In ten months, at a cost of thirty-five thousand roubles, General
Annenkof built this bridge, the most important one on the Grand
Transasiatic.

The river is of a dull-yellow color. A few islands emerge from the
current here and there, as far as one can see.

Popof pointed out the stations for the guards on the parapet of the
bridge.

"What are they for?" I asked.

"For the accommodation of a special staff, whose duty it is to give the
alarm in case of fire, and who are provided with fire-extinguishers."

This is a wise precaution. Not only have sparks from the engines set it
on fire in several places, but there are other disasters possible. A
large number of boats, for the most part laden with petroleum, pass up
and down the Amou-Daria, and it frequently happens that these become
fire-ships. A constant watch is thus only too well justified, for if
the bridge were destroyed, its reconstruction would take a year, during
which the transport of passengers from one bank to the other would not
be without its difficulties.

At last the train is going slowly across the bridge. It is broad
daylight. The desert begins again at the second station, that of
Karakoul. Beyond can be seen the windings of an affluent of the
Amou-Daria, the Zarafchane, "the river that rolls with gold," the
course of which extends up to the valley of the Sogd, in that fertile