The station of Merv, as the junction from which commences the Murghab branch line, is particularly well constructed. There is a depôt with spacious repairing yards and very commodious workshops, where 250 workmen are daily employed. In addition there are extensive railway go-downs and quarters for the employés of the company. If these represent merely the requirements of the station, in a more general way there is an hospital with several beds, a building for the accommodation of emigrants and, in the immediate precincts of the station, barracks for the 2nd Trans-Caspian Railway Battalion. Close to the station, which possesses special importance because of being the only spot in a length of 200 versts up and down the line where fresh water may be obtained, such water being derived from the Murghab river, an iron bridge carries the railway across the river. The spans of the bridge are 30 sagenes and a paved carriage-way is laid upon either side of the metals. Beyond the bridge the road runs parallel with the Central Asian railway until it reaches the Murghab river. Down the banks of this stream it branches off towards the Kushk and Murghab valleys, holding solitary communion with the Murghab valley railway as far as the junction of the Pendjeh-Tanur Sangi extension with the line to Kushkinski Post. [Illustration: THE MILITARY QUARTER, MERV] The appearance of Merv is monotonous. An absence of tropical foliage, the conventional character of the bungalows and the broad, empty streets compose an exterior which is altogether desolate. The high temperature, which frequently exceeds 100 degrees, crushes initiative and possibly it is due to the glare of the sun and the thick dust which rises in white clouds from the roads, that the thoroughfares are deserted between sunrise and sunset. The Murghab river divides the town into a commercial quarter, prominently situated upon the right bank 133 sagenes above sea-level, and a military settlement upon the opposite bank but connected by a pontoon bridge. Within the military quarter, there are the barracks and the general offices of the Administration as well as a large garrison hospital and a military club. The civil section of the town contains a district hospital of fifteen beds and a casino, supported by the Government. The native bazaar is remote. [6] “The Heart of Asia.” F. H. Skrine and E. D. Ross. [Illustration: THE AMU DARIA BRIDGE] CHAPTER IV THE NORTHERN BORDER AND THE OXUS RIVER: ITS CHARACTER, TRIBUTARIES AND FORDS