THE ROYAL ARTILLERY INSTITUTION. 
395 
impassable, except to a well-appointed caravan at certain seasons and along 
particular tracks, this vast steppe seemed to have been placed by nature as a buffer 
between the power of civilized Europe, and the weakness and barbarism of 
Central Asia.” 
Then, speaking of a later date, the article in the “ Quarterly ” says :—- 
44 It was in 1847, contemporaneously with our final conquest of the Punjab, that 
the curtain rose on the agressive Russian drama in Central Asia, which is not yet 
played out. Russia had enjoyed the nominal dependency of the Kirghis Kazzacks 
of the little horde who inhabited the western division of the great steppe since 
1730; but, except in the immediate vicinity of the Orenburg line, she had little 
real control over the tribes. In 1847-48, however, she erected three important 
fortresses in the very heart of the steppe.” [Two of them are shewn on the map.] 
44 These important works—the only permanent constructions which had hitherto 
been attempted south of the line'—enabled Russia for the first time to dominate 
the western portion of the steppe, and to command the great routes of com¬ 
munication with Central Asia. But the steppe forts were, after all, a mere means 
to an end; they formed the connecting link between the old frontier of the empire 
and the long coveted line of the Jaxartes, and simultaneously with their erection 
arose Fort Aralsk, near the embouchure of the river.” 
In the meantime, in 1839, the Russians had sent an expedition from 
Orenburg against Khiva under Perofski; but which, having suffered from 
hunger, thirst, and disease in the desert of Bar-sak, north-west of the Aral, 
was forced to a disastrous retreat. This was about the same time that we, 
in like manner, were retreating from Afghanistan. 
The Russians having crossed the great steppe, and having established 
themselves on the Jaxartes, at once transported materials for two steamers 
for the navigation of the river. It was from this time that they came per¬ 
manently into contact with the three great khanates of Central Asia. 
Turning for a moment to the Caspian, it must be mentioned that by 
means of steamers down the Yolga and in the Caspian, she has now gained 
the complete mastery on that great inland sea, and has built the fort of 
Mongishlak on the eastern coast, and of late years has also established a 
fortified station at Ashourada, in the complete south, near Astrabad. 
Once across the desert and secure upon the Jaxartes, the progress of 
Russia southwards has been comparatively easy. Each year has seen a step 
in advance, forts rising up in succession along the banks of the river* In 
1853 the Russians had ascended the river as far as Ak Metchet, and built 
a fort there, now called “ Perofski.” The Crimean war checked their 
progress for a few years, but latterly it has been rapid. In the year 1864 
Aulietta and Chemkend fell, and Tashkend-—a flourishing city of con* 
siderable trade—the following year. 
Admiral Boutakoff, the distinguished officer who commanded the 
“ Yladimir 33 at the siege of Sebastopol, is said to have navigated the 
Jaxartes for 1000 miles in 1863. 
Thus in a few years Russia had reached almost to the heart of Kokan, 
and was in close proximity to Bokhara. 
On the eastern border of the great Kirghis Steppe her progress has been 
equally decisive, and the country being generally more fertile, the difficulties 
have been less. Her troops, leaving Semipalatinsk, marched southwards 
towards the Balkash Lake, and in 1854 established a military settlement 
