Page:Kennedy, Robert John - A Journey in Khorassan (1890).djvu/91

 buildings of any importance. The numerous mosques and medressehs are in a state of great dilapidation and decay. Bokhara is, of course, connected in English minds with the tragic death of Stoddart and Connolly, who, being sent in 1842 on a political mission, were cast into a subterranean dungeon, or pit, where, after suffering months of torture, they were eventually beheaded. This pit has now been filled up, and the Bokhariots profess to know nothing about it, or of the tragedy of which it was the scene, but there can be little doubt that the dungeon was under a small hillock, on the summit of which now stands the modern prison. This prison we visited, and found in it some twenty prisoners, ordinary criminals, several of whom were chained to the walls like dogs to their kennels, and all plaintively begging for food. In accordance with the usual custom we bought bread from a perambulating baker, which we gave to one of the prisoners, who distributed it fairly among his comrades, by whom it was quietly and thankfully received. In justice to the Bokhariots it must be said that this prison, though