Of course the agitation in European Russia cannot leave Russians in Central Asia unaffected; continuation of the widespread irruptions of disorder in European Russia obviously imparts a new and most serious complexion to affairs in Asiatic Russia. Moreover signs of unrest, in consequence of interference by revolutionary agents from St. Petersburg, have already been displayed. At Askhabad the officers were locked in their quarters; at Kushkinski Post 200 soldiers joined in a strike of railway and telegraph officials. Further, at the instigation of Sokoloff an engineer and Simonoff an engine-fitter, a variety of farcical intentions were proclaimed, the main outcome of this signal act of rebellion culminating in a little temporary dislocation of the railway and telegraph services and the arrest of the ringleaders. None the less, the activity of these revolutionary agents does constitute a possible menace to the peace of Mid-Asia; for, while the native population recks little of the wiles of European agitators and can be overawed by the authorities, the situation, where it concerns the ultimate effect of the revolutionary propaganda upon the Russo-European army, rests upon the knees of the gods. There, unfortunately, it must remain; emphasising the fact that, on account of the means of checking the dissemination of revolutionary heresies and the growth of the operations of the agitators in Central Asia which the Russian authorities have at hand, the chances are much against any violent or widespread upheaval of the peace in these territories. [5] Lecture before the Central Asian Society, December 1905. [Illustration: NATIVE QUARTER, TASHKENT] CHAPTER III FROM TASHKENT TO MERV [Illustration: KORAN STAND, SAMARKAND] The first station beyond Tashkent, travelling towards Merv, is Kauffmanskaya, where begins the practice of associating with the scenes of their conquests the names of officers who have achieved distinction in Turkestan. It is a pleasant custom and serves to perpetuate history in a manner which might be copied with advantage in India. In this instance General von Kauffman, who became eventually an _aide-de-camp_ to the Tsar, was the first Governor-General of Russian Turkestan.