LAKE ARAL TO TASHKEND 
53 
the month of May, when the pasturage is g'ood, count- 
less sheep are driven to Orenburg to be sold. 
At the time of the Russian advance upon Khiva, Kaza- 
linsk had a certain claim to Importance as a depot and 
fortified place. The Lake Aral fleet of five small steamers 
made this place their station, and the garrison consisted 
of a whole battalion. The town has now a garrison of 
only twenty - four men, and two launches ; the other 
vessels having' been moved to Charjui on the Amu- 
MY TARANTASS DRAWN BY A PATYORKA (TEAM OF FIVE HORSES) 
daria. There is no longer any life or movement in the 
place. The whirring sails of the windmills, and the 
numerous fishing-boats in the lake, were the only objects 
which gave relief or colour to the monotony of the scene. 
The streets of the town were at that season of the year 
impassable, even to the wearer of waterproof boots 
reachincf to the knee. The Russian houses were built 
O 
of bricks, and were low and white ; those of the Sarts, 
Bokharans, and Kirghiz of dried clay, and were grey 
and dilapidated, and often surrounded by long and 
dreary-looking walls. There were two schools, a church, 
