CENTRAL ASIA. 



CHAMBERS, EGBERT. 



103 





to pasture in peace their flocks a little while 

 longer. This is possibly the extent of the con- 

 nection of Khiva with these so-called rebel- 

 lious Kirgheez, although the Russian journals 

 assert that the revolt had its origin in Khiva, 

 and that that state must be punished for it. 



These movements of Russia in Central Asia 

 are of equally momentous importance, whether 

 we regard them in a political and strategical 

 view, or in their bearings on the extension of 

 civilization and commerce. Russia has already 

 done very much, in proportion to the time she 

 has exercised control there, for the develop- 

 ment of the countries on the Oxus. A plan 

 for a net-work of railways has been prepared 

 by Prince Michael Nicholaivitch, and ap- 

 proved by the Emperor and his council, of 

 which about 922 miles, it was expected, 

 would be completed in 1871. The most 

 important line is projected from the western 

 shore of the Caspian Sea to the southern slope 

 of the Caucasus. The objective point on the 

 Black Sea is Poti. The railway from this 

 place to Tiflis, it is understood, is finished. 

 From Tiflis a road will extend to Baku, and 

 will there connect by a line of steamers with 

 Krasnowodsk, a newly-established fort on the 

 eastern shore of the Caspian. A road is pro- 

 jected from there through the steppes and 

 across the plateau of Kaplankir to the banks 

 of the Oxus. The engineering difficulties in 

 the way of operating some parts of these 

 routes are very great, owing to the drifting 

 sands which are liable in exposed places to 

 bury the road with all its works at any time. 

 Nevertheless, the Russians are working at 

 their railway enterprises with a zeal that 

 renders it quite probable that within the next 

 ten years we shall be brought into convenient 

 communication with countries now quite un- 

 known to us. 



Russia has already taken important steps 

 for the advancement of agriculture and certain 

 branches of industry in East Toorkistan. A 

 commission has been for several months en- 

 gaged in investigating the productions and 

 capacity of the steppes of Dshizzak, and an 

 increased exportation of silk, cotton, wool, 

 hides, dried fruits, and other raw articles, is 

 promised, to be accompanied, of course, with 

 the enjoyment by the dwellers on the Oxus 

 and Jaxartes of comforts of which they have 

 never dreamed. 



The advance of Russia upon the Oxus has 

 already given rise to apprehensions, as yet 

 only hinted at by the English, that complica- 

 tions may arise between the Russian and Brit- 

 ish interests in Afghanistan. Once in firm 

 possession of the right banks of the Oxus, un- 

 der the provocations of such unquiet neigh- 

 bors as the Toorkomans and the Afghans, the 

 Russians will hardly be restrained from cross- 

 ing. Rumors of Russian intrigue in Afghanis- 

 tan have been whispered already. It is no 

 secret that Abderraman Khan, the formidable 

 rival of Sheer All Khan, whom we have pre- 



viously mentioned, stands high in favor with 

 the governor-general at Samarcand, and that 

 he receives a yearly stipend from St. Peters- 

 burg. A report prevailed recently in India, 

 and in Cabul, that the Russians intended to 

 set up Abderraman Khan in the place of 

 the present Khan of Bokhara, because the 

 latter had not been able to keep his turbulent 

 subjects under satisfactory restraint. This 

 story has not been confirmed. Abderraman 

 Khan has a strong party and a considerable 

 force on the left bank of the Oxus, and it is 

 not probable that the loyalty of the Russian 

 politicians will allow them to neglect to use 

 him when time and circumstances shall make 

 his services desirable. 



The extension of the Russian power to the 

 East can hardly fail of effect upon the integ- 

 rity of the British Empire in India. Confi- 

 dence in the permanency of this dominion has 

 been greatly shaken of late by the threatening 

 attitude assumed by the Mohammedans, the 

 dangerous character of which is more devel- 

 oped every day. It was strikingly exemplified 

 during the summer, in the assassination of 

 Chief-Justice Norman by a fanatic Mussul- 

 man on the steps of the court-room. To repel 

 the Mussulman agitation, the British have to 

 depend upon the native Hindoos the Bra- 

 mins, a race whose lack of spirit and of revo- 

 lutionary ardor contrasts most unfavorably 

 with the wild enthusiasm of the Mohamme- 

 dans and upon the troops which can be sent 

 from England. These facts have not been 

 much discussed publicly in England, but there 

 is no doubt that the situation in India has 

 been carefully considered in the Cabinet. A 

 project has been devised for the establishment 

 of direct railroad communication with India. 

 A few years ago Colonel Chesney, advancing 

 his project for the Euphrates Railway, was 

 pronounced a visionary. Now, a scheme for a 

 railway 5,311 English miles long receives 

 favorable consideration from the Government 

 and from the British and Indian press. A de- 

 tailed plan, of which the estimates reach the 

 sum of 40,600,000 pounds sterling, has been 

 referred to a parliamentary committee. It is 

 contemplated, however, that the cost shall not 

 be borne by a single country, but shall be laid 

 upon all the lands through which the railway 

 will run. It is shown by the estimates of 

 Messrs. William Lord and George Thomas that, 

 by this line when completed, it will be pos- 

 sible to perform the journey from the Thames 

 to the Hoogly, which now takes nearly a 

 month, in seven days, thirteen hours, and 

 twenty minutes. It begins to be evident that, 

 if Great Britain does not build such a road, 

 Russia will anticipate her in securing direct 

 railway communication with the whole East, 

 and will establish herself in a position to cut 

 the British off from their own possessions, and 

 eventually to trad ermine their power there. 



CHAMBERS, ROBERT, LL. D., the younger 

 of the two brothers whose copartnership, under 



