Khiva was annexed on the
10th of June, 1873. Four months afterwards, on the 10th of October, a
treaty was signed by the Khan of Bokhara, giving to Russia free
navigation on the Oxus, and other privileges. It has never been
formally annexed, but is to all intents and purposes Russian
territory.

XXIX--RUSSIAN METHODS. THE WAR WITH JAPAN. (p. 267)

At the time when the United States and the commercial powers of Europe
were discussing the opening of Japan, Russia resolved, if possible, to
forestall them. In 1847, the czar appointed a young general, Nicholas
Muravieff, as governor of Eastern Siberia. Shortly after entering upon
his office he sent an officer named Vagarof, who had explored the
Amoor River, back to it with four Cossacks to make an extensive
report. The party left Strelka in the spring of 1848, but was never
heard of again. Suspecting that they had been captured by the Chinese,
a demand was made for their surrender on the plea that they were
deserters, but the Chinese replied that they knew nothing of them.
Meanwhile Muravieff had ordered the exploration of the shore of the
Sea of Okhotsk and the mouth of the Amoor. These orders were promptly
executed, and in 1850 Lieutenant Orloff entered the river from the
sea. The following year Captain Nevilskoi, who had come out in the
_Baikal_, sent a boat up the river and laid the foundations of
Nikolayefsk and Mariinsk, thereby securing a foothold on the Lower
Amoor, knowing all the time that this was Chinese territory, and that
Russia was at peace with China. The survey of the Sea of Okhotsk (p. 269)
was not neglected. Port Imperial on the coast of Manchuria was
discovered and occupied, and Urup, one of the Kurile Islands, was
seized. When Commodore Perry arrived off the coast of Japan, he was
watched by Admiral Poutiatine in command of the _Pallas_, _Vostok_,
_Olivutzu_ and _Menzikoff_. Aniwa Bay was seized the same year, and
Russians landed on the west coast of what is known as Saghalien, but
was known and owned by the Japanese under the name of Karafuto.

[Illustration: Village Scene]

The Crimean War gave Muravieff a pretext to violate farther the treaty
with China. He claimed that the settlements on the Pacific, as well as
the Russian ships, were in need of supplies, and that the ocean route
was closed by the allied fleets. Was it Muravieff's duty to furnish
those supplies? In that case, any reference to the ocean route was