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430 time it is quite likely that all the officers will be Turcoman. In the British army only British officers can aspire to the highest positions, but the Russians have no such prejudices. Some of the most prominent officers in the Russian service are Asiatics; of these may be mentioned Generals Tergukasoff and Lazareff, who commanded divisions in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-78, and General Loris Melikoff, whose position was for several years only second to that of the Czar.

In his campaign against the Turcomans, Skobeleff profited by the experience of his predecessors, and the knowledge of the country and people that had been gained by them since the landing at Krasnovodsk in 1869. He made his plans with great care, and completed all his preparations before striking a blow other than was necessary to keep open his lines of communication and protect his advanced position at Bami. The Turcoman does his best work in summer, while the reverse is the case with the Russian. The Russian army was well fed, and its camp was in as comfortable a condition as circumstances would permit. The Turcomans were huddled with their families inside the fortress of Geok Tepe, and poorly supplied with provisions; they had no previous experience in warfare of this kind, and were unacquainted with commissariat requirements. Skobeleff understood the necessities of the campaign, and the character and habits of his enemy, better than did his predecessors, and hence his victory. The Trans-Caspian railway, which owed its commencement to Skobeleff's campaign against the Turcomans, has been pushed far into Central Asia. It has reached Merv, and perhaps before these pages are presented to the public gaze, the whistle of the Russian locomotive will have resounded in Samarcand or Tashkend. A branch from Sarakhs or Merv to Herat and the frontier of India is in the near future, and it is easily possible that the Russian and Indian railway systems will be connected before the new year of 1890.