'Persia and the Persian Question by the Hon. George Nathaniel Curzon, M.P.' [‎68] (99/714)

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68 PERSIA
packed with bales of cotton waiting for shipment. The General
hoped to be able to undertake the extension from Samarkand to
Tashkent, which, he said, had been finally sanctioned, in the
forthcoming summer; 1 and at no distant date to effect a junction
with the projected Omsk-Tomsk line through Sibeiia to Vladivos-
tock. Nor in the dim future had he renounced his pet project of
a Merv-Penjdeh -Herat-Kandahar diversion, which should bind the
East and West in friendly fusion.
At Uzun Ada the number of native passengers waiting to take
tickets at the single small window of the ticket office—Uzbegs
from Bokhara. Sarts from Samarkand and Tashkent,
Native „ T7- 1 • rn n 1
passengers Chinese Mohammedans from Kulja, iurkomans, and even
Afghans, returning from pilgrimages to Mecca or other sacred
shrines was so great that it was not till two hours after the
quoted time that the train steamed out of the station. It appeared
to be difficult to persuade these inveterate Orientals either to
regard the price of a ticket as a fixed quantity or to comprehend
the French system of the queue. They fought and jostled each
other at the tiny opening; and when the ticket distributor named
the price, in true Asiatic fashion they offered about half the sum
in the expectation of a leisurely haggle and a possible bargain.
A cloudless sun on the following morning showed me again
the staring waste of the Kara Kum and the crumpled mountain
gorges of the Kuren Dagh. Great improvement was
The Desert n0 ^ cea | J j e ^ mos t of the railway stations—more trees,
more water, greater general comfort. We passed Geok Tepe at
11.30 A.M.. and I had time to pay a flying visit to the ruins of the
famous fortress which I have described at length in my previous
work. The solidly-built walls of rammed clay appear to dwindle
very little, and, unless artificially levelled, should be visible for at
least a century. It has since been announced (November 1890) that
a new use is to be made of Geok Tepe. A penal settlement is to
be established here, and a large prison erected for convicts from
the Caucasus sentenced to hard labour, whose constitution is
unequal to the rigour of Siberia. Russian convicts at work amid
a native population by whom, only ten years ago, Russian prisoners
in battle were being put to death, will be a dramatic accessory
thoroughly in keeping with the surroundings. Two hours behind
1 Nevertheless, at the time of going to press (winter 1891), it has not been
begun.