238 Deséription of Bokhara. [May, 
could give him no further news than the floating rumours which I had 
heard of the Emperor’s intention to suppress the traffic by an army. 
He told me that the last embassy to Bokhdra under M. Neert had 
failed to effect that desired end, but that the sale of Russians had 
ceased in Bokhdra for the last ten years. There were not at present 
130 natives of Russia in the kingdom. 
The whole of those in Bokhdra would have been released by the 
Ambassador, had not some religious discussion arisen on the propriety 
of allowing Christians who had become Muhammedans to relapse into 
their idolatry ! The mullahs had seen the pictures in the Greek Church, 
and no argument will reverse what they state to be the evidence of 
their senses, that the Russians worship idols. There is generally some 
difference of opinion on all points, and that of the Russians and Bokhd- 
rés on the subject of slavery was much at variance. The Muhamme- 
dans are not sensible of any offence in enslaving the Russians, since 
they state that Russia herself exhibits the example of a whole country 
of slaves, and particularly in the despotic government of her soldiery. 
‘« If we purchase Russians,” say they, ‘‘ the Russians buy the Kazzaks 
on our frontier. We are Muhammedans, and they tamper with these 
people by threats, bribery, and hopes to make them forsake their creed 
and become idolators. Look, on the other hand, at the Russians in 
Bokhara, at their liberty, comfort, and toleration, and compare it with 
the black bread and unrelenting tyranny which they experience in their 
native country, and which has on some occasions driven them voluntarily 
to us.”’ We shall not attempt to decide between the parties, but it is a 
melancholy reflection on the liberties of Russia, that they admit of a 
comparison with the institutions of a Tartar kingdom, whose pity, it is 
said, is only upon a par with the tyranny of the Afghan. 
With Russians, Hindiis, and Uzbeks, our circle of acquaintance at 
Bokhara soon increased, and most of the Afghan and Cabdél merchants 
sought our society, and we could not but feel gratified at the favorable 
Opinion entertained by them of the British in India. One of them, 
Sirwar Kuan, a Lohanee merchant of great opulence, to whom we 
‘were never introduced, offered us any money we might require, and did 
it in a manner that left no doubt of his sincerity. We were assailed 
by him and his countrymen, and even by Uzbeks, to give notes of 
hand, certifying our acquaintance with them; for the Afghans be- 
lieve the hand-writing to be a bond of union between English- 
men, and that the possession of it secures them an honorable recep- 
tion in India. We complied with the wishes of those who deserved 
