KUSHK, a river of Afghanistan, which also gives its name to the chief town in the Afghan province of Badghis, and to a military post on the border of Russian Turkestan. The river Kushk, during a portion of its course, forms the boundary between Afghan and Russian territory; but the town is some 20 m. from the border. Kushk, or Kushkinski Post, is now a fourth-class Russian fortress, on a Russian branch railway from Merv, the terminus of which is 12 m. to the south, at Chahil Dukteran. It is served by both the Transcaspian and the Orenburg-Tashkent railways. The terminus is only 66 m. from Herat, and in the event of war would become an important base for a Russian advance. Some confusion has arisen through the popular application of the name of Kushk to this terminus, though it is situated neither at the Russian post nor at the old town. (T. H. H.*)