696 



KUSSIA. 



The following table exhibits the development of Russian commerce from 1863 to 1873 (value 

 expressed in rubles) : 



The movement of shipping in 1873 was as 

 follows : 



The length of railroads in operation on Jan- 

 uary 1, 1874, amounted to 18,796 kilometres. 

 At the close of the year 1872 the telegraph- 

 lines in operation had an aggregate length of 

 78,073 kilometres, while the length of wire was 

 155,444 kilometres. 



The Russian Ministry of Communications 

 has ordered an inquiry to be made into the ca- 

 nal system of the empire, with the view of in- 

 creasing its utility for public traffic. At pres- 

 ent, the Baltic Sea is placed in direct commu- 

 nication with the Caspian by means of three 

 canals, all debouching into the Volga the 

 Vyshne Volotchsk, the Tishyin, and the Maria 

 Caual, which is the largest of the three. The 

 lakes of Ladoga and Ilmen, on which naviga- 

 tion is dangerous, owing to the prevalence of 

 sudden squalls, are surrounded by canals, and 

 it is possible to proceed from the White Sea to 

 the Baltic by means of a canal connecting it 

 with the Dwina, and to the Caspian by another 

 canal, which connects it with the Sheksna, a 

 branch of the Volga. There are canals be- 

 tween affluents of the Dwina and the Kama, 

 which facilitate direct communication between 

 the White Sea and the Caspian ; and the Duna 

 and Dnieper, the Vistula and the Niemen, etc., 

 are also connected by canals. Most of these 

 canals, however, have so deteriorated in the 

 course of time, that few of them are used, ex- 

 cept the Maria Canal. The Government has 

 decided to take the necessary steps for this 

 purpose as soon as the inquiry is completed. 



The operations of the Russians in Central 

 Asia were, in 1875, of more than usual impor- 

 tance. An insurrection, which in July broke 

 out against the Khan of Khokan, soon assumed 

 the character of a Mohammedan war against 

 the Russians, in which both parties of the 

 khanate population, the settled (Sartes), and 



the nomads (Kirgheez and Kiptchaks), took 

 part. An invasion of the Russian territory 

 resulted in the defeat of the invaders, the 

 march of the Russians into the khanate, the 

 occupation of the city of Khokan, and the oc- 

 cupation of a part * of the khanate to the Rus- 

 sian dominions. (See KHOKAN.) 



The Khans of Bokhara and Khiva continued 

 throughout the year in peaceful submission to 

 the Russian rule. An important expedition, 

 under the command of Colonel Ivanoff, was 

 sent, in January, against the Toorkoman tribes 

 which inhabit the country inclosed by the Cas- 

 pian and Aral Seas, the Amoo Darya, Afghan- 

 istan, and Persia. Most of these tribes are 

 tributaries of Khiva, and the Russian expedition 

 was undertaken under the pretext of punishing 

 them for their insurrection against the Khan 

 of Khiva. The Russian newspapers extol the 

 brilliant manner in which the campaign was 

 conducted, and the remarkable results which 

 it has produced. According to the accounts 

 given by the Russian papers, the detachment 

 under Colonel Ivanoff, consisting of 1,500 men, 

 crossed the Amoo Darya on the 17th of Janu- 

 ary, and directed its course toward Kooni6- 

 Oorgentch. Before setting out, Colonel Ivan- 

 off sent a proclamation to all the Toorkoman 

 tribes, demanding instant submission ; then, 

 after causing rumors to be circulated that he 

 intended to march to Kizib-Tasleer, he ad- 

 vanced thirty-three versts in that direction and 

 bivouacked on the banks of an irrigation canal 

 under the walls of Koonie-Oorgentch. The 

 next morning at daybreak the army approached 

 the town, but instead of continuing its march 

 southward, it turned suddenly aside toward 

 the northwest, passed through the town, and 

 surprised the encampments of the Kool-Yo- 

 moods, eight versts from it. So unexpected 

 was the attack that not a single tent had been 

 struck. The tribe, possessing 1,000 tents, was 

 considered the most refractory one of all ; it 

 having pillaged a Persian caravan in 1874, and 

 attacked the Khivan officials sent to demand 

 its submission. For this reason Colonel Ivan- 

 off determined to strike terror into the hearts 

 of the rest of the Toorkoman tribes by punish- 

 ing this one severely, and, dividing his army 



* In the early part of 1876 the whole of the khanate was 

 annexed to Russia, and organized as a Kussian province. 



