THE NEW RUSSO-AFGHAN FRONTIER.
"'We built the line,' said he, 'first to Kizil Arvat, one hundred and forty-four miles, and then extended it to Askabad, one hundred and ten miles farther. We are now building to Sarakhs, one hundred and eighty-five miles from Askabad, and there we may stop. Perhaps it will be pushed on to Herat, two hundred and two miles from Sarakhs, but it can not be under the present political situation. Afghanistan is under English control. You know the English Government gives the Ameer of that country a large annual payment of money for his friendship; and until we are willing to give a higher bribe he is not likely to permit us to build railways in his territory.
"'From Sarakhs our next line will be to Merv, the rich oasis that came under Russian control a few years ago, or possibly Merv may be reached by a branch from Askabad. Perhaps there will one day be a line from Merv to Samarcand and Bokhara, but this is far in the future. From Merv a railway may be run along the valley of the Murghab to Herat; but it is not a direct route, and we are much more likely to reach Herat by way of Sarakhs, along the valley of the Heri-Rud. Whichever way we take, the building of the road would not be at all difficult. The Murghab route has the disadvantage of being longer than that of the Heri-Rud, but its cost per mile would be much less, as the country is smoother.
"'I suppose,' he continued, 'that there is a sort of race between England and Russia to get to Herat with a railway. England is building north from India, while we are building south from the Caspian. The terminal points of the two lines are now less than eight hundred miles apart, and it is very evident that the English and Russian locomotives will be whistling in the hearing of each other, and blowing steam in each other's faces, within the next few years.[9]
"'If we were not confronted by diplomacy we could reach Herat considerably in advance of the English, as we have the shorter and easier line to build to get there. But with our scrupulous regard for treaties and agreements, we may be hindered in our railway building, and have the mortification of seeing our rivals there ahead of us. The English consider Herat the key to India, and are determined that we shall not possess it. We don't care much for it anyway, but are perfectly willing to place it beneath the sheltering wings of the Black Eagle.
"'When you are considering Sarakhs,' he continued, 'remember that there are two places of that name. Old Sarakhs is a mass of ruins; only a single building remains, and that is a tomb in which the body of Abel is said to rest. Another tomb a few miles away is known as the tomb of Cain, and there is a tradition that the Garden of Eden was in the neighborhood of Sarakhs. The Russians have occupied Old Sarakhs, and will establish a military post there of considerable importance as soon as the railway is completed.
OLD SARAKHS.