The Secretary of the Royal
Asiatic Society, Mr. Cust, with his wife, passed over this route in
1883, and testifies to the ease and comfort of the transit and to
the great number of vessels engaged in the oil trade, which are
available for military purposes, both on the Black and Caspian seas.
He estimates that they could easily carry 8,000 men at a trip.
[Footnote: Mr. Cust says: "There are three classes of steamers on
the Caspian. 1, the Imperial war steamers with which Russia keeps
down piracy; 2, the steamers of the Caucasus and Mercury Company,
very numerous and large vessels; 3, petroleum vessels--each steamer
with a capacity of 500 men."]
General Hamley [Footnote: Lecture before R. U. S. Institution
(London), 1884.] says: "We may assume that if on the railway (single
track) the very moderate number of 12 trains a day can run at the
rate of 12 miles an hour, the journey would occupy 40 hours. The
successive detachments would arrive, then, easily in two days at
Sarakhs. A division may be conveyed, complete, in 36 trains. Thus,
in six days a division would be assembled at Sarakhs ready to move
on the advanced guard. An army corps, with all its equipments and
departments, would be conveyed in 165 trains in 17 days.
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