It is of course, a double town, one town
Russian, the other Turkoman. The latter has no ancient monuments, and
no curiosities, and my readers must pardon my not having interrupted my
sleep to give them a glance at it.
Following the valley of Schakhimardan, the train has reached a sort of
steppe and been able to resume its normal speed.
At three o'clock in the morning we halt for forty-five minutes at Och
station.
There I failed in my duty as a reporter, and I saw nothing. My excuse
is that there was nothing to see.
Beyond this station the road reaches the frontier which divides Russian
Turkestan from the Pamir plateau and the vast territory of the
Kara-Khirghizes.
This part of Central Asia is continually being troubled by Plutonian
disturbances beneath its surface. Northern Turkestan has frequently
suffered from earthquake--the terrible experience of 1887 will not have
been forgotten--and at Tachkend, as at Samarkand, I saw the traces of
these commotions. In fact, minor oscillations are continually being
observed, and this volcanic action takes place all along the fault,
where lay the stores of petroleum and naphtha, from the Caspian Sea to
the Pamir plateau.
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