Page:England & Russia in Central Asia,Vol-I.djvu/100

80 ENGLAND AND RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA. sufficient to give the Eussian Government claims to any general admiration, for the safety of her domi- nions in Asia depends, more than upon anything else,' upon the preservation of order within them and in their immediate neighbourhood. Something has also been done in the improvement of the roads, and there are several grand routes in different directions connecting the various dependencies of the State with each other, as well as with Europe. The telegraph has been laid down along all the prin- cipal roads, and Tashkent is in telegraphic communi- cation with the most advanced out-post on the Naryn, as it is with that on the frontier of Bokhara. It is by no means certain whether at this moment Eussia is not in possession of a wire to the Oxus, for the Ameer of Bokhara not only consented to one being laid down, but even promised to supply the necessary poles. Kerkhi, or Khoja Salih, were named as the most likely places to which it would be laid down, but it is more than probable that the Eussians would make an effort to induce the Ameer to permit it to pass through his capital to Charjui. Charjui is Eussia' s main object on the Oxus, and in considering the chief roads to India the importance of this position will be described. It would not be difficult to continue the wire along the banks of the Oxus to Kerkhi, and ultimately to Khoja Salih. The Ameer's offer, whether wholly voluntary or not, is of double importance, for it shows that he is entirely subservient to Eussia, and also that he is not disposed to throw any serious opposition in the way of an army marching through