CHAPTER IV.

RUSSIA'S MILITARY STRENGTH IN CENTRAL ASIA.

THERE is no point of greater interest to Englishmen, connected with the presence of Russia in Central Asia, than the military resources and power of that country. It is impossible for Englishmen to affect any philosophy in studying the conduct and movements of the great northern empire. Russians may be actuated by some honourable motive, or they may not; they may conquer and annex territory in the interests of humanity and civilisation, or the reverse; but whether they do or not is a very secondary matter for this country, whose interest in and concern at Russia's operations are solely occasioned by the menacing position Russia has assumed in Central Asia with regard to India. It will be said that this is indulging in a very idle fear, in a very unfair hostility. It will be called by one school un-English; by another, typical of England. It will be condemned as a selfish and as a chauvinist sentiment. But of the perfect accuracy of this statement there will be no doubt in the mind of any impartial observer of affairs. Our attitude towards Russia is one of

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ENGLAND AND RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA.

watchful suspicion; and if events progress in the same direction as they have been progressing during the past ten years, that suspicion must so far become intensified that it will produce action of a decided character. Russia's attitude towards us is, if we are not wholly mistaken in reading the meaning of the policy she has pursued for so many years, one of covert hostility. The practical point to ascertain, then, is, what is the military strength which this covert hostility has at its disposal? For Englishmen the question which transcends all others in importance and interest is, how many men can Russia send across the Oxus? What troops can be conveyed by the Caspian to either Krasnovodsk or the Atrek? And what reserves can be pushed forward by the armies of the Caucasus and of Orenburg to reinforce the offensive army which should have taken up its position in the outskirts of Cabul?

The inquiry is not free from uncertainty and doubt. It is impossible to estimate exactly beforehand the degree of difficulty which the obstacles of naturesuch as the badness of the roads, the want of water, and pasture for the horses and baggage animals, the delay in bridging rivers, the hindrances to be encountered in a mountainous region, and numerous other similar circumstances-would offer to the advance of a considerable army either towards the Hindoo Koosh or Herat. It is possible to minimise each and all of these; but it is also far easier to magnify them. Natural obstacles have a habit of vanishing before large armies and determined generals. In all direc

tions, it should, however, be remembered that there are roads, although they have been for many years neglected, and have thus fallen into a state of disrepair. The rivers, which are neither very large nor very broad, are certainly in most cases unbridged; but none of them present any difficulties to pontooning. There are also fords on the Atrek, the Heri Rud, the Murghab, and the Oxus at many places and available during the greater part of the year; and where fords do not exist there are plenty of boats to be captured along the banks of the river. Readers of the campaign in Khiva will remember that it was by a lucky find of twelve of these river boats that Kaufmann was alone. enabled to cross over from the right bank of the Oxus to the left.

It is pertinent to this subject to give here a list of the principal places where it is possible to cross the Oxus, which is the only great river in Central Asia. The Oxus is a very broad river, and also a very rapid one. At Charjui, the post on the main road from Bokhara to Merv, the river is six hundred and fifty yards wide; but it is very deep and rapid at this point. At Kerkhi, which is the next stage higher up the river, we have it on the authority of Professor Vambery, who used this crossing, that it is twice as wide as the Danube at Pesth (that is to say, about one thousand yards). It occupied half an hour in getting across. At Khoja Salih, which is the extreme north-western point of nominal Afghan soil, the river is very wide, being eight hundred yards across; but, on the other hand, it is shallower here, and the current is much

slower. A Russian authority estimates it at three and a half miles an hour, and from the same source we are informed that the Cossack carriers, who have recently been travelling so frequently between Djam and Cabul, crossed the river in about thirty minutes. There is a ferry-boat at each of these places, which is generally a clumsy vessel pulled across by a couple of horses, the connecting ropes being attached to their manes. There is another ferry still higher up the river at Kilif; but this has not yet been used by Europeans. It is said to be eight hundred yards across, and is of great importance, as the one leading direct to Balkh; and should M. Maieff have reported favourably of the road leading to it from Karshi, it must become the main route for Russia in the future. There are also numerous fords in the upper reaches of the Oxus, more especially, perhaps, that at Sharwan, which was frequently used by Mourad Beg, the Kundus chief, in his raids into Kulab and Hissar. It is asserted, on the authority of Captain John Wood, that he even took cannon across at this point.

There are, therefore, several principal ferries across the Oxus which are in daily use, and also numerous fords and minor ferries in its upper course which present the means for crossing from one side of the Oxus to the other. The former are on the well known roads from Bokhara and Hissar to Merv, Maimenè, Balkh, and Khulm; the latter on those less known routes which lead towards Faizabad, Kila Panja, and Baroghil. But it must not be supposed that the appliances which a general would find ready to his hand

for the conveyance of his army are exclusively the miserable ferry boats which have been described as

clumsy vessels." There is an Oxus fleet which is quite at the disposal of the strongest power in those waters. Since the time when Alexander had to cross on inflated skins, Genghis Khan and Tamerlane have crossed the Oxus in the boats of the fishermen and carriers of its banks; and those boats are still to be found there precisely the same in all essentials. It has been estimated that between Kilif and Hazarasp in Khiva there are three hundred of the large river boats, of which the following is a description. They are built with bows projecting very much at each end, in order to extend the more easily from the main bed of the river over the shallows to the shore. They are constructed of logs, squared, cut from the dwarf jungle tree, and these are fastened together by iron bands and clamps. As a rule they are fifty feet in length, eighteen feet in breadth, four feet deep, and have a displacement of only twelve inches of water. The tonnage of a vessel of this description is twenty tons, and at a very moderate allowance each should be able to carry one hundred and fifty foot soldiers. They would also be strong enough to admit of artillery, horses, and heavy baggage being conveyed across in them. Some have even said that they would be amply sufficient to form a strong and durable bridge across at Kerkhi; but on that point it is allowable to entertain a different opinion. The current of the Oxus is so strong, the exact direction of its course so uncertain, that it would be matter of serious difficulty, if not quite impossible,