MERVER AND ITS PEOPLE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IX, Issue 115, 20 April 1885, Page 2

MERVER AND ITS PEOPLE.

Phrenological Jouenal (New York). Where or what is Merv ? Tho Merv that we read about, although called by the somewhat ambitions title of the 'Queen of the World' is not m reality a city, as the reader might have been led to supoose, bnt rather an aggregation of settlements containing 2000 inhabitants, situated m a province of the same name, with a population of 200,000. The latter is m Central Asia, between the Sea of Aral aud the Caspian, just where the bending of the Caspian Sea to the eastward nnrrows the territory between itself and the Sea of Aral, and immediately south of and adjoining Asiatic Russia. The principal locality is sometimes spoken of as the 'Oasis of QMerv/ Now, what is an oasis ? A green spot m the midst of a desert. From this we gather that the most of the country is a desert. In fact, it is reported to be a sandy plain, on' which no grass is to be seen, except here and there a species of tall, coarse grass, snoh as may be found growing on the pampas of South America. Yet the country seems to be traversed by numerous streams, from which water is conveyed by canals for purposes of irrigation. Trees grow on the margins of the streams, and by means- of irrigation many kinds of crops can be grown, notably tobacco, and many kinds of fruit. Other accounts, again, speak I of much of the country being swampy. Bnt this we discover, results from the overflow of the irrigation trenches m time of heavy or protracted rains, — though that some portion of the country, at least, i» swampy, we know, for one such place is spoken of as the 'Great Tejend Swamp. 1 Though most of the country is a flat, sandy plain, yet mountains are to be seen m the distance, on the outskirts of the territory. In the season of rains, great torrents dash down from these mountains, leaving at other times dry river beds, and the ground strewed with huge boulders. The raised spots m the beds of these temporary rivers, now dry river beds, as well as their banks, soon become ' overgrown with thorns, reeds, tamarask-bushes, or pampas grass, making the jungle so dense that one can scarcely force his way through. Animal life is abundant m such spots as that above described. Jackals and foxes start up before the traveller ; lynxes too ; wild boars abound, and a leopard may occasionally be seen. There are snakes also, mostly of a venomous kind ; while large whitish-green scorpions abound, stowing themselves away m fhe valise of the traveller or m garments carelessly laid aside for a time, while swarms of flies add to his discomfort, with tarantulas and mosquitoes. The rivers are tilled with fish, and certain kinds of birds hover m the air. Coveys of partridges start up almost under one's feet. The redlegged partridge is the most common but there is also abundance of the royal partridge, a bird equal m size to a small turkey ; m addition to these there is also a small ashen-grey species, with yellow legs. In many parts of the country no other bird ■than those mentioned are to be seen, with the exception of very large black eagles, which soar so high that no adequate description of them can be given further than to say they are black and of great size.