ten millions of roubles annually, will never pay, and will always remain a barren acquisition to the State. Well, as far as this burden is concerned, we will not deny the fact that the expenses of a European administration, be it even a Russian one, will never be defrayed by the income. It will always prove an expensive colony-a luxurious acquisition; but Russia had nevertheless to submit to this sacrifice in the interests of her ulterior schemes. She was compelled to secure in her rear a safe position, whilst she had the intention of moving on the main line from the south-west towards the south-east-I mean from southern Russia across the Caucasus, the Caspian, and along the northern border of Persia to the goal of her desire. This was the route originally conceived for the Russian march against India; and the endurance, astuteness, and cleverness with which this line of communication was begun and continued, are really unrivalled in the history of conquering nations.

Our space is too limited to dwell here at length upon the details of this plan, carried on for nearly two centuries. We shall speak rather of that portion which relates to the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea, and state that Russian aggression dates as far back as 1825, when the afterwards famous Muravieff started on his mission to Khiva from Krasnovodsk, in order to explore the desert and to bring home information

about this little or scarcely known tract of country. Immediately after him followed in 1835 Karelin, who investigated the shore from the Gurgan river as far as Krasnovodsk, and since that time scarcely a year has elapsed without some Russian officers, under the guise of the famous Russian scientific expeditions, visiting this shore to continue the explorations. The result of it was that whilst the rest of Europe remained in utter ignorance about the people and the country on the eastern shore of the Caspian, Russia was pretty well informed as to the geographical position of that country, as well as to the mutual relations of the Turkoman inhabitants. The picture drawn by Galkin may well be defective, but it is the first reliable report, and I do not exaggerate when I state that since the occupation of Ashurada Russians were by no means strangers amongst the Yomuts and Goklans. Having duly reconnoitered the country, the proper move against the Turkomans began only after the subjugation of the three khanates, and particularly after the horrible massacre of the Turkomans subject to Khiva in 1873. The bloody affair of Kizil-Takir, in which nearly 10,000 Turkoman Yomuts lost their lives, chilled the blood of their brethren on the south of the Balkans. The Russian position at Tchekishlar was easily secured, and in fact no serious fight took place during the whole time that the Russians had

entered the country of the Yomuts, until the period when they came into contact with the next Turkoman tribes, namely, the Tekkes, who inhabit the country eastward of the Yomuts, and who were at all times noted for their strength, wealth, and courage. At the hands of the Tekke-Turkomans, particularly of the Akhal section of them, the Russian army experienced more than one disagreeable surprise for imagining they had before them opponents like the Uzbegs, Sarts, and Tadjiks of the three khanates, or Turkomans of the caste of Yomuts. They awoke to the consciousness of having to deal with a hardy race, ready to fight and to defend their homes, in spite of the inferiority of their arms.

The history of the defeats of Lomakin, of the unsuccessful attack of Lazareff, and of the heavy cost in blood and money incurred by the various Russian expeditions, is too fresh in memory to be recalled here again. Thanks to the useful and well-known publications of Charles Marvin, we may forego enumerating the details of the siege and capture of Geok-Tepe by Skobeleff in 1880. Suffice it to Suffice it to say, that courageous and heroic as was the defence of the besieged Turkomans, who fought under the lead of Makhdum-Kuli and Tekme Serdar, their two chieftains, the hardships and privations the Russians had to endure, and the extraordinary cool blood and doggedness they exhibited

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at that time, was in keeping with it. Out of 40,000 Turkomans, huddled in the fortress of Geok-Tepe, 6,500 bodies were found inside the fortress, 8,000 fugitives were slaughtered, many hundreds of women and children were killed, so that nearly half of the garrison perished. "During the actual assault and in the subsequent pursuit, the infantry engaged fired 273,804 rounds, the cavalry 12,500, and the artillery 5,864 rounds; 224 military rockets were also expended" (Marvin). With this successful stroke against the Akhal-Tekke Turkomans, Russia had almost entirely broken the strength and power of the hitherto mostly dreaded nomads of Central Asia. Thanks to the effect of modern arms and to her drilled army, she accomplished a feat neither Djenghis Khan nor Timur, or any of the Asiatic conquerors could boast of.

The Turkomans, numbering about a million of souls, justly enjoyed in antiquity, and do still at present, the fame of being the best horsemen and the most valiant warriors all over Asia. Having lived. amongst them in the very height of their independence, and having had opportunity to witness their daily life and to study their character, I am bound to fully subscribe to the above quoted estimate of their reputation. "Allah first, then our horse and arms, and then in the third place our family and relations,"

is a common saying amongst them, and the care the Turkoman bestows upon his horse and upon his arms is far superior to the tenderness he is in the habit of showing to his wife and children. A proverb amongst them says, If you see a party attacking the house of your father and mother, join them in the plunder and robbery;" and indeed, so utterly boundless is their desire for forays, battles, and daring adventures, that for want of a better opportunity they fall upon each other, even for the sake of a very trifling matter. The fatigue and hardship which these fellows can endure is most wonderful; not less their pluck and contempt of death, and albeit they say that, "Try twice, and if you do not succeed turn back the third time;" it very rarely occurs that the double attack of a Turkoman should fail to obtain the object in view. As to the dread they used to spread among the neighbouring nations, I will only quote one instance, of which I myself was an eye-witness. Having been asked one day to bestow my blessing upon a party ready for a foray, I took the rather curious fancy to join the fellows, and to be present at one of their engagements. Crossing the Gurgan, we entered the Persian territory; I found myself side by side with the Serdari.e., leading man. He spied with his eagle eyes into the environs around him, and his appearance alone was sufficient to put a travelling company of Persians,