racter and integrity of Kolpakoffsky. With his practical experience, his zeal in the service, his energy enabling him to supervise details and to undertake all important matters himself, and his incorruptibility, General Kolpakoffsky appears to be the very man to restore the Russian finances in Turkestan, as well as to revive that sense of public duty which appears to have been banished from the bureau of General Kaufmann. In every respect the administration of Semiretchinsk presents a favourable contrast to that of Turkestan, and the credit of this contrast is due exclusively to the talent and moral qualities of Kolpakoffsky.

But in one respect the territorial army of Semiretchinsk is deficient, or rather its actual strength is diminished by the bad qualities of a force which would, if at all efficient, make it one of the most formidable armies in its way in Russian Asia. In various parts of Central Asia there are Cossack settlements. The origin of each of them has been at some past date the compulsory settlement of a body of Cossacks with their families in a district. The Government gives them land, tools, and arms; in some cases seed, grain, and a stock of implements are added. In return they owe military service to the Government, and are called out at certain periods, more especially when there is an intention to undertake some important expedition. The Cossacks who are settled along the Irtish river in Semipalatinsk are among the most efficient of their class. They are pure Cossacks, taken at various periods from the Ural, Orenburg, and Siberia armies. But the Cossacks of Semiretchinsk are not pure Cos

sacks in fact they are not Cossacks at all. The supply of Cossacks did not suffice to people the immense tract of country lying between Semipalatinsk and Naryn, and consequently it became necessary to settle that line of country not with Cossacks but with Russian peasants, who, however, were styled Cossacks, and are generally known as the Cossacks of Semiretchinsk. They are, it is not very strange to learn considering their origin, held to be the worst of all the Cossacks in the Russian service. Despite their bad qualities they are the reserve, and the only recognised reserve, of the army of Semiretchinsk.

The army of Turkestan in the first place garrisons the numerous stations and towns along the Jaxartes, as well as Tashkent, Samarcand, and Ferghana. Of these places the garrisons of Tashkent, Samarcand, Khodjent, and Chinaz are among the most important. More than three-fourths of the number given is in garrison south of Tashkent, and it is from this force that the main body for any expedition towards the Oxus would be drawn. This army has also a small reserve in the Russian and Cossack colonists-principally the former-round Tashkent, and in the valley of the Zarafshan, where there are undoubtedly immense inducements to European settlers. It is, however, a very favourable estimate to say that this would raise General Kaufmann's own regular army by five thousand men; if it did, it would give him about forty thousand men to draw upon for the formation of an active army. This number is as it is stated to be on paper, but all accounts agree that the numbers

closely to the actual The peace duties of

taken here approximate very strength of the Russian army. this force are by no means trivial. It has to garrison an enormous tract of country, and to keep in order the Khokandians-one of the most turbulent races in Central Asia. In war time those duties would become more arduous. Let Russia take never so many precautions against sedition, the advance of a large army across the Oxus must be the signal for local disturbances that would require to be promptly repressed. They could not be repressed if the province were denuded of troops; and with each day of success or impunity their importance would increase, and from being only an annoyance they would become a danger.

It would, therefore, be impossible for the Russian authorities to withdraw the whole Turkestan army from the province, and, indeed, it must remain a matter of individual opinion how far it would be prudent to weaken that garrison so long as there existed such numerous causes of internal danger as there are at present, or so long as a semi-independent power like Bokhara retained an army which might, under possible contingencies, refuse to recognise the commands of a too-accommodating prince. It would certainly be extremely hazardous to take more than half that force away from its duties; and last summer barely a third was sent forward to Djam.

Under the most favourable circumstances, therefore, it would be impossible for Russia to weaken the Semiretchinsk garrison by a man, and from the garrisons of Tashkent, Samarcand, and Ferghana it

would be difficult to bring a larger force than twenty thousand men into the field. From the Amou Darya district it would be possible to draw two thousand men, in addition to the Aral flotilla. The fighting army of Russia in Central Asia, which can be mobilised and directed by General Kaufmann, numbers scarcely more than twenty thousand men. This is Russia's offensive power at the present moment. It is at a first glance a very insignificant power; but weak as it is in total strength it is an effective power ready to be employed at the shortest notice.

In addition there is the Bokharan army, a portion of which as a matter of common prudence would be compelled to accompany a Russian army in its advance; and this with a little preparation might become a useful auxiliary. The Bokhariots are good horsemen, and fairly courageous. The people of Hissar and Kitab are still more to be relied upon. The "Turkestan Gazette" asserted that the begs of those places, as well as the Ameer of Bokhara himself, had promised to place twenty thousand men at the disposal of the Russian commander. This number may be taken to be too high, but there can be no doubt that Russia could obtain a very serviceable auxiliary corps, both for etappen duty and garrison work, from the Bokharan Government and chiefs. By a skilful manipulation of the desires that Government entertains to secure a fresh hold upon the khanates south of the Oxus, which are now known as Afghan Turkestan, it might even be possible to secure the hearty co-operation of Bokhara

in the task of carrying on an extensive campaign south of the Hindoo Koosh.

The assistance that Khiva could give would be of a much vaguer character; but even from the khan of that dismembered state Russia would expect some service. At the least Khiva could provide guides for the desert of Kara Kum, and a considerable amount of labour for the construction of roads, and other necessary undertakings. The Kirghiz nomads would also be called upon to contribute their quota. These are the only allies Russia would find within her frontier, and on several of them it would be impossible for her to place implicit reliance. Yet her first line consists of them alone and the small nucleus of twenty thousand Russian troops. Assuredly, the advocate of masterly inactivity" will exclaim, no danger to India from such a foe as this!

This is the effective total, available for offensive purposes, of the territorial army of Turkestan. Including all his immediate reserves and allies, General Kaufmann could not reach the northern bank of the Oxus with a greater force than forty thousand men, of whom only one half would be Russians. He would have left in his rear, too, a very inadequate garrison, and he could never feel certain that a rising in Khokand, or an émeute in Samarcand, would not paralyse his strength at some critical moment. The conclusion, therefore, at which we must arrive is that the Turkestan army, however efficient, is quite unequal to the task of crossing the Hindoo Koosh in face of an army of anything like equal numbers. It can dispose