24
above, and a tower on either side. A number of
troops were drawn up, Who received me with a salute,
and we dismounted to be received by two officers at
the entrance, one of whom took charge of my presents
for his master. We then crossed the first court, and,
on entering the second, I caught sight of his Majesty,
at a distance, through an open door.
O f him I had read various and somewhat conflicting
accounts. O f his father^ Nasr-Ullah, there seemed to
be but one opinion, and that about as bad as it could well
b e ; but of the reigning Emir, Seid Muzaffar-ed-din,^
Vambery, in 1863, spoke rather favourably*
For my own part, I heard stories from Russians and
natives alike, to which I shall hereafter refer, that in a
manner confirmed both the bright and shady sides of
the Emir’s character. Meanwhile, knowing that the
man I had to deal with was a despot, and remembering
his power to hinder or advance my journey, I was
* Vambery says, “ The Emir is in the forty-second year of his age,
of middle stature, somewhat corpulent. He has a very pleasing countenance,
fine black eyes, and a thin beard. In his youth he . . . . was
always distinguished for the gentleness and affability of his manners.
He carries out strictly the political principles of his father, and, m his
capacity as Mullah and pious Mussulman,, is the declared enemy of
every innovation. Op his accession he had impressed upon his signet
the device I Government by justice,’ and up to the present moment has
most scrupulously observed i t . . . . iowards his grandees, who for the
most part well merit the treatment they meet with, he is very severe ;
for although punishing with death even trivial offences in these, he
spares the poorer classes. Hence the expression applied to him by the
people, and which does him honour, for^ they say of him that he is a
‘ k i l le r of elephants and protector of mice.’ ”
Ten years later, Dr. Schuyler had a short audience with the Emir,
and described him as “ tall, stout, with sallow complexion, and small
dark, uneasy eyes, which he kept turning in all directions His flesh
l o o k e d very flabby and unhealthy, and his hands trembled constantly
throughout the interview, as I have been told from a too frequent use
0fT e iy e irs later still, M. Stremoukhof, ex-political secretary of General
naturally anxious for a favourable interview, I wanted
in the first place to extend my travels into parts of
the khanate that Dr. Schuyler was not allowed to
visit, next to distribute among the Bokhariots my
remaining copies of the Scriptures, beginning with the
Sovereign himself, and, lastly, I wished to .search for
manuscripts, and to get- all the general information I
possibly could.
The Bokhariots have a poetical conceit that a
stranger, on being admitted to an audience with the
Emir, is so overwhelmed with the brightness o f his
presence, that he needs an attendant on either side to
support him from fainting. I fancy that intercourse
with the Russians, who, as conquerors, do not stand
upon such nonsense, is breaking down the custom, or
perhaps the attendants did not think me a fainting
subject. A t all events I have no recollection of being
supported into “ the presence.” The courtiers began
to bow immediately they turned the corner of the
court from whence his Majesty was visible. I had
received the hint, however, that I should act as if
being presented to my own or the Russian sovereign,
and I accordingly reserved my bow till I entered the
audience chamber. It was a good-sized room, carpeted
von Kaufmann, gave, in the St. Petersburg Gazette, a less favourable
account than either of the preceding, saying, “ The present Emir,
j whose mother was a slave, is an uneducated, unmannerly coward, and
an immoral man. He spent his youth among thirty wives, several
hundreds of concubines, a whole squadron of batchas, reciters of
j poetry, jesters, and jugglers. The young Emir’s mental faculties could
not possibly be developed among the depraved set with whom he asso-
I ciated, and it is now commonly said of him that he has little savat,
meaning that he can hardly decipher any document. He is even now
j accessible only to flatterers, mischief makers, and charlatans. . . .
I During his father’s lifetime the young man put some little restraint
upon himself, but when he became Emir he gave full vent to all his
worst propensities.”