RUSSIA. 



697 



into two detachments, he dispatched one, con- 

 sisting of 150 Cossacks, to burn all the encamp- 

 ments situated within a radius of four miles of 

 the Russian camp at Boyoodor, while he, with 

 the main body, ravaged the rest of the coun- 

 try belonging to those nomads. Out of the 

 1,000 tents, only two were spared, because 

 their owners had befriended the Russians 

 while on the march to Khiva. The cattle were 

 confiscated, and the poor wretches were left 

 with only their lives. The news of the pun- 

 ishment inflicted on the Kool-Yomoods spread 

 rapidly among the neighboring nomads. 

 Colonel Ivanoff again sent warnings to the 

 Toorkornan chiefs, and then, to give them time 

 to reflect, marched southward to Ak-Kala. 

 The inhabitants of Koonie-Oorgentch, delighted 

 at the punishment inflicted on the Kool-Yo- 

 rnoods, furnished fuel and forage at extremely 

 moderate prices. While the troops were sta- 

 tioned at Ak-Kala, the Khan of Khiva sent a 

 letter to Colonel Ivanoff, thanking him for 

 what he had done, and announcing that all the 

 Toorkomans seemed inclined to submit, with 

 the exception of the Yomoods of Kazavat, who 

 were still hesitating which side they should 

 take. He also offered to place himself at the 

 head of his Oozbecks and join the expedition 

 if the Russian commander j udged it necessary, 

 but Ivanoff refused to allow him to do so. He 

 said he was quite able to punish the Toorkomans 

 without any assistance from the Khan, and 

 advised him to make a lasting peace with the 

 nomads as soon as possible, as Russia could 

 not always be sending soldiers to fight his bat- 

 tles for him. In June a new expedition, about 

 1,000 strong, left Krasnovodsk, on the Caspian 

 Sea, under the command of General Lomakin. 

 Having reached the wells of Igda, in the steppe 

 between the Caspian and the Amoo-Darya, 

 General Lomakin received some Toorkoman 

 chiefs from the south, among them Budai 

 Verdi Khan, brother of Kaushit Khan, the 

 head chief of the Merv Toorkomans. These 

 guests assured the general that, though their 

 tribes had been formerly hostile to Russia, they 

 were now animated by feelings of friendship 

 and sympathy. The general then ordered a 

 small detachment to escort the engineers and 

 other scientific members of the expedition along 

 the ancient bed of the Amoo-Darya to Sary 

 Kamish, where they were met by about fifty 

 Khivese troopers, the main force retracing its 

 steps and proceeding farther south to visit 

 the Russian possessions on the Lower Attreck. 

 The reconnoitring party which left for Sary 

 Kamish arrived safely at the Tcharyshli Wells, 

 situated 150 versts in a northwesterly direc- 

 tion, where the principal chiefs of the Teking 

 tribes declared to General Lomakin that the 

 Tekings had, in a special assembly, resolved 

 to submit to Russia, and to surrender all the 

 prisoners in their hands. The surrender of the 

 latter was, accordingly, at once effected. The 

 nomad tribes friendly to Russia now leave 

 caravans unmolested, and have punished those 



who had committed hostile acts against Rus- 

 sians. The expedition to the Attreck River, 

 which has its mouth in the southeast corner 

 of the Caspian Sea, and constitutes part of 

 the frontier between Persia and Russia, did 

 not start until August. Russian accounts of 

 this expedition state that a detachment un- 

 der the command of the chief of the Trans- 

 caspian Military District marched in the direc- 

 tion of Lakes Shairdy and Bugdaily, on the 

 way to Tchikishliar, in the vicinity of the 

 mouth of the Attreck. Another detachment 

 proceeded thither by water, being conveyed 

 by the Caspian Sea flotilla. Although two 

 stretches of country, of 57 and 50^ versts re- 

 spectively, had to be traversed without wa- 

 ter, and with the thermometer ranging almost 

 continually above 90, the march of the first 

 column was accomplished quickly, and with- 

 out detriment to the health of the troops, 

 each of the above distances being performed 

 in less than twenty-four hours. In the neigh- 

 borhood of the Shairdy and Bugdaily Lakes, 

 the column met 3,000 Thibits, belonging to 

 the nomadic Toorkoman tribes. A perfectly 

 good understanding prevailed between them 

 and the Russian troops, and no disturbance 

 occurred. The Toorkomans informed Gen- 

 eral Lomakin that the Afghan Ishkan, who 

 had arrived to incite the tribes to revolt against 

 the Russians and the Persians, had found no 

 adherents, and was finally killed. Other tribes 

 on their passage sent delegates to General Lo- 

 makin, offering their services. The column re- 

 mained ten days on the shores of Lake Bug- 

 daily, and General Lomakin, with some other 

 officers, visited the ruins of the ancient cities 

 Mestorian and Meshed. The land in this dis- 

 trict was exceedingly fertile, and the wheat- 

 crop plentiful. Mestorian must apparently 

 have been one of the largest cities of Cen- 

 tral Asia. The inarch from Lake Bugdaily 

 to Tchikishliar, a distance of 110 versts, was 

 also most successfully accomplished. At the 

 latter place, the column met a battalion of the 

 Schirwan Regiment, which had already arrived 

 by transport across the Caspian Sea. The in- 

 habitants received the Russian troops in a most 

 friendly manner. After a week's rest at 

 Tchikishliar, the column started for Attreck 

 and Lake Tchat, to explore the upper course 

 of the Attreck. 



The expedition to the Attreck produced a 

 profound impression both in Russia and in 

 England, for in both countries it was looked 

 upon as a preparatory step for the occupation 

 of Merv. This town is the headquarters of 

 the Toorkomans hostile to Russia, and is looked 

 upon as a point of the utmost military impor- 

 tance. It is on the caravan-road from Meshed 

 to Khiva and Bokhara, and its possession by 

 Russia would complete the subjection of Cen 

 tral Asia to Russia. A strong Russian force 

 in Merv to the south of Khiva and Bokhara 

 will find it comparatively easy to keep down 

 extensive insurrections in the khanates, as 



