We found the stream of the Oxus with a breadth of 650 yards, and in some places 25 and 29 feet deep; so that it was both narrower and deeper than at the point at which we had before crossed it. Its banks were much depressed, and completely overgrown with a rank weed, which chokes the aqueducts. Some fish of an enormous size, weighing from five to six hundred pounds, are procured in this river, a kind of dog-fish, which are used as food by the Uzbeks. Across the Oxus, we found ourselves about six miles distant from the town of Charjooee, which was in sight. For the first time, this noble river was turned to the purposes of navigation, since there is a commercial communication kept up, by means of it, between that place and Orgunje.
Oxus of Alexander’s historians.
The Oxus is particularly mentioned under that name by the historians of Alexander, though it appears to have been ever unknown by such a title to the Asiatics, who call it Jihoon and Amoo. We learn from the ancient authors, that Alexander approached this river from Bactra, or Balkh, by a country “which exhaled the power of a summer sun, and torrefied the sands.” The distance between Bactra and the river is even correctly stated at 400 stadia, and we have no fables regarding the breadth of the river. Arrian, who follows Aristobulus, tells us that the Oxus was six furlongs broad, and in that part of its course we have described it with a magnitude of 828 yards. The very topography of the river’s bank may, I almost think, be traced in Curtius; for there are low and peaked hillocks near that pass of the Oxus; and we are told that Alexander caused fires to be lit on the high ground, “that the distressed in the rear might perceive they were not far from camp.” There are no hillocks below Kilef. Curtius tells us that the Oxus was a muddy river, that bore much slime along with it; and I found that one fortieth of the stream is clay suspended in the water. What an approximation to the name of Maricanda in the modern city of Samarcand. It is described as being seventy stadia in circumference; and we have seen that modern Bokhara exceeds eight English miles, or about sixty-four of the Grecian stadia. What an outline have we not of the character of these nations in remote ages. “They exercised robbery, and lived by spoil.” These are the literal words of the historian; and they explain to us the genuine manners of the people, be they Hun, Scythian, Goth, Tatar, Toork, or Toorkmun. Lower down the river, we have the name of the country ruled by Pharsamanes, which is called Chorasmi, and in which the kingdom of Kharasm, subverted by Jengis, is easily recognised. Higher up, we have a description of Parætacæ, which was a mountainous region, as we learn from the mention of fir trees, and the formidable “rock of Chorienes.” This is the hill country of Karatageen, as we discover from the similarity of its name and position. In Zeriaspes, we have, I think, Shuhr Subz; and I could continue to multiply the coincidences, but I doubt if the subject would excite general interest.
Charjooee:
In the morning we moved up to Charjooee, which in all our maps is erroneously set down on the northern bank of the Oxus. The place is governed by a Kalmuk, and is pleasantly situated on the verge of culture and desolation, with a pretty fort that crowns a hillock, and overlooks the town. It is said to have resisted the arms of Timour; but its present condition would not impress one with any great notions of its strength, or that conqueror’s power. The people of Charjooee do not exceed 4000 or 5000 souls; but a great portion of its population wander up and down the Oxus during the hot months. We halted here for four days, since it was the last inhabited spot of civilisation between Bokhara and Persia. its bazar. The market day, or bazar, occurred during our stay; and I proceeded along with Ernuzzar, the Toorkmun, to see the assemblage, in which I passed quite unnoticed. I sauntered through the bazar, much more amused with the people than the wares they were selling, which were in every respect poor. There were knives, saddles and bridles, cloth, and horsecloths, of native manufacture: but the only articles of European fabric were a few beads, and chintz scullcaps, which latter were purchased very readily. There were also lanterns, ewers, and copper pots, in considerable number; and the venders of many of these retailed their goods on horseback, and all the purchasers were mounted. No person ever attends the bazar in Toorkistan but on horseback; and on the present occasion there was not a female to be seen, veiled or unveiled. Most of the people were Toorkmuns of the Oxus, dressed in high sheepskin caps, like the natives of Orgunje. There were about 2000 or 3000 people in the bazar; but there was very little bustle and confusion, though there was much both of buying and selling. The custom of having market days is uncommon in India and Cabool, but of universal use in Toorkistan: it perhaps gives a stimulus to trade, and is most convenient; since all the people of the country, for miles round, assemble on the occasion. Every person seems to think it incumbent upon him to be present. The different articles are arranged in separate parts of the bazar, with as much regularity as in Bokhara itself: here you may buy grain, there fruit: here is meat, there is cloth, &c. The streets are so narrow, that the bazar is generally held at one end of the country towns; and such was the case at Charjooee: so that fruit, grain, or any thing which requires to be displayed, is spread out on the ground. The bazar lasts from eleven to four o’clock, which is the hottest time of the day.
The desert.
The wants of all had been supplied during our stay at Charjooee; every one was ready to move, and every skin, pot, and pitcher was filled to the brim, from the canals of the Oxus. At noon on the 22d we commenced our march, and, before we had travelled a distance of two miles, entered upon the great desert which separates the kingdoms of Iran and Tooran. The mode of travelling in Toorkistan is to start at midday, and march till sunset; and, after a couple of hours’ rest and the indispensable cup of tea, to resume the task, and advance to the stage, which is usually reached at daylight. We made the usual evening halt, and then travelled till sunrise, when we reached Karoul, a well of brackish water, thirty feet under ground, and lined with branches of trees, at which we halted, a distance of twenty-two miles from Charjooee. The whole tract presented to our view was a dreary waste of sand-hills, but by no means so destitute of vegetation and underwood as on the northern bank of the Oxus. They, however, occurred in the same succession and formation as have been there described: they were quite soft, but the sand was not dusty, and the camels slid down them with their burthens. Here and there we came upon a sheet of indurated clay, as if the sand-hills here also rested on a base of that kind. In these hollows, and on the brow of the hills, we found a shrub like tamarisk, called “kasura,” also a kind of grass, or bent, called “salun.” There were likewise two thorny shrubs, called “kuzzak” and “karaghan”[1], neither of them the common camel thorn, but on which the camels delighted to browse. There was no water throughout the whole march, and no signs of inhabitants but a ruined fort, that had once served as a look-out from the Oxus. The Indian deserts of Jaysulmeer and Parkur sank into insignificance before this vast ocean of sand. No sight is more imposing than a desert; and the eye rests with a deep interest on the long line of camels, as it winds its crooked course through the frightful waste. The simile of a ship in the ocean and a camel in the desert may be hackneyed, but it is just. The objects animate impart a strong interest to inanimate nature.
Slaves.
In the middle of our march through the desert, we met seven unfortunate Persians, who had been captured by the Toorkmuns, and were now on their road to Bokhara, where they would be sold. Five of them were chained together, and trod their way through the deep sand. There was a general shout of compassion, as the caravan passed these miserable beings; and the sympathy did not fail to affect the poor creatures themselves. They cried, and gave a longing look, as the last camel of the caravan passed to their dear native country. The camel on which I rode happened to be in the rear, and I stayed to hear their tale of woe. They had been seized by the Toorkmuns at Ghaeen, near Meshid, a few weeks before, when the culture of their fields had led them beyond the threshold of their homes. They were weary and thirsty, and I gave them all I could,—a single melon; a civility, little as it was, which was received with gratitude. What a frightful notion must not these unfortunate beings have entertained of the country they were entering, after their travels in such a desert. The Toorkmuns evince but little compassion for their Persian slaves; and what other treatment is to be expected from men who pass their lives in selling human beings. They give them but a scanty supply of food and water, that they may waste their strength, and prevent their escape; but beyond this the Toorkmun inflicts no other ills. The tales which have been circulated of their cutting the sinew of the heel, and of their passing a cord round the collar bone, are at variance with truth, since these blemishes would diminish the value of the slave. These unfortunate captives suffer a much heavier calamity,—they lose their liberty.
The caravan.