The length of their route the Baron states as 370
miles, but observes that there is a route followed sometimes
by couriers and camel caravans, shorter by 90
miles. O f the two routes, Abbott followed the shorter,
and Shakespear and Taylour Thompson the longer, in
1840 and 1842, since which time probably no European,
except M. Lessar and the two Frenchmen, has been over
either. Our travellers stayed in Merv for three weeks,
and then passed on, leaving the oasis that has so often
changed masters, to begin a new period of its history,
and, from having belonged to an Alexander more than
2,000 years ago, to pass to another Alexander in the
person of the Emperor of Russia.
Leaving Khiva on the 5th of May by Pitniak, they followed the west
bank of the Amu comfortably, to a spot called Kougar-chin, or Kurgan-
chin, within about 30 miles of Kabakli. Then began the difficult part
of their journey, when on the 12th May they struck into the desert, and,
after 42 hours, had ridden 75 miles to the well Chelganak; their way
lying over undulating sandhills covered with saxaul, and scanty thin
grass which grows in spring. On this the Turkoman horses were supported
almost entirely during the journey. The well, 80 feet deep,
had brackish water, and not sufficient in quantity without digging
deeper. At length, on the 16th, they resumed the journey, the heat
being almost insupportable, and the chief declaring that it was absolutely
necessary, on account of the horses, to get to the next well, Chashmah,
as quickly as possible. This involved crossing two tongues of sand,
each 2 or 3 miles wide, in which the horses sank to the houghs. The
stage was accomplished in 27 hours, a distance, the Baron says, of no
kilometres; but this looks like a mistake, since it would involve a caravan
of camels doing 68 miles in 27 hours, which, I take it, is out of the
question. The distance on my Russian map does not exceed 25 miles.
This well was situated at the extremity of the bed of the Murgab, and
further south wells increased in number, and vegetation became more
general. Traces appeared of former cultivatiop, and on the 21st of
May, after 17 days’ journey, they entered Merv.
C H A P T E R L X X V I
M E R V A S AN N EX ED.
The fortress of Kaushid Khan.—Irrigation and vegetation of the oasis.
—MervTekkes: their number, divisions, and distribution, with agriculture,
manufactures, and trade.-—Their religious and moral characteristics.—
Their lawlessness at home and atrocities abroad.—Persian
slaves.— Submission of Mervis to Russia.— Explanations of the Moscow
Gazette.— Suspicions of Russian intrigue.— Dependence of Merv
on Khiva.—Signs, in 1883, of coming submission.— Partial opposition
to Russian ru'iel- -The present situation.
f | " H E journeys of O ’ Donovan, Alikhanoff, and
X others have served to remove many false impressions,
and to give us a fair idea of Merv as it is,
namely, a huge fortress, called Kaushid Khan Kala.
The “ Kala ” forms, as Benoist-Mdchin says, “ a
truncated cone,” of which the base is wanting, for it
is finished only upon three sides. In those sides,
moreover, are numerous breaches.*
The fort, built in a loop of the river, is protected on
* The history of this is that when, in 1873 and subsequently, the
Russians were supposed to be coming, the divisions of Turkomans were
summoned in haste, each to perform a certain part; but the Saryks, to
whom the fourth side was allotted, did not answer the summons before
the fear of invasion was over.
The enclosure is about 2 miles long by 1 mile wide at the bazaar.
The length of the walls Alikhanoff gives as about 3 miles, and he speaks
of the profile as frightful, the earthwork being 80 feet thick at base,
tapering to 30 feet at summit, and 35 feet high. There is no regular