With Rostovtsevo there commences without doubt the most interesting section of the journey between Tashkent and Samarkand. The market of Samarkand has spread its influence for many miles along the line; and, as a consequence, there is a welcome note of freshness in the scene. In addition to the prosperity naturally suggested by the spectacle of a flourishing oasis, the railway affords a fleeting inspection of two important bridges. The first, an iron bridge of seven spans and 56 sagenes in length, crosses the Zerafshan river, leaving on the right the Ark of Tamerlane and on the left a bold, lofty mountain crag. It rises from two stone buttresses and is supported by six iron pillars. The spans are 8 sagenes in length and composed of four sections, the whole work reflecting the cantilever principle. It has been adapted to traffic, vehicles passing along either side of the permanent way. Beyond these landmarks the railway picks its way down the rocky declivity of the Zerafshan watershed towards the undulating, cultivated lands which extend between Chupan Ata ridge and the second bridge, which, thrown across the deep Obi Siab ravine 2 versts outside Samarkand, possesses a length of 30 sagenes. It is constructed in iron of three spans, supported by stone abutments upon two stone buttresses. The station of Samarkand, second in importance to Krasnovodsk, is 1415 versts from Krasnovodsk and 332 versts from Tashkent. In the station square there are a church, an hospital of twenty-five beds, two second-class schools, workshops and railway yards affording daily employment for 160 men. Like most stations of the first class it acts as a medium of distribution to a wide area, stimulating not only the industrial interests throughout the province but imparting also an impetus to the agricultural activities of the neighbourhood. The table of traffic for this important point, illustrating the volume of trade which passes through Samarkand, is as follows: Passengers. _Arrivals._ _Departures._ 47,774 47,159 _Imports._ Manufactured goods 320,745 poods. Iron and steel 72,521 ” Green tea 85,059 ” Black tea 35,066 ” Kerosene 110,497 ” Yarn and thread 41,625 ” Refined sugar 48,481 ” Sanded sugar 35,299 ” Military stores 93,372 ” _Exports._