twisted columns of vivid blue are almost perfect, terminating below in an elegant design some feet above the ground. Hard by, but outside the precincts of the palace, another lofty tower stands erect, entirely covered with blue arabesques. Surely such a wealth of beauty can be found nowhere else in the world. In the centre of the main courtyard, under the shade of the trees, is a great marble lectern, richly carved, on which the gigantic Koran of Othman was placed, which, it was alleged, the Chinese princess used to read from a neighbouring window. It is certainly difficult to see how it could be read otherwise than from some elevation, except by a giant. The natives believe in its miraculous efficacy in cases of spinal diseases, if the patient can bend sufficiently to creep underneath it. There is still one octagonal tower covered with tiles which is fairly complete, and also a portion of one of the immense round towers similar to those in the Rigistan. In the interesting volume of Messrs. Durrieux and Fauvelle, called _Samarkande la bien gardée_, there is a true and suggestive comparison of these buildings, the Rigistan still comparatively complete and perfect, but degraded from its former greatness by its present inhabitants, the Bibi Khanum an absolute ruin, but glorious with the imperishable beauty of the past. The Chinese lady founded the largest of any of the schools of Samarkand. As I was trying somewhat hurriedly to sketch a few architectural details, the whole being far too vast to attempt, except from a considerable distance, a lamentable whining arose almost at my feet, and a litter of puppies crawled out from some brushwood. Our guide began looking about, and soon discovered an empty old tin, which he got a lad to fill with water. He next hailed a man in the bazaar and bought bread; when he had crumbled it up the puppies fell upon it like starvelings. The buying of the bread brought to light the fact that a different coinage is current here from that used in the Russian city, and explained why our tips were looked on with evident suspicion.