[742] During Mr. Skrine’s stay at Samarkand a large gang started for this remote destination. Most of them were native bandits, who regarded their expatriation with true Oriental phlegm. But among the group who squatted on the station platform in their sheep-skin cloaks, from which their heavy manacles protruded, were several who inspired more sympathy: a young European girl, who clung piteously to her only treasure--a China teapot; a middle-aged man, evidently belonging to a higher social stratum than the rest, was deeply moved by the prospect of exile. The cause was but too apparent, for a little son clung to him, a sharer in his grief; while among the silent crowd, which was kept at a distance by a ring of soldiers with fixed bayonets, was his unhappy wife, come with her three young daughters to bid him a long farewell. [743] Khanikoff enumerates 13 as grown in his time (_Bokhara_, p. 156). [744] The local term is Chāy Kâbūd, or blue tea, a more faithful rendering of the colour. Like that drunk in Bokhārā, it is imported from China by steamer and rail; and absorbed from porcelain bowls, whence the spent leaves are deftly thrown on the floor by a practised jerk. [745] See the description of ancient Samarkand by the Emperor Bāber in Schuyler’s _Turkestan_, p. 239. [746] Colonel Kulchanoff now holds these functions. He is a Tartar from Orenburg, and is a perfect mine of information on the history and usages of the province. Though a Mohammedan, he lives in European style, and associates freely with his colleagues. Madame Kulchanoff presides at table, and converses with a charming grace with strangers who know Russian. [747] Lord Cornwallis encountered similar difficulties in fixing the demand on which the Permanent Settlement in Bengal was based. An eminent Hindu reformer, who at that period (1793) was head native officer in the district of Rangpur, is said to have received a bribe of a lakh of rupees (£10,000) for omitting a cipher in the reported gross revenue of a single estate. [748] By far the best work done by the Civil Service of India is that which is known as Settlement, _i.e._ the land valuation on a vast scale. The Russians would gain enormously could they obtain the service of a few of the younger men who have taken up this branch of executive duty. [749] The dimensions of some of the ancient works in Samarkand are stupendous. In one case the wells attain a maximum depth of 420 feet, and are connected by a tunnel in which a man can walk upright. [750] See a very interesting note at pp. 258–9, vol. ii. of Schuyler’s _Turkestan_. [751] Lord Curzon’s great work on Central Asia is considered by the Russians themselves as a text-book, though they vigorously combat his views on their policy. [752] See Appendix, p. 425. INDEX Abbās the Great, Shāh, 267.