MARGHILAN. 271 



and asked why the letter had not been given to 

 him before ; so I explained that we had laboured 

 under a most ridiculous mistake, having taken the 

 house for a post-house, while he took me for a 

 loafer. He then showed me into his best apart- 

 ment, made me his guest, and placed a horse and 

 carriage at my disposal. 



Marghilan is very much like our Indian canton- 

 ments in Lower Bengal, having fine trees, shrub- 

 beries, and gardens, throughout which are detached 

 bungalows. But here the similarity ends, for 

 when strolling round the public gardens in the 

 evening, scarcely a soul was to be seen, only a 

 few Russian officers strutting about in uniform. 

 There was no polo, no racquet-court, no cricket, 

 or officers hammering about the roads in flannels 

 and blazers, or any of that cheery life that marks a 

 British quarter, and makes banishment tolerable. 



Having paid my respects to the head of the 

 police, shown him my Russian passport, and asked 

 for a permit to travel by post to Samarkand, he 

 civilly assured me that this passport would take 

 me anywhere without any trouble in Russia. 



The next move was to settle my affairs, and 

 break up the caravan, sending most of my camp 

 kit and things back to Yarkand by Mahomed 



