succeeded in making his escape, and was the first European
to describe in detail “ The Merv Oasis.” His
book was not ready, I think, when I left England, nor J ’ 7 O ’
did I ever meet Mr. O ’ Donovan; but as I intended
myself, if possible, to go to Merv, I wrote to ask him
for useful hints. He has since perished with the army
o f Hicks Pasha in the Soudan ; but his reply is before
me, and I take pleasure in recording the kindness with
which he sent me a letter of three sheets answering
my questions.*
O ’ Donovan was an Irishman. The next traveller
* Some parts of his letter are of sufficient general' interest to warrant
my printing them. He wrote from “ Dinard, lie et Vilaine, France,
17th June, 1882,” and said:—
“ The journey from the Caspian to Samarkand had best be commenced
by rail from Krasnovodsk. The railroad is completed, I think,
as far as Yengi Sheher, in the Akhal Tekke. Then you can prochre
horses and camels, and proceed either through Merv or Bokhara. I
would recommend the route through Merv, especially if you can
establish yourself in the good graces of the Russians, who by this time
are doubtless all-powerful in that district. At this crisis, however, you
will find it very difficult to persuade the Russians that your mission has
nothing to do with politics.
“ Between the eastern terminal of the Trans-Caspian railway and
Samarkand I know of no way of travelling except by horses and
camels. The people of the country, excepting when travelling in
caravans, generally prefer horses. The only difficult piece of ground
you will have to cross, if you proceed by way of Merv, is that between
the Tejend and Murgab rivers, owing to its being in summer a waterless
district. During the rainy season there will be abundance of
water—-too much of it sometimes.
“ Á profios of water, it would be well to bear in mind that as soon as
you get eastward of Merv, and especially at Bokhara, it is absolutely
necessary to avoid drinking water from tanks or rain-pools, without
first causing it to be boiled, for in such waters the germs of the
Rishta, or guinea-worm, invariably abound . . . A large percentage
of the members of caravans coming from Bokhara are infected in this
way. . . .
“ The language spoken by the people inhabiting the district between
the Caspian, Merv, and the Oxus is primitive Turkish, bearing the
same relation to the modern Osmanli spoken at Constantinople that
the language of Chaucer does to our latter-day English. Should you
to be mentioned is a Scotchman, with whom I have the
privilege of being acquainted. I mean Colonel Stewart,
of the 5th Punjaub Infantry, who took upon himself
in 1880 to visit the Turkoman frontier; and, that he
might mix freely among the people, assumed the disguise
of an Armenian horse-dealer of Calcutta. In
the bazaar at Muhammabad he chanced to meet
O Donovan, who told him he “ spoke English wonderfully
well for an Armenian,” but did not detect his
dissimulation ; nor was it until some time afterwards,
Colonel Stewart told me, that he made himself known
be acquainted with Constantinople Turkish, you will acquire the
Turkish of Central Asia in a very short time. If you have anyone with
you who can speak Persian, you will get on well enough with the better
classes of the community. Among the nomadic peoples, however,'
Turkish will be absolutely necessary. . . .
“ When I was at Merv, I bought from a Jewish merchant of the
place, named Matthi, a copy of the New Testament* printed by one of
the Bible Societies in the language of the nomadic Turkomans—
Jagatai Tatar. I believe you can get any number of them in London,
for it was there that the copy I saw was printed. For general distribution
in Central Asia, the Scriptures printed in the Turkish of Azerbaijan
(West Caspian provinces), and which resembles as nearly as possible
the language of Bokhara, would be requisite.f
“ The dangers of travel in Central Asia have been, since the time I
travelled there, immensely lessened by the Russian advance. They
consisted principally of the attacks upon the caravans crossing between
* O D o n o v a n ’ s m e n t i o n o f t h e s a l é o f " t h e S c r i p t u r e s b y a J e w i s n o t e w o r t h y , f o r
C o l o n e l S t e w a r t t o l d m e t h a t , w h i l s t o n t h e T u r k o m a n b o r d e r , h e m e t w i t h a J e w
w h o w a s n o t o n l y s e l l i n g t h e N e w T e s t a m e n t , b u t h a d r e a d i t , a n d t o s u c h p u r p o s e
t h a t , q u i t e a p a r t f r o m C h r i s t i a n t e a c h i n g , h e h a d b e c o m e c o n v i n c e d t h a t J e s u s w a s t h e
M e s s i a h , a n d h e a s k e d C o l o n e l S t e w a r t f o r d i r e c t i o n s a s t o h o w h e m i g h t c a r r y o u t
h i s d e s i r e t o b e c o m e a C h r i s t i a n — a n i n c i d e n t f r o m w h i c h I d r e w h o p e t h a t t h e r e a d i n g
o f m y d i s t r i b u t e d B i b l e s , t h o u g h u n a c c o m p a n i e d b y h u m a n t e a c h i n g , w i l l , w i t h G o d ’ s
b l e s s i n g , p r o d u c e l i k e f r u i t s .
t M r . O ’ D o n o v a n i s , I t h i n k , n o t q u i t e a c c u r a t e i n s o m e o f h i s r e m a r k s a b o u t t h e
S c r i p t u r e s . T h e G o s p e l o f S t . M a t t h e w , k n o w n a s B a s s e t t ’ s v e r s i o n , h a s b e e n
p r i n t e d i n J a g a t a i T a t a r , b y t h e B r i t i s h a n d F o r e i g n B i b l e S o c i e t y , b u t t h e
r e m a i n d e r o f t h e N e w T e s t a m e n t h a s n o t y e t b e e n t r a n s l a t e d , a n d I h a v e h e a r d
n o t h i n g e l s e w h e r e t o l e a d m e t o s u p p o s e t h a t t h e T u r k i s h o f A z e r b a i j a n w o u l d b e
b e t t e r f o r t h e k h a n a t e s t h a n J a g a t a i . I n f a c t , D r . V a n o r d e n , w r i t i n g f r o m K h i v a ,
s p e a k s o f t h e K i r g h e s e N e w T e s t a m e n t h e m e t w i t h t h e r e a s “ a b o u t t h e s a m e a s t h e
p e o p l e s p e a k i n K h i v a . ” A g a i n , “ T h e l a n g u a g e s p o k e n h e r e , t h o u g h T u r k i s h , i s
q u i t e d i f f e r e n t f r o m t h a t s p o k e n i n t h e C a u c a s u s . ’ ’