"The tribes and provinces are divided and subdivided so that they are not easy to name. Western Turkestan was formerly known as Independent Tartary, and comprises the Turcoman steppes, the khanates of Khiva, Bokhara, Samarcand, and Kokan, together with Balkh and some smaller provinces which are in dispute between Russia and Afghanistan. These disputes have led to quarrels between Russia and England, and quite likely will lead to war at no distant day.
AN OZBEK HEAD.
"The people dwelling in Turkestan are mainly of the Turkish race; their language is Turkish, and the country was the seat of the race that spread its boundaries by a career of conquests, which did not stop until it entered Europe and pressed as far westward as the walls of Vienna. Briefly we may say the inhabitants of Turkestan are Ozbeks or Uzbeks (the dominant race), Turcomans, Kirghese, Karakalpaks, Tajiks, Persians, Kipchaks, and a few Arabs, Hindoos, and Jews. The Ozbeks are the most civilized people of the country, and are mainly settled in the cities and towns; they fill most of the official positions, and their leading families can trace their descent for centuries. The Persians are mostly descended from those who have been stolen by the Turcomans and sold into slavery, and the Arabs, Hindoos, and Jews may be regarded as wanderers who have been drawn there by business or accident.
"I have already told you something of the Kirghese, whose country was the first to be absorbed by Russia. The other people of Turkestan besides those just mentioned are not sufficiently numerous or important to deserve special description. If you wish further particulars, you will find them in Schuyler's 'Turkestan,' Vámbéry's 'Travels in Central Asia,' 'History of Bokhara,' and Shaw's 'High Tartary, Yarkand, and Kashgar.'"
The conversation was interrupted by a gentleman who called to ask if Doctor Bronson and his young friends would like to make a trip to the other side of the Caspian Sea. A steamer was to leave in two or three hours for Mikhailovsk, and the next morning would see them landed in the country where, until quite recently, the Turcomans reigned and robbed at will.
The invitation was promptly accepted, and when the steamer left Baku our friends were among her passengers. What they saw and heard will be told in the next chapter.