These boats are drawn across the river by
horses swimming with ropes attached to their manes. But under
any circumstances it seems about as unlikely that any British
force would oppose the passage of a Russian army across the Oxus
as that it would interfere with the Russian occupation of the
trans-Oxus districts; but once south of the Oxus, many new
conditions of opposition would come into play, arising
principally from the very different national characteristics of
the southern races to those farther north. It would no longer be
a matter of pushing an advance through sandy and waterless
deserts, or over wild and rugged mountains, difficulties which
in themselves have never yet retarded the advance of a
determined general, but there would be the reception that any
Christian foe would almost certainly meet at the hands of a
warlike and powerful people, who can unite with all the cohesion
of religious fanaticism, backed up by something like military
organization and a perfect acquaintance with the strategical
conditions of their country. Most probably there would be no
serious local opposition to the occupation by Russia of a line
extending from Balkh eastwards through Khulm and Kunduz to
Faizabad and Sarhadd, all of which places can be reached without
great difficulty from the Oxus, and are connected by excellent
lateral road communications.
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