numerous than other adjacent settlements and it supports altogether seventeen immigrant villages with a population of 5135. Chimkent contains in itself all the features necessary to the development of a wide belt of agriculture; but at the present time the most extensive tracts of wheat land are along the systems of the Aris, Aksu, Badam, Biiraldai, Burdjar, Tchayan and Bugun rivers. In the valley of the Arisi, along the middle reaches, there are rice-fields; and in the country round Chimkent the cotton industry has begun to develop. Experiments are being tried in the cultivation of beetroot as the soil and climatic conditions of the district are especially favourable to its growth. The present quality of the Chimkent beetroot is not inferior to that grown in the Kharkoff Government; so that Chimkent may well become, in the near future, the centre of a sugar-producing industry not only for Turkestan but for the whole of Central Asia, which so far has imported its sugar exclusively from European Russia.

The district town of Chimkent, formerly a Khokand fortress taken by the Russian forces under the command of General Chernaieff September 22, 1864, lies upon the eastern side of the railway. Its population comprises:

There are in the

 Mosques | 34 | Native schools | 16

Government offices similar to those in other towns are also found.

The town revenue is 11,760 roubles.

The trade returns of the Chimkent district amount to 5,000,000 roubles.

Through Chimkent passes a road from Tashkent to Verni. In the northern part of the district the line runs close to the ruins of the ancient town of Sauran and the fortress of Vani Kurgan, from where it proceeds to Turkestan. This was occupied in 1864 by the Russian forces under the command of General Verevkin.

Turkestan is situated 40 versts to the east of the right bank of the Syr Daria, at a height of 102 sagenes above sea level. It is watered by canals diverted from springs and small rivers which flow from the southern slopes of the Kara mountains. The combined population of the place comprises:

 Dissenters | 31 | Natives | 13,153

The outward appearance of the town is extremely handsome. There is much vegetation, many wide streets and large open spaces.

There are:

together with the administrative bureau of the sectional commissioner, besides district military headquarters, a district court and a post and telegraph office.

In respect of trade Turkestan occupies a prominent place. The great bulk of the raw products of the nomad cattle-farming industry is brought to it for the purpose of exchanging with articles of Russian manufacture. The yearly returns of the bazaars amount to 4,000,000 roubles; an increase upon this sum is expected now that in the Karatavski mountains, which are close at hand, lead mines have been discovered. The town revenue is 19,350 roubles.

The Tashkent district is more densely populated and possesses a more productive soil than Chimkent. The mineral resources, too, present greater promise while the trade returns reach a total of 50,000,000 roubles a year. Merchandise comes from Siberia into Orenburg and Tashkent; while, in addition, there are the local products and those from the interior of European Russia. The line serves, also, as the shortest route between Tashkent and the rich corn region at Chelyabinsk and Kurgan. Undoubtedly it will assist to supply the whole of Turkestan with Siberian corn, thereby setting free some of the land now under corn for the cultivation of cotton. Further, it connects Tashkent with the centre of the mining industry in the Ural mountains; and dense streams of Russian colonisation and trade pass by it into the heart of Central Asia.

The prosperity introduced both into Orenburg and Tashkent by the creation of railway communication between these two centres will exercise a very beneficial effect upon the capacity of their markets. Already improvement has been marked, the flow of fresh trade through these new channels following closely upon the advance of the construction parties. The period available for statistics does not represent the effect of the new railway upon local trade. The work of construction had not begun at the time the returns, which are given below, were drawn up. At that moment the commercial activity of Tashkent was shown by the following table:

*Table of Imports* - 1901

*Table of Exports* - 1901

 Military stores | 108,794

The passenger traftic into Tashkent over the Central Asian line was:

1901

During the few years which have elapsed since the figures were compiled the Orenburg-Tashkent railway has been opened, this happy accomplishment at once becoming a factor of the greatest economic importance in the commerce of Central Asia.

1. ↑ 1 Verst = 2/3 mile English.
2. ↑ 1 Sagene = 7 feet English.
3. ↑ 1 pood = 36 lbs.
4. ↑ 1 rouble = two shillings.