The two principal steamers, respectively the _Tsar_ and _Tsaritsa_, were the first to be launched and date back to 1887. The three others, which are slower, smaller and more akin to river tugs than passenger craft, are the _Samarkand_, _Bokhara_ and _Kabul_. Their cost was borne by the Government and ran into several thousand pounds apiece. All the vessels are paddle-boats and flat-bottomed. The two larger ships are supposed to be able to make sixteen knots per hour; their length is 150 feet, with 23 feet beam and engines of 500 horse-power. Their draught, when laden, is rather less than 3 feet, while they carry a crew of thirty hands and possess accommodation for 300 men and 20 officers. They take any class of cargo and passengers and are also utilised for towing the freight barges of the military authorities up-stream to the frontier stations at Karki, Kelif, Patta Hissar and Termes. Navigation between Patta Hissar and Charjui continues throughout the year unless prevented by the freezing of the river; between Charjui and Kungrad the continuity of the down river service is dependent upon the sand banks, their sudden appearance and constant change of position quite upsetting the ordinary schedule. From April 1 to October 1, the steamers leave Charjui twice a week--on Wednesdays for Karki and on Sundays for Patta Hissar. During the remainder of the year they leave once a week, on Sundays, for Patta Hissar. On the journey from Patta Hissar to Karki, during the summer, steamers leave on Saturdays and in the winter months on Thursdays; for the journey from Karki to Patta Hissar steamers leave in the summer months on Wednesdays and in the winter months on Fridays. From Patta Hissar to Charjui steamers run every Friday and Sunday in summer and during the winter on Sundays. In general, navigation on the lower Oxus is difficult. Above Charjui the swiftness of the current, which averages 5 miles and, in some places, even 6 miles an hour, impedes the up-stream progress of any but the more powerful boats. Unfortunately, the narrowness of the channel above Charjui and its extreme tortuousness makes the employment of steamers of a class that would be really serviceable against so strong a current quite unsuitable. Again, the constant shifting of the proper channel in the lower reaches, the liability of the river to sudden rises between April and August and the irregular falls between August and October--sometimes making within a few hours a difference of 8 feet in the level of the stream--create a further obstacle against the successful organisation of a purely commercial service. The difficulty is much greater down-stream where obstructions to navigation, owing to the diminution of the current as the surface of the stream increases, are more frequent.