open to suspicion. I suppose, therefore, he had been
primed to say what he afterwards added, namely, that
he hoped I should say nothing against their country.
I replied, and replied truly, that I.should have a great
deal to say about the hospitable manner in which I
had been received.
I learned that a horseman had arrived from Bokhara
from the Kush-beggi, having been only two days on
the road. This made us long to be hurried forward,
for we had that day accomplished only 13 miles, and
were to go no further— a great contrast to our travel
in the Russian Steppe, where we expected to do a
similar distance in little more than an hour. Moreover,
we were poorly lodged in a room about 12 feet by 8
feet, with bare mud walls, not even plastered, wooden
pegs stuck in holes to hang our things on, and two
rickety bedsteads ; and also there was nothing in the
town worth delaying our journey for. Chirakchi was
formerly a dependency of Shahr-i-sabz, but is now
governed by this boy-bek, who, report said, spent his
money prodigally, and grumbled at his father because,
in his annual migrations from the capital to his summer
residence at Kitab, he did not stay with his son on the
way.
Several sons, some of them quite young, the Emir
has distributed through the khanate as beks or
governors ,of provinces, as at Chirakchi.* I observed,
however, that this youth was surrounded with aged
* I presume that the one we saw is the same that Dr. Yavorski,
when passing through in 1878, speaks of as the youngest son of the
Emir, so that, if my information were true, the Bek could have been then
but 14 years of age. The position and conduct of the Emir illustrates
the expression in Psalm xlv. 16, “ Instead of thy fathers, thou shalt
have children: whom thou mayest make princes in all lands,” and
Muzaffar thus emulates the example of Rehoboam, who, desiring many
wives, “ dealt wisely, and dispersed of all his children throughout all
courtiers, who paid him the utmost deference. After
our departure there was sent for my acceptance another
caparisoned horse and khalats.
Next-morning at 6.30, soon after sunrise, we started
for Karshi, -a distance of 47 miles, which I was determined,
if possible, to accomplish that day. Several of
the authorities accompanied us out of the town, so that
our cavalcade numbered fully 20 persons, one of whom,
an old man, asked if we could give him a little quinine,
which I promised to do when we unpacked at the next
station. Our road lay along the valley of the Kashka-
daria oasis, descending from an altitude of 1,300 feet
at Chirakchi to 800 feet at Karshi. Between Chirakchi
and Karatigan the oasis somewhat thins off, but there
is everywhere plenty of water, forage, and fuel. About
two hours after starting we traversed low flat-topped
hills near the river, with plains between us and the
stream, and a few yourts surrounded by plots o f cultivated
land. Further on the road we passed through a
better cultivated and more populous district. Wheat
and rice fields, cotton plantations and vegetable gardens
extended along both sides of the road, whilst the
winding river and the snowy summits of mountains in
the distance helped to vary the scene. We passed
two kishlaks on the right, crossed the river at the
village of Karabagh, and were met about halfway to
our destination by messengers sent by the Bek of
Karshi. A t a small place called Chim, or Sham, we
stopped two hours for dinner, and then, driving on to
within seven miles of Karshi, we were met by another
messenger, who invited us to take refreshment, and
the countries of Judah and Benjamin, unto every fenced city” (2 Chron.
I x’- 23). Also the youth of some of the beks, and the condition of
Bokhara, is a commentary on Isa. iii. 4, “ I will give children to be
their princes, and babes shall rule over them.”