those which are less likely to elicit the truth than to distort their views of it.

straint, I could arouse this land, which I love as my own country, from the sleep of ages, and mould it to a new existence."

It appears that Prince Puckler's work was written four years ago, when the pasha seventeen children I should be the only one "How strange," he exclaimed, "that of stood on a higher pinnacle of power and glory who survived. Nine of my brothers died in than he does at present, though one by no their infancy, and this induced my parents to means so safe, or so likely to be permanent-bring me up like a gentleman. Hence I soon ly secured to his descendants. On the other became effeminate and indolent; my young hand, his position at that time was one companions began to despise me, and used much more calculated to draw out and il-frequently to cry out, 'What will become of lustrate the peculiar features of his person- nothing! Mehemet Ali, who has nothing and is fit for al character, and therefore to afford a better means for that historical portraiture of it which we hold to be far more worthy of present record, because more likely to escape such record from the fugitive nature of the materials, than any general or particular estimate of those results which have sprung from it.

It follows from what we have just said, that we hold in especial favor those chapters of the present work which relate personally to Mehemet Ali, and chiefly that which records the incidents and conversations occurring in a journey made together by the pasha and the prince into Upper Egypt, and during which they held together the most perfectly confidential conversations, all of which are recorded with the minuteness, and, to all appearance, the fidelity of an English Parliamentary reporter. There is no part of these conversations that might not be cited as a favorable specimen of the prince's skill and tact in this popular and interesting class of composition; and the sterling historical value of the record as a whole can scarcely be overrated-always supposing, as we do, that faith may be placed in the fidelity of the report. Here is a specimen of the more personal portion

of it.

"This at length made a deep impression upon me, and at the age of fifteen I resolved to vanquish myself. I often fasted for days together, or compelled myself to refrain from sleep for a similar period, and never rested till I had outstripped all my companions in bodily exercises. I well recollect our laying a wager one very stormy day, to row over to a small I was the only one who reached it; but alisland, which still remains in my possession. though the skin came off my hands, I would not suffer the most intense pain to divert me from my purpose. In this manner I continued to invigorate both mind and body, till, as I have already told you, I afterwards found ample opportunity in a graver sphere of action, to prove my courage to myself and others during the petty warfare in our villages.

The

"After the death of my father, and when I had attained my nineteenth year, a still more favorable occasion presented itself. Greek pirates began to commit various depredations, and my uncle, at the instigation of several of the wealthy Turkish landholders who were bent on his ruin, was appointed to the command of a small man-of-war belonging to the sultan, with orders to go in search of the pirates and destroy their trade. My uncle was forced to go; but he first waited on the pasha, and represented to him that his property and business must inevitably fall to ruin, should he be thus suddenly called upon to abandon them for an uncertain length of time, there being no one in his family to whom he During supper he related many interesting could entrust their charge. At the same time details of the period when he, for the first he pleaded his own incapacity, and took the time, definitely attained unlimited power over opportunity of proposing me, as an enterprising Egypt, of which I have already given a short young man, and accustomed to war. He sucsketch in another place. On my expressing ceeded in persuading the pasha; nothing could my regret that he had not dictated these inter- be more to my wishes; and I had the good esting memoirs to some European, in order luck to give chase to the robbers, and after a that they might be preserved to history, he ut- short pursuit, to board their vessel and take the tered these memorable words :-"Why should survivors prisoners. For this action I received I do so? I do not love this period of my life; the commission of a captain in the Turkish and what could the world profit by the recital navy, in my twentieth year. My rapid proof this interminable tissue of combat and mis-motion, however, excited the envy of many, and ery, cunning and bloodshed, to which circum-even of my uncle, who soon after, possibly not stances imperatively compelled me? Who could derive pleasure from such a disgusting detail? It is enough if posterity knows that all that Mehemet Ali has attained, he owes neither to birth nor interest-to no one but himself. My history, however, shall not commence till the period when, freed from all re

with the best intentions. sent me to Egypt. How little did I then anticipate the destinies which awaited me in this country!-but God's ways are wonderful."

"You may esteem yourself highly favored," said Artim Bey to me after I had taken leave, "to learn particulars like these from the lips

of this great man himself; I assure you that even we have not heard them before. Indeed, I have never seen Mehemet Ali so communicative with any one."

The following, relating to the son and successor of Mehemet Ali, is of scarcely less interest than the foregoing.

particular than his father, and is what we should call a good landlord. I have often heard him reproached, both in Europe and in Egypt, with being addicted to drinking. This life, but he is entirely reformed in this respect; was certainly true at an earlier period of his and I know from undoubted authority that, although he is fond of good wine, he is not more so than every wealthy Englishman, and that champagne is his favorite nectar; and in this respect his taste resembles that of the fair sex. He is at present restricted to the waters of the Nile, which I much lamented, as he is said to give capital European dinners, and to keep one of the most distinguished French artistes in his kitchen. I am not without the merit of rendering some service to his cellar, by furnishing, at his request, his factotum, M. Bonfort, with the addresses of the

As soon as he was sufficiently recovered to pass the day upon the sofa of one of his summer-houses, he gave me permission to pay him a friendly visit, free from any ceremony. The hero of Konieh scarcely awakens less curiosity than even his illustrious father. Ibrahim also was unlike the idea I had formed of him from the representations of others. Yet all are agreed that his intercourse with Europeans has had considerable influence over him, and softened his former somewhat savage charac-most famous house for procuring hock, Hunga

ter.

He still bore traces of his recent tedious illness, yet every thing bespoke the simple, hardy soldier, who knows but few wants. He has a fine eye, full of character, and a pleasing cheerful manner: but though free from coarseness, he does not possess the polish and kingly bearing of his father, nor yet his marked and winning courtesy. It is said that he does not like Europeans, but that he most admires the English, for their distinguished solid qualities, which are more congenial to his own practical taste than mere outside appearances. In his public conduct he appeared to me to act as most befits the warrior of renown, observing a due sense of importance without vanity, and a manly modesty as regards his own achieve

ments.

When I told him, that of the most recent military events, none had excited a more general topic of conversation in Europe than his last campaign in Syria against the locusts, he

related the circumstances with much humorhow he had opened the attack in person by fill ing his tarbush with these formidable animals, and throwing the contents into the sea. The whole army, provided with sacks, followed his example, and by bivouacking for three days in the neighborhood under aggression, they completely attained their object in destroying them. In fact, the preservation of an entire province, which would have been desolated for years, is solely owing to this novel atack of Ibrahim. The accumulation of the locusts thus destroyed amounted to several ships' cargoes.

which was not altogether without some little rian wines, champagne, and Bordeaux-an act egotism on my part, as I hope to enjoy the benefit of it when I visit Syria next year.

organization of the Prussian Landwehr, or miIbrahim was very anxious to understand the litia, which is so erroneously represented by foreigners as a mere national guard; while in truth, the Landwehr constitutes our actual army, for which the lines, if I may so speak, only serve as the preparatory school; for to it are attached all the permanent teachers, as well as the ever-varying recruits, till the whole nation, after passing through this wholesome discipline, attains to the finished soldier.

ever imperfectly conveyed, and seemed to apHe at once caught at my explanation, howthat it was not adapted to oriental modes of prove the system; but he clearly discerned government, and that its adoption, even in risk. He expressed his surprise that notwithmany European states, would be attended with standing this arrangement, the expense of our army amounted to nearly one half of the revenues of the state; but when I explained that take the field in a few weeks, with 300,000 to we were thus enabled, in the event of a war, to 400,000 men, whereas a standing army of this could be raised by the whole country, he did strength would cost infinitely more than not consider the result purchased at too dear a price; for it seems that Ibrahim Pasha is not one of those who look for an unbroken peace.

His description of the siege of Acre was animated and full of interest, and I was much struck with some of his remarks. Though

Ibrahim understands how to employ his soldiers in peace as well as in war; and not-six or seven of his Turkish generals and suwithstanding considerable opposition in the perior officers were present, he was exclusive first instance, on the part of the Turkish offi- in his commendation of the Arab soldiers, and cers, he has ordered them to be employed up- said, "It is impossible for any troops in the on roads, canals, and other public construc- world to display a spirit of more enduring tions. I have already alluded to Ibrahim's bravery than mine, and whenever an instance passion for agriculture and every species of cul- of indecision or cowardice occurred in the artivation, which he pursues with the utmost my, it was invariably on the part of the Turkavidity upon all his own estates. He is also ish officers; I know of no such example among very liberal in helping others to carry on these the Arabs." These words are remarkable as plans, although he is, on the whole, far more indicating what I had previously heard assert

ed, that Ibrahim inclines decidedly to the policy which regards the dominion and dynasty of Mehemet Ali as Arabian, a revival of the ancient caliphate; from which alone it expects permanence and greatness, and not in any way as a branch of the Turkish sovereignty.

This work may be regarded as the most complete hand-book that has yet been presented to the world by any European traveller, of all that demands notice and examination in the country to which it relates. It is unusually well translated from the German by Mr. H. Evans Lloyd.

BOKHARA AND SAMARCAND.

From the Asiatic Journal.

painful character have attached a peculiar interest to the city of Bokhara.

The territories of the Khanat of Bokhara, like those of the neighboring states, have no fixed boundaries, sanctioned by time or treaties; they expand or contract according to the strength or weakness of the ruler. When Amir Seyid (or Hyder, as he is called by Burnes) ascended the throne of Bokhara, in 1802, nearly the whole of Mawurulnahr (Transoxiana), including Balkh and Hissar on the south, and Uratube and Khojend on the north, was subject to his rule. In his reign, however, Balkh, Ura-tube, and Khojend revolted; Bokhara soon lost its political importance, and the disorders that followed the death of Amír Seyid, in 1825, still further circumscribed the limits of the Khanat. The present ruler, Nasr-Ullah, in the course of seventeen years, gradually recovered the former possessions of the state, and, by the recent

Bokhara, its Amir and its People.-
Translated from the Russian of Khani-conquest of Khokand, became the undis-

puted master of the whole of Mawurulnahr. Burnes has given a very brief sketch of this ruler, whom he saw at Bokhara; we shall enlarge it from the very copious details furnished by M. Khanikoff.

koff, by the BARON CLEMENT A. De BODE. London, 1845. Madden. ALTHOUGH the cities of Samarcand and Bokhara must have lamentably fallen from their high estates since the time when Ha- Nasr-Ullah Bahadur Khan, Malik-el-Mufiz considered them the highest bribe he menin (his appropriate title), is the second could offer to a Toorki fair, and the great son of Amír-Seyid, or the Pure, so called Timur resented even such an imaginary apparently from his devotion to the faith. alienation, their present state and that of Before the death of his father, he meditated the territories subject to the Amir of Bok- the project of wresting the throne from his hara are on many accounts objects of curi- elder brother, Husein, and engaged in his osity. Samarcand, the Marcanda of Alex-views the Kush-beghí, or vizir, an Uzbek, ander the Great's time, (a fact which attests and the Topshí-bashí, named Ayaz, an its high antiquity,) called by the emperor emancipated slave of the Amír. On the Baber" one of the most delightful cities in death of Seyid, the partisans of Husein the world," and which was described by succeeded in proclaiming him king; wherePersian poets as a terrestrial paradise, has upon Nasr-Ullah at once declared open war. now become a dependency of Bokhara, But the reign of Husein speedily closed; and sunk into a provincial town, gardens he died in two or three months, not without and fields occupying the place of its streets suspicion that he had been poisoned by the and mosques. Bokhara, being the seat of Kush-beghí. Nasr-Ullah now set all his government of a khanat, retains a portion engines in operation to secure the throne, of its ancient splendor. It is still large which had been seized by his younger (eight miles in circumference), and con- brother, Omar-Khan. He propitiated the tains many public buildings, particularly clergy, sent embassies to the neighboring colleges. "If we look at the quantity of states, and, marching suddenly upon Saschools for education, and the number of marcand, gained, by force or treachery, educated persons, at Bokhara," says M. possession of that important city, where he Khanikoff, who visited the place in 1842, was seated upou the "blue stone," and we cannot but admit that it ranks as the proclaimed Amír. A civil war now comfirst place among the kingdoms of Central menced; but the activity and previous arAsia for learning." Political and com- rangements of Nasr-Ullah gave him great mercial considerations are gradually draw- advantages over his brother, who, surrounding this country into closer proximity to the ed by traitors, at length was constrained to states of Transoxiana, and incidents of a shut himself up in Bokhara. Nasr-Ullah

laid siege to the city in February, 1826, and in forty-four days, the besiegers having cut off all supplies of food and water, it was surrendered by treachery. Omar-Khan, according to Burnes, was placed in confinement, but escaped, and died of cholera at Kokand.

The Amír now prepared for foreign conquests. In 1839, he had commenced hostilities with the Khan of Khokand, whom, after two smart campaigns, he re

1841, however, the Khan threw off his dependence, upon which Nasr-Ullah marched from Bokhara, in April, 1842, captured Khokand, put Muhamed Ali, its ruler, to death, with most of his family, and in the end, as we have said, became sovereign of Mawurulnahr.

with a pistol. The wound, however, was not mortal, and the would-be assassin was imprisoned, preparatory to his execution, when he again escaped, and fled to Bokhara, where he soon gained such an ascendency over Nasr-Ullah, that, according to M. Khanikoff, "he is one of the most influThe first acts of Nasr-Ullah evincedential men in the Khanat." This man adgreat art. In order to deceive the Kush-vised the Amír to introduce regular troops beghí, whose influence he dreaded, he sur-(sarbases) into the country, by which rendered the entire administration to him, ineans he established his authority at home, and pretended to turn his own thoughts on a firm basis. wholly to pleasure. Secretly, however, he made himself popular in the eyes of his subjects by acts emanating from himself. His next policy was to crush the power of the sipahis, which had become predominant duced to the condition of a vassal. In in the weak reign of his father. This measure was difficult, because of the strong connection between the leaders of the sipahis and the Kush-beghí. At length, the Amír struck his grand blow at the minister, who was deposed and cast into prison. The Topshí-bashi was then exalted; he was made governor of Samarcand; riches were heaped upon him; he was invited to Bokhara, and treated with extraordinary distinction. When the plans of the Amír were complete, he cast off the mask, and this officer was likewise thrown into prison. Both he and the Kush-beghí were executed in 1840. Nasr-Ullah now let loose his fiery indignation upon the sipahis, as well as the relations of the late minister, numbers of whom were executed or banished. His agent in the process of exterminating the feodality of Bokhara was a Toorkoman, named Rahim-Birdi-Mazum, the Reis, who was allowed at his pleasure to butcher the sipahis, and beat the common people, on pretence of inducing them to say their prayers! The power of the Amir, however, was not established till he had introduced a regular army into Bokhara, which was brought about by the agency of another remarkable individual.

Of the tribes which inhabit the Khanat, the Tajiks are considered the most ancient. They are said to have been the first immigrants from the west, who settled on the banks of the Zer-Affshan, when the site of Bokhara was a reedy marsh, the haunt of wild animals. The Tajiks were subjugated by the Arabs, in the first century of the Hejira; the weak rule of the Samanides was superseded in the tenth century by that of the Uzbeks, who, in their turn, were conquered by the Moghul hordes in the twelfth century, though the Uzbeks subsequently recovered their superiority, and are still the predominant race in Bokhara. The oldest branch of the Uzbeks is that of Mangit, to which the Kush-beghí belonged, and the family of the reigning dynasty. Of the Tajiks, there is but a remnant left; they form the chief population of the city of Bokhara. The Uzbeks are of three classes,-settled, agricultural, and nomadic. Our author can say but little in favor of the morality of either Tajiks or Uzbeks, except that the former are more "straight-forward," and hence commit with less com

Abdul Samet, called Naib-Samet, a native of Tabriz, having been compelled to fly from his own country for a murder, entered into the service of a Persian refugee in British India, whom he robbed and kill-punction rapine, plunder, and murder. ed. He was taken, and sentenced by one of our courts to be hanged; but he found means to escape, and, proceeding to Cabul insinuated himself into the favor of Dost Mahomed Khan. His turbulent character soon appeared; he quarrelled with the wellknown Mahomed Ukhbar Khan, whose career he nearly shortened by shooting him

"Out of thirty-five culprits, who were executed by order of the Amrí, during our eight months' stay at Bokhara," says M. Khanikoff, "the majority were Uzbeks guilty of one of those crimes." Very few are taught to read or write, though they are zealous fanatics. The Arabs are somewhat more numerous than the Tajiks; be

sides these, there are Persians (princi- more considerable, as the ruins of the old pally slaves), Jews, who have been long es- wall are at some distance on the west, and tablished at the Khanat, though subjected on the north, the whole space between the to great oppression and indignity; a race town and the banks of Zer-Affshan is supposed by our author to be of Gipsey ori- strewed with ruins. The citadel is very gin; Kirghiz and Karakalpaks. The pop- considerable; in it is the "blue stone" on ulation is thus formed of heterogeneous ele- which every new khan sits upon his inauments, which can never amalgamate, some guration. The tomb of Timur still remains. being directly hostile to the existing govern- It is a high octagonal edifice, surmounted ment and ruling race. by an elevated dome; the interior consists The city of Bokhara has 360 streets and of two apartments, in the first of which the lanes, few of which are paved. The palace of sepulchral monument is placed. The floor is the Amír is built on a mound, and within its paved with white marble slabs; the walls are area are the houses of the principal minis- ornamented with inscriptions from the ters, mosques, and prisons. Amongst the Koran, and some of the gilding is still in latter is the dreadful Kana-khaneh, so called good preservation. In the centre of the from the swarms of ticks purposely nour- second apartment stands, on a marble peished there to torture the wretched prison- destal, surrounded by a grating, the monuers. This is the place called improperly mental stone of Timur, of dark green, wellthe "Pit of Scorpions," into which our un-polished, having the form of a four-cornerhappy countrymen were plunged. The ed truncated pyramid, three feet high, and mosques are 360 in number. The medres- five or six feet long, set upon its narrow sehs, or colleges, of which there are 103, end. There are three medressehs, or colare not remarkable for their architecture; leges in Samarcand, erected by Timur ; they contain from 9,000 to 10,000 students. one of them formed the observatory of UlugThere are 33 caravanseries, 16 principal baths, and 45 bazars, or rather collections of shops. The private dwellings are all built on the same plan, consisting of one or more courts, surrounded by mud buildings, generally one story high, and flat-roofed. The inner walls are sometimes plastered with stucco; the windows, which are unglazed, open generally into the inner court. The rooms of the most opulent are not decorated, except that the walls are covered with fretwork in alabaster. The ceiling generally consists of bears laid across, with an interval between, and joined by small longitudinal planks fixed to each other, and painted in gaudy colors, the beams being covered with gold paper, or clay painted with indigo. The floors are either paved, or coated with clay. The rooms of the less opulent are filthy, damp and unwholesome. The population of the city M. Khanikoff estimates at between 60,000 and 70,000.

The particulars he gives of the city of Samarcand, though very slight, are, perhaps, more interesting, since Burnes was unable to visit the place, which he describes only from report. It is a walled town, with six gates, forming a regular quadrangle, with citadel, towers, and embrasures, in good repair. The dimensions of the modern city are larger than those of Bokhara (though much of the inclosed space consists of gardens); but the ground covered by the city in former times was still

beghi. They were fine buildings, and had formerly high minars at the four corners; but are now nearly ruined. The porcelain walls are wrought in mosaic, and attract the eye by their variegated colors. The interior of the mosques which belong to the medressehs still retain vestiges of their former magnificence; the lapis lazuli and gilding are in some places bright, though the latter is chiefly gilt paper. A medresseh, with mosques, built by the wife of Timur, a daughter of an emperor of China, and a tomb of the Khanum still remain. The population of Samarcand, stated by Burnes to be 9,000, is estimated by M. Khanikoff at 25,000 or 30,000; but he gives no account of the dwellings, the general aspect of the city, or the habits and manners of the inhabitants.

Notwithstanding the great number of institutions for education in Bokhara, and of the works which are studied there (amounting to 137), real knowledge seems to be backward. Every medresseh has a fixed number of students, under the tuition of one or two professors, who give lectures. Each student purchases the right to reside at the medresseh from the person whose place he takes, and where he may live all his life, unless he marries, as women are excluded. The scholars prepare themselves for the lectures in their own apartments, and sometimes discuss the subject together in the porch, before they proceed to the lecture.