the road from Karshi, the chief town of eastern Bokhara, to Hissar and Kilif on the Oxus. The rivers Surkhan and Surkhab were crossed in several places, and considerable fresh information was also acquired of those little-known states Shignan, Darwaz, and Roshan, which lie immediately beyond the Afghan frontier in the direction of the Alai Tau. A map was drawn of the region by Captain Schwartz, which showed the results that had been attained, but what these precisely were we as yet only vaguely know. Such as have been divulged are to be found upon the map. It acquires fresh importance from the later journeys of M. Maieff and Captain Schwartz.

From that period to last year little or nothing was done in this direction, but the warlike preparations that were made last spring gave a fresh impulse to general explorations south of the Russian frontier. In fact it was absolutely necessary for the staff to know what sort of country it was between Karshi and Kilif before the army could advance to the Oxus. For the primary object at which Kaufmann intended that the corps concentrated at Djam should strike was Balkh, and to reach Balkh could only be accomplished by a direct march from Karshi either upon Khoja Salih or Kilif. Therefore it was that M. Maieff, editor of the "Tashkent Gazette," was sent upon those two expeditions which enabled him to describe the nature of the road to Shirabad, and its branches which led to Hissar and Khoja Salih. The information he acquired during these journeys was of great practical value, but it was confined to the roads leading

to the Oxus fords. He found that the best road was the direct one by Derbend and Shirabad to Kilif, but that the mountain road through Guzar was more practicable than had been supposed. On that road Baisun may be said to be the half-way post to Kilif. In August M. Maieff set out upon a second journey in Hissar, and on this occasion his discoveries were more important than on the former. He accompanied M. Weinberg's mission to Bokhara as far as Karshi, but at that town he turned in a south-easterly direction to Guzar. He explored the road leading from Tengi Khoram to the thickly-populated district of Koristan, passing through Akbatch and the valley of the Kerchak river, the existence of which was previously unknown. Another road, leading from Koristan eastwards through the Tengi pass to Shirabad, was found to be passable at all times, and constantly used by the inhabitants. From Shirabad the traveller turned in a north-easterly direction, crossing the Surkhan near Kakaity, and proceeded along the river to Regar and Sarijui. He then by a circular route reached Shahr-isebz, passing through the kishlaks of Sengri-dagh, Batch, Tashkurgan, and Yakobak. During this exploratory tour he acquired an immense amount of geographical and political information, that is stored away in the archives of Tashkent. It speaks well, however, for Russian influence that a traveller should have been able to pass in safety through that wild and semi-independent country which lies between Karabagh and Shahr-i-sebz. With regard to this journey the following information as to the southern parts of the

khanate of Bokhara has oozed out in the proceedings of the Russian Geographical Society. The khanate is, as is known, subdivided into several bekdoms, which remained very imperfectly known until M. Maieff explored them. Three of these bekdoms-Chirakcha, Guzar, and Shirabad-are on the route from the town of Guzar to Kilif, on the Amou Darya. That of Chirakcha occupies the mountains of Djam, and the neighbouring steppe, which last reaches the Kashka Darya river. Both mountains and steppe are but scantily watered, and therefore but poorly peopled with Usbegs of the Saray-kipchak branch, who are engaged in agriculture and cattle-breeding. Grain is raised on the steppe and exported to Samarcand and Katty-kurgan; the crop is estimated to produce annually six thousand four hundred hundredweights of wheat, and three thousand two hundred hundredweights of barley; rice is not cultivated, because of want of water. The bekdom of Guzar also is rich in wheat, and especially in cattle, which is bred on the hilly part of the bekdom. More than four thousand head of cattle may be seen at once in the weekly fairs of Guzar. The bekdom of Shirabad is rather poor, the export of grain being difficult; owing to the great distances from the larger centres of Karshi and Bokhara, agriculture cannot be profitable; and the trade in grain is in the hands of the tuachi, or travelling merchants, who purchase the grain at very low prices. The bekdom of Kobadgan lives on silkworm culture. The inhabitants of Kilif town, on the Amou Darya, live mostly by the salt trade, rock-salt being raised on the mountains, Kuityn

tan, and exported to Afghanistan, where it is exchanged for wheat, barley, and rice. There are, however, settlements engaged in agriculture in the valleys around the bekdom of Kilif. The bekdom of Baisun numbers a good many nomad Usbegs and a few settled Tajiks; both live by cattle-breeding. On the contrary, the bekdoms of Denau, Yurchi, and Ghissar, which occupy the upper parts of the Surkhan and Kafirganan rivers, as well as the Shahisabs (bekdoms of Shaar and Kitab), are very fertile; much rice, wheat, millet, barley, oats, and various fruits, are raised in the well-watered steppe-like valleys at the foot of the mountains, while the bekdom of Karshi is an important centre for trade with the steppe of the Amou Darya, and for the transit trade between India and Bokhara. The nomad Turcomans and Usbegs bring here the varied produce of their domestic manufactures-carpets, rough cloths, and saddles, and large flocks of horses-which are met by the caravans for the transport of merchandise. The krokesh from Karshi (men engaged in the transport of wares on horseback) are met with everywhere in the khanate of Bokhara, and the prices of transport are invariably one tena for the tash (about sixpence for 5.3 miles). As to the routes which lead from Guzar to the Amou Darya, and the exploration of whieh was the chief aim of M. Maieff's journey, there are two-one of them, one hundred and forty-six miles long, passes by Tengakhoram and through the cleft of Shirabad, while the other, ninety-seven miles long, leads through Takashur and Kuitan. Both offer several difficulties in the

mountainous region; but the former is preferable to the second, which crosses uninhabited regions without sweet water and wood. Both led to passages across the Amou Darya river to those of Shur-oba and of Kilif. The former is most important, as it is on the route to Balkh, Mazar-i-sherif, and to the great highway of Cabul; but it is rather difficult, the Amou Darya having here a width of about two thousand yards. The crossing at Kilif is far better, the river being only four hundred yards wide, steamers going as far up the river as that town, and the environs of Kilif affording very favourable conditions for a larger settlement. The distance from Kilif to the next Afghan town, Akche, is estimated to be only five tashes (twentyseven miles) long; twenty-seven miles more would lead them to Shiborgan; and a further eighty-five miles to Maimene, from which there remains only a ten-days' travel to Herat. M. Maieff observes, however, that all these distances must be estimated somewhat greater than the true ones. The results of M. Maieff's tour have been supplemented by another Russian traveller, M. Otshanin. This gentleman may be said. to have explored Karategin more completely than anyone else, visiting the capital, Gharm, and the winter settlement of Zaiglan, between which places he found an admirable road. The distance is sixty-five miles. Zaiglan is situated close to the junction of the Muksu and Surkhab rivers. The mountains here are very elevated, and M. Otshanin had to abandon his intention of proceeding through the Muksu Valley, and follow the better-known route through the Zir