12 EXPLORATIONS IN TURKESTAN. 
there are numerous depressions, the bottoms of which arc level plains, 150 to 300 
feet in diameter, standiiif,' 70 to 80 feet above the stream. 
The s,a'neral arranjjement of these depressions is such that if filled witii water 
thev would fonn a connected, irregular system of water-basins ; and there is a clian- 
nel about 100 feet wide which opens out on the stream valley, after coninninicating 
with most of the depressions. It all suggests a former water s>steni maintaining 
pleasant pools like those which still form an attractive feature of Bokhara. 
The fonner walls of the city are represented now by ridges rising 20 or 30 feet 
above the surface within. Where the walls are cut by gullies old galleries are 
exposed which seem to luu-e been continuous with the wall. Quintus Curtius states 
70 stadia as the extent of the walls in the time of Alexander. This, if the short 
stadia were meant, would be about 3 miles, which would be approximately the cir- 
cumference of that jDart of Samarkand now called Afrosiab. 
As in all Turkestan, so at Samarkand, the older structures still standing are 
those of the Mohannnedan period. The man\- innnense and wonderfully decorated 
Fig. 7. — Paikent. a Sand-buried City. 
mosques built l)y Tamerlane, though now falling into ruin, belong among the 
wonders of the world ; and this not only on account of their great size, but also 
because of the licauty of their decoration. vSeen from Afrosiab, these ruins tower 
high above the rich foliage of the oasis city — e\idence of the wealth of treasure 
that Tamerlane had accumulated in Turkestan within two centuries after Genghis 
Khan had sacked the country and massacred nuich of its population. 
REVIEW OF THE FIELD. 
What I have been able here to sa)' regarding the archeolog\- of Russian Tur- 
kestan seems but a meager statement ; but it was soon clear that all that could be 
accomplished in such a reconnaissance would be the observation of the character 
and abtnidance of the evidences of former occupation, and to obtain some idea of 
their distribution and size. 
Our reconnaissance covered a territor)' nearly 1,400 miles long. It was neces- 
sarih' only of a preliminary character, and intended to supph' a general idea of the 
problems to be sol\-ed and of the best points at which to begin. 
