in the centre there are spacious gardens. One regiment is always on duty in the outer fort, a second regiment being detailed to safeguard the defences of the palace proper and its outer precincts. At no time during the day or night is the Amir without a strong guard. Cossack posts are established about the entrance, while patrols and sentries watch the grounds and the palace itself. The inner fort is separated from the outer one by a wide, deep ditch, and on the remote side there rise high battlements. Access to it is gained by a drawbridge which, lowered between sunrise and sunset, is raised at night. In appearance this work is decidedly Oriental. The much decorated gateway is set in a semicircular recess, flanked by imposing bastions. The gates are of wood, massive and studded with iron, the arches on either side containing quarters for the guards. To enter it is necessary to cross the guard-room and to negotiate beyond it the various sentries. In a small tower above the gateway a maxim is stationed, the tower itself being used at sunrise and sunset as a place of ceremonial salutation. Morning and night throughout the year, when the Amir is in residence, the changing of the guards is accompanied with an outburst of native music, a weird discord of drum and horn, which breaks forth in greeting to his Highness. This inner work is itself divided by a further wall, which is pierced with loop-holes and unceasingly patrolled. To a certain extent it acts as a defensive curtain to the heart of the palace for, in the space between, there are a series of small gardens and the palace premises. The garden walks are fenced with iron railings; abutting from them at their eastern and southern extremities are rows of symmetrically arranged buildings of single and double storeys. A postern-gate affords admission, its position covered by a massive, wooden screen of considerable height, length and strength. This erection protects the palace when the postern gate is open. The several buildings that are congregated behind the curtain-wall comprise the Amir’s pavilion, the official quarters of the princes and a separate enclosure, in which stands the Harem Serai. In addition there are the Amir’s treasury and storehouses, together with the quarters of certain Court officials and the barracks of the bodyguard--the little colony being set within a landscape of singular beauty. Numerous varieties of plants grow in the garden; about the pavilion there is a wealth of flowering stocks, sweet smelling peas and gaily coloured roses, the air being heavy with the scent of many perfumes. Considering the mean and uncomfortable squalor of the city, the presence of this oasis with its fresh flowers, green grass, shady trees and neatly tended paths, lends to the position of the palace an attractive brightness. Away from the flowers there is a somewhat garish note: the walks between the beds are paved with marble, and the stone