writer sometimes permits himself to indulge when he thinks that it may be prejudicial to this country.

The battle commenced with a skirmish with the swarms of irregular cavalry that covered the front of the Bokharan entrenchments, but these were slowly and completely driven in upon the main body. Even after this success the battle raged furiously, and several of the entrenchments had to be carried at the point of the bayonet. The arrival of a fresh Russian detachment on the opposite bank of the river with artillery was the decisive turning point in the day; and after that event the Bokharan army broke and fled in all directions. The Ameer, who was present, retired with a small detachment to Jizakh, leaving in the hands of the Russians his artillery, his treasure, and untold stores of warlike munitions and provisions. No official statement was published of the loss on either side; but it has been computed that the Bokharans lost over one thousand-a total which seems moderate considering the bitterness of the fight-and that the Russians only lost twenty or thirty wounded. But although the price paid for this victory is not exactly known, its results were so great and so important that it would not have been dearly purchased at great slaughter. The prestige of Bokhara was annihilated on that field of battle, and Russia, secure in her own strength, became doubly secure through the panic that unnerved all Asiatics after the great overthrow at Irjar. The practical results of the battle were immediate, and the greatest of these was the capture of the fortress of Nau, which stands half-way between

Khodjent and Ura-tepe. The first step in the siege of the former of these towns was to garrison and provision Nau, which was accomplished in the short space of two days. An advance was thereupon at once made upon Khodjent. On the 29th of May the city was surrounded and attacked from two sides. The inhabitants had made some imperfect preparations for defence, but, as Mr. Schuyler observes, the resistance here was not so great as might have been expected from a town of such importance and one so strongly situated. The garrison, too, comprised some of the regular Bokharan army, under the command of a relative of the Ameer. After a heavy bombardment of five days it surrendered at discretion, the Russians admitting a loss of eleven killed and one hundred and twenty-two wounded.

After his defeat at Irjar, Mozaffur sent back the Russian envoys to Tashkent laden with presents. But the Ameer had not yet given up the game as lost. He had been beaten in the field, several of his fortresses had been wrested from him, but there still remained to the reputed head of Islam in Central Asia other armies and other fortresses wherewith to carry on a war. After the fall of Khodjent there was a truce of some months' duration, but in the early winter of the same year the attitude of Bokhara was held to be so unsatisfactory that a further advance was considered to be necessary. Ura-tepe and Jizakh were the two principal outposts remaining to the Ameer now that Chinaz and Khodjent had been taken from him. They each guarded a road to Samarcand, the former one from the

The

east and the latter one from the north-east. The Russians closely besieged Ura-tepe on the 6th of October, and on the 14th it was in their hands. greater part of the garrison appears to have escaped, and the Russians admitted a loss of two hundred killed and wounded.

Almost on the same day Jizakh shared the same fate, being carried by assault, despite its natural strength and the number of its garrison, after a short bombardment. The garrison fought bravely-particularly its leaders, who were nearly all killed on the walls-but apparently with little skill. The official numbers given of the loss on either side appear strange when we remember that the large garrison fought under cover and stood manfully to its post. The Russian official statement gave the Russian loss at six killed and ninety-two wounded, and that of the Bokharans at six thousand men hors de combat, and two thousand prisoners! If these figures are to be relied upon this is certainly the battle in which the superiority of European discipline and arms over brute courage has been most clearly demonstrated. The result of these triumphs-so complete, and obtained with such little loss-was that Bokhara was perforce compelled to sue for peace. Mozaffur Eddin himself recognised the impossibility of continuing the struggle alone.

He made overtures for an alliance to the Ameer of Afghanistan, and as affairs happened at that time to be in a very troubled state in Cabul, he entered into particularly close relations with Faiz Mahomed Khan,

Governor of Balkh and one of the sons of Dost Mahomed. Some clue is to be found as to the nature of these negotiations in the Blue Book on Afghan affairs published in November 1878 (see pages 15 and 18). He even made propositions to our Government, which politely snubbed him; but although he could find no allies in his extremity, the turbulence and fanaticism of his people were urging him more and more to again draw the sword which had been for the moment sheathed.

After the fall of Jizakh the Russian generals, who had been continually reprimanded for their activity, took so sanguine a view of the condition of things in Turkestan that the following official announcement was sent home. "Perfect tranquillity reigns throughout the country of Turkestan. The war with Bokhara, as far as regards Russia, is at an end. The GovernorGeneral (Orenburg) hopes for a long continuance of tranquillity, provided the Ameer of Bokhara abstains from a renewal of hostilities. Amicable relations with Khokand are confirmed, and commerce is everywhere re-established. Many caravans come from Bokhara, and go thither. Even the West Siberian corps, ordered to the territory of Turkestan, returns home again." But although there was a lull in the strife, it was uncertain how long it would continue. Six months after the capture of Jizakh the "Invalide Russe" declared that Russia had entertained no negotiations or diplomatic relations with the Ameer Mozaffur.

In September, 1867, Kaufmann became GovernorGeneral of the newly-constituted province of Turkestan,

and he at once pursued the negotiation of a treaty which had been drawn up by his predecessor, General Krjihanoffsky. The draft of this treaty was sent to the Ameer for approval, but instead of replying to the proposal made him he began to discuss other matters and to correspond with Kaufmann upon other topics. Mozaffur's procrastination assumed a more dubious aspect when he refused to surrender a Russian officer and three soldiers who had been carried off by robbers on the Jizakh road. The officer-Slushenko by name -was tortured and compelled to adopt the Mahomedan religion. The immediate consequence of that act was that Kaufmann began to mass troops for an advance on Samarcand, and the Ameer to raise levies from amongst his subjects.

Unfortunately for him, he no longer ruled an united State. His internal foes were not less dreadful to him than his external. If his own inclinations had been alone consulted, it is probable that he would not have gone to war with Russia under any pretext whatever. He had already tasted enough of the pleasures of such warfare. But he was no longer a free agent. The ulemas of Bokhara and Samarcand were urging him on to resume the "holy" war. His eldest son, Katti Torah, was intriguing against his authority, while his nephew, Seyyid Khan, was in open defiance at Shahr-isebz. The latter was soon in the position of an independent prince, for Shahr-i-sebz cast off the Bokharan yoke, and became independent under the leadership of a chief known as Jura Beg. It was at such a moment as this, when Bokhara was as a