939 Deseription of Bokhara. [May, 
quarter that slaves are well treated and well fed, and the circumstance 
of so many of them remaining inthe country after they have been 
manumitted seems to establish this fact. The bazars of Bokhdra are 
chiefly supplied from Organj. Russians and Chinese are also sold 
but rarely. The feelings of an European revolt at this odious traffic; - 
but the Uzbeks entertain no such notions, and believe that they are 
conferring a benefit on a Persian when they purchase him, in hopes that 
he may renounce his heretical opinions. 
From the slave-market I passed on that morning to the great bazar, and 
the very first sight which fell under my notice was the offenders against 
Muhammedanism ofthe preceding Friday. They consisted of four indivi- 
duals, whohad been caught asleep at prayer time, and a youth who had 
been seen smoking in public. They were all tiedto each other, and the 
tobacco-lover ledthe way, holding his hooka or pipein hishand. The of- 
ficer of police followed with a thick thong, and chastised them ashe went, 
calling aloud, ‘‘ Ye followers of Islam, behold the punishment of those who 
violate the law !’’ Never however was there such a series of contradic- 
tion and absurdity as in the practice and theory of religion in Bokhara. 
You may openly purchase tobacco, and all the most approved parapher- 
nalia for inhaling its narcotic qualities; yet if seen smoking in public 
you are straightway dragged before the Qazi, punished by stripes, 
or paraded on a donkey witha blackened face, while the innocent hooka 
hangs before you asa warning to others. Ifa person is caught flying 
pigeons on a Friday, he is sent forth with the dead bird round his neck, 
seated ona camel. If seen in the streets at the time of prayers, and con- 
victed of such habitual neglect, fines and imprisonment follow ; yet there 
are bands of the most abominable wretches who frequent the streets in 
the evening, and encourage the violation of the Qoran. The laws 
ofthe Faithful punish this offence with death, but the Commander of the 
Faithful (the King is so called) sets an example to his subjects, and follows 
the customs of his fore-fathers. Every thing indeed presents a tissue 
of contradictions, and none were more apparent to me than the punish- 
ment of these culprits, who were marching with all the pomp of publicity, 
by the very gate way of the court, where human beings were levelled 
with the brutes of the earth, no doubt against the laws of humanity, but 
as certainly against the laws of Muhammed. 
The Hindés of Bokhara sought our society with great avidity, for 
that people seem always to look upon the English as their superiors. 
They visited us in every country we passed, and would never speak 
any other language than Hindustani, which seemed a bond of union 
between us and them. In this country they appear to enjoy a suffici- 
