Sultan Murad Mirza, an enlightened prince, and the governor of Khorassan, once expressed to me his surprise that England, which spends so many thousands in checking the slave trade in African waters, can look on unconcernedly while the same trade in the middle of Asia lays waste such a country, whose ancient civilisation was of profit to Europe itself. In like manner I, too, cannot conceal my astonishment at the apathy which Europe, and especially that State whose flag is in the East ever the harbinger of the dawn of a newer, a happier era, has displayed on this question. Sentimental newspaper writers, in their political rhapsodies, may yet for a long time take under their protection the feelings of independence of many a savage Asiatic tribe, to whom freedom means nothing more than anarchy, plunder, and murder. But the dreams of Rousseau have had their day, and we can with the fullest confidence say, that whenever Europe shows herself in the East, whether in the peaceful garb of the missionary, or in the terrible panoply of her warlike power, she brings only blessings in her train, and scatters the seeds of a new order of things. The more light is poured from the West upon the East, the sooner will the evil customs of the old world be eradicated, and our brother men be made happier. CHAPTER XIV. PRODUCTIVE POWER OF THE THREE OASIS COUNTRIES OF TURKESTAN. In arguing about the Russian conquest of Central Asia, we are wont to say that the Court of St. Petersburg, in those far-reaching schemes which she pursues towards the Hindu-Khush with so much toil, at so heavy a cost, seeks some richer recompense than is to be found on the shores of the Yaxartes and the Oxus. Well; it is true that Russia's policy does not confine itself to the possession of the plains of Bokhara, Khokand, and Khiva. But in the meantime let us not undervalue the immediate gain of these conquests. It is right that we should learn the comparative worth of the three Khanats, the nature and extent of their produce, both as it is, and as with proper management it might become.