Page:England & Russia in Central Asia,Vol-I.djvu/122

102 102 ENGLAND AND RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA. to the effect that Russia had much to fear from the bad feeling against the Government which was pre- valent among a large portion of her army, recruited from Cossacks and Poles. The Russian Government has never had cause to complain of the fidelity of its army, heterogeneous though it is, and certainly its Central Asian army might be implicitly relied on for showing the utmost degree of fidelity and good service in undertaking a campaign which would be so popular as an invasion of India. All recent travellers, whether English, American, or French, concur in the view that the grand object of life in the bosoms of officers and soldiers alike in Turkestan is to invade Hindostan. From the highest rank down to the lowest the same feeling prevails ; and how to reach India, and by what means to conquer it when reached, are the guiding motives in the policy of the Tashkent authorities. That being so, it is not probable that the declaration of a war with England would be followed by the out- break of any disturbance within the ranks of the Russian army, whether among Polish exiles or poli- tical refugees. The same correspondent also advanced the opinion that the prisoners who mainly constitute the popula- tion of Siberia would seize the opportunity to enfran- chise themselves ; but surely he must have forgotten the very efficient line of pickets which are maintained along the principal roads — and in Siberia, once the principal road is left, you are in the midst of a pathless waste, out of which it would be impossible for anyone to extricate himself. The settlements of the political