THE FLIGHT OF THE EX-KHAN OF KHOKAND.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 316, 2 March 1878, Page 21

THE FLIGHT OF THE EX-KHAN OF KHOKAND.

_ The Globe has received the following additional particulars from St. Petersburg respecting the flight of Khodoyar Khan, ex-ruler of Khokand :—"All circumstances that have come to light at Orenburg show that the Khan had long meditated his escape, aud that he had made careful preparations for the journey. Up to the last moment he had been on the very best terms with the Russian authorities. He had his own house ; he moved freely about the town ; he mixed in the highest Government circles, and was treated with all the respect due to a person of his station. Attempts'had been made to convert him to Christianity, and the Khan had responded warmly to the efforts of the leaders of society of Orenburg to induce him to change his religion. The position of respect and affluence which he occupied at Orenburg was, however, attended with one disadvantage. He was a prisoner. No effort was made to prevent his leaving the town, but the political police were supposed to be always engaged in watching him, and this system of espionage appears to have been too much for the patience of the prince. To lull the suspicions of the gendarmerie he some time ago took up the business of horse-dealer, investing in it a considerable portion of the 150,000' roubles he brought with him when he sought an asylum on Russian territory from his unruly subjects in Khokand. A 'few months he had at least 400 horses, and it was the business in connection with these that brought him into contact with a certain Kirghiz chief named Bijan. To this individual he applied for the fleetest horses that could be found ; one that would baffle all pursuit, and carry its rider for weeks without fatigue. After a long search among the Turkomans visiting the fair at Orenburg, Bijan obtained for the Khan a splencud animal for 500 roubles, an enormous ! price for the nomads. Khodoyar thereupon j drew 30,000 roubles out of the bank in which he kept his money, and started off with his

wife to Tashkeub. A few days after, mounted on his new purchase, the Khan went out for a hunt, and never returned. As occasionally during the summer season he was accustomed to be out of town for a day and a night together, no notice was taken of his absence for nearly a week. Rumors of his evasion having come to the ears of the governor, the political police were sent to search the house, which they found full of costly furniture, but utterly barren of inmates or of any other clue that would show which track the fugitive had resolved to take in order to return to his former dominions. Acting under instructions from St. Petersburg, parties of Cossacks were at once sent off across the desert, and commands were telegraphed to the governors of the forts in Turkestan to use their utmost endeavours to secure the fugitive. The impression prevalent at Orenburg is that the Khan has taken the route via the River Emba, with a view to Khokand through the Turcoman territory."