service, furnished lodgings, and firing; the commander of a brigade receives 3000 dollars pay, and 300 dollars additional for service.

Fortresses of the first class:-Luxemburg, Mayence, Rastatt (the commandant is named by Prussia for five years, and by Austria for five years), Stettin, Cologne, Danzig, Königsberg, Magdeburg, Posen, Coblence, and Ehrenbreitstein. The fortresses of the second class are-Thorn, Torgau, Minden, Colberg, Stralsund, Erfurt, Glogau, Glatz, Neisse, Wesel, and Saarlouis. The fortresses of the third class are-Wittenberg, Cosel, Küstrin, Grandenz, Pillau, Schweidnitz, Spandau, and Weichselmünde. Generals and lieutenant-generals receive 4000 dollars pay, and service-money in addition; major-generals, 3000 dollars pay, and service-money; commanders of regiments receive from 2500 to 2600 dollars; commanders of battalions from 1800 to 1900 dollars. Of infantry, the cost of the 1st Regiment of Guards is 167,362 thalers 27 silvergroschen; of 2nd Regiment of Guards, 142,694 thalers 15 silvergroschen; of Emperor Alexander, Emperor Franz, and Fusilier Guards regiment, each, 131,318 thalers 15 silvergroschen; of the 3rd and 4th Regiment of Guards, and of the 3rd and 4th Regiment of Grenadier Guards, each 94,444 thalers 6 silvergroschen; of battalion of Rifle Guards, 39,591 thalers 27 silvergroschen; of Rifle Guards, 37,041 thalers 27 silvergroschen; of 1st infantry regiment of the line, 105,582 thalers; of 31 regiments of the line, 3,273,042 thalers; of 1 Fusilier regiment, 105,582 thalers; of 7 Fusilier regiments, 739,094 thalers; of infantry regiment of the line, 95,424 thalers 24 silvergroschen; of 31 regiments of infantry, 2,958,168 thalers 24 silvergroschen; 1st battalion of Chasseurs, 35,931 thalers 27 silvergroschen; of 9 other battalions of Chasseurs, 251,523 thalers 9 silvergroschen. Cavalry :-The cost of the regiment of Garde du Corps is 78,479 thalers 3 silvergroschen; of Cuirassiers of the Guard, 52,474 thalers 18 silvergroschen; of 1 regiment of Dragoon Guards, and regiment of Hussar Guards, each 52,204 thalers 12 silvergroschen; of 2 regiments of Dragoon Guards, 49,192 thalers 12 silvergroschen; of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd regiments of Lancer Guards, each 49,179 thalers 12 silvergroschen; of 8 Cuirassier regiments of the line, each 49,031 thalers 18 silvergroschen; of 4 Dragoon regiments of the line, each 48,774 thalers 12 silvergroschen; of 4 Dragoon regiments of the line of 5 squadrons, and of 4 Hussar regiments of the line of 5 squadrons, each 59,239 thalers 12 silvergroschen; of 12 regiments of Lancers, each 48,761 thalers 12 silvergroschen. Artillery:-The cost of a brigade of Artillery Guards is 188,711 thalers 13 silvergroschen; of the 2nd, 5th, and 6th brigades, each 187,957 thalers 30 silvergroschen; of the 1st, 4th, and 7th brigades, each 218,647 thalers 22 silvergroschen; of the 3rd brigade, 220,559 thalers 7 silvergroschen; of the 8th brigade, 220,204 thalers 22 silvergroschen; of the 9 pioneer battalions, each 24,612 thalers 15 silvergroschen. The pay of the troops for 1861 was 14,193,795 Prussian thalers.

Marine Ministry.-By a Cabinet order of 16th April, 1861, the Marine Ministry formed part of the Ministry of War. His Royal Highness Prince Adalbert of Prussia is at the head of the Marine department. He has the rank of a general of infantry, and receives 7,000 thalers pay. The budget for this department is 2,116,928 thalers.

Ministry of Justice. To this Ministry belongs the highest court of law in the kingdom, the Upper Tribunal (“Öber Tribunal "), which consists of five civil senates and one senate for criminal affairs. There belongs also

to this Ministry the Committee for the Examination of Law Candidates ("Immediat Justiz-Examinations Commission "), which consists of eight members. It had the examination in 1859 of 441 candidates for the third juridical examination, of whom 203 did not pass.

The Prussian kingdom has 89 courts with juries: in the province of Brandenburg, 13; Pomerania, 9; Prussia, 19; Silesia, 14; Posen, 7; Saxony, 8; Westphalia, 10; Rhenish provinces, 9. In 1859 they tried 3853 causes. There were 5192 defendants: of whom 3083 were Evangelicals, 2024 Roman Catholics, 82 Jews, 3 Freethinkers: total, 4471 males, and 721 females.

Ministry for Foreign Affairs.--Chief, Count Bernstorff, who receives, besides his salary and free lodging, 6000 dollars representation money. The under-secretary receives 4500 dollars. There are 2 directors of departments, and 7 reporting counsellors, who receive in all 21,800 thalers. There are 29 posts of ministers and ministers resident, and 19 paid consulates.

Mr. Lumley, her Majesty's Secretary of Embassy, and Lord Napier, gave a report on " The trade of Russia with Central Asia."

Central Asia, likewise known under the denominations of Turkistan and Turan, extends from the frontier of Siberia to the Hindu-Kush, and from Sea of Aral to Chinese Turkistan. It comprises, besides several smaller States, the Khanats of Kokan, Bokhara, and Khiva. It is a country of considerable natural wealth; and, although its resources are far from being adequately developed, it offers a valuable market for hardware and cotton manufactures, which has hitherto been almost entirely monopolized by Russia. Before examining the state of the trade between Russia and the countries of Central Asia, it may not be out of place here to give some account of the three principal khanats engaged in that trade. The Khanat of Kokan, which, from its proximity to the Russian frontier, is perhaps the best known, consists of the eastern portion of Independent Turan or Turkistan. It is separated on the north from Siberia by a barren steppe; on the west it is bounded by Khiva and Bokhara; on the south, by Karateghin, Darras, and Kunduz; and, on the east, by Chinese Turkistan. Kokan, as the link connecting Russia with the Kaysak steppe, with Western

Mongolia, Chinese Turkistan, and Bokhara, would seem to have been destined by nature to play a far greater part in the commerce of the East than it actually does. The wretched manner in which the country is administered, the scanty wants of the inhabitants, and, above all, the bad roads, difficulty of transport, and high duties, are sufficient to account for the imperfect development of the natural resources of the country.

The celebrated Sir-Darya (Jaxartes), which flows for nearly its whole course through the khanat, is said to be navigable from Kokan to the Sea of Aral, though, until of late years, the inhabitants scarcely ever made use of it, even to float timber. At present, there are a considerable number of boats on the Sir. These are generally flat-bottomed, pointed at each end, from 24 to 40 feet in length, with a depth of 1 to 4 feet; they are built

pieces of willow or poplar, fastened together with iron, and will carry from six to twelve horses, or a weight of 40 cwt. to 80 cwt. The passage across the Sir at the ferry nearest the town of Kokan is thus described by a traveller, M. Wiljaminow-Sermow:-"A flat barge, which is used for the purpose, is towed up the river by three or six horses, which are then fastened by their manes to the barge, and driven into the river, across which they swim; and, being carried down by the stream, they generally manage to land on the other side of the river nearly opposite the place from whence they started." A great portion of the river is now in the possession of Russia, whose forts extend along it from the Sea of Aral to the longitude of Lake Tele-kul. Several Russian steamers and other vessels now navigate the Sir, since 1853, when Russia advanced her claim on that river to a point a little below Asret (Turkistan), the first town in Kokan territory on the road from Siberia. The banks of the Sir are sandy and barren; but its waters, being diverted by canals, serve to render Kokan a fertile country, in spite of the great and continuous drought throughout the summer. All the other rivers of Kokan, and some of them are of considerable size, are tributaries to the Sir: but several of them, wherever they flow through a flat and cultivated district, are so drained for the purposes of irrigation, that, during the summer, they cease to exist before they reach the SirDarya.

The summer heat, which begins in May and lasts till October, is so excessive that, where nature is left to herself, not a vestige of vegetation remains, and nothing meets the eye but bare sand, and parched clay, burst into deep cracks by the heat, the soil being so hot that the inhabitants are obliged to wear a kind of golosh of thick leather over their boots. Rain is almost unknown during the summer months; and yet, notwithstanding these drawbacks, the inhabitants, by a rudely contrived but effectual system of irrigation, manage to raise from the unpromising soil every description of grain and fruit.

Perhaps, the only part of Europe that would enable us, by comparison, to form some idea of the condition of this khanat during the summer, is Spain. In the neighbourhood of Alicante, for instance, where rain is almost unknown, the water is either brackish or altogether wanting, and the country presents a similar barren and parched-up aspect; while at no great distance the country is converted into a garden by the judicious distribution of a mountain stream, or by smaller canals filled from a river which, by frequent "bleedings," is so exhausted that it either ceases to exist before reaching the sea, or does so in the form of an insignificant streamlet, barely sufficient for the wants of the washerwomen who ply their

trade in its dry bed. All the towns and villages of Kokan are surrounded by gardens; the country is full of orchards, chiefly of apricots, which, with almonds, pistachios, and other dried fruits, form a considerable item of trade with Russia; and in no part of the East are melons and water-melons to be found in such perfection as in Kokan. Grapes of the same description as those grown in Turkey are very plentiful, and the Jews of Kokan produce from them a wine of a strong aromatic flavour.

The silk-worm is cultivated to a great extent, and the produce is so large that, although great quantities of silk are exported to India, China, and Russia, a considerable amount remains every year in the hands of the merchants; it is, however, so carelessly prepared, that the silk of Bokhara and Persia is preferred to it.

The cotton grown in Kokan is the "gossypium herbaceum;" its staple. is strong and elastic, but it is uneven, coarse, and difficult to clean, often much stained by the oil from the seed left in it, and easily spoilt in the transport. The cotton of Kokan is not only inferior to that of Bokhara and Khiva, but even to that of Persia, which is considered the worst in all Asia; and yet so great is the demand in Russia for cotton that the amount exported even of this inferior quality increases with every year. Madder, which is produced in great quantities, is used in dyeing coarse cotton goods of the country, and the surplus is exported to Kashgar and India. Tobacco is grown throughout the Khanat: that raised at Namangan is considered the best; it is of a bright yellow colour, while that of Bokhara is almost white. Throughout Turan, the two-humped camel is in general use, from its being better able to support the cold than the dromedary, which is used on the southern slopes of the Hindu-Kush. In Khiva, however, a large single-humped camel, called "nar," is in great request. Many of the Kokan merchants keep camels of their own, but others hire them from the Kirghiz, for the transport of their goods. The camels employed in the caravans that cross the steppe to Russia, carry loads varying from 640 to 720 lbs. Mules are also much used in the conveyance of merchandize; they carry heavier weights than the camel, and travel faster, performing, in thirteen, and even in twelve days, a distance which a camel only traverses in fifteen. The sheep of the Kokan Kirghiz are of a large description, with heavy tails, weighing from 20 to 40 lbs.; they require little or no tending, are satisfied with the scantiest food, support thirst for a long time, and follow, without fatigue, the tents of their wandering proprietors; their flesh is the favourite food of rich and poor; their milk and the cheese made from it, takes the place of bread with a large portion of the population, and their skins form the winter garments of the people. The Kirghiz of Kokan keep also large flocks of goats, which, in character, are not unlike those of Thibet, with reddish grey hair of great length, under which is a beautiful white hair of the finest description, from which the inhabitants of Urütüpa manufacture shawls and scarfs as fine and as highly prized as those of Cashmere.

The mineral wealth of Kokan is very great, though from the ignorance of its inhabitants little benefit is derived from it. At the source of the Sir-Darya, and in the small streams that flow into it, gold is found in grains of considerable size. The river Cherchik, which rises in the KenderTagh and falls into the Sir-Darya, near Tashkend, is particularly rich in gold, and the Governor of Tashkend, a portion of whose revenue is derived from this source, employs a very simple method for obtaining it. At certain

spots in the river favourable for the purpose, camels'-hair carpets are stretched and sunk across the the river, with the hairy side turned to the stream. The gold grains brought down by the current get entangled and hang in the hair of the carpets, which, after being kept for a certain time in the river, are taken out and dried, and when beaten produce a shower of gold.

In the Ala-Tagh, on the north of the Sir-Darya, two days' journey from Namangan, a very rich silver vein has been discovered. At a distance of four days' journey from the same place is a mine of lead containing a large proportion of silver. Copper and iron are also found in Kokan, the latter in the mountains of Khojend and in the neighbourhood of Tashkend. Very fine turquoises are procured near Isfara, and in the neighbouring mountains inhabited by the Black Kirghiz. Emeralds, rubies, and topazes, as well as lapis lazuli, are found in various parts of the Khanat. The cornelian of Kokan is also much valued throughout Central Asia.

The population of Kokan consists of various Turkish tribes. The Uzbeks extend from the Sir-Darya to the Hindu-Kush; the felt tents of the KaraKalpaks are scattered along both banks of the Sir; the Kaysak-Kirghiz are found in considerable numbers in Tashkend, and further north as far as the river Tchui; the Burnt or true Kirghiz inhabit the mountain chain Ala-Tagh, and extend southwards to the Billur, a spur of the Hindu-Kush; the Tajiks, a Persian tribe, the aborigines of the country, are a stationary and industrious, but dishonest race, speaking a peculiar and ancient dialect of the Persian language; they once held possession of the whole country from the Chinese frontier to the Caspian Sea and Persian Gulf, but were gradually driven by more warlike tribes to take shelter in the Billur-Tagh. Besides these races a small number of Jews are found in the towns and villages, while in the larger towns Hindoos, Afghans, and other Asiatic traders are also met with. It is impossible to give anything like a correct statement of the amount of the population of Kokan, as no census has ever been taken in the Khanat, the taxes being levied on produce, and not with reference to the population; but it is supposed to be, inclusive of the taxpaying Kirghiz, between 1,500,000 and 2,000,000. The population is most dense in the valley of Fergana, in Kuram, Kokan, Tashkend, and Namangan, and in the neighbourhood of Khojend and Urütüpa.

Exclusive of its commercial relations with Russia, Kokan trades with Western Mongolia, Chinese Turkistan, Karateghin, Bokhara, and Khiva.

1. To Western Mongolia caravans start from Tashkend to Kulja laden with gold, opium, and Russian manufactures, and they return with green and brick tea, common porcelain, and silks. Of late years a direct trade has been established between Russia and Kulja.

2. The trade with Chinese Mongolia is exclusively carried on between Kokan and Kashgar; horses are used for this purpose, on account of the exceedingly mountainous character of the country. They are hardy and strong; and although the weight they carry generally is only 360 lbs., they are hired at the same rate as camels, for they indemnify the loss in weight by gain in time, travelling twice, and even three times, as fast as the camel. The price charged per horse from Kokan to Kashgar is from 2 to 4 tilla (248. to 488.), according to circumstances. The journey is performed in from fourteen to twenty days, according to the season and the state of the roads. The exports from Kokan to Kashgar consist of Russian rod and bar iron, red leather, a cloth made from nettles, silk goods, opium, gold in specie and ingots, cotton, and madder. The yearly imports from Kashgar