Page:The Boy Travellers in the Russian Empire.djvu/473

Rh we take, the building of the road would not be at all difficult. The Murghab route has the disadvantage of being longer than that of the Heri-Rud, but its cost per mile would be much less, as the country is smoother.

I suppose,' he continued, 'that there is a sort of race between England and Russia to get to Herat with a railway. England is building north from India, while we are building south from the Caspian. The terminal points of the two lines are now less than eight hundred miles apart, and it is very evident that the English and Russian locomotives will be whistling in the hearing of each other, and blowing steam in each other's faces, within the next few years. Early in 1886 the Central Asian Railway was completed to Kaakha, a distance of 590 versts (390 miles) from Mikhailovsk. The line was completed to Merv in April, 1886, and the echoes of the Turcoman oasis were awakened by the shriek of the locomotive. At the latest advices work was being pushed between Merv and Chardjuya, on the Oxus, and General Annenkoff had promised to complete the line to the banks of the historic river before the end of the year. The Emir of Bokhara has agreed to provide the material for a bridge across the Oxus, and the Russian engineers have completed the survey of the line as far as Samarcand. It is hoped that the railway will reach Bokhara and Samarcand by the end of 1887. The entire railway as planned will extend from Mikhailovsk, on the Caspian, by way of Kizil Arvat (245 versts), Askabad (445 versts), Kaakha (590 versts), to Merv (770 versts, or 510 miles): thence to Chardjuya, on the Amoo Darya (Oxus), and Bokhara to Samarcand, a total distance of 1065 versts (700 miles), of which no less than five-sevenths is practically now completed. All the rails, sleepers, and rolling material for the Trans-Caspian Railway are supplied from the Russian Crown depots. Apart from this, the total cost of making the line from the Caspian to the Oxus is estimated at 12,250,000 roubles, or about 16,000 roubles per verst. The Russians have a grand scheme for another line of railway through Asia, which was originally proposed by M. de Lesseps. The first step would be to complete the railway connection along the lower Volga, between Tsaritsin and Astrachan. The Asiatic line would start from Astrachan, pass through Khiva, Bokhara, and Samarcand into Chinese Turkestan, where it would touch Tang-Kissar, Kashgar, and Yarkand, in addition to other cities and towns of lesser note. It would skirt the shores of Lake Lob, and after descending the valley of the Kan (Han) terminate at Hankow, on the banks of the Yang-tse-Kiang, six hundred miles above the mouth of the great river of China.

If we were not confronted by diplomacy we could reach Herat considerably in advance of the English, as we have the shorter and easier line to build to get there. But with our scrupulous regard for treaties and agreements, we may be hindered in our railway building, and have the mortification of seeing our rivals there ahead of us. The English consider Herat the key to India, and are determined that we shall not possess it. We don't care much for it anyway, but are perfectly willing to place it beneath the sheltering wings of the Black Eagle.