184 BOKHARA THE NOBLE. 



measuring time, he was pardoned, and the clock which 

 he then made still stands as a witness to his mechanical 

 genius. For a time all went well, Orlandi was granted 

 his liberty, and became the artificer of the king. But 

 it chanced that one day, when in a state of intoxica- 

 tion, he offended his master, by whom he had been 

 summoned to repair a telescope which he had recently 

 made for him. Imprisonment for a second time now 

 became his lot, and a renewal of the command that he 

 should join the followers of the Prophet was issued. 

 This time his fate was sealed, and in the year 1851 he 

 was led out to execution. As a foretaste of what was 

 to come the skin of his throat was first cut, and he was 

 taken back to his cell to ponder during the long hours 

 of darkness on the advisability of his renouncing his 

 religion. It speaks volumes for his stoutness of heart 

 that even now he remained steadfast in his faith, and 

 on the following day the sentence which, with fiendish 

 cruelty, had already been in part carried out, was com- 

 pleted.^ 



At no very great distance another building catches 

 the eye in the shape of a gigantic tower called the 

 Minar Kalan. Of course it has horror connected with 

 it — what building is there in Bokhara that has not ? 

 It rises to a height of upwards of 200 feet, is circular, 

 tapering slightly towards the top, and is covered with 

 beautiful designs in carved brick. Imagine a flight 

 through 200 feet of air, bound hand and foot, with the 



^ There seems to be some confusion as to the exact story of the ill- 

 starred watchmaker. Modesto Gavazzi, an Italian who visited Bokhara in 

 1863, and who is responsible for the above details, says, " Twelve or fifteen 

 years back there lived at Orenburg" the Russian who, he says, was re- 

 sponsible for Orlandi's captivity. But Wolif speaks of Orlandi as being in 

 Bokhara when he was there in 1843, and whereas, according to Gavazzi, he 

 was unwavering in his determination not to renounce Christianity, Wolff 

 speaks of him as having turned Mussulman. 



