In the caravan in which I myself travelled from Bokhara to Herat, there were two such slave brokers, who came from Khaf and Kain. Both of them bore the title of Khodja, or descendant of the prophet, of which they were not a little proud. The tenderness and care with which they treated the liberated slaves in their charge was almost unexampled. Yet these very men, as the leader of the caravan assured me, had only a few months before led a train of miserable captives into slavery. In the Khanats of Khiva and Bokhara the slave dealers, called there Dogmafurush, form a regularly organised guild. It is remarkable that as regards their nationality they are for the most part Sarts, Tadjiks, and emancipated Persians, and not so often Œzbegs or of any other tribe belonging to the Turko-Tartaric race. The sale takes place either in the dealers' magazines, or in some market-place outside the town, to which place the goods are removed some days previous. The most important depôts are to be found in the Khanat of Khiva, first of all at the capital, then in Hezaresp, in Gazavat, in Görlen, and in Kohne. Besides these, every place of any pretensions has a retail dealer, who is in connection with the large wholesale dealers, or sells goods on commission. In Bokhara is to be mentioned first of all Karakul, and next the capital; besides these, Karshi and Tchihardjuy. It is to be observed that, eastward from Samarcand, this abominable traffic declines more and more, so that in the Khanat of Khokand there are no large slave dealers, and the majority of the slaves to be found there are bought in the territory of Bokhara. In the steppes lying to the north of the Khanats, thanks to the spread of Russian sway, slaves are only found as articles of luxury in the houses of the rich begs.