Across Coveted Lands | Page 8

residue and waste
of naphtha are used as fuel, being very much cheaper than coal or
wood.
The greater number of wells are found a few miles out of the town on
the Balakhani Peninsula, and the naphtha is carried into the Baku
refineries by numerous pipe lines. The whole country round is,
however, impregnated with oil, and even the sea in one or two bays
near Baku is coated with inflammable stuff and can be ignited by
throwing a lighted match upon it. At night this has a weird effect.
Apart from the oil, Baku--especially the European settlement--has
nothing to fascinate the traveller. In the native city, Persian in type,
with flat roofs one above the other and the hill top crowned by a castle
and the Mosque of Shah Abbas, constant murders occur. The native
population consists mostly of Armenians and Persians. Cotton, saffron,
opium, silk and salt are exported in comparatively small quantities.
Machinery, grain and dried fruit constitute the chief imports.
The crescent-shaped Baku Bay, protected as it is by a small island in
front of it, affords a safe anchorage for shipping. It has good ship-yards
and is the principal station of the Russian fleet in the Caspian. Since
Baku became part of the Russian Empire in 1806 the harbour has been
very strongly fortified.
The most striking architectural sight in Baku is the round Maiden's
Tower by the water edge, from the top of which the lovely daughter of
the Khan of Baku precipitated herself on to the rocks below because
she could not marry the man she loved.

The most depressing sight in Baku is the vegetation, or rather the
strenuous efforts of the lover of plants to procure verdure at all costs in
the gardens. It is seldom one's lot to see trees and plants look more
pitiable, notwithstanding the unbounded care that is taken of them. The
terrific heat of Baku, the hot winds and sand-storms are deadly enemies
to vegetation. Nothing will grow. One does not see a blade of grass nor
a shrub anywhere except those few that are artificially brought up. The
sand is most trying. It is so fine that the wind forces it through anything,
and one's tables, one's chairs, one's bed are yellow-coated with it. The
tablecloth at the hotel, specklessly white when you begin to dine, gets
gradually yellower at sight, and by the time you are half through your
dinner the waiter has to come with a brush to remove the thick coating
of dust on the table.
These are the drawbacks, but there is an air of prosperity about the
place and people that is distinctly pleasing, even although one may not
share in it. There is quite a fair foreign community of business people,
and their activity is very praiseworthy. The people are very
hospitable--too hospitable. When they do not talk of naphtha, they
drink sweet champagne in unlimited quantities. But what else could
they do? Everything is naphtha here, everything smells of naphtha, the
steamers, the railway engines are run with naphtha. The streets are
greasy with naphtha. Occasionally--frequently of late--the monotony of
the place is broken by fires of gigantic proportions on the premises of
over-insured well-owners. The destruction to property on such
occasions is immense, the fires spreading with incalculable rapidity
over an enormous area, and the difficulty of extinguishing them being
considerable.
When I was in Baku the Amir of Bokhara was being entertained in the
city as guest of the Government. His suite was quartered in the Grand
Hotel. He had taken his usual tour through Russia and no trouble had
been spared to impress the Amir with the greatness of the Russian
Empire. He had been given a very good time, and I was much
impressed with the pomp and cordiality with which he was treated.
Neither the Governor nor any of the other officials showed him the
usual stand-off manner which in India, for instance, would have been

used towards an Asiatic potentate, whether conquered by us or
otherwise. They dealt with him as if he had been a European prince--at
which the Amir seemed much flattered. He had a striking, good-natured
face with black beard and moustache, and dark tired eyes that clearly
testified to Russian hospitality.
I went to see him off on the steamer which he kept waiting several
hours after the advertised time of departure. He dolefully strode on
board over a grand display of oriental rugs, while the military brass
band provided for the occasion played Russian selections. Everybody
official wore decorations, even the captain of the merchant ship, who
proudly bore upon his chest a brilliant star--a Bokhara distinction
received from the Amir on his outward journey for navigating him
safely across the Caspian.
[Illustration: The Amir of Bokhara leaving