ON THE WAY HOME.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 978, 19 November 1910, Page 6

ON THE WAY HOME.

-4 IN THE CAUCASUS. WHAT EX-LIETJTENANT KNOX SAW. According to a recent cablegram, it is claimed that tho projected railway across Persia from tho Caucasus to Baluchistan will shorten the journey from London to Bombay to seven days, and reduca tho cost of travelling by 2C per cent. It seems to follow that, if the hopes ,of the promoters are realised, New Zealanders going Home will have tho choice of a new route through regions which, though of great interest, aro comparatively seldom visited. ExLieutenant Knox, R.N., who is remom bexed in New Zealand for his excellent lectures on behalf of tho Navy League, made a tour in 0110 of these regions—the Caucasus—only three or four months, ago. There is good reading in the narrative which he has since contributed to an English paper. The Best Passport: "I am an English- ( man." "Tho Russian trains," he says, "are very comfortablo and roomy, the gauge being the largest in Europe, but the pacc is slow. The carriages aro covered with brown hollaud, and at night the compartment makes up four sleeping berths. The best passport you can have in Russia is that you are an Englishman, and it would do some' of our friends at home, who are ashamed of their own country, good to visit Russia." But ease and comfort are not by any means tho only impressions of tho trip. Tho trains on tho TransCaucasian Railway, from Batum to Baku, carry an armed guard, "and at every station on the 515 miles of the line aro soldiers all fully armed. The line between Batum and Tiflis rises t{ a height of over 2000 feet, and tht water ways aro crossed by many fine viaducts, and .at the summit is a tunnel two miles long. Tiflis, 'at the southern end of tho great Georgia! Road, over which all the tribes of the earth havo. passed, is a marvellous mixture of East and' West. The population is about 250,000, tho town being divided in two by tie Kura, a rivei which (lows through it. It has beer the sceno of much disorder in tho past which it is not difficult to -understand when ono sees the mixture of races it contains, -most of whom aro readj to fly at each others' throats. Here may be seen Tartars, Armenians, Persians, Jews, Cossacks, Circassians Georgians, Turks, Russians, and Germans. Russia maintains a large garrison of 15,000 troops of all arms here There is a large arsenal, ami troops are quartered at both ends of . tho town : which isMindcr military government. Ii is advisable in Tiflis to carry your passport on your person, as at any momenl you may bo stopped in tho street anc have it demanded of you. This actually _ happened to me; I shouted tie magic word 'Englishman,' and no more was said. Tiflis is intensely hot, bui fortunately it is a dry heat. Armed to the Teeth. "I had hoped to find someone te share a carriage with me to drivo ovei the Caucasus, partly to elivido 'the expense, . but chiefly because now thai the Government no longer guards the road it is not safo to travel alone; but, having failed in this, I elecideel tc travel to Vlailikavkas (Key of the Caucasus) in a public motor at a cost oi 20 roubles, baggage extra. It is 12C miles from Tiflis to Vladikavkas, -ant] the journey took 10} hours, with-two hours' stop en route. Seated next tc mo was a Cossack armoi to- tho teeth —sword, dagger, revolver, ..all six chambers of. which I knew to be loaded. "The scanery is-magnificent; 'part of tho time you pass through pasture land, part of the time alongside the bed of a roaring torrent, and at other times you- aro winding up the hill tc the summit of Gor.i, 7,400 feet'above the sea, with tho majestic Kazbek in full view, with its snow-clad summit 16,000 feet above sea level." "A Very Strong Administrator." Lieutenant Knox has some interesting stories .to.'tell of Baku, where £8,000,000 of British money is invested in the oil wells. "During tho disturbances in Baku in 1901 and. the four.following years,' murders and massacres wore numerous, tho European Petroleum Company lost heavily, and tho firing of oil wells Was of frequent occurrence. Fortunately for Baku, it now has a very strong Administrator in tho person of Colonel Martrnoff, who has brought complete .order out ot chaos. When in Tiflis ho was wounded by a bomb. As he lay on the ground ho drew his' revolver with the left hand and shot his assailant dead oil the spot. Two instances of what ho has done- in Baku may bo mentioned. Ono of the Kavkas Jlercurio steamers was about to sail for Ehzeli with 2,000)000 roubles in specie for tho Teheran Bank. The second bell had rung (there being always three bells to announce the leaving of a train or a steamer in Russia), wlion suddenly : a number of Cossacks rodo on ' to tho wharf, covcred the steamer, and announced that anyone who -jumped overboard was a- dead mail. The ship was Searched, and 24 men armed to the teeth were arrested, four of. the ringleaders being at once hanged, whilst, a torpedo , boat proceeded out of the harbour and towed in a tug which was waiting to receive the robbers and their plunder. On another occasion a wealthy young Russian was kidnapped. MartinofF cut off all tho telephones in the town and telephoned to all police centres. Tho police caught four men conveying the young Russian out to Balakhany, whero doubtless ho was to bo held for ransom, and they were at once taken away and hanged. "Cossacks havo a summary method of dealing with troublesome people. A Cossack officer in Trans Caspia had somo trouble with a village. Ho sent tho following telegram to his headquarters : 'Such and such a village proved unfriendly, it has ceased to exist-.' "