Although the importance of Merv, as a military district, has increased since the Orenburg-Tashkent railway was opened the numbers of the resident population continue to decline. This proceeds from the unhealthy conditions that obtain locally. Malaria, the most prevalent complaint, runs a very level course throughout the year. Between July and November it becomes exceptionally virulent; and a recent Medical Commission returned the causes of the sickness in Merv as due solely to the presence of a specific organism which, passing from the soil into the water, was absorbed by the inhabitants. So rife is the disease that it is estimated that not one person escapes its attacks in the course of the year. The highest sick-rate occurs between the months of July and November, when it is responsible for 80 per cent. of the “Daily State” in the garrison and district hospitals. Merv malaria generally attacks the liver and kidneys, rapidly affecting the spleen. Every effort has been made to cope with its ravages. Among the attempts was a scheme for the introduction of a new system of irrigation and the purification of the water system, to which the Minister of War assigned 63,000 roubles. Hitherto the drinking-water, derived from the Murghab, has been altogether unfit for consumption. Apart from possible contamination in the sources of the water-supply, there is no doubt that much of the malaria in Merv arises from constant displacement of soil in the oasis; similar conditions prevail, usually for three or four years, in all tropical and semi-tropical countries whenever agricultural or other development requires the breaking of ground.
BAZAAR SCENE
Certain features encountered in Merv—such as groups of chaffering natives, clusters of small, open shops, dusty trees, open drains and sweltering heat—are strangely reminiscent of India, but the absence of punkahs and the high price of ice prove that the Russians in Central Asia are indifferent to comfort. Even the hotels make no attempt to relieve the effect of the temperature; while, in general, the houses are built without verandahs and the windows are unfitted with jalousies. Within the houses, too, conditions are most trying, the policy of every one being to admit the flies and exclude the air. Trade manages to thrive; and a weekly market is held on Mondays upon a plain to the east of the town. Thither all roads converge; thronged with two-wheeled Persian carts, ill-fed baggage horses burdened with goods, and gurgling camels. Standing solitary and forlorn is the patient ass whose lament is so eloquently described by Mr. Shoemaker, where that author says:
Oh, my brother from that far western land where even a little ass like me has some chance to sleep in quiet, blame me not, I beseech you, that I weep. You have seen how dignified and self-contained my brethren are in Egypt; but there we never carry more than two of the heathen at the most, whereas here, you see, it is always three and sometimes four; therefore I weep, oh my brother, and will not be comforted.
Fair days in the town bazaars are held upon Sundays and Thursdays, when the Hebrew, Persian and Armenian merchants are surrounded by crowds of Tekkes from neighbouring villages. Disposed for sale are the innumerable commodities of the Middle East—rice from Meshed; fruits from Samarkand; silk, sweetmeats and velvet from Bokhara; cheap cutlery, trinkets, leather goods and samovars from Russia; beautiful embroidery and shawls from the stores of the wealthier merchants; carpets from Herat; sheepskins from the country-side; plough-shares and knives from local forges; and relics of Old Merv. Prices are high; but the Turcomans make their purchases very willingly, unconscious of the contrast between their present peaceful demeanour and the attitude which distinguished them when they were robbers of the countryside.
Apart from the garrison the population numbers less than 5000, including:
| Races. | Total. |
| Russians | 2297 |
| Armenians | 609 |
| Sarts | 167 |
| Tartars | 85 |
| Khivans | 36 |
| Afghans | 33 |
| Germans | 38 |
| Persians | 838 |
| Jews | 225 |
| Gruzenes | 63 |
| Tekkes | 33 |
| Bokharans | 56 |
| Ersaris | 41 |
| Poles | 30 |
The revenues derived from the native town amount to 42,000 roubles a year and the volume of business annually turned over is a little short of 100,000 roubles. The prosperity of the place is attested by the individual wealth of merchants attending the bazaars. Many of these men live in spacious houses, the majority of the natives frequenting the bazaar being well-to-do and apparently contented. Trade is brisk and, as the Russians have imposed but a few taxes and the Turcomans are exempt from military service, no particular difficulty attends the earning of the daily wage.