spian--The Mercury
and Caucasus line--Lenkoran--Astara (Russo-Persian
boundary)--Antiquated steamers.

So many accounts are heard of how one's registered baggage in Russia
generally arrives with locks smashed and minus one's most valuable
property, and how unpunctual in arriving luggage is, and how few
passengers escape without having their pockets picked before reaching
their destination--by the way, a fellow-passenger had his pockets picked
at the station of Mineralnya Vod--that I was somewhat anxious to see my
belongings again, and fully expected to find that something had gone
wrong with them. Much to my surprise, on producing the receipt at the
very handsome railway terminus, all my portmanteaux and cases were
instantly delivered in excellent condition.

The Caspian Sea steamers for Persia leave Baku on Sunday and Tuesday at
midnight. There was a fierce sand storm raging at the time and the
steamer had returned without being able to land her passengers at their
destination. I decided to wait till the Tuesday. There is plenty to
interest one in Baku. I will not describe the eternal fires, described so
often by other visitors, nor tell how naphtha was tapped for the first
time at this place, and how in 1886 one particular well spouted oil with
such tremendous force that it was impossible to check it and it deluged a
good portion of the neighbourhood. A year later, in 1887, another
fountain rose to a height of 350 ft. There are myriads of other lesser
fountains and wells, each covered by a wooden shed like a slender
pyramid, and it is a common occurrence to see a big spout of naphtha
rising outside and high above the top of the wooden shed, now from one
well, now from another.

The process of bringing naphtha to the surface under ordinary
circumstances is simple and effective, a metal cylinder is employed that
has a valve at the lower end allowing the tube to fill while it descends,
and closing automatically when the tube is full and is being raised above
ground and emptied into pits provided for the purpose. The naphtha then
undergoes the process of refinement. There are at the present moment
hundreds of refineries in Baku. The residue and waste of naphtha are used
as fuel, being very much cheaper than coal or wood.

The greater number of wells are found a few miles out of the town on the
Balakhani Peninsula, and the naphtha is carried into the Baku refineries
by numerous pipe lines. The whole country