GENERAL AND GEOGRAPHICALMEMOIR.BOOK I.CHAPTER I.AN ACCOUNT of THE KINGDOM OF BOKHARA.Limits and extent of the kingdom.Samarcand and Bokhara have afforded a theme for glowing description to the historians, and poets of all ages. The country in which they lie forms a portion of Toorkistan, or the land of the Toorks, and is so denominated by the people themselves. Bokhara is an isolated kingdom, of small extent, surrounded by a desert. It is an open champaign country, of unequal fertility. In the vicinity of its few rivers the soil is rich; beyond, barren and unproductive. It owes its importance to its central position, since it is placed between Europe and the richest regions of Asia. On the north, it is bounded by the Sea of Aral, the Sir or Jaxartes of the ancients, andthe country of Kokan or Ferghana. On the east, it extends to the mountains which branch from the high lands of Pamere. On the south it has the Oxus, which it however crosses on the south-eastern limit, and holds a supremacy over Balkh and the cantons of Andkho and Maimuna. On the west it is separated from Orgunje or Khiva by the desert of Kharasm, which commences within a march of the city of Bokhara. In this enumeration I have assigned the widest limits to the kingdom; for there are provinces within this boundary which owe but a doubtful allegiance. The great feature of the country is the Oxus, which bisects the desert, and renders it inhabitable. The river of Samarcand, in its lower course, flows at right angles to it, but expends its water before paying its tribute to the greater stream. Another rivulet below that of Samarcand shares a like fate, after it has watered the province of Kurshee. On the banks of these different streams lies the whole cultivable soil of the kingdom. The entire country is comprised between the parallels of 36° and 45° of north latitude, and the meridians of 61° and 67° east longitude. A very small portion of this extensive tract is peopled. From Eljeek on the Oxus, and on the western frontier, to Juzzak on the east, which is the line of cultivation across the country, the distance is 240 miles. FromBalkh to Bokhara it is but 260, almost altogether waste; and the desert commences about fifteen miles beyond the capital.Natural and political divisions.The natural and political divisions of the kingdom, according to the natives, are as follows:—1. Karakool; 2. Bokhara, and seventomunsor districts around; 3. Kermina; 4. Meeankal, or Kutta Koorghan; 5. Samarcand, which has fivetomuns; 6. Juzzak; 7. Kurshee; 8. Lubiab, or banks of the Oxus; and, 9. Balkh, and the provinces south of that river. The first six of these divisions occupy the valley of the river of Samarcand, known by the name of Kohik andZurufshan, the gold-shedding river. This is the ancient valley of the Sogd, which has elicited the praises of all ages, from the time of Alexander. It was considered a paradise on earth by the Arabian conquerors; but much of its fame must be attributed to the surrounding desolation, its beauty captivating the eyes of those who had long travelled in oceans of sand. It is, however, a beautiful valley. Kurshee, which lies sixty miles to the south of Samarcand, is an oasis, formed by a river from the neighbouring province of Shuhr Subz, which exhausts itself in fertilising the district. The territory on the banks of the Oxus is also highly favoured by nature; but the strip of cultivation is narrow, and much of it lies neglected. Balkh,and the countries south of the Oxus, likewise owe their fertility to the abundant supply of water, which was once divided among a multiplicity of villages; but rapine has desolated this fruitful land. These cantons, though considered tributary to Bokhara, render but nominal allegiance; which consists in sending a few horses yearly to the king. Their names are as follows:—Akchu, Shibbergaum, Andkhoee, Maimuna, and Sirepool; all, except the last, to the north of the mountains.Physical geography.The geological structure and general conformation of an extended plain is not less interesting than the features of a lofty range of mountains; but we have here fewer opportunities to observe and describe. The great plain of Toorkistan has an elevation of 2000 feet, and gradually declines westward from Balkh, as the slope and direction of the rivers testify, till it meets the Sea of Aral and the Caspian. With the country north of the Oxus, and from the base of the mountains to Bokhara, I am best acquainted. We have a succession of low rounded ridges of limestone, oolite, and gravel, thinly overgrown with verdure, alternating with vast and hardened plains of argillaceous clay, which offer in this dry climate the finest roads to the heaviest artillery. On these there occur some fields of sand-hills, of no great extent,but sufficient to absorb the waters of all the rivulets flowing towards the Oxus. They seem to extend in a narrow line parallel to that river; and between it and Karakool have their greatest breadth, which is about twelve miles. Further to the eastward, they do not exceed half that width; and there are only a few scattered hillocks between Kurshee and the Oxus. Westward of Bokhara, the sand-hills increase in volume, and approach close on either side of the river of Kohik, leaving but a small space for cultivation; they then run north and west into the deserts of Kipchak and Kharasm. On their extent and continuance south of the Oxus I have spoken in my narrative, as well as in a subsequent chapter on Toorkmania. These sand-hills are based on the firmest land; and it can at once be discerned that they have been blown by the wind from some other soil. In the valleys there occasionally occur deposits of salt and saline rivulets; and nearly all the wells of this tract are either bitter or brackish. The depth of these never exceeds thirty-six feet, and many of them have water at half that distance from the surface. Between Bokhara and the Oxus the water exudes through sand, and in August had a temperature of 60°, while the air exceeded that of 100°. It was as grateful to the palate as if cooled in ice. In the cold season, these wellsare described as warm; so it is evident that they retain an equality of temperature during the year. The tract north of the Oxus is thinly peopled by pastoral tribes, and uncultivated; but the remains of aqueducts and buildings, in particular between Kurshee and Bokhara, denote a more prosperous age in these now neglected lands.Climate and phenomena.The climate of Bokhara is salubrious and pleasant; it is dry, and in the winter very cold, as is usual in sandy countries. Nothing proves this so satisfactorily as the freezing of the Oxus. In summer, the thermometer seldom rises much above 90°, and the nights are always cool. But this only applies to the city of Bokhara; for, in approaching it by the desert in June, the heat exceeded 100° of Fahrenheit. The exuberance of vegetation near the city must lower the temperature; and will account for the difference between the scorching heat around, and its milder climate. Bokhara has an elevation of about 1200 feet above the sea. There is a constant serenity in its atmosphere, and a clearness in the sky. The heavens are a bright azure blue, generally without a cloud. At night, the stars have uncommon lustre, and the milky way shines gloriously in the firmament. Even in moonlight, a star is visible on the verge of the horizon at an elevation of but three or four degrees.There is also a never-ceasing display of the most brilliant meteors, which dart like rockets in the sky: ten or twelve of these are sometimes seen in an hour, assuming almost every colour; fiery red, blue, pale and faint. It is a noble country for astronomical science, and great must have been the advantages enjoyed by the famed observatory of Samarcand. In the middle of July, after some days of greater than usual heat, we experienced a violent tornado of dust, accompanied by a hot wind. It approached from the N.W., and could be seen advancing. It passed off in a few hours, and left the air clear and cool; nor did the heat again return. I encountered a similar phenomenon at Mooltan, on the Indus, about the same time in the preceding year. These clouds of dust appear only to occur near deserts; but then every strong breeze should raise a similar cloud, which it does not. In winter, the snow lies for three months at Bokhara; and the spring rains are often heavy, but the climate is arid. The evaporation of water is so rapid, that after rain the roads dry immediately. I should judge the climate to be congenial to the human frame, from the great age of many of the inhabitants. I have been now speaking of Bokhara and the countries north of the Oxus. In Balkh, the heat is oppressive; and the climate is very unhealthy, which is attributed to the bad quality of the water. It is of a whitish colour, mixed up with earth like pipe-clay: nor can it be the abundance of it which causes marshes, for most of the canals are choked; and the country, when dry, continues equally unhealthy. In Balkh, the harvest is about fifty days later than at Peshawur; the wheat is cut in the middle of June, and at Bokhara it is a fortnight later.Rivers.In Bokhara, the rivers possess the highest importance, since they render a portion of these inhospitable lands habitable to man. There are five of them in Bokhara; the Amoo or Oxus, the Sir or Jaxartes, the Kohik, and the rivers of Kurshee and Balkh. I have devoted the next chapter to a description of the Oxus. The river Sir is hardly to be included in the dominions of Bokhara: it rises in the same mountains as the Oxus; and passing through the country of Kokan and Khojend, and traversing a desert, falls into the Aral, about the 46th degree of north latitude. It is a much smaller river than the Oxus, but is said to be more rapid. In summer it is fordable; and in winter it is covered with ice, sometimes two yards thick, over which the caravans pass. Next in importance to the Sir is the Kohik, or Zurufshan. It rises in the high lands east of Samarcand, and passing north of that city and Bokhara, forms alake in the province of Karakool, instead of falling in the Oxus, as has been represented in our maps. In the upper parts of its course it fertilises the rich province of Samarcand; below that city, in Meeankal, its waters are diverted for the purposes of rice cultivation; for three or four months in the year, its bed is perfectly dry at Bokhara; and that city, and the country below it, suffer great inconvenience, since they depend on the river for a supply of water. It is a curious propensity in the people to raise in any portion of so dry a country a grain like rice, which requires such an exuberance of water. The lake into which the Kohik flows is familiarly known by the name of “Dengiz,” or sea, and is about twenty-five miles long, and surrounded on all sides by sand-hills. It is very deep; nor, from the accounts of the people, does it appear ever to decrease in size at any season of the year. When the snow melts in summer, the water flows as steadily into it, as it does in winter. Its water is salt, though its only feeder be a fresh river; but this is in accordance with the laws of nature, since it has no outlet of any kind. The next river is that of Kurshee, which rises in the same high lands as the Kohik, and passes through Shuhr Subz and Kurshee, below which it is lost in the desert. The blessings of water are most apparent in the neighbourhood of this river. The fields of Shuhr Subz yield rich crops of rice; and Kurshee is a sheet of gardens and orchards. For six miles on one side, and sixteen on the other, the waters of this rivulet are distributed by canals: when these cease, we have again a sterile desert to contrast with its green and beautiful herbage. The river of Kurshee is fed by the melted snow; and such is the command over its waters, that the chief of Shuhr Subz can at any time cut off the supply of the lower districts. In both this river and the Kohik it is usual to let the water run for a limited time in certain canals, which gives to each village the benefit of the stream once in ten days; such is the value of water, and such is the care of the husbandman in this country. The last river of the country is that of Balkh, which rises south of Hindoo Koosh, about twenty miles from Bameean, near the “Bund i Burbur,” a celebrated dam ascribed to a miracle of Ali, and which appears to be an avalanche of earth that has fallen in upon a ravine. The river then flows north among the mountains, and enters the plains of Toorkistan, about six miles south of Balkh. Here it is divided into numerous canals (which are said to be eighteen in number), and conducted to the city, as also to Mazar and Akhchu on either side. Akhchu is about fiftymiles from Balkh; but none of the other canals extend so far, though some of their water trickles half way to the Oxus, and affords that necessary of life to the roving Toorkmuns. It is impossible to give any delineation of the canals of Balkh, since they intersect the whole country, and traces of them meet the eye every where. The gentle slope of the land towards the Oxus affords great facilities for irrigating the lands of Balkh; the soil is rich and productive; which will account for the great population, and vast fertility that was once to be found in this country.Mountains.The mountains of Bokhara lie on its frontiers. On the east and south they form its boundaries; but the interior of the country is free from them, with the exception of some low-lying ridges near Shuhr Subz and Samarcand. The northern line of Hindoo Koosh, near Balkh, is incorrectly laid down; since that city stands on the plain six miles distant, and clear of the range which stretches to the westward, and never reaches so high a parallel. In our maps, Balkh stands upon it[20], and the range is even continued north-eastward to the Oxus. I have given a separate notice ofthis great belt of mountains, of which those near Balkh are but outlyers. Snow is procured from the valleys about twenty miles from Balkh, in the middle of summer. On approaching Kurshee we descried a lofty range of snow-clad mountains, running apparently north and south. The natives called them the mountains of Baeetoon, from a village of that name; and assured me they were six days’ journey, or about a distance of 150 miles, from Kurshee. In June they were entirely enveloped in snow, which would assign to them an elevation of at least 18,000 feet, judging by Hindoo Koosh. There were no remarkable peaks in sight, and the mountains ran in connected chain like a trap formation. There were many lesser and outward ridges between them and our view; but they towered far above all others, and gave an impression of great altitude. We saw them again at sunrise, but lost the splendid prospect as we travelled westward of Kurshee. I am at a loss for the correct designation of this range: the Emperor Baber speaks of the Kara Tagh, or Black Mountains, in Karatageen; but that name is unknown in these days. They appear to terminate the highlands of Pameer. They run at right angles to Hindoo Koosh, and very nearly in the same meridian, giving cover to an opinion that they are but a branch of that range. Northof the Oxus, the mountains first rise in the independent province of Hissar, and these which I have described appear as a prolongation. In Hissar, however, they have no snow but in winter; and they have an elevation beyond what was to be looked for in this part of Asia. The country at their base is inhabited by the Kongrad Uzbeks.Mineral productions.When we speak of the mineral productions of Bokhara, our recollection is carried back to the ill-fated expeditions of Russia into these countries in quest of gold. The river of Bokhara, I have observed, has the designation of “Zurufshan,” or the gold-yielding stream. The result of Prince Bekevitch’s expedition is well known; he and his three thousand men perished. There are no gold mines in the kingdom of Bokhara, but that precious metal is found among the sands of the Oxus in greater abundance, perhaps, than in any of the other rivers which flow from Hindoo Koosh. From its source to the lake of Aral, the inhabitants wash the sand after the floods with great profit, and find grains or particles of gold larger than those in the Indus. A piece of virgin gold, about the size of a pigeon’s egg, was picked up last year on the banks of the Oxus, and is now in possession of a merchant in Khooloom. In the vicinity of Durwaz, the sands are most productive. The lapis lazuli cliffs,which overhang the river in Budukhshan, are also said to be interveined with gold; but, from the specimens which I have seen, it appears to be mica. All the other metals, such as silver, iron, and copper, are imported from Russia. Sal ammoniac (nouchadur) is found in its native state among the hills near Juzzak. I know of no other mineral productions in the kingdom but the salt deposits. In Hissar, salt is found in hills, not unlike the formations in the salt range of the Punjab. On the plains it is dug out in masses, and, when washed, is ready for the market. There is a bed of salt, about five miles in circumference, called Khwaju Hunfee, two miles from the Oxus, below Charjooee, on the right bank of the river. The salt is imperfectly crystallised, black, and very inferior; a camel load of 500lbs. sells for a quarter of a tilla in Bokhara.[21]Vegetable kingdom.The vegetable productions of this country are more abundant. The different trees will be best known by the names of the fruit after noticed. The wood used for house-building is the poplar, which grows every where. The cotton plant is extensively cultivated, and exported both in a raw and manufactured state. Hemp is reared, but the people are ignorant of its use in manufactures. They extract oil from the seeds of the plant, as also the intoxicating drug called “bang,” and give the stalks to cattle. I have been informed that the tea plant thrives between Samarcand and Kokan; but I doubt the information, which was never properly confirmed. There is a small yellow flower, called “esbaruk,” growing in the low hills near Kurshee and Balkh, which is used as a dye, and produces a better colour than the rind of the pomegranate. Madder, called “bayak,” is also produced; its roots are permitted to remain eighteen months in the ground; but a dye equally good and serviceable is found in the creeping roots of the vine, which yield a colour that is dark red. Neither indigo nor sugar cane grow in Bokhara. They are the great imports from India, and might be acclimated. There is a curious and common substitute for sugar, called “turunjubeen.” It is a saccharine gum, which exudes from the well-known shrub called the camel’s thorn, or the “khari-shootur.” Towards the end of August, when this shrub is in flower, it may be seen in the morning covered with drops like dew, which are shaken into a cloth placed beneath the bush, and form what is called “turunjubeen.” Some hundred maunds are collected annually, and the whole sweetmeats and confections used in the country are prepared from it; it is also exported. Though the “khari-shootur” be a plant commonto most of the countries in Asia, it does not always, as in Bokhara, produce “turunjubeen.” The gum is unknown in India and Cabool, and not found westward of Bokhara, or near that capital; though in great plenty to the eastward, near Kurshee and Samarcand. It appears to be peculiar to certain soils; abounding in dry deserts; and is probably the rich sap of the shrub, which exudes and hardens into small grains. The inhabitants entertain an absurd opinion, that it is really dew; but I never heard that it was made by an insect, as has been asserted. It cannot be doubted that sugar could be manufactured from it,—a discovery that would be invaluable, since they now use syrup of grapes and mulberries on account of the expense of that article. Sugar might also be extracted from juwaree, beet root, and melons. There is another valuable jungle shrub, called “usl-soos,” and “achick booee,” by the Uzbeks, which appears to be a bastard indigo, and grows most luxuriantly on the banks of the Oxus and the other rivers of the country. The roots of this plant extend deep into the soil, and at certain seasons of the year have a small globular worm attached to them: this creature produces a purple dye, like that of cochineal (kirmiz), and some of the merchants applied for my advice regarding it: the insect, when exposed to the sun, comes to life; whendestroyed in an oven, it shrivels up, but still produces a dye, only inferior to cochineal. I compared it with American cochineal, and they appeared to me similar, only that the native preparation was softer. Should this insect yield cochineal, the discovery would be highly important in a silk country; nor is it to be doubted that its vivifying power might be destroyed by steam. An ingenious native of Cashmere had tried to bake it in bread, but without better success than when placed loose in the oven. The different grains of the country are rice, wheat, barley, juwaree, here called “jougan,” “sesamum,” “urjun,” Indian corn, gram, moong, and beans. It is an astonishing fact, that, in the provinces south of the Oxus, the wheat yields a crop for three successive years. When the harvest is finished, the cattle are turned in upon the stubble fields, and in the ensuing year the same stalks grow up and ear. The second crop is good, the next more scanty; but it is reaped a third time. In Bokhara Proper, the soil has not such fecundity, for the crops of Karakool do not yield more than sevenfold. Trefoil is cultivated, and may be out seven or eight times in the year. Lucerne requires too much water. The tobacco of Kurshee is superior. The wild rhubarb, or “rhuwash,” as found in Cabool, likewise grows in the hillocks of this district.Vegetables abound; there are turnips, carrots, onions, radishes, brinjals, and a variety of greens, with most extensive fields of beet-root. The potatoe has not been introduced. Though Bokhara is so celebrated for its fertility, the necessaries of life bear a high price, which in the city itself may be attributed to the density of population. The following table will furnish more correct data on thissubject:—51 lbs. of wheat sell for one sicca rupee, value about 2s.75½ lbs. of barley for the same price.18½ lbs. of best rice.22½ lbs. of coarse rice.36½ lbs. of wheat flour.64 lbs. of juwaree.48 lbs. of moong.36½ lbs. of gram.43 lbs. of beans.16 lbs. of mutton.24 lbs. of beef.8 lbs. of oil.140 lbs. of salt.1 lb. of sugar.4⅔ lbs. of ghee.Fruits and wines.The fruits of Bokhara have attained a great celebrity; but it is more from quantity than quality. They consist of the peach, plum, apricot, cherry, sour cherry, apple, pear, quince,walnut, fig, pomegranate, mulberry, and grape; also the melon, pumpkin, and cucumber. Most of the stone fruit is inferior to that of Persia, only excepting the apricots of Balkh, which are highly flavoured, and nearly as large as apples. They are called “Bakur khanee;” and 2000 of them may be purchased for a rupee. There are many kinds of grapes; the best are the Sabibee and Hooseinee: the first is a purple grape, the other yellow, and of a long shape; and both have a flavour truly luscious. The vines are not pruned as in Europe. The raisins prepared from the Bokhara grapes stand unrivalled in size and flavour: the best are dipped in hot water, and then dried, from which they have the name of “ab-josh,” which means water boiled: they are soft and beautifully transparent. The wines of Bokhara are unpalatable to European taste, with little flavour; some of them might even be mistaken for beer. They cannot be preserved for more than a year; which evinces some defect in their manufacture. The mulberries are delicious: they are dried like raisins; and a syrup called “sheeru” is also extracted from them and grapes. The apples are indifferent. The plum of Bokhara, which is so well known in India, is not exported from the country itself, but grows at Ghuzni in Cabool: it is highlyesteemed. The melon is the choicest fruit of Bokhara. The Emperor Baber tells us that he shed tears over a melon of Toorkistan, which he cut up in India after his conquest: its flavour brought his native country and other dear associations to memory. There are two distinct species of melons, which the people class into hot and cold; the first ripens in June, and is the common musk or scented melon of India, and not superior in flavour; the other ripens in July, and is the true melon of Toorkistan; In appearance it is not unlike a water melon, and comes to maturity after being seven months in the ground. It is much larger than the common sort, and generally of an oval shape, exceeding two and three feet in circumference. Some are much larger; and those which ripen in the autumn have exceeded four feet. One has a notion that what is large cannot be delicate or high flavoured; but no fruit can be more luscious than the melon of Bokhara. I always looked upon the melon as an inferior fruit till I went to that country: nor do I believe their flavour will be credited by any one who has not tasted them. The melons of India, Cabool, and even Persia, bear no comparison with them: not even the celebrated fruit of Isfahan itself. The pulp is rather hard, about two inches thick, and is sweet to thevery skin; which, with the inhabitants, is the great proof of superiority. A kind of molasses is extracted from these melons, which might be easily converted into sugar. There are various kinds of melons: the best is named “Kokechu,” and has a green and yellow coloured skin; another is called “Ak nubat,” which means white sugar candy: it is yellow, and exceedingly rich. The winter melon is of a dark green colour, called “Kara koobuk,” and said to surpass all the others. Bokhara appears to be the native country of the melon, having a dry climate, sandy soil, and great facilities for irrigation. Melons may be purchased in Bokhara throughout the year, and are preserved by merely hanging them up apart from one another; for which those of the winter crop are best suited. The water melons of Bokhara are good, and attain also an enormous bulk: twenty people may partake of one; and two of them, it is said, form sometimes a load for donkey. The cucumbers are likewise superior.[22]Domestic animals.In the animal kingdom, the sheep and goats of Bokhara claim the first notice, since the oneyields the celebrated skins, and the other a description of shawl-wool, only inferior to that used in Cashmere. These flocks graze on furze and dry grass; and their flesh is sweet and well-flavoured.Sheep.All the sheep are of the doombu kind, with large tails; some of which yield in season so much as fifteen pounds of tallow. The animal looks deformed from its size; and straddles along with evident uneasiness. The description of sheep which produces the jet-black curly fleece, that is made into caps in Persia, and so much esteemed everywhere, is peculiar to Karakool, a small canton between Bokhara and the Oxus. The animal will thrive in no other place, and has been transported to Persia and other countries without success; when removed, it loses the peculiarity in its fleece, and becomes like any other sheep. The people attribute this curly fleece to the nature of the pasture; and assert that the grass called “boyak,” and by the Persians “ronass,” which is a long kind of bent, changes the nature of the animal. If a Karakool sheep even strays to the banks of the Oxus, where that plant grows, it ceases, it is said, to have the curly wool. The skins of the male lambs are most highly prized: they are killed five or six days after birth; never later than a fortnight; but the popular belief of their being cut out of the womb iserroneous: a very few are procured from premature births in the ewes; and the skins of such are as fine as velvet, but not curled. These are called “kirpuk,” and exported to Constantinople, where they bear a very high price, as the supply is limited. The other kind is called “danudar,” or curled, and exported to Persia, Turkey, and China. They are of different fineness, according to the age at which the lambs are killed: some are exquisitely curled, others more coarse. Those which have the smallest curls are most prized; and in Persia, ten or fifteen skins will sometimes be cut up to make a single cap; which is the cause of their being so expensive. In Bokhara, a single skin never bears a higher price than three or four sicca rupees. The annual export of skins amounts to about two hundred thousand; the coarser ones being sent to Orgunje.Goats.They are cured by being rubbed with barley flour, and salt. The goats of Bokhara, which are to be found among the wandering Kirgizzes, yield the wool to which I have alluded: but these people were quite ignorant of its value till a late period; and yet manufacture it into ropes to bind their horses and cattle. For some years past it has been exported to Cabool and India. The stuffs prepared from it are good, but far surpassed by those of Cashmere, manufactured from the woolof Tibet. This wool is of a grey colour, and produced next the skin of the animal, from which it is combed out; if not removed, it makes its appearance in clotted lumps among the hair. The goat is about the common size, of a dark colour, and differing from that of Tibet, which is a small and beautiful animal. I am not aware if the goats of every country yield wool; but, in this respect, there is a resemblance between those of Toorkistan and Tibet. I am assured that the dogs of the latter country even yield wool from which a few shawls are annually manufactured in Cashmere. The curs of Bokhara yield nothing so valuable.Camels.In a country, surrounded by deserts, the camel is an animal of the first importance: they are very numerous; and the whole traffic of Bokhara is carried on by means of them. They bear a high price; a good one cannot be purchased under sixty or seventy rupees. The condition and appearance of the camel here differ from what is seen in India and Cabool, where they are often covered with eruptions, and almost destitute of hair. At Bokhara, on the other hand, they have a sleek coat, as fine as that of a horse, and shed their hair in summer; from which a fine water-proof cloth of close and rather heavy texture is manufactured. It is called “oormuk,” andretains the natural colour of the camel. I imagine that these camels owe their superiority to the climate, and the congenial thorny food, which is so abundant. This animal always thrives best in a dry country, and is very impatient under heat. They will travel with ease for fourteen successive hours; but their keepers never march during the day if it can be avoided. It is erroneous to believe that the camel can subsist for any great number of days without water. In summer they suffer much after the second day; and in winter they will only travel without it for double the time. The food of the camel is most cleanly; but nothing can be more offensive than the effluvia which proceeds from its stomach. The journeys performed, even with our caravan, bespeak the great hardihood of these animals. In one instance we travelled seventy miles in forty-four consecutive hours, including every halt. Our usual marches were thirty miles: and the camel scarcely ever travels more than two miles in the hour. The Bactrian camel, which has two humps, abounds in Toorkistan: they are bred by the Kuzzaks of the desert north of Bokhara. They have a fringe of long black hair under their neck, with a clump of it on both thighs, and are really pretty for a camel. In stature they arelower than the common camel or dromedary, yet they bear greater burdens by 140 pounds: the one carrying 640, and the other but 500 pounds English. I am assured that a most strong and useful breed of camels is reared by a cross between the two. The issue of these have but one hump. I reserve my remarks on the horses of the country for a separate chapter. Among the domestic animals of Bokhara none are more useful than the ass: the breed is large and sturdy, and they are much used both for saddle and burden. There is no objection to riding them, as in India. There are no mules, from a religious prejudice against them. The horned cattle of Bokhara are well sized, though far inferior to those of England. There are no buffaloes.Wild animals. Birds. Insects. Fishes.The wild animals of the country are few. Tigers of a diminutive species are found in the valley of the Oxus; also wild hogs, herds of deer, antelope, and the wild ass, roam on the plains; there are also foxes, wolves, jackals, and cats. There are bears in the Eastern mountains; rats, tortoises, and lizards are found in the desert. The scorpion is common; but its sting has little of its usual virulence: I speak from experience. It is said that there are no snakes (and we certainly did not meet with any) north of the Oxus. Locusts sometimes infest thecountry, particularly about Balkh. The eagle and hawk are found; all kinds of game are scarce. The plover and wild pigeon are common. Water fowl are numerous in certain seasons. The crane, or “lug lugu,” as it is called, builds its nest on the mosques of the cities: it is a bird of passage, and reckoned sacred. The fish of the Oxus do not differ from what are found in most Asiatic rivers. There is a species of the dog-fish called “lukha,” which has no scales, and is frequently caught of the weight of 600 lbs. English: the Uzbeks eat it. In the lake of Karakool the fish have as good a flavour as those of the sea. There are no monsters in the Oxus. We neither saw not heard of alligators. There are few insects in a dry country. I observed a peculiarity in the food of the bees and wasps which was new to me: they attacked a shoulder of mutton, and ate very large holes in it; in winter they are sometimes fed with flesh instead of sugar. The meat which I saw them devouring was fresh, not putrid. They also attacked dried fish.Silk-worms. Silk.The most valuable insect is the silk-worm, which is reared in all parts of the kingdom where there is water. Every stream or rivulet is lined with the mulberry; and the most extensive operations are carried on along the banks of theOxus, where the whole of the wandering tribes are engaged in rearing the insect. The silk of the “Lub i ab,” or banks of the river, as it is termed, is the most valuable, both from the softness and fineness of its thread. The trees put forth their leaves about the vernal equinox, when the worm is brought out, the whole stage of its existence has terminated with the month of June. The worm is killed in the cocoon by immersion in hot water; and the silk is then reeled off on a wheel by an end or thread being taken from a number of cocoons which lie clotted together. This silk is exported to India and Cabool, and, from its abundance, may be purchased at a very cheap rate. Silk is likewise produced in the neighbouring country of Kokan; but it is more abundant than good. The raw silk is dyed by cochineal and the productions already named, madder and “esbaruk.” A black colour is produced by mixing iron filings with water in which rice has been boiled, and allowing it to stand for a month.Diseases. Guinea-worm.Among the diseases of Bokhara, the most distressing is the guinea-worm, or Dracunculus, here called “rishtu:” it is confined to the city. The inhabitants believe that the disease arises from drinking the water of the cisterns in summer, when they become fetid and infested with animalculæ. Travellers suffer as much as theinhabitants; but the disease does not show itself till the year following that on which they have drank the water. Many of the Afghans are attacked after returning to Cabool; and, whatever be the cause, it assuredly originates from something peculiar to Bokhara, since all other parts of the country are free from it. It is supposed that one fourth of the whole population of Bokhara are annually attacked with guinea-worm. This prevalence of the complaint has given the natives a dexterity of extracting them quite unknown in other countries. So soon as it is discovered that one has formed, and before any swelling has taken place, they pass a needle under the middle of the worm, and, rubbing the part, draw it out at once. They are generally successful; but if the worm breaks, the wound festers, the pain is excessive, and few recover under three months. If the animal be coiled in one place, the extraction is simple; if deep in the flesh, more difficult. If the swelling has commenced, they do not attempt the operation, but allow it to take its course, and endeavour to draw it out by degrees, as in India. These worms vary in length from three to four spans. It is said that guinea-worm is most common among people of a cold temperament; but it does not attack any particular class. The better orders of people, attributing it to the water, sendto the river for their supply, and never drink that of the cisterns till it is boiled. It is not to be supposed that I can give any solution of the cause of this disease: the doctors of Toorkistan believe it to be a worm generated from the causes above-mentioned. Nor can I credit its arising from the animalculæ of the water. Another disease of the country is the “mukkom,” or “kolee,” a kind of leprosy.Kolee, a kind of leprosy.Those afflicted with it are considered unclean: it does not cover the body with spots, as in common leprosy, but the skin becomes dry and shrivelled; the hair of the body falls off, the nails and teeth tumble out, and the whole body assumes a horrible and unseemly appearance. The disease is believed to be hereditary, and to originate from food: it is fearfully prevalent in the districts of Samarcand and Meeankal; also in the neighbouring states of Shuhr Subz and Hissar; all of which are rice countries. Some state it to be caused by the use of the intoxicating spirit called “boozu,” which is distilled from black barley; but that liquor and mares’ milk are not used in Bokhara. The disease affects the general health, and is incurable. The most humane people will tell you that it is a curse from God, and drive the unfortunate sufferer from them. A separate quarter of the city is assigned for the residence of those who areafflicted, as was the case among the Jews. That scourge, the cholera morbus, has been felt in all these countries.Cholera.It appears to have taken the route of the caravans, and advanced from India step by step into eastern Europe. It raged for a year in Cabool; it then crossed Hindoo Koosh on the following season, and desolated Balkh and Koondooz. For a year it fluctuated between the valley of the Oxus and Herat; it then attacked Bokhara, Kokan, and the other Uzbek states; and, after devastating the country, passed on to Khiva, Orenburg, and Astrakhan. The faculty have discovered no remedy for the cholera morbus.Other diseases.The inhabitants of Toorkistan are subject to a constant dryness of the skin: many of them lose their eyelashes and eyebrows, and their skin becomes wrinkled and tawny. Whether the diet, or dryness of the climate, causes these appearances, I know not. The Uzbeks seldom eat horse-flesh; though it is believed that they live upon it. It is considered heating food, and is, besides, expensive. Mutton is preferred, and none but the lower orders eat beef. A sheep is killed, and the entire tail, however large and fat, is melted up with the meat, and cooked in a single boiler. They are fond of every thing oily, and also use much cheese and sour milk. Ophthalmia is a very commoncomplaint in Toorkistan. Fevers are rare; in Balkh rheumatism is prevalent. In the city of Bokhara rickets are common; and the children have generally a puny and unhealthy appearance, which is not observable in the grown-up people of the country. Among their medicines, I heard of an oil extracted from the dung of sheep; which is considered a specific for the sprains, bruises, and hurts of cattle: it is very pungent, and the flies shun the parts rubbed with it. I have been assured of the bone spavins of a horse being reduced by an application of this oil. They procure it by a distilling process.Cities and towns. Population of the kingdom.There are no large towns in the kingdom of Bokhara, but the capital. It contains a population of about 150,000 souls. The ancient cities of Samarcand and Balkh have long since dwindled into the obscurity of provincial towns: they are both surpassed by Kurshee, which has not a population of 10,000 souls. These are the only towns in the country. There are some large villages, such as Jizzak, Kermina, and Kutkoorghan; but none of them contain above 2500 people. The villages are also few, and widely separated from one another; they amount to about four hundred: nor can I estimate the whole population of the kingdom of Bokhara at a million of human beings: andone half of this population is made up of the nomade tribes that wander in its deserts. The villages are fortified by mud walls, which are necessary for their protection. In the cultivated parts, single habitations, called “robats,” are scattered over the face of the country; and these are invariably surrounded by walls; I need not enter upon any farther account of the cities of Bokhara and Balkh, since they have been mentioned in the narrative.
GENERAL AND GEOGRAPHICALMEMOIR.BOOK I.CHAPTER I.AN ACCOUNT of THE KINGDOM OF BOKHARA.
GENERAL AND GEOGRAPHICALMEMOIR.
Limits and extent of the kingdom.
Samarcand and Bokhara have afforded a theme for glowing description to the historians, and poets of all ages. The country in which they lie forms a portion of Toorkistan, or the land of the Toorks, and is so denominated by the people themselves. Bokhara is an isolated kingdom, of small extent, surrounded by a desert. It is an open champaign country, of unequal fertility. In the vicinity of its few rivers the soil is rich; beyond, barren and unproductive. It owes its importance to its central position, since it is placed between Europe and the richest regions of Asia. On the north, it is bounded by the Sea of Aral, the Sir or Jaxartes of the ancients, andthe country of Kokan or Ferghana. On the east, it extends to the mountains which branch from the high lands of Pamere. On the south it has the Oxus, which it however crosses on the south-eastern limit, and holds a supremacy over Balkh and the cantons of Andkho and Maimuna. On the west it is separated from Orgunje or Khiva by the desert of Kharasm, which commences within a march of the city of Bokhara. In this enumeration I have assigned the widest limits to the kingdom; for there are provinces within this boundary which owe but a doubtful allegiance. The great feature of the country is the Oxus, which bisects the desert, and renders it inhabitable. The river of Samarcand, in its lower course, flows at right angles to it, but expends its water before paying its tribute to the greater stream. Another rivulet below that of Samarcand shares a like fate, after it has watered the province of Kurshee. On the banks of these different streams lies the whole cultivable soil of the kingdom. The entire country is comprised between the parallels of 36° and 45° of north latitude, and the meridians of 61° and 67° east longitude. A very small portion of this extensive tract is peopled. From Eljeek on the Oxus, and on the western frontier, to Juzzak on the east, which is the line of cultivation across the country, the distance is 240 miles. FromBalkh to Bokhara it is but 260, almost altogether waste; and the desert commences about fifteen miles beyond the capital.
Natural and political divisions.
The natural and political divisions of the kingdom, according to the natives, are as follows:—1. Karakool; 2. Bokhara, and seventomunsor districts around; 3. Kermina; 4. Meeankal, or Kutta Koorghan; 5. Samarcand, which has fivetomuns; 6. Juzzak; 7. Kurshee; 8. Lubiab, or banks of the Oxus; and, 9. Balkh, and the provinces south of that river. The first six of these divisions occupy the valley of the river of Samarcand, known by the name of Kohik andZurufshan, the gold-shedding river. This is the ancient valley of the Sogd, which has elicited the praises of all ages, from the time of Alexander. It was considered a paradise on earth by the Arabian conquerors; but much of its fame must be attributed to the surrounding desolation, its beauty captivating the eyes of those who had long travelled in oceans of sand. It is, however, a beautiful valley. Kurshee, which lies sixty miles to the south of Samarcand, is an oasis, formed by a river from the neighbouring province of Shuhr Subz, which exhausts itself in fertilising the district. The territory on the banks of the Oxus is also highly favoured by nature; but the strip of cultivation is narrow, and much of it lies neglected. Balkh,and the countries south of the Oxus, likewise owe their fertility to the abundant supply of water, which was once divided among a multiplicity of villages; but rapine has desolated this fruitful land. These cantons, though considered tributary to Bokhara, render but nominal allegiance; which consists in sending a few horses yearly to the king. Their names are as follows:—Akchu, Shibbergaum, Andkhoee, Maimuna, and Sirepool; all, except the last, to the north of the mountains.
Physical geography.
The geological structure and general conformation of an extended plain is not less interesting than the features of a lofty range of mountains; but we have here fewer opportunities to observe and describe. The great plain of Toorkistan has an elevation of 2000 feet, and gradually declines westward from Balkh, as the slope and direction of the rivers testify, till it meets the Sea of Aral and the Caspian. With the country north of the Oxus, and from the base of the mountains to Bokhara, I am best acquainted. We have a succession of low rounded ridges of limestone, oolite, and gravel, thinly overgrown with verdure, alternating with vast and hardened plains of argillaceous clay, which offer in this dry climate the finest roads to the heaviest artillery. On these there occur some fields of sand-hills, of no great extent,but sufficient to absorb the waters of all the rivulets flowing towards the Oxus. They seem to extend in a narrow line parallel to that river; and between it and Karakool have their greatest breadth, which is about twelve miles. Further to the eastward, they do not exceed half that width; and there are only a few scattered hillocks between Kurshee and the Oxus. Westward of Bokhara, the sand-hills increase in volume, and approach close on either side of the river of Kohik, leaving but a small space for cultivation; they then run north and west into the deserts of Kipchak and Kharasm. On their extent and continuance south of the Oxus I have spoken in my narrative, as well as in a subsequent chapter on Toorkmania. These sand-hills are based on the firmest land; and it can at once be discerned that they have been blown by the wind from some other soil. In the valleys there occasionally occur deposits of salt and saline rivulets; and nearly all the wells of this tract are either bitter or brackish. The depth of these never exceeds thirty-six feet, and many of them have water at half that distance from the surface. Between Bokhara and the Oxus the water exudes through sand, and in August had a temperature of 60°, while the air exceeded that of 100°. It was as grateful to the palate as if cooled in ice. In the cold season, these wellsare described as warm; so it is evident that they retain an equality of temperature during the year. The tract north of the Oxus is thinly peopled by pastoral tribes, and uncultivated; but the remains of aqueducts and buildings, in particular between Kurshee and Bokhara, denote a more prosperous age in these now neglected lands.
Climate and phenomena.
The climate of Bokhara is salubrious and pleasant; it is dry, and in the winter very cold, as is usual in sandy countries. Nothing proves this so satisfactorily as the freezing of the Oxus. In summer, the thermometer seldom rises much above 90°, and the nights are always cool. But this only applies to the city of Bokhara; for, in approaching it by the desert in June, the heat exceeded 100° of Fahrenheit. The exuberance of vegetation near the city must lower the temperature; and will account for the difference between the scorching heat around, and its milder climate. Bokhara has an elevation of about 1200 feet above the sea. There is a constant serenity in its atmosphere, and a clearness in the sky. The heavens are a bright azure blue, generally without a cloud. At night, the stars have uncommon lustre, and the milky way shines gloriously in the firmament. Even in moonlight, a star is visible on the verge of the horizon at an elevation of but three or four degrees.There is also a never-ceasing display of the most brilliant meteors, which dart like rockets in the sky: ten or twelve of these are sometimes seen in an hour, assuming almost every colour; fiery red, blue, pale and faint. It is a noble country for astronomical science, and great must have been the advantages enjoyed by the famed observatory of Samarcand. In the middle of July, after some days of greater than usual heat, we experienced a violent tornado of dust, accompanied by a hot wind. It approached from the N.W., and could be seen advancing. It passed off in a few hours, and left the air clear and cool; nor did the heat again return. I encountered a similar phenomenon at Mooltan, on the Indus, about the same time in the preceding year. These clouds of dust appear only to occur near deserts; but then every strong breeze should raise a similar cloud, which it does not. In winter, the snow lies for three months at Bokhara; and the spring rains are often heavy, but the climate is arid. The evaporation of water is so rapid, that after rain the roads dry immediately. I should judge the climate to be congenial to the human frame, from the great age of many of the inhabitants. I have been now speaking of Bokhara and the countries north of the Oxus. In Balkh, the heat is oppressive; and the climate is very unhealthy, which is attributed to the bad quality of the water. It is of a whitish colour, mixed up with earth like pipe-clay: nor can it be the abundance of it which causes marshes, for most of the canals are choked; and the country, when dry, continues equally unhealthy. In Balkh, the harvest is about fifty days later than at Peshawur; the wheat is cut in the middle of June, and at Bokhara it is a fortnight later.
Rivers.
In Bokhara, the rivers possess the highest importance, since they render a portion of these inhospitable lands habitable to man. There are five of them in Bokhara; the Amoo or Oxus, the Sir or Jaxartes, the Kohik, and the rivers of Kurshee and Balkh. I have devoted the next chapter to a description of the Oxus. The river Sir is hardly to be included in the dominions of Bokhara: it rises in the same mountains as the Oxus; and passing through the country of Kokan and Khojend, and traversing a desert, falls into the Aral, about the 46th degree of north latitude. It is a much smaller river than the Oxus, but is said to be more rapid. In summer it is fordable; and in winter it is covered with ice, sometimes two yards thick, over which the caravans pass. Next in importance to the Sir is the Kohik, or Zurufshan. It rises in the high lands east of Samarcand, and passing north of that city and Bokhara, forms alake in the province of Karakool, instead of falling in the Oxus, as has been represented in our maps. In the upper parts of its course it fertilises the rich province of Samarcand; below that city, in Meeankal, its waters are diverted for the purposes of rice cultivation; for three or four months in the year, its bed is perfectly dry at Bokhara; and that city, and the country below it, suffer great inconvenience, since they depend on the river for a supply of water. It is a curious propensity in the people to raise in any portion of so dry a country a grain like rice, which requires such an exuberance of water. The lake into which the Kohik flows is familiarly known by the name of “Dengiz,” or sea, and is about twenty-five miles long, and surrounded on all sides by sand-hills. It is very deep; nor, from the accounts of the people, does it appear ever to decrease in size at any season of the year. When the snow melts in summer, the water flows as steadily into it, as it does in winter. Its water is salt, though its only feeder be a fresh river; but this is in accordance with the laws of nature, since it has no outlet of any kind. The next river is that of Kurshee, which rises in the same high lands as the Kohik, and passes through Shuhr Subz and Kurshee, below which it is lost in the desert. The blessings of water are most apparent in the neighbourhood of this river. The fields of Shuhr Subz yield rich crops of rice; and Kurshee is a sheet of gardens and orchards. For six miles on one side, and sixteen on the other, the waters of this rivulet are distributed by canals: when these cease, we have again a sterile desert to contrast with its green and beautiful herbage. The river of Kurshee is fed by the melted snow; and such is the command over its waters, that the chief of Shuhr Subz can at any time cut off the supply of the lower districts. In both this river and the Kohik it is usual to let the water run for a limited time in certain canals, which gives to each village the benefit of the stream once in ten days; such is the value of water, and such is the care of the husbandman in this country. The last river of the country is that of Balkh, which rises south of Hindoo Koosh, about twenty miles from Bameean, near the “Bund i Burbur,” a celebrated dam ascribed to a miracle of Ali, and which appears to be an avalanche of earth that has fallen in upon a ravine. The river then flows north among the mountains, and enters the plains of Toorkistan, about six miles south of Balkh. Here it is divided into numerous canals (which are said to be eighteen in number), and conducted to the city, as also to Mazar and Akhchu on either side. Akhchu is about fiftymiles from Balkh; but none of the other canals extend so far, though some of their water trickles half way to the Oxus, and affords that necessary of life to the roving Toorkmuns. It is impossible to give any delineation of the canals of Balkh, since they intersect the whole country, and traces of them meet the eye every where. The gentle slope of the land towards the Oxus affords great facilities for irrigating the lands of Balkh; the soil is rich and productive; which will account for the great population, and vast fertility that was once to be found in this country.
Mountains.
The mountains of Bokhara lie on its frontiers. On the east and south they form its boundaries; but the interior of the country is free from them, with the exception of some low-lying ridges near Shuhr Subz and Samarcand. The northern line of Hindoo Koosh, near Balkh, is incorrectly laid down; since that city stands on the plain six miles distant, and clear of the range which stretches to the westward, and never reaches so high a parallel. In our maps, Balkh stands upon it[20], and the range is even continued north-eastward to the Oxus. I have given a separate notice ofthis great belt of mountains, of which those near Balkh are but outlyers. Snow is procured from the valleys about twenty miles from Balkh, in the middle of summer. On approaching Kurshee we descried a lofty range of snow-clad mountains, running apparently north and south. The natives called them the mountains of Baeetoon, from a village of that name; and assured me they were six days’ journey, or about a distance of 150 miles, from Kurshee. In June they were entirely enveloped in snow, which would assign to them an elevation of at least 18,000 feet, judging by Hindoo Koosh. There were no remarkable peaks in sight, and the mountains ran in connected chain like a trap formation. There were many lesser and outward ridges between them and our view; but they towered far above all others, and gave an impression of great altitude. We saw them again at sunrise, but lost the splendid prospect as we travelled westward of Kurshee. I am at a loss for the correct designation of this range: the Emperor Baber speaks of the Kara Tagh, or Black Mountains, in Karatageen; but that name is unknown in these days. They appear to terminate the highlands of Pameer. They run at right angles to Hindoo Koosh, and very nearly in the same meridian, giving cover to an opinion that they are but a branch of that range. Northof the Oxus, the mountains first rise in the independent province of Hissar, and these which I have described appear as a prolongation. In Hissar, however, they have no snow but in winter; and they have an elevation beyond what was to be looked for in this part of Asia. The country at their base is inhabited by the Kongrad Uzbeks.
Mineral productions.
When we speak of the mineral productions of Bokhara, our recollection is carried back to the ill-fated expeditions of Russia into these countries in quest of gold. The river of Bokhara, I have observed, has the designation of “Zurufshan,” or the gold-yielding stream. The result of Prince Bekevitch’s expedition is well known; he and his three thousand men perished. There are no gold mines in the kingdom of Bokhara, but that precious metal is found among the sands of the Oxus in greater abundance, perhaps, than in any of the other rivers which flow from Hindoo Koosh. From its source to the lake of Aral, the inhabitants wash the sand after the floods with great profit, and find grains or particles of gold larger than those in the Indus. A piece of virgin gold, about the size of a pigeon’s egg, was picked up last year on the banks of the Oxus, and is now in possession of a merchant in Khooloom. In the vicinity of Durwaz, the sands are most productive. The lapis lazuli cliffs,which overhang the river in Budukhshan, are also said to be interveined with gold; but, from the specimens which I have seen, it appears to be mica. All the other metals, such as silver, iron, and copper, are imported from Russia. Sal ammoniac (nouchadur) is found in its native state among the hills near Juzzak. I know of no other mineral productions in the kingdom but the salt deposits. In Hissar, salt is found in hills, not unlike the formations in the salt range of the Punjab. On the plains it is dug out in masses, and, when washed, is ready for the market. There is a bed of salt, about five miles in circumference, called Khwaju Hunfee, two miles from the Oxus, below Charjooee, on the right bank of the river. The salt is imperfectly crystallised, black, and very inferior; a camel load of 500lbs. sells for a quarter of a tilla in Bokhara.[21]
Vegetable kingdom.
The vegetable productions of this country are more abundant. The different trees will be best known by the names of the fruit after noticed. The wood used for house-building is the poplar, which grows every where. The cotton plant is extensively cultivated, and exported both in a raw and manufactured state. Hemp is reared, but the people are ignorant of its use in manufactures. They extract oil from the seeds of the plant, as also the intoxicating drug called “bang,” and give the stalks to cattle. I have been informed that the tea plant thrives between Samarcand and Kokan; but I doubt the information, which was never properly confirmed. There is a small yellow flower, called “esbaruk,” growing in the low hills near Kurshee and Balkh, which is used as a dye, and produces a better colour than the rind of the pomegranate. Madder, called “bayak,” is also produced; its roots are permitted to remain eighteen months in the ground; but a dye equally good and serviceable is found in the creeping roots of the vine, which yield a colour that is dark red. Neither indigo nor sugar cane grow in Bokhara. They are the great imports from India, and might be acclimated. There is a curious and common substitute for sugar, called “turunjubeen.” It is a saccharine gum, which exudes from the well-known shrub called the camel’s thorn, or the “khari-shootur.” Towards the end of August, when this shrub is in flower, it may be seen in the morning covered with drops like dew, which are shaken into a cloth placed beneath the bush, and form what is called “turunjubeen.” Some hundred maunds are collected annually, and the whole sweetmeats and confections used in the country are prepared from it; it is also exported. Though the “khari-shootur” be a plant commonto most of the countries in Asia, it does not always, as in Bokhara, produce “turunjubeen.” The gum is unknown in India and Cabool, and not found westward of Bokhara, or near that capital; though in great plenty to the eastward, near Kurshee and Samarcand. It appears to be peculiar to certain soils; abounding in dry deserts; and is probably the rich sap of the shrub, which exudes and hardens into small grains. The inhabitants entertain an absurd opinion, that it is really dew; but I never heard that it was made by an insect, as has been asserted. It cannot be doubted that sugar could be manufactured from it,—a discovery that would be invaluable, since they now use syrup of grapes and mulberries on account of the expense of that article. Sugar might also be extracted from juwaree, beet root, and melons. There is another valuable jungle shrub, called “usl-soos,” and “achick booee,” by the Uzbeks, which appears to be a bastard indigo, and grows most luxuriantly on the banks of the Oxus and the other rivers of the country. The roots of this plant extend deep into the soil, and at certain seasons of the year have a small globular worm attached to them: this creature produces a purple dye, like that of cochineal (kirmiz), and some of the merchants applied for my advice regarding it: the insect, when exposed to the sun, comes to life; whendestroyed in an oven, it shrivels up, but still produces a dye, only inferior to cochineal. I compared it with American cochineal, and they appeared to me similar, only that the native preparation was softer. Should this insect yield cochineal, the discovery would be highly important in a silk country; nor is it to be doubted that its vivifying power might be destroyed by steam. An ingenious native of Cashmere had tried to bake it in bread, but without better success than when placed loose in the oven. The different grains of the country are rice, wheat, barley, juwaree, here called “jougan,” “sesamum,” “urjun,” Indian corn, gram, moong, and beans. It is an astonishing fact, that, in the provinces south of the Oxus, the wheat yields a crop for three successive years. When the harvest is finished, the cattle are turned in upon the stubble fields, and in the ensuing year the same stalks grow up and ear. The second crop is good, the next more scanty; but it is reaped a third time. In Bokhara Proper, the soil has not such fecundity, for the crops of Karakool do not yield more than sevenfold. Trefoil is cultivated, and may be out seven or eight times in the year. Lucerne requires too much water. The tobacco of Kurshee is superior. The wild rhubarb, or “rhuwash,” as found in Cabool, likewise grows in the hillocks of this district.Vegetables abound; there are turnips, carrots, onions, radishes, brinjals, and a variety of greens, with most extensive fields of beet-root. The potatoe has not been introduced. Though Bokhara is so celebrated for its fertility, the necessaries of life bear a high price, which in the city itself may be attributed to the density of population. The following table will furnish more correct data on thissubject:—
Fruits and wines.
The fruits of Bokhara have attained a great celebrity; but it is more from quantity than quality. They consist of the peach, plum, apricot, cherry, sour cherry, apple, pear, quince,walnut, fig, pomegranate, mulberry, and grape; also the melon, pumpkin, and cucumber. Most of the stone fruit is inferior to that of Persia, only excepting the apricots of Balkh, which are highly flavoured, and nearly as large as apples. They are called “Bakur khanee;” and 2000 of them may be purchased for a rupee. There are many kinds of grapes; the best are the Sabibee and Hooseinee: the first is a purple grape, the other yellow, and of a long shape; and both have a flavour truly luscious. The vines are not pruned as in Europe. The raisins prepared from the Bokhara grapes stand unrivalled in size and flavour: the best are dipped in hot water, and then dried, from which they have the name of “ab-josh,” which means water boiled: they are soft and beautifully transparent. The wines of Bokhara are unpalatable to European taste, with little flavour; some of them might even be mistaken for beer. They cannot be preserved for more than a year; which evinces some defect in their manufacture. The mulberries are delicious: they are dried like raisins; and a syrup called “sheeru” is also extracted from them and grapes. The apples are indifferent. The plum of Bokhara, which is so well known in India, is not exported from the country itself, but grows at Ghuzni in Cabool: it is highlyesteemed. The melon is the choicest fruit of Bokhara. The Emperor Baber tells us that he shed tears over a melon of Toorkistan, which he cut up in India after his conquest: its flavour brought his native country and other dear associations to memory. There are two distinct species of melons, which the people class into hot and cold; the first ripens in June, and is the common musk or scented melon of India, and not superior in flavour; the other ripens in July, and is the true melon of Toorkistan; In appearance it is not unlike a water melon, and comes to maturity after being seven months in the ground. It is much larger than the common sort, and generally of an oval shape, exceeding two and three feet in circumference. Some are much larger; and those which ripen in the autumn have exceeded four feet. One has a notion that what is large cannot be delicate or high flavoured; but no fruit can be more luscious than the melon of Bokhara. I always looked upon the melon as an inferior fruit till I went to that country: nor do I believe their flavour will be credited by any one who has not tasted them. The melons of India, Cabool, and even Persia, bear no comparison with them: not even the celebrated fruit of Isfahan itself. The pulp is rather hard, about two inches thick, and is sweet to thevery skin; which, with the inhabitants, is the great proof of superiority. A kind of molasses is extracted from these melons, which might be easily converted into sugar. There are various kinds of melons: the best is named “Kokechu,” and has a green and yellow coloured skin; another is called “Ak nubat,” which means white sugar candy: it is yellow, and exceedingly rich. The winter melon is of a dark green colour, called “Kara koobuk,” and said to surpass all the others. Bokhara appears to be the native country of the melon, having a dry climate, sandy soil, and great facilities for irrigation. Melons may be purchased in Bokhara throughout the year, and are preserved by merely hanging them up apart from one another; for which those of the winter crop are best suited. The water melons of Bokhara are good, and attain also an enormous bulk: twenty people may partake of one; and two of them, it is said, form sometimes a load for donkey. The cucumbers are likewise superior.[22]
Domestic animals.
In the animal kingdom, the sheep and goats of Bokhara claim the first notice, since the oneyields the celebrated skins, and the other a description of shawl-wool, only inferior to that used in Cashmere. These flocks graze on furze and dry grass; and their flesh is sweet and well-flavoured.Sheep.All the sheep are of the doombu kind, with large tails; some of which yield in season so much as fifteen pounds of tallow. The animal looks deformed from its size; and straddles along with evident uneasiness. The description of sheep which produces the jet-black curly fleece, that is made into caps in Persia, and so much esteemed everywhere, is peculiar to Karakool, a small canton between Bokhara and the Oxus. The animal will thrive in no other place, and has been transported to Persia and other countries without success; when removed, it loses the peculiarity in its fleece, and becomes like any other sheep. The people attribute this curly fleece to the nature of the pasture; and assert that the grass called “boyak,” and by the Persians “ronass,” which is a long kind of bent, changes the nature of the animal. If a Karakool sheep even strays to the banks of the Oxus, where that plant grows, it ceases, it is said, to have the curly wool. The skins of the male lambs are most highly prized: they are killed five or six days after birth; never later than a fortnight; but the popular belief of their being cut out of the womb iserroneous: a very few are procured from premature births in the ewes; and the skins of such are as fine as velvet, but not curled. These are called “kirpuk,” and exported to Constantinople, where they bear a very high price, as the supply is limited. The other kind is called “danudar,” or curled, and exported to Persia, Turkey, and China. They are of different fineness, according to the age at which the lambs are killed: some are exquisitely curled, others more coarse. Those which have the smallest curls are most prized; and in Persia, ten or fifteen skins will sometimes be cut up to make a single cap; which is the cause of their being so expensive. In Bokhara, a single skin never bears a higher price than three or four sicca rupees. The annual export of skins amounts to about two hundred thousand; the coarser ones being sent to Orgunje.Goats.They are cured by being rubbed with barley flour, and salt. The goats of Bokhara, which are to be found among the wandering Kirgizzes, yield the wool to which I have alluded: but these people were quite ignorant of its value till a late period; and yet manufacture it into ropes to bind their horses and cattle. For some years past it has been exported to Cabool and India. The stuffs prepared from it are good, but far surpassed by those of Cashmere, manufactured from the woolof Tibet. This wool is of a grey colour, and produced next the skin of the animal, from which it is combed out; if not removed, it makes its appearance in clotted lumps among the hair. The goat is about the common size, of a dark colour, and differing from that of Tibet, which is a small and beautiful animal. I am not aware if the goats of every country yield wool; but, in this respect, there is a resemblance between those of Toorkistan and Tibet. I am assured that the dogs of the latter country even yield wool from which a few shawls are annually manufactured in Cashmere. The curs of Bokhara yield nothing so valuable.Camels.In a country, surrounded by deserts, the camel is an animal of the first importance: they are very numerous; and the whole traffic of Bokhara is carried on by means of them. They bear a high price; a good one cannot be purchased under sixty or seventy rupees. The condition and appearance of the camel here differ from what is seen in India and Cabool, where they are often covered with eruptions, and almost destitute of hair. At Bokhara, on the other hand, they have a sleek coat, as fine as that of a horse, and shed their hair in summer; from which a fine water-proof cloth of close and rather heavy texture is manufactured. It is called “oormuk,” andretains the natural colour of the camel. I imagine that these camels owe their superiority to the climate, and the congenial thorny food, which is so abundant. This animal always thrives best in a dry country, and is very impatient under heat. They will travel with ease for fourteen successive hours; but their keepers never march during the day if it can be avoided. It is erroneous to believe that the camel can subsist for any great number of days without water. In summer they suffer much after the second day; and in winter they will only travel without it for double the time. The food of the camel is most cleanly; but nothing can be more offensive than the effluvia which proceeds from its stomach. The journeys performed, even with our caravan, bespeak the great hardihood of these animals. In one instance we travelled seventy miles in forty-four consecutive hours, including every halt. Our usual marches were thirty miles: and the camel scarcely ever travels more than two miles in the hour. The Bactrian camel, which has two humps, abounds in Toorkistan: they are bred by the Kuzzaks of the desert north of Bokhara. They have a fringe of long black hair under their neck, with a clump of it on both thighs, and are really pretty for a camel. In stature they arelower than the common camel or dromedary, yet they bear greater burdens by 140 pounds: the one carrying 640, and the other but 500 pounds English. I am assured that a most strong and useful breed of camels is reared by a cross between the two. The issue of these have but one hump. I reserve my remarks on the horses of the country for a separate chapter. Among the domestic animals of Bokhara none are more useful than the ass: the breed is large and sturdy, and they are much used both for saddle and burden. There is no objection to riding them, as in India. There are no mules, from a religious prejudice against them. The horned cattle of Bokhara are well sized, though far inferior to those of England. There are no buffaloes.
Wild animals. Birds. Insects. Fishes.
The wild animals of the country are few. Tigers of a diminutive species are found in the valley of the Oxus; also wild hogs, herds of deer, antelope, and the wild ass, roam on the plains; there are also foxes, wolves, jackals, and cats. There are bears in the Eastern mountains; rats, tortoises, and lizards are found in the desert. The scorpion is common; but its sting has little of its usual virulence: I speak from experience. It is said that there are no snakes (and we certainly did not meet with any) north of the Oxus. Locusts sometimes infest thecountry, particularly about Balkh. The eagle and hawk are found; all kinds of game are scarce. The plover and wild pigeon are common. Water fowl are numerous in certain seasons. The crane, or “lug lugu,” as it is called, builds its nest on the mosques of the cities: it is a bird of passage, and reckoned sacred. The fish of the Oxus do not differ from what are found in most Asiatic rivers. There is a species of the dog-fish called “lukha,” which has no scales, and is frequently caught of the weight of 600 lbs. English: the Uzbeks eat it. In the lake of Karakool the fish have as good a flavour as those of the sea. There are no monsters in the Oxus. We neither saw not heard of alligators. There are few insects in a dry country. I observed a peculiarity in the food of the bees and wasps which was new to me: they attacked a shoulder of mutton, and ate very large holes in it; in winter they are sometimes fed with flesh instead of sugar. The meat which I saw them devouring was fresh, not putrid. They also attacked dried fish.
Silk-worms. Silk.
The most valuable insect is the silk-worm, which is reared in all parts of the kingdom where there is water. Every stream or rivulet is lined with the mulberry; and the most extensive operations are carried on along the banks of theOxus, where the whole of the wandering tribes are engaged in rearing the insect. The silk of the “Lub i ab,” or banks of the river, as it is termed, is the most valuable, both from the softness and fineness of its thread. The trees put forth their leaves about the vernal equinox, when the worm is brought out, the whole stage of its existence has terminated with the month of June. The worm is killed in the cocoon by immersion in hot water; and the silk is then reeled off on a wheel by an end or thread being taken from a number of cocoons which lie clotted together. This silk is exported to India and Cabool, and, from its abundance, may be purchased at a very cheap rate. Silk is likewise produced in the neighbouring country of Kokan; but it is more abundant than good. The raw silk is dyed by cochineal and the productions already named, madder and “esbaruk.” A black colour is produced by mixing iron filings with water in which rice has been boiled, and allowing it to stand for a month.
Diseases. Guinea-worm.
Among the diseases of Bokhara, the most distressing is the guinea-worm, or Dracunculus, here called “rishtu:” it is confined to the city. The inhabitants believe that the disease arises from drinking the water of the cisterns in summer, when they become fetid and infested with animalculæ. Travellers suffer as much as theinhabitants; but the disease does not show itself till the year following that on which they have drank the water. Many of the Afghans are attacked after returning to Cabool; and, whatever be the cause, it assuredly originates from something peculiar to Bokhara, since all other parts of the country are free from it. It is supposed that one fourth of the whole population of Bokhara are annually attacked with guinea-worm. This prevalence of the complaint has given the natives a dexterity of extracting them quite unknown in other countries. So soon as it is discovered that one has formed, and before any swelling has taken place, they pass a needle under the middle of the worm, and, rubbing the part, draw it out at once. They are generally successful; but if the worm breaks, the wound festers, the pain is excessive, and few recover under three months. If the animal be coiled in one place, the extraction is simple; if deep in the flesh, more difficult. If the swelling has commenced, they do not attempt the operation, but allow it to take its course, and endeavour to draw it out by degrees, as in India. These worms vary in length from three to four spans. It is said that guinea-worm is most common among people of a cold temperament; but it does not attack any particular class. The better orders of people, attributing it to the water, sendto the river for their supply, and never drink that of the cisterns till it is boiled. It is not to be supposed that I can give any solution of the cause of this disease: the doctors of Toorkistan believe it to be a worm generated from the causes above-mentioned. Nor can I credit its arising from the animalculæ of the water. Another disease of the country is the “mukkom,” or “kolee,” a kind of leprosy.Kolee, a kind of leprosy.Those afflicted with it are considered unclean: it does not cover the body with spots, as in common leprosy, but the skin becomes dry and shrivelled; the hair of the body falls off, the nails and teeth tumble out, and the whole body assumes a horrible and unseemly appearance. The disease is believed to be hereditary, and to originate from food: it is fearfully prevalent in the districts of Samarcand and Meeankal; also in the neighbouring states of Shuhr Subz and Hissar; all of which are rice countries. Some state it to be caused by the use of the intoxicating spirit called “boozu,” which is distilled from black barley; but that liquor and mares’ milk are not used in Bokhara. The disease affects the general health, and is incurable. The most humane people will tell you that it is a curse from God, and drive the unfortunate sufferer from them. A separate quarter of the city is assigned for the residence of those who areafflicted, as was the case among the Jews. That scourge, the cholera morbus, has been felt in all these countries.Cholera.It appears to have taken the route of the caravans, and advanced from India step by step into eastern Europe. It raged for a year in Cabool; it then crossed Hindoo Koosh on the following season, and desolated Balkh and Koondooz. For a year it fluctuated between the valley of the Oxus and Herat; it then attacked Bokhara, Kokan, and the other Uzbek states; and, after devastating the country, passed on to Khiva, Orenburg, and Astrakhan. The faculty have discovered no remedy for the cholera morbus.
Other diseases.
The inhabitants of Toorkistan are subject to a constant dryness of the skin: many of them lose their eyelashes and eyebrows, and their skin becomes wrinkled and tawny. Whether the diet, or dryness of the climate, causes these appearances, I know not. The Uzbeks seldom eat horse-flesh; though it is believed that they live upon it. It is considered heating food, and is, besides, expensive. Mutton is preferred, and none but the lower orders eat beef. A sheep is killed, and the entire tail, however large and fat, is melted up with the meat, and cooked in a single boiler. They are fond of every thing oily, and also use much cheese and sour milk. Ophthalmia is a very commoncomplaint in Toorkistan. Fevers are rare; in Balkh rheumatism is prevalent. In the city of Bokhara rickets are common; and the children have generally a puny and unhealthy appearance, which is not observable in the grown-up people of the country. Among their medicines, I heard of an oil extracted from the dung of sheep; which is considered a specific for the sprains, bruises, and hurts of cattle: it is very pungent, and the flies shun the parts rubbed with it. I have been assured of the bone spavins of a horse being reduced by an application of this oil. They procure it by a distilling process.
Cities and towns. Population of the kingdom.
There are no large towns in the kingdom of Bokhara, but the capital. It contains a population of about 150,000 souls. The ancient cities of Samarcand and Balkh have long since dwindled into the obscurity of provincial towns: they are both surpassed by Kurshee, which has not a population of 10,000 souls. These are the only towns in the country. There are some large villages, such as Jizzak, Kermina, and Kutkoorghan; but none of them contain above 2500 people. The villages are also few, and widely separated from one another; they amount to about four hundred: nor can I estimate the whole population of the kingdom of Bokhara at a million of human beings: andone half of this population is made up of the nomade tribes that wander in its deserts. The villages are fortified by mud walls, which are necessary for their protection. In the cultivated parts, single habitations, called “robats,” are scattered over the face of the country; and these are invariably surrounded by walls; I need not enter upon any farther account of the cities of Bokhara and Balkh, since they have been mentioned in the narrative.