The Koran and its commentaries are considered fundamentals, and when one reflects that Mohammedanism owes its widespread success no less to the proselytising spirit of its merchants and soldiers than of its religious teachers, one is forced to admire the wisdom which requires that such thorough teaching be given to the educated classes. We were told that the students have to observe strictly certain rules throughout the whole course of their university career; married men are allowed to spend two nights a week in their own homes, but the remaining five must be spent in the madressah. The length of the course is a heavy strain on the resources of a family, but many of these people, living in mean surroundings and with no outward pomp, are possessors of considerable wealth. In Tashkent the Government is offering free education for boys in the Russian schools, in order to attract the Sarts to send their sons to them, and the lessons are given both in Russian and in Sart, half and half. This is done for political purposes, and with a view to getting more into touch with the native population: at present there is a great gulf fixed between them. To return to our subject—the architecture of the schools. On the right and left of the central façade there are side wings, originally covered with tiles, but now somewhat injured by time, and at their outer end rise lofty cylindrical towers of great height and entirely covered with tiles; they are now quite out of the perpendicular, and it is impossible to do anything to preserve them from the effects of the violent earthquakes which are continually destroying the priceless monuments of Samarkand. The madressah of Shir Dar (“the lion bearing”), built in 1601, faces that of Uleg Beg, and the only difference of importance between the two is that the former has two domes rising from the side wings of the façade, namely, between the porch and the towers. It is the largest of the three madressahs, and contains rooms for one hundred and twenty students. Its name is due to the heraldic figures of lions (only they are more like tigers) on the façade. Most of the designs on all the architecture at Samarkand are arabesques, inscriptions, or geometrical figures, but there are occasionally animals introduced, such as lions, griffons, and dragons. As regards colour, in the later architecture, black, green, and gold are added to the blues and yellow characterising the earlier tiles, but there is comparatively so little other colouring than blue, that it passes unnoticed without close inspection.