ite board, on which are written the
distances to the next stations in each direction. In some places there
is no house at all but only a black Kirghiz tent, and instead of a
stable fences of sticks and reeds afford the horses shelter. At one such
station three camels are harnessed to the _tarantass_, and the clumsy
animals waddle along so that their humps bob and roll on their backs.
The reason for this change is that we are now on the shore of the Sea of
Aral, where the soft yielding drifts make it impossible for horses to
draw the _tarantass_. The two rivers, the Syr-darya (or Jaxartes) and
the Amu-darya (or Oxus), which rise in the Pamir, flow into the Sea of
Aral. The Cossacks carry on a profitable sturgeon fishery in this lake,
which in area is not very much smaller than Scotland, and contains a
great number of small islands--whence its name, for the word _aral_
means "island."

With fresh horses we speed along the bank of the Syr-darya. Here grow
small woods and thickets where tigers stalk their prey, and in the dense
reed beds wild boars dig up roots. The shy gazelles like the open
country, hares spring over the shrubs, ducks and geese quack on the
banks, and flocks of pheasants lure the traveller to sport. The setting
sun sheds a gleam of fiery red over the steppe, and as it grows dim the
stars begin to twinkle. The monotonous ring of the bells and the shouts
of the driver never cease, whether we are near the river or far off in
the dreary steppe. The ground becomes soft and swampy. The wheels cut
like knives into the mud. We move more and more slowly and heavily, and
at last stick fast in the mire. The driver shouts and scolds, and cracks
his whip over the team. The middle horse rears, one of the outside
horses jibs and the other gathers himself together for a spring which
makes the traces break with a loud report. Then the driver jumps down
and says, "You must wait here, sir, while I ride back for two more
horses." And he trots off in the darkness. After waiting about two hours
I hear the tramp of horses in the distance. Now the team is made ready,
the two extra horses are attached in front, the coachman takes his place
on the box, and with united strength our animals drag the heavy vehicle
up out of the slough. We roll and jolt on again with lumps of wet clay
dropping and splashing round the wheels.

SAMARCAND AND BUKHARA

Russian Central Asia has ten million inhabitants and an area twelve
times as large