CHAPTER XIV. 



BAKU. 



Civilisation again— The commercial aspect of Baku — A weird sight — 

 Natural fire — An ancient fire -temple — The boilers of Balakhani — A 

 hundred tons of oil a-day — " Spouters" — The interior of a derrick — A 

 calamity at an oil-well — Statistics of the oil trade — A high excise 

 duty — Price of oil in London and in Russia. 



To be travelling once more by the aid of steam, after 

 four months almost incessant caravanning, was certainly 

 a pleasant sensation, and the pleasure was infinitely 

 added to by the extraordinary interest of the journey 

 that lay before me. Behind lay the bleak stretches of 

 the Mesopotamian steppe, the crude outlines and harsh 

 contours of the Persian mountains, the long days of 

 monotonous marching, the hard fare of the wanderer 

 in desert lands, and the miserable accommodation of 

 the Turkish khan and the Persian serai. The tran- 

 sition from such surroundings to Baku is positively 

 startling. A short journey in a comfortable little 

 steamer up the Caspian, and behold, you step ashore 

 amid what appears to you after your long exile the 

 acme of civilisation. Imposing stone buildings confront 

 you in whichever direction you turn, commodious shops 

 display their wares behind plate-glass windows, a strik- 

 ing green spire with gilded cupola glittering in the 

 sun rises high above the rest from a spacious cathedral, 

 — unmistakable evidence that you are in a Bussian 



