A GLANCE AT CENTRAL ASIA.—RUSSIAN CONQUEST IN TURKESTAN.—WAR AND DIPLOMACY AMONG THE KIRGHESE TRIBES.—RUSSIAN TAXES AND THEIR COLLECTION.—TURCOMAN AND KIRGHESE RAIDS.—PRISONERS SOLD INTO SLAVERY.—FORTIFIED VILLAGES AND TOWERS OF REFUGE.—COMMERCE IN TURKESTAN.—JEALOUSY OF FOREIGNERS.—TRAVELS OF VáMBéRY AND OTHERS.—VáMBéRY'S NARROW ESCAPE.—TURCOMAN CHARACTER.—PAYMENTS FOR HUMAN HEADS.—MARRIAGE CUSTOMS AMONG THE TURCOMANS.—EXTENT AND POPULATION OF CENTRAL ASIA.  
When our friends had completed their study of the Petrolia of Europe they looked around for new worlds to conquer. Being in Russia, they followed Russian tendencies, and turned their eyes in the direction of Central Asia.
"Wouldn't it be a splendid trip," said Frank, "to go through Central Asia to India and the Far East? How long would it take, and would it be very expensive?"
"I'm afraid there would be too many difficulties in the way," replied the Doctor, with a smile. "In the first place the Russians are not inclined to allow men of other nationalities to see what they are doing in the disputed country between their possessions and those of the English. They would treat us very politely, but, in one way and another, would keep us from crossing Afghanistan to the English lines. We should not be welcome visitors among the English in Northern India. Most of them regard Americans as more friendly to Russia than to England in whatever concerns Central Asia, and the English officials in the disputed country would not aid our movements."
"What would be our facilities for travelling, supposing we met with no official opposition?"
"Starting from Baku," replied the Doctor, "we could cross the Caspian to Mikhailovsk in a steamer in from sixteen to eighteen hours. Mikhailovsk is in what was once the Turcoman country, but is now Russian territory. It was permanently occupied in 1869, and since that time Russia has been extending her possessions until she is now at the borders of India,[Pg 429] with only a narrow strip of territory between the English possessions and her own.
 CAMP SCENE NEAR THE ALTAI MOUNTAINS.
"From the time of Peter the Great to the present," the Doctor continued, "Russia has been steadily pressing farther and farther into Asia. If inclined to be a punster, I should say she has advanced steppe by steppe; the Kirghese and Turcoman steppes have been conquered one after another—sometimes by fighting, and sometimes by diplomacy, but more frequently by a skilful combination of both forms of conquest. The Russians have a thorough knowledge of Asiatic people, probably because they have so much Asiatic blood in their own veins, and in their dealings with the savage or half-civilized natives of this vast country they manage things much better than the English do.
"A large part of the Kirghese country was won without actual fighting, though with military assistance. It was generally in this wise:
"Two tribes might be at war with each other, and Russia, after some negotiation, would come to the aid of the weaker. The presence of a[Pg 430] Russian battalion of cavalry would be quite sufficient to frighten the stronger tribe into keeping the peace, as its chief would understand that resistance might cost him his dominions. Having made matters quiet, the Russian commander would propose to leave, and let the chief whose cause he had been espousing take care of himself.
 A KALMUCK PRIEST.
"The chief would then see for the first time the uncomfortable situation he would be in with the retirement of his ally; the stronger tribe would assail him, and be all the more bitter against him on account of his alliance with the Russians. He begged the Russians to stay. After some hesitation they consented, provided the management of affairs was handed over to them. They generally received what they wanted, and then proceeded to conquer the other tribe and make themselves master over both.
"Sometimes the Russians follow another policy; they establish themselves with the weaker tribe, make peace between the two factions, and then build a fort and coolly announce that they will remain permanently. The tribes find it useless to resist, and thus they become subject to Russia."
"Don't the English accuse the Russians of stirring up trouble among the Kirghese and Turcoman tribes, so as to have an excuse for interference?" one of the youths inquired.
[Pg 431]
"I believe they do," the Doctor answered. "The Russians indignantly deny that such is the case; of course they would deny it, even if confronted with unquestionable proof.
 SCENE ON THE EDGE OF THE KIRGHESE STEPPE.
"They have sent a great many military expeditions into Central Asia in the last fifty years. For a long time their base of operations was at Orenburg, on the frontier of Siberia, but latterly it has been transferred to the shores of the Caspian. Orenburg is now far in the rear, and its chief use is as a military post, from which order is maintained among the Kirghese.
"Some of the Russian expeditions have turned out disastrously, but they have always followed a disaster by a triumph. In one expedition every man was killed, captured, or perished of starvation or thirst in the desert, but immediately another army was put in motion, and the Russians more than recovered the prestige they had lost. The list of the battles fought in Central Asia is a long one, but longer still is the list of bloodless conquests made through Russian diplomacy.
"Khanates, chieftaincies, and principalities have been absorbed by Russia in her southward and eastward march over the steppes and along the valleys of the rivers. The cities of Tashkend, Samarcand, Khiva, Kokan,[Pg 432] and Bokhara, have passed from the flag of the intolerant Moslem to that of the tolerant Russian, and with the cities have gone the khanates and principalities of which they were the capitals."
Fred asked if the subjugation of these territories had been beneficial to their inhabitants or not.
 KIRGHESE GROUP.
"In every way it has been a benefit to them, and none of those who are peaceably disposed would care to return to their old condition. The Russian yoke is easy upon the necks of the inhabitants; the Russians make no interference with the religion, laws, manners, and customs of the people, excepting where they are manifestly cruel or tyrannical; they allow the natives to do exactly as they like, protect them in the possession of their property, give them facilities of trade never before enjoyed, and in every way better their condition.
"In place of the outrageous taxes formerly levied by the Moslem authorities whenever the khan or his officials wanted money, the Russians have a fixed annual tax which is never above the easy ability of the subject to pay; it is generally asserted that the taxes in Asia are much lighter than those of European Russia, to make sure that there shall be no discontent among the people. The Russian Government requires that every subject shall pay a tax, not so much for the value of the article received as an acknowledgment of subjection.
"In the settled portions of Russia the tax is payable in money, but in the wilder regions taxes are collected 'in kind.' On the shores of the Arctic[Pg 433] Ocean and through all the northern part of Siberia the yessak, or tax, is one fox-skin; in Kamtchatka it was formerly one sable-skin, but since the increase in the price of the fur, one skin is received for every four inhabitants, who arrange the division among themselves. In some of the grain-growing parts of the Empire the tax is paid in grain; on the Amoor River it is paid in fish, and among the Kirghese and Turcomans it is paid in cattle, sheep, or horses, which constitute the circulating medium of the country.
 KIRGHESE CHIEF AND FAMILY.
"In return for this tax, and provided the new subject in Central Asia behaves himself, he has the protection of a powerful government. The Russian Government has its faults, but it is immeasurably superior to the old way in which these countries were ruled.
"By the religion of the Moslem might makes right, and this was the foundation of the governmental system of the Kirghese and Turcoman tribes, together with the khanates previously mentioned. Robbery was a recognized means of making a living; not robbery by detail, as practised by highwaymen and burglars, but wholesale robbery in which entire tribes were concerned. Many thousands of people lived by raiding, and the raid[Pg 434] was as legitimate a way of acquiring property as selling goods in a shop and making a profit on them."
 CARAVAN IN RUSSIAN TERRITORY.
Frank and Fred made an exclamation of surprise as the Doctor continued:
"The Kirghese who occupy the region immediately south of the Altai Mountains, and are still found on the southern confines of the Baraba Steppe, are broken into many independent tribes; they are nomadic in their habits, wandering from place to place in search of pasturage for their immense flocks and herds. In winter they frequent the valleys among the outlying hills of the Altai Mountains, and in summer descend upon the plains. Many of the tribes live altogether on the plains, and their range covers many thousands of square miles.
[Pg 435]
"Quarrels were numerous among them, chiefly growing out of disputes about pasturage or water, and these are the quarrels in which the Russians interfered, both in the interest of humanity and the spread of their power. Frequently these disputes led to raids for purposes of plunder; quite as frequently one tribe would make a raid on another with which it was at peace for the sole object of robbery.
"Attacks were generally made at night, and if they were successful the robbers would drive off the flocks and herds of the tribe assailed. Men, women, and children were taken to be sold into slavery in the markets of Khiva and Bokhara, or kept among their captors. These slaves were treated with the greatest cruelty; they were severely beaten for the slightest offence or failure to perform what had been ordered, were poorly fed, and often compelled to wear chains. They were generally maimed for life, by means of a horse-hair run through the heel, in order to prevent their escape from captivity.
"All this business was brought to an end by the Russians when they occupied the Kirghese country. They compelled the tribes to live peacefully with each other, and if any dispute arose about water or pasturage it was referred to the Russian commander of the district for adjustment. If one tribe made a raid on another it was compelled to give up the stolen property, and furthermore a heavy fine was levied upon the raiders—half going to the Russian Government and half to the injured tribe. The Russians generally made the fine heavy enough to furnish a percentage for the officers who took the trouble to adjust the differences.
"Russian goods were introduced among these nomadic people, markets were opened, and every facility was offered for the increase of commerce. Long caravans were constantly in motion between Orenburg, Sempolatinsk, and other points in Russian territory, and Khiva, Bokhara, and Samarcand, far to the east. They traversed the Kirghese and Turcoman country, and wherever they went they found a material difference in the matter of safety, whether the territory was under Russian rule or remained independent. If the latter, the caravans were constantly liable to attack and plunder; if the former, they were invariably free from molestation.
"The capture of Bokhara, Samarcand, and Khiva reduced the slave-markets of the Turcoman raiders, but by no means put an end to their plundering expeditions. The independent Turcomans were estimated to be about a million in number, divided into several tribes, who sometimes warred upon each other, but constantly upon the Persians and other peaceable people. In the wars between Khiva and Bokhara, Samarcand and[Pg 436] Kokan, they took sides with those who would pay the most for their services.
 KIRGHESE RAID ON A HOSTILE TRIBE.
"Down to very recently the whole of Northern Persia was subject to Turcoman raids, and agriculture was carried on under great difficulties.[7] The raids were sometimes carried up to within a hundred miles of Teheran, or about five hundred miles inside the Persian boundary. They were organized months beforehand, and sometimes as many as five or six thousand[Pg 437] men were engaged in a single enterprise. A raid was called a 'chapow' by the Persians; in the Turcoman language it was an 'alaman.'
"A Turcoman leader would announce his intention of making an alaman, but the route was always kept secret through fear of betrayal. The Turcomans are splendid horsemen, and while organizing an expedition they put their steeds under a system of training to enable them to make long and swift marches whenever occasion required. When everything was ready the party started; it travelled slowly until it reached the Persian frontier, and was often weeks on the way.
"Passing the frontier, the hard work of the campaign began. The region selected for the raid was reached as soon as possible; then the invading force was divided into small parties, and each had a particular village assigned to it. Their movements were made so as to catch the people at work in the fields, and capture the cattle before they could be driven into a place of safety. Not only the cattle, but all the men, women, and children that could be seized were taken. The old and useless were slaughtered without mercy; the young or able-bodied were carried off, to be sold into slavery. A wealthy Persian was held for a heavy ransom, but a poor man had no chance of redemption.
"The plundering was kept up as long as there was anything to steal, and then the expedition returned to its own territory. Sometimes in a single raid as many as a hundred thousand horses, sheep, goats, and other animals were captured, and a thousand or more people were carried into slavery."
Frank asked if the Persian Government made no provision for the protection of its people.
"Very little," replied the Doctor; "the Persian troops were in the cities and large towns, which the Turcomans never attacked, and as there was no telegraph through the country, the raiders almost invariably got to a safe distance before a pursuit could be started. Very often the Persian officials on the frontier connived at the raids, and the people were forced to rely upon themselves for protection."
"In what way could they do anything against the robbers?" was the very natural query that followed this statement.
"Their villages are built of mud, and may be called forts," the Doctor replied. "The walls are from twenty to thirty feet thick, and about forty in height; they form a quadrangle, or circle, where cattle can be driven at night, and there is only a single door-way, too low to permit the passage of a man on horseback. The raiders never stop to besiege a place; all their work is done by a sudden dash, and the Turcoman would never[Pg 438] think of dismounting to pass the low door-way. Inside there is a stone door which may be closed to prevent ingress; it is thick and strong, and once inside of their mud village the people are safe.
 LASGIRD—A FORTIFIED VILLAGE IN NORTHERN PERSIA.
"Here is a picture of one of these villages," said the Doctor; "it is called Lasgird, and is about a hundred miles east of the capital of Persia. You will observe that there is a double tier of dwellings on the top of the circular wall; the enclosed space accommodates the cattle and other live-stock of the village, and is also utilized for the storage of grain. On the outside, near the top, there is a balcony made of projecting timbers covered with branches of trees; it has no outer railing, and must be a very unsafe place for a promenade. Inside of such a retreat the people had nothing to fear, as the ............