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 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

at that time, was in keeping with it. Out of 40,000 Turkomans, huddled up 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,

consisting of about forty men, to a disgraceful flight. No wonder that these fellows became the dread and terror, not only of all Persia, into which they penetrated in small bands from a hundred to a hundred and fifty miles into the interior, but also to the rest of Central Asia, particularly to Bokhara, Khiva, and to the very walls of Maimene. "May you fall into the hands of the Turkoman," was the most bitter curse; and the saying, "Khouf-i-Turkmen"-i.e., fear of the Turkoman, was able to chill the blood even of the bravest of Asiatics, with the exception of the Afghans, who frequently had proved an unequal match for them.

Such was the people vanquished by Skobeleff at Geok-Tepe, such the enemy which Russia crushed in the north of Persia; and the reader may easily imagine how these feats of arms had raised the consideration of Russia in the eyes of all the Asiatics. First of all came admiration of the military strength and valour of the White Padishah on the banks of the Neva, who had surpassed in glory and greatness even the names of Djenghis, Timur, and Nadir. No less deep was the impression of gratitude wrought in the feelings of the Persians by the Russian success in the steppes of the Turkomans. Exposed for centuries to the irruptions of these reckless nomads, the peaceful and industrious inhabitants of Iran had vainly looked

for assistance to their king and government; the round tower of shelter erected on their fields could afford but a temporary refuge, and the final redemption from the inveterate enemy and terrible plague came only from the hand of a Christian ruler, from Russia, which now was called the real redeemer of half of Persia. It will remain an ever deplorable fact, that England, by whose civilising work so very many Asiatics have been benefited hitherto, did not try to anticipate her rival in this great work, considering that she could have done it more easily and much better. As to Persia, rotten to the very core, the ministers of the Shah, when asked about their feelings for the services rendered by the Russians, impudently remarked, "We did not invite the Muscovites to deliver us from the Turkomans, nor do we feel particularly grateful to them for having done so."

The feeling of the people, however, was widely different. Along the whole route through Khorassan, beginning from Shahrud, to Meshed and Sarakhs, but more particularly in the districts adjoining the newly acquired Russian territory, namely in Kabushan, Budjnurd, and Deregöz, people are now most anxious to exhibit their sympathies with the northern conqueror. Russian dresses are becoming the fashion of the day, Russian drinks get more and more into favour, every man of note strives to learn the Russian language,

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