The New York Herald Newspaper, June 30, 1873, Page 3

“ a Pe “ KHIVA. —_——_>-_———_ General Kaufmann Reports the Oc- cupation of the Khanate Cap- ital by the Russians. * Flight of the Khan from the Pres- a \ “ ence of the Victors. Russia’s Latest Acquisition in Central Asia. THE CONQUERED UZBEKS. History and Condition of the Nomads of Independent Tartary. FORMER RUSSIAN INVASIONS. A. Winter Campaign---Men, Camels and Horses Frozen by Thousands. THE PRESENT MUSCOVITE EXPEDITION, Organization and Routes of the Columns Which Have Captured the Kirgheez Capital. Why Russia Wanted This Oasis in the Asian Desert and What She Will Do with It. A ROAD TO CHINA AND INDIA. TELEGRAM TO THE NEW YORK HERALD. Sr. Pererssure, June 29, 1873. An official telegraphic despatch from Gen- eral Kaufmann announces that the capital of Khiva was occupied by the Russian forces on the 10th of June. The Khan of Khiva fled to Youmandow. ITSELF---WHAT IT 18 AND WHERE iT IS. THE PLACE Khiva’s fall and the capture of the capital by the Russians, under General Kaufmann, 1s officially ‘announced to St. Petersburg, and thence in the | Hggatp telegram which we publish above. So thorough, complete and efficient the operations of the Russian invading col- ‘umns, as they have been from time to time detailed by the HERALD’s commissioner, on the spot, that no reasonable doubt could exist in reiation to the event. A desert oasis two hundred miles long by half that breadth, inhabited by wild, nomadic \ tribes and surrounded by neighbors only more bar- baric than themselves, without the aids of modern military implements and scientific geueralship, ‘with @ population of say half a million, stood no hance to successfully resist the well plagned as- sault of one of the most powerful of the Old World mations, No element was omitted in the calcula- tions for success by the Czar’s able commanders, \ and every accessory which promised to assist the desert and mountain march was liberaily provided, Due attention was paid to the season of the year, that tke forces should neither be defeatea by irost nor checked by the parciing Summer heats and } Gronghts on the arid steppes beyond the Ural. Great care was taken in selecting the leaders of the various columus, which were to concentrate at 5 several points near the city of Khiva and operate on it at the same time both from the east and west. ‘Their Imperial Highnesses the Grand Duke Nicholas Constantinovitch and the Prince Eugene Maximilianovitch Romanovski, Duke of Leuchten- berg, accompanied the Djizak column. Major Gen- eral Golovatchov, commander of the forces irom “the Sir Daria Province, was chief of the Turkestan detachment. The Kasalinsk column, up to its Janction with the Djizak column, was commanded by Colonel Golov, chief of the Kasalinsk district. On Friday last, the 27th instant, a special \ HERALD despatch from Aulie Ate, in Turkestan, under date of May 23, stated that the Khan had, after many efforts at treachery by negotiation, formally surrendered his capital to General Kauf- “. mann, Subsequent reports publisned by London papers have confirmed this exclusive intelligence Qrat given to the public by HeRatp enterprise, and y nnounce the intention of the conquerors to con- tinue through the newly acquired territory an ex- Sension of the Russian railroad system eastwardly, ‘\ ‘With the view to secure for the great northern empire the rich prize of Chinese and Indian com- ‘merce. Previous to the receipt of the report that the ‘'\ Khan had surrendered the city of Khiva, we had ‘Deen informed that the consolidated Russo-Tur- Kestan army, under General Kaufmann, arrived at . the Amu Daria River from Chalaat on May 2. * @eneral Werekin had also occupied Kungrad, 100 Miles north of Khiva, May 20, and continued his L og southward, the Khivans retreating before The southern extremity of the Sea of Aral was mused as a base of supplies for the Russian columns ~, Which attacked the Khanate from the east by the Une of the Sir Daria or Jaxartes River. Khiva, known to history as Kharazm and by its meighbors as Urganj, holds, according to Vambéry, me former appellation from a Persian word signify. ‘img “warlike.” Richardson gives currency to a fanciful derivation of the n: from a Persian ex- Pression of Cyrus. It seems, however, that we may be content to accept, as fact, that the Khar- “azmis of Eastern annals are the Chorasmi of ‘& people of Herodotus, described by Lempriére as Asia near the Oxus."’ ‘<The inhabited part of Khiva is estimated at less han two hundred miles from north to south and ent hundred irom east to west, and is confined to the lower section of the Oxus, south of the Sea of ‘Aral. The remainder of the Khanate, or rather ‘the outlying country acknowledging in any way the sovereignty of the Khan, may be con. ‘Saidered, with few exceptions, a perfect desert. ‘The principal places in the culti- ‘vated and populated lands are Yenghi, or New x. Urganj, and Khiva, the capital, Kdhnah, or Old Urganj, once the capital, is now reduced to insig- nificance, and of its former splendor there only re- (tguain two ruins of towers of the same massive @esigns as the other towers of Central Asia. Vam- . ery eulogizes tho fertility of the soil, and con- “madera the corn, rice, silk, cotton and a dye-yielding root called “ruyan” especially excel- dent. As regards the fruita, he holds that not Persia aud Turkey alone, but even Europe itself, ‘would find it dificult to contest their superior merit. He instances apples, peaches, pome- granates, and, above all, melons “renowned as far even a4 remote Pekin, so that the sovereign of the Celestial Empire never forgets, when presenta flow to him from Chinese Tartary, to beg for some Drgenji melons”. Amopg manufactures, the Us. were | NEW YORK HERALD, MONDAY, JUNE 30, 1875—TRIPLE SHEET. 3 SEAT OF THE WAR IN CENTRAL ASIA, Map Showing the Routes of the Various Russian Columns in the Invasion and Cap- Khiva. ture of Russian T; Arri i ived May 20 R eal nate Base of Operatii BK iyyrad >» jen, Wier May 20 ihodja, Uli May 26 Battie \Mangit June 1 Battle Ny vA ae ce Ax Shurakan__—~ ¢ —-eee ee omg \ HaeSramp > Res i ig attle May ft ki Gen, Kauffman KUM DE\SERT ¢ Black Sand | * : er, Rs TEKE ? ‘ett Arent OPE Me y a - BOK! ‘ \e * * 2 Charjoove, a bee ay B CHALAAT | inded mpheTatender’ Kuss. cot oth a snnend Djisak and a Lo 5 ae ee narkand SARA ) Q PKurshe nprecaes U ganj striped, two-colored, stuff dressing-gown, the Hesarasp gown and the Tashkent linens, as also the brass of Khiva, are cited. The trade is with Russia, Persia and Herat, but chiefly with the first. The tract of Khiva which is cultivated is situate nearly entirely upon the left, or southern bank, of the Oxus. Kungrad on the west, and Pitnek, or Pitniak (a littie town on the southern bank of the Oxus, just above Hesarasp,) on the east, may be taken roughly as the western and eastern extremi- ties respectively of this oasis, Its length, accord- ing to the most recent Russian authorities and maps, is about one hundred and eighty to two hundred miles, while its width averages about forty to fifty miles. The irrigation which tends to make the Khanate so peculiarly fertile is carried on by means of canals from the Oxus, which, for some reason or other, irrigate aimost exclusively the land on the southern bank of that stream. The position of the oasis, surrounded as it is from the north, south, east and west by wide tracts of bar- ren steppes, renders it peculiarly inaccessible, and it is this fact alone which has hitherto enabled successive Khans of Khiva to insult and bid defiance to their powerful Northern foe. According toa Russian authority, M. Veniukoff, that part of the Oxus which skirts Bokhara, and, indeed, an extent ef 540 miles along its banks, from Balkh to Fitnek,,a southern limit of populated Khiva, is a sultry valley in which, while there are towns and villages at the ferries or intersections of caravan routes, there are but few fixed inhabi- tants. At Charjui,a point within this range, he gives to the river @ breadth of 235 and a depth of four fathoms, but is not sanguine of it ever be- coming @ commercial highway between Europe and mine distance from Khiva to Bokhara by the high road is laid down at 60 parasangs, or perhaps 210 miles, in eight marches averaging not less than 26 miles each. The first march of 21 miles is througha cultivated country rich in mulberry trees‘’tnd within an hour from the Oxus, at this part so wide that both banks are barely visible at the same time. The second march takes the traveller across the river; and the third, out of Khivan territory, through a fair amount of cultivation on the right bank, to the, edge of the Tartary desert, where the Kirgiz find pasturage for their flocks. The next two marches hug the cultivated strip along the river side, avoiding as much as possible the sandy wastes on the left hand. From the point then attained the caravan road is again beside the river for between thirty and forty miles, whence begins the passage of the desert in earnest, and this trial is undergone for some sixty miles before the propinquity of the city of Bokhara is made known by canals, culti- vated flelds, and, finally, most grateful gardens. THE PEOPLE. ‘The Uzbeks, the ruling race, are thus referred to by Wood (“Source of the Oxus’') :— A tribe of Tartar, or rather Scythian, origin, which in a comparatively modern era crossed the Jaxartes and fixed themselves in Trans-Oxiana. The mee \dants of the rathiess Jenghiz Khan then occupied that country, but were soon forcibly dis- d. Their chief, the renowed Baber, after vainly endeavouring to stem the torrent of invasion, yielded to its strength, and led his forces. into Hindostan, where he estab. lished the Moghul Empi called aiter the founder his hamadans, and consider an intolerant persecution of the other sect as the best evidence of the sin- eerity of their own jaith and of their attachment to the Prophet. They are much fettered by their priests, to whom they yield implicit obedience in all things temporal and spiritual. The Uzbeks are the fixed cultivators of the soil, dwelling under the protection of their own rulers. Vambéry gives them a good character, adding that the Khivan Uzbek, not being well instructed in the doctrine of the Mohammedanism which he professes, retains not only many of the national usages of heathenism, but also of the religious observances of the Parsis or Fire-Worshippers, the ancient in- habitants of Persia, converted or driven out by the early Mohammedan invaders, excepting the few families settled still at Yezd, Kirman, and one or two other cities. The other inhabitants besides Uzbeks are Turkomaus, Karakalpaks, Kazaks, Sarts and Persians. The Turkomans are divided into numerous tribes, and are scattered in hordes along the northern frontier of Persia and northwest of Afghanistan. Those in Khiva proper belong chiefly to three tribes. ‘he Karakalpak, Blackcaps, inhabit the farther bank of the Oxus, but have been subject to Khiva from time immemorial. Their number is computed at 10,000 tents. Of the Kazaks but few are subject to Khiva. The Sarts are the ancient Persian population {of Kha- razm, and called, as elsewhere, Tajik; and the so- called Persian section of the population are colo- nists or slaves. Many of the latter, however, prefer an easy livelihood in Khiva to taking advantage of liberty, if offered on condition of returning to their homes. When Mr. Taylour Thompson was at Khiva, in 1841, he learned that the population from whom the Khan collected his revenues amounted to 100,000 families; that he had an army of 30,000 horsemen, with seventeen guns and a mortar, besides 100 regular soldiers and a Russian artilleryman; that he possessed, moreover, 500 men slaves of his own and 4,000 in the employment of subjects on the State lands, HISTORY OF RUSSIAN OPERATIONS IN ASIA. At the close of the seventeenth and commence- ment of the eighteenth century Russta, under Peter the Great, sent out her explorers to penetrate into Central Asia from the north and west. Peter wished to establish commercial intercourse with India, but the independent Khanates beyond the Steppes were not quite prepared to encourage 80 civilized an object by giving free passage to com- merce through tneir territories. He, however, when able to turn his attention from the Swedes and Turks, entered into some sort of correspond- ence with Khbiva; for it is urged on behalf of Rus- sia that so far back as 1703 the Czar received the Khan's allegiance, at a time when the latter was sorely pressed by the Amir of Bokhara; and from 1714 to 1717 efforts were made to establish Russian authority on the casterm shores of the Caspian, and generally in Turkistan. Accounts of two expedi- tions with this object in view are given in the “Journal of the Russian Imperial Geographical So- ciety” for 1853, One was despatched from Siberia ander Coionel Bucholz, and one from Astrakhan under Prince Bekovich. But although Peter the Great continued to push forward his scheme of intercourse with India, and for this purpese sought to make a ready road through Bokhara and intervening countries, no Positive measure of occupation or annexation in Central Asia seems to have been carried out until after that monarch’s death, in 1725. He had, by ownnresence and phat of a numerons agmy, ” made the tribes on the seaside of the Kharazm desert accustomed to ‘personal contact with the Kuropeans or semi-Europeans north of the Steppes and the Caspian; but by treaty with Persia he bad Abandoned claim to possession of any tracts east of the latter, In. 1732, however, the Khan of the Lesser Horde of Kirgiz was formally received under Russian protection, and a considerable extent of country came under Russian organization and su- pervision. Dating from this time civil order was gradually introduced into the depths of Central Asia, In 1822 @ series of regulations were promulgated for the government of the Kirgizes, who wandered in the Irtish Ishim Steppe, and since 1834 they have been under the jurisdiction of iocal eourts, In 1834 tho Alexandrovsk fortification was erected near Kai- dak, a bay of the Caspian. In 1846 the fortresses of Orenburg and Uralsk were founded in the beart of the Steppe, on the Rivers Irgiz and Tuegai re- spectively. In 1847 Fort Raimsk was erected near the mouth of the Sir Daria, and on the reduction of Ak Mashhad, in 1853, the Russians established themselves along the whole of this river. In 1854 @ Russian General proceeded on @ second expedition to Khiva, accepted the nominal submission of the Khan, Mohammed Amin, at the city itself, and returned. In the same year, or at the outset of the Crimean war, it was resolved by @ special committee, and confirmed by the Emperor Nicholas, to connect the then newly established Sir Daria line with the newly advanced Siberian line of frontier. This was considered to be the best measure to secure the object of the ad- vance into the Steppes, made already by the force of circumstances. The question is too wide a one to admit of present description and illustration. It would carry us into China and Russian progress Chinaward. We ar@ however, concerned to know that between the years 1850 and 1860 the Russian detached posts, forts and military settle. ments “were scattered over the vast sur- face of the Steppes, on the one side from the Ural, the Irtish and the northeastern part o the Caspian as far as the northern parts of the Sea of Aral and Sir Daria, and on the other as far as the Ili River at the base of the Tian Shan Moun- tains.’ The Mangishlak Peninsula on the west, Fort Perovskion the Sir Daria and the Ili River west of Kulja, will exhibit the supposed limit—near the forty-fourth parallel of latitude. In spite of endeavoring to consolidate without further extension, and of keeping on the best terms with the rulers and people of the Khanates of Cen- tral Asia, the Russians complained that their rela- tions south of the Steppes were far from satisfactory. Khiva and Kokhand were usually hostile, and Bok- hara was not so friendly as she might be. A flotilla on the Sea of Aral, and other measures, offen- sive or defensive, kept the Khivans from open warfare, but Khokand not only refused to make concessions to the northern intruders, but be- came their assailants, within the limits occupied, The connection of the Orenburg and Siberian lines was looked upon as the fittest remedial measure, Romanovaky informs us that, “while accepting this decision, which must have inevitably led one way or another to the subjection of Khokand, Bok- hara and Khiva to our influence, the Russian gov- ernment was far from entertaining any ambitious views.” ORGANIZATION OF RUSSIAN TURKESTAN. In accordance, then, with the approved scheme, Russian troops took possession of the trans-Ili region, butlt forta Vernoé and Kastik, north of the “Tasik Lake ana Ala Tau mountains; destroyed the Rokhagd 10516 Of ACh AD Taba, BA JAOL, captured that of Jan Gurgan, and carried on several important military surveys, with @ view, if necessary, to further operations. These were occurrences of the years between 1854 and 1864. Then vegan the work of actually connecting the two Russian frontiers, A line was frst pro- posed to be drawn from about Fort Vernot east to Anlia Ata, the small Kara Tan range, and Julck in the west; but this plan being overruled, an ad- vanced line was substituted, comprising Shem- kand. To put the new proposal into execution, It became necessary to take forcible possession of Aulia Ata, the town of Turkestan and Shemkand, Troops were, therefore, again put in requisition, and the end achieved, The despatches mention that at Aulia Ata the enemy’s loss was not known, bat that the inhabitants buried 307 bodies, and there were 390 wounded Khokandians; the Rus- sian themselves having only three men slightly wounded and one officer and one man bruised. On the two other occasions the Russians lest, in all, one officer and ten men killed; but there is no mention made of casualties on the other side, The immediate consequence of those strong measures was the publication of a circular mani- festo addressed to the Embassies and Legations of His Imperial Russian Majesty at foreign courts, and couched in the most conciliatory and moderate language, explaining how the force of circum- stances rather than the exercise of free will had brought about the results above described and the formation of a new province aptly designated Rus- sian Turkestan. Alter the formation of Russian Turkestan, the Bokhara and Khokand Uzbeks resumed their nor- mal state of internecine strife. General Chernatev, commanding Russian troops, and watching proceed. ings from Shemkand, sent out a “corps d’observa- tion” towards Tashkent, and this detachment was attacked by Khokandians; whereupon the Russians faced and defeated their assailants, and en revanche stormed and captured their fortof Niaz Beg. This led to further reprisals, and finally the capture of the city of Tashkent. The Bokharians demanded evacuation of the place by ChernaYev, and on the General’s refusal to comply with the demand, stop- ped @ Russian caravan and imprisoned the mer- chants who composed it. After further measures of retaliation on either side, the contending parties arrived at a quast-friendly understanding, and a scientific and diplomatic mission was sent by Rus- sia to Bokhara. The Amir, however, when he had given the delegates a fair reception, reverted to the normal treachery of his race, and forcibly de- tainea them, Chernaiev marched out of Tashkent with a force, intending to move on Bokhara; but he was delayed at Jazak, west of Samarkand, at- tacked and compelied to retreat to the Sir River. These events occasioned this General’s recall and the appointment of General Romanosky as hig, successor, who reached Tashkent in March, 1866, THEY CATCH A TARTAR, The new Commander-in-Chief and Military Gov- ernor in Russian Turkestan, under the Governor General of Orenburg, did not long remain quiet at his post. He had been sent out, apparently, to act @s much as possible in a conciliatory spirit, but was evidently not hampered by tnexpedient restrictions, The water communication estab- lished on the Sir River enabled steamers to ascend from Kort Perovsky to Chinaz below Tashkent, so that the new position occupied was not without natural advantages. This facility of transport was turned to account, and Romanovsky soon found himself actively engaged with the Bokharians, not- withstanding the smooth speeches with which he WARAKEGISS LY FROM, MpsChINROUs of Fort Caines to'an entrenched camp defended by their at Irjar, he stormed and carried their works, Fouted them with great slaughter. A few later he took the fortified and populous city Khojand, after a week's investment ahd ment, thus severing Kokhand from BoKhars, thid place being intermediate to the two, These opermed tions were succeeded by a lull; the Russian ers were released and returned, but there was 2 sign of settled peace. Nor could there well be der the circumstances, for Russia took Khokandiamy towns and forts claimed by Bokhara, and Bokharai felt the blow to be one levelled at her own pow in Central Asia, That this state of things gave rise’ to internal revolution cannot be held surprisingg An outery was raised against the {tll-starret Amir by the Moilans, or priesthood, am others, and the standard of rebellion wi raised by a bold ana ambitious chief. General Romanovsky has been replaced in Russian Tarkes+ tan by General Kaufmann, its present military Gov < ernor and the commanaer of the new expedition 9 and the question of administering the newly~ acquired province, as well as the policy to be pure sued with the neighboring chiefs and people, en~ gaged the serious attention of the higher authorte tics. A HOLY WAR. ‘ General Kaufmann entered into ba kre with the Amir of Bokhara; but the excitement oJ his subjects against the latter was such that before a treaty could be signed & holy war was proclaimet and the neighboring Khans of Khiva and Khokan called on to join the Bokharians. It was clear, however, that nothing but a decisive victory could produce an efiicient alliance against the commo! enemy, and Kaufmann shattered their hopes unanimity and euccess by adding Samarcand tq the list of captured cities, Perhaps no place img the whole of Central Asia had been more univer: sally lauded and esteemed than this, It had b: come a sort of synonyme to the Oriental for all that was poetical and luxurions in Ife, and, even in I comparatively fallen state, was, theoretically, the Uzbek what Bagdad is to the Arab, and Shirasd to the Persian. Finally, to the capture of Samarcand succeeded that of Kette Kurgan, one of the strongest of Bokhara forts, together with @ series shai decisive actions, in which Generals Kaufmann an Abramoff contrived to rout their {ll disctplineds opponents, The Amir of Bokhara, driven to exé tremities, made peace with his conquerors, who im return assiated him to quell rebellion, and restored, to him the town of Karshi taken from the rebels, * TREATIES ALL AROUND. It now appears that a treaty of mutual ob! tions was signed by General Kaufmann on the nar of Russia on the 29th January, 1868, and by Khudi Yar Khan, ruler of Khokand, on the 13th February! following, by which Russian merchants and Rus- sian merchandise were to be treated with marked favor. In like manner a treaty of commerce most advantageous to Russian commerce, and guaran. teeing protection to Russian subjects, was acceptet by Sdiad Muzafar, Amir of Bokhara, after a secon cession of a captured town was made to him im 1870. The Khan of Khokand, being Russia’s near~ est neighbor, was the first to realize the impgsst4 bility of military reststance, and the Amir of Bok hara convinced himself that Russfa wished to lival with him in peace and amity, and had no desire ta extend her porsessions at his expense, ONLY KHIVA IS OBSTINATE, In respect of Khtva, all attempts to eatablisty, friendly intercourse with that Khanate came ‘a nothing, and, indeed, only served to reveal th hostile dispositions of the Kiiva government. Y all Russia asked forevas that her subjects detaine as prisoners at Khiva should be set at liberty, that her traders should have free access to the Khanat and that they should be protected while theres “These, our just and moderate demands,” says tha oficial Gazette, “were either left altogether unan-, swered or on other occasions declined or made the! pretext for raising absurd pretensions. Matters cannot possibly remain in this state; the lesa so ag the maintenance of order and quiet in our Orend burg Steppes is altogetner dependent on our rela tions with Khiva.’? A FORMER RUSSIAN EXPEDITION AGAINST KHTVA, For some years previous to 1830 General Perovskl, a bold, daring soldier, nad been urging on his gove ernment an expedition to Khiva, It is said that ho required seven years to make preparations, Th@ alleged grounds for the expedition were that the Khivans held Russian subjects in slavery, mow lested and plundered the caravans to Bokhara, ant harassed the Kirghiz tribes under Russtan protec~ tion. It was aiso announced in the manifesto which the Russian government issuéd upon the subject that its object was ‘de consolider dans cette partie de UVAsie Vinjfluence Ugitime qui appartient ala Russie et qui seule peut y servir de gage a la conservation dela patx;” or, in the expressions of the Emperor, “to estaplish tranqulility for the future in Khiva.” 1t was admitted by Count Nes- selrode that the intention was to depose thé reigning Khan and to place his brother upon the throne. The invading force consisted of 10,000 men, 11,000 camels and 21,000 horses, In June, 1839, a detache ment of 2,000 men left Orenburg, and established @ fortified post on the River Emba, and a further ade vance post at Ak.Joulak, 180 versts from the Emba, was occupied in the same Summer, The main body of the army left Orenburg on the 17th of November, the Winter season having been chosen in order t@ supply by means of the snow the want of water om the route, On the 30th of January, 1840, General Perovski announced his arrival a¢ the second post of Ak-Boulak, and at the same time the abandon« ment of any further advance, in consequence of tha obstacles presented by the unusual severity of tha weather, The thermometer was down to forty de< grees Reaumur, the cold freezing the brandy an@ breaking the bettles containing it, Tha snow was seven feet deep, hard enough ta allow the troops to march upon it, but not firny enough to support the camels, who sank at every step. Attempts were made, but im vain, to prew ceed in single file, and thus to make a firm path for them through the snow. The camels would not lig down upon it, but onlyon the sand beneath it. It, therefore, became necessary on halting to clear @ a space for them, which at last became impossible in consequence of the depth of thesnow. Num- bers of the Russian soldiers were frozen to deatly and frost-bitten. The army retreated by small detachments t the Emba, and thence to Orena burg, where they arrived in most sorry plight im March, 1840, With regard to the health of the troops and the number of men who perished accounts differ, The Oural Cossacks are said now to have lost cither men or horses to any extent; but the loss in baggage cattle was enermous. Out of 11,000 camels, only 1,600 rea turned, and the greater number of the horses perished, This loss of camels may, perhaps, be attributed to the notorious peculation of the Rus sian commissariat. Men who supplied the camela were not paid, aud therefore decamped as svon ag) they could: The elements were the only enemies with which, the Russians had to contend; for, theugh the Khivans are said to have sent 40,000 (’) horse to the northwest cormer of the Aral Sea, under the, Koosh Begie, or Minister of War, only one or two insignificant skirmisnes took place between them and the enemy. A detachment of Khivans, con« sisting of 2,000 men, accerding to the St. Peters burg Journal, attacked either the advanced Russian post or @ convoy on its return to Emba, They were repulsed with ease. The suf ferings of the troops from the severity of the weather seem to have been no leas than those of} their adversaries, The snow was five feet dev; and would not bear the weight of their horses; they marched on by following a track made for by driving on Cossack ponies, which was so nare row as to admit of their marching only in sin, file. The cold was so intense that nono of wore less than flye or eix cloaks, and as many, nether garments as the credit of the wearer could} procure. Their arms, enveloped in cotton ; were juflexibie ; their hands were drawn within sleeves of their cloaks, and if they grasped a or spear they wero frost-bitten and The nose-bags of the horses wore could look at the ememy. In this plight active tence or defence was out of the question, The \ 1 P