quickly withdrawn, and the service, as a whole,
was, outwardly, far more decorous than that of an
average Christian assembly, whether Anglican, Roman,
or Greek.
Although at the extreme end and out o f doors,
as I have intimated, we could hear quite plainly the
mullah’s words from the sanctuary, and further on in
the service some sentences were uttered by another
mullah from under one of the stoas on the right, about
halfway down. Again all the worshippers stood, then
bowed down, and next prostrated themselves to the
ground, after which I was told the “ Jumma” was finished.
Something else was to follow, which I did not make
out to be of the nature of preaching, but rather of
staying behind for private prayer. T h e great mass of
the congregation began now to move, and with their
faces towards the exit, o f course they had a full view
of the “ infidels.” T he Emir’s men were ready, not to
say in haste, to take me off, but I had noticed one
thing that I was anxious to inspect. It very much
resembled a font, and, remembering that Nestorian
Christianity had once been known in the land, I
wondered whether this object could have come down
from those mediaeval times. Accordingly, I went up
to, and looked around, over, and under it, if perchance
there might be on it some Christian emblem or device ;
but whilst so doing I was quickly surrounded, the
crowd looking, I fancied, not too well pleased, so that
if ever I felt nervous in Bokhara, it was at that moment,
for I thought they might misinterpret what I was doing,
and set upon me, as, without provocation, a man assaulted
and attempted to kill Dr. Schuyler while examining the
shrine of a saint. I did not linger, therefore, over my
inspection ; but, seeing nothing that led me to suppose
MEDRESSE OF ABD U L AZ IZ KH AN .