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NOTICE. 
 
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 Turk. 
 
 X 
 
V Vf.restchagin. 
 
AMERICAN ART GALLERIES. K- 
 
 EXHIBITION OF THE WORKS 
 
 OF 
 
 VASSILI 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE 
 
 NEW YORK, 
 
Copyright, 1888, by 
 AMERICAN ART ASSOCIATION, 
 
 Press of J. J, Little & Co. 
 Astor Place, New York. 
 
— — : -*S> <s> O— 
 
 I trust that men will love me ; for my art 
 Speaks to the nobler feelings of the heart, 
 
 Renders good service by the charm of truth. 
 
 And for the vanquished ever pleads for ruth. 
 
 (. Adapted from Pushkin.) 
 
 HE_ historical details, some of which directly, 
 others indirectly, concern my studies and 
 pictures of Palestine — that interesting land 
 for every Christian — are founded chiefly 
 on traditions so well preserved among the 
 people of the East. 
 
 My own researches excepted, I have 
 availed myself of the Gospels and old 
 books, as well as of some modern com- 
 pilations, such as Murray’s Syria and Pal- 
 estine , Cook’s Handbook for Palestine and Syria , Isambert’s 
 Orient , Brother Lievin’s Terra Sainte , etc. Some of the 
 studies are very small, my intention having been to repaint 
 them a larger size. Some are unfinished, owing to the 
 suspicion of the Turks that I was drawing plans of the 
 “ Promised Land.” 
 
6 
 
 My impressions of travel in India formed themselves into 
 a series of large pictures, in which I conceived the idea of 
 representing the history of the conquest of a large Asiatic 
 country by a handful of brave and enterprising Europeans. 
 The first picture, commenced on a large canvas, was intended 
 to -portray the English Ambassadors in the presence of the 
 Great Mogul in his celebrated audience hall at Agra. The 
 next pictures were to represent different prominent events 
 of Indian history, finishing with the triumphant entry of 
 the Prince of Wales into Delhi, symbolical of the definitive 
 conquest of the country. This last scene, which I witnessed 
 in 1875, is the only one of the series completed, because the 
 outbreak of the Russo-Turkish war at that time took me 
 away from my studio to the battle-fields. 
 
 $ $ $ $ $ 
 
 Observing life through all my various travels, I have 
 
 been particularly struck by the fact that even in our time 
 people kill one another everywhere under all possible pre- 
 texts, and by every possible means. Wholesale murder is 
 still called war, while killing individuals is called execution . 
 Everywhere the same worship of brute strength, the same 
 inconsistency ; on the one hand men slaying their fellows 
 by the million for an idea often impracticable, are elevated 
 to a high pedestal of public admiration : on the other, men 
 who kill individuals for the sake of a crust of bread, are 
 mercilessly and promptly exterminated— and this even in 
 Christian countries, in the name of Plim whose teaching was 
 founded on peace and love. These facts, observed on many 
 occasions, made a strong impression on my mind, and after 
 having carefully thought the matter over, I painted several 
 pictures of wars and executions. These subjects I have 
 treated in a fashion far from sentimental, for having my- 
 self killed many a poor fellow-creature in different wars, I 
 have not the right to be sentimental. But the sight of 
 heaps of human beings slaughtered, shot, beheaded, hanged 
 
Verestchagin’s Studio. 
 
8 
 
 under my eyes in all that region extending from the frontiei 
 of China to Bulgaria, has not failed to impress itself vividly 
 on the imaginati ve side of my art. 
 
 And although the wars of the present time have changed 
 their former character of God’s judgments upon man, 
 nevertheless, by the enormous energy and excitement they 
 create, by the great mental and material exertion they call 
 forth, they are a phenomenon interesting to all students of 
 human civilization. My intention was to examine war in 
 its different aspects, and transmit these faithfully. Facts 
 laid upon canvas without embellishment must speak 
 eloquently for themselves. 
 
 * ❖ 
 
 Next to the pictures where people are slain by the 
 hundreds of thousands, there are some not uninteresting- 
 scenes of individual killing in the continual strife waged by 
 the state against persons called criminals. 
 
 In olden and more barbarous times the aim of an execu- 
 tion was to torture the criminal by killing him as slowly as 
 possible ; now, on the contrary, the aim is to kill him as 
 speedily as possible and shorten his sufferings. From this 
 point of view the English method of ' blowing from guns 
 (94,^), practiced in India, is the most humane — this mode 
 of execution is sure, quick, and therefore nearly painless ; at 
 the same time the moral impression produced by it is very 
 great, and well suited to the spirit of contemporary law. 
 
 The next most humane method of execution is by hang- 
 ing, an old expedient, very much resorted to in Russia in 
 modern times (94, h). This method is inferior to the 
 former, because death is more lingering and cruel. But 
 still it is an advance upon the very old system of crucifixion 
 much practised by the Romans (94,/). By this latter 
 the man who violated the law was nailed to the wood of the 
 cross, and hung there often many days, during which time 
 his sufferings must have been terrible. 
 
9 
 
 I. The Tomb of Abraham. 
 
 No. i. 
 
 This tomb lies in Hebron, one of the oldest cities in the 
 world. Here Abraham was visited by the three travellers 
 who predicted the birth of Isaac and the destruction of 
 Sodom and Gomorrah. Besides Sarah and Abraham him- 
 self, Isaac, his wife Rebecca, and many other patriarchs, are 
 buried here. Hither, too, was brought from Egypt the 
 embalmed body of Jacob, and it is probable that the mummy 
 is still in a state of good preservation. 
 
 This place, containing undoubtedly the true tombs, has 
 
10 
 
 been held in great veneiation from the earliest times by 
 Jews, Mohammedans, and Christians. The upper part has 
 minarets of later Mohammedan workmanship ; it is only 
 below, where the stones are blackened by age, that the wall 
 of David s time begins. The sketch is taken from the roof 
 of a neighboring house behind ; it was impossible to make 
 a more finished picture as the population is most fanatical, 
 and looks upon all attempts at sketching as a profanation 
 of the holy site. They threw stones at us. Christians are 
 very seldoifi allowed to enter the mosque (the Prince of 
 Wales was allowed to enter in 1862), and in the Grotto itself 
 no Christian traveller has ever been admitted. The Rabbi 
 Benjamin, who lived in the twelfth century, affirms that he 
 saw the real graves of the patriarchs. 
 
 2. Bethel. 
 
 Interesting remains of a cistern, probably of Jewish origin. 
 On the heights, where are some Roman ruins, Abraham 
 fed his flocks, and here he divided them with his nephew 
 Lot. Here Jacob slept, as the Arabs sleep now, with a stone 
 for his pillow, and saw in a dream a ladder reaching to 
 heaven, with angels ascending and descending. Here he 
 raised an altar on the place where God spoke to him, and 
 on this spot was afterwards raised a temple, and a city built, 
 which, according to Jewish tradition, was so large that 
 when the Romans broke in on one side, feasts and weddings 
 were being celebrated in perfect tranquillity on the other (?). 
 At the present day there is nothing but a miserable village 
 near the cistern. 
 
 3. The Dead Sea. 
 
 View from the foot of Mount Quarantania, in a grotto of 
 which, according to the tradition, Christ fasted and prayed 
 forty days. 
 
 Only the northern part of the Dead Sea is seen from here, 
 
not the southern part, where, according to another tradition, 
 Sodom and Gomorrah were situated. We are not told how 
 these two cities perished ; but it may be supposed that the 
 bitumen, of which there are quantities in the neighborhood, 
 took fire spontaneously, and as the houses, like the cele- 
 brated tower of Babel, were probably built of the same 
 inflammable material, the two places would in one minute 
 have been transformed into an immense brazier. A vol- 
 canic eruption, ordinarily followed by earthquakes, would 
 probably have made the catastrophe still more complete and 
 terrible. Vegetation was destroyed, and the waters of the 
 lake subsided. These are so highly impregnated with salt 
 (more than 30 per cent.) as to keep men’s bodies afloat, and 
 no fish or living creature can exist in them. Ducks and 
 other aquatic birds may be seen resting on the surface for 
 awhile, but not for long ; and the shores and surrounding 
 country are wilder and more desolate than the salt lakes in 
 Western Tibet and the region near Ladak. 
 
 Behind the Dead Sea, as shown on the study, are the 
 Moabite mountains ; on the right, some distance off, is the 
 place where Moses died after seeing the Promised Land 
 from afar, and there he is probably buried, though the Mus- 
 sulmans hold another site in veneration, on the opposite 
 shore, as the supposed place of his sepulture. To the left 
 of the range are the passes by which the Israelites entered 
 the valley of the Jordan. In the foreground of the picture 
 a green spot marks the valley of Jericho, famed in olden 
 times for its beautiful gardens, but now a wilderness, and a 
 breeding place of scorpions. Here was the Jericho of 
 Christ’s time ; the earlier city spoken of by the prophets was 
 more to the left. 
 
 4. Jacob’s Well. 
 
 The spot of land on which the well is dug was granted by 
 die patriarch to his son Joseph. It lies in a deep valley at 
 
2 
 
 the foot of Mount Gerizim, before the entrance to the pass 
 of Nablus, the ancient Sikkhim, once the capital of Samaria. 
 
 The ground over the well is raised, a Crusaders’ church 
 having once stood there ; but of this nothing remains but a 
 half-ruined arch over the well itself. 
 
 This is doubtless the well at which Christ was resting 
 when he conversed with the woman of Samaria. “ What 
 might have been our Saviour’s thoughts as He sat thus at 
 the well, wearied with His journey ? Perhaps He was 
 thinking of Abraham, who built his first altar in the land in 
 this opening of the plain (Gen. xi., 6), or of Jacob, whose 
 only possession in the Land of Promise was here (xxxiii., 19). 
 And even this possession, bought and paid for as it had 
 been, was taken from him by the Amorites. But he recon- 
 quered it from them — ‘ I took it out of the hand of the 
 Amorite with my sword and my bow,’ said the dying 
 patriarch (Gen. xlviii., 22) — and left it to Joseph, who long 
 years afterwards gave commandment concerning his bones, 
 which were brought from Egypt and buried here (Joshua 
 xxiv., 32). Perhaps Christ thought of Joseph wandering in 
 that very field in search of his brethren (Gen. xxxvii., 15), 
 and saw in the persecution of his brethren and the final 
 victory of the beloved son, one of the divine pictures of the 
 past, typical of Himself ; or perhaps his thoughts were 
 dwelling upon that first gathering of all Israel when first 
 they came into the land. . . . ” (. Hodder .) 
 
 5. The Tomb of Joseph. 
 
 Not far from the well is in all probability the real burial 
 place of the celebrated minister of Pharaoh. It is well 
 known that Joseph on his deathbed took the oath of the 
 children of Israel, saying, “ Godwill surely visit you, and ye 
 shall carry up my bones from hence ” (Gen. 1 ., 25). “ And 
 
 the bones of Joseph which the children of Israel brought up 
 
13 
 
 out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem, in a parcel of ground 
 which Jacob bought of the sons of Kamor, the father of 
 Shechem. ...” (Joshua xxiv., 32). 
 
 6. Gilgal. 
 
 The place in the Jordan valley where, as it is said, the 
 Israelites, after crossing this river, erected the twelve stones 
 and rested the first time in the Promised Land the Ark of 
 the Covenant (Joshua iv., 19, 20). Here they celebrated for 
 the first time the Passover. Here Saul was anointed king. 
 Here, too, the tribe of Judah welcomed David on his return 
 from exile. 
 
 In the time of the early Christians there was a church 
 here dedicated to the Archangel Michael, who appeared to 
 Joshua at this spot — “a man over against him with his 
 sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said, 
 ‘ Art thou for us or for our adversaries ? ’ And he said, ‘ Nay, 
 but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now come 
 (Joshua v., 19), and inspired the Jews with courage to attack 
 Jericho. 
 
 A solitary tamarisk now marks the spot, and some hillocks 
 indicate the sites of Christian churches. 
 
 7. Samuel’s Tomb. 
 
 It is not well known if this really be the burial-place of 
 the great Israelitish. judge. The Mohammedans hold the 
 place in the greatest honor, and visit it in thousands. The 
 tomb occupies a commanding site in the neighborhood of 
 Jerusalem. Here the Israelites assembled at Samuel’s call 
 to make war against the Philistines, and here they elected 
 their first king. 
 
 All the neighboring heights and valleys are full of his- 
 torical reminiscences. The mount slopes down to the valley 
 of Gabaon (Gibeon) where, before the battle between the 
 
14 
 
 tribes of Judah and Benjamin, twelve youths from either 
 side fought with such ardor that they all fell dead (2 Samuel 
 ii., 16). 
 
 In Gabaon also, Solomon sacrificed to God full a thousand 
 men. Here the Lord appeared to him in a dream, promising 
 to fulfil the wish of his heart, and to Solomon’s desire for 
 wisdom, joined riches and glory. Near here is the cele- 
 brated valley of Bethhoron, where the Israelites, under 
 Joshua, vanquished the Amorites. He applied to the Lord, 
 and cried out before the whole of Israel, Sun, stand thou 
 still upon Gibeon, and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon ” 
 (Joshua x., 12). And the sun stood still and the moon 
 stayed till Adonizedec, King of Jerusalem, was vanquished. 
 
 8. Gideon’s Spring-. 
 
 The rocky cavern whence issues water of the fountain, 
 clear as crystal. Near this place a celebrated battle was 
 
 No. 8. 
 
 fought ; Gideon with his three hundred warriors vanquished 
 the host of the Midianites. At this spring he tried the 
 
i5 
 
 bearing of his warriors by taking those only with him in his 
 dangerous night expedition who, on coming to the spring 
 after the hard day’s march, drank water with the hands, and 
 not those who bowed on the knees and drank with the 
 mouth only. 
 
 It was night, and the Midianites were asleep. “ The 
 Midiamtes and the Amalekites and all the children of the 
 East lay along in the valleys like grasshoppers for multitude, 
 and their camels were without number as the sand by the 
 sea-side for multitude. . . . And he divided the three 
 
 hundred men into three companies, and he put a trumpet in 
 every man’s hand, with empty pitchers, and lamps within the 
 pitchers” (Judges vii., 12, 16). So he drew near the camp 
 of the Midianites. And at the moment the trumpets were 
 blown and the pitchers broken, the Israelites holding the 
 lamps with their left hands and the trumpets with their 
 right, fell upon the panic-stricken foe with the cry, “The 
 sword of the Lord and of Gideon” (Judges chap. vii.). 
 
 9. The Valley of Ezdraelon. 
 
 This celebrated valley often witnessed the Israelitish 
 struggles. • On the right is Mount Gilboa, where Saul and 
 his three sons were killed. On the left of Gilboa are the 
 ruins of Jezreel, the residence of Ahab and Jezebel, where 
 the latter was thrown from a window to the dogs. On the 
 left of the small study one may see little Hermon, where 
 the Philistines pitched camp before the battle against 
 Saul ; the Israelites occupied a position under Gilboa, near 
 Gideon’s spring ; their position was bad, because the ground 
 slopes towards the fountain, and thus gave the advantage to 
 the Philistines. These put the Israelites to flight at once, 
 so that the chief slaughter was probably on the heights, 
 where the following day the bodies of Saul and his sons 
 were found. 
 
1 6 
 
 io. The Cave Endor. 
 
 Before the battle, as we know, Saul went to consult the 
 Witch of Endor. His mission was not without danger, as 
 the village of Endor is on the north side of little Hermon, 
 at the foot of which was the camp of the Philistines. Saul 
 turned to the right, and so could reach Endor “ in two 
 
 No. io. 
 
 hours’ time.” The witch predicted to the King his 
 defeat and death. “ And to-morrow shalt thou and thy 
 sons be with me : ” (said the spirit of Samuel to the King), 
 “ the Lord also shall deliver the host of Israel into the 
 hands of the Philistines ” (i Samuel xxviii., 19). 
 
7 
 
 In the now very dirty village of Endor there are many 
 caverns — possibly one of these was inhabited by the witch. 
 Before the entrance of the cave here represented, traces of 
 a threshold may be seen ; inside is a large room and another 
 smaller beyond. 
 
 ii. Beisan (Beth-shan). 
 
 The small green hill, seen in the distance, was the acrop- 
 olis of an inaccessible fortress of the Philistines, the only 
 one which the Israelites could never capture. The citadel 
 stood on the summit of the hill, and from a near point of 
 view appears to be naturally of uncommon strength. Deep 
 ditches and a wall surround it. The principal gates, now 
 almost in ruins, may still be seen on the north side, and it is 
 not improbable that on these very gates were suspended the 
 bodies of Saul and Jonathan, killed on the adjacent heights 
 of Gilboa. “ And it came to pass on the morrow, when the 
 Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and 
 his three sons fallen in Mount Gilboa. And they cut off 
 his head and stripped off his armour, and sent into the land 
 of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the house of 
 their idols and among the people. And they put his armour 
 in the house of Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to 
 the wall of Beth-shan ” (i Samuel xxxi., 8-io). 
 
 12. Beisan (Beth-shan) Theatre. 
 
 The same hill forms one side of a Roman theater, now 
 completely overgrown with bushes, but the doors and pas- 
 sages are still well preserved. The building is semi-circular 
 and entirely built of blocks of basalt. A great number of 
 Christians, especially during the reign of Julian, were torn 
 to pieces here by wild beasts. 
 
 2 
 
8 
 
 13 - Solomon’s Wall. 
 
 The six lower ranges of these splendid stones are beyond 
 doubt of the time of David and Solomon, the next rows 
 may be attributed to Herod, while the upper and smallest 
 date from the Mohammedan period. This part of the great 
 wall which surrounded the Temple is called The Wailing 
 Place , because the Jews for a long time past have been 
 in the habit of coming hither — at first once a year on the 
 anniversary of the destruction of Jerusalem (on payment of 
 a heavy tax to the Mussulman authorities), and in more 
 recent days as frequently as they wished — to bewail their 
 past greatness and present dispersion. Seldom can any- 
 thing more touching be seen. The Jews of both sexes and 
 of all ages arrive from all parts of the world to pray and 
 weep with loud cries, and literally to wash with their tears 
 the sacred stones ! On Friday the place is quite full of 
 people from Palestine, Central Asia, India, Europe and 
 especially from Russia — all praying in the most plaintive 
 tones, beating their breasts, rocking their bodies to and fro, 
 or leaning motionless against the stones and weeping, weep- 
 ing, weeping ! 
 
 The Jews seem to bring all their sorrows and misfortunes 
 to this place. A woman approaches with unsteady gait, 
 throws herself against the wall, and in an agonized voice 
 implores God to give her back her dead child. Farther on 
 two Jews, wearied with praying, are talking business. “ Have 
 you bought? What have you paid? Too dear!” and so 
 on. After this interlude they recommence praying and 
 weeping. 
 
 An old rabbi is sitting in his corner on a stone or an 
 empty wine box with the inevitable “ Bordeaux ” mark, and 
 with eyes full of tears reads in his book : “ O God, the 
 heathen are come into thine inheritance ; thy holy temple 
 have they defiled ; they have laid Jerusalem in heaps. . . . 
 
No. 13. 
 
20 
 
 We are become a reproach to our neighbours, a scorn and 
 derision to them that are round about us. How long, Lord ? 
 Will’st thou be angry with us for ever ! Shall thy jealousy 
 burn like fire ? ” 
 
 Fragments of an interesting litany are often sung here : 
 
 I. 
 
 Reader : Because of the palace which is deserted, 
 
 People : We sit alone and weep. 
 
 Reader : Because of the Temple which is destroyed, 
 
 Because of the walls which are broken down, 
 
 Because of our greatness which is departed, 
 
 Because of the precious stones of the Temple ground to 
 powder, 
 
 Because of our priests who have erred and gone astray. 
 Because of our kings who have contemned God, 
 
 People : We sit alone and weep. 
 
 II. 
 
 Reader: We beseech Thee, have mercy on Zion. 
 
 People : And gather together the children of Jerusalem 
 Reader : Make speed, make speed, O Deliverer of Zion. 
 
 People : Speak after the heart of Jerusalem. 
 
 Reader : Let Zion be girded with beauty and with majesty. 
 
 People : Show favour unto Jerusalem. 
 
 Reader : Let Zion find again her kings. 
 
 People : Comfort those who mourn over Jerusalem. 
 
 Reader : Let peace and joy return to Jerusalem. 
 
 People : Let the branch of Jerusalem put forth and bud. 
 
 14. Business and Prayers. 
 
 i 
 
 , • 
 
 15: The Spring of Elisha. 
 
 Most probably the spring whose bitter water the prophet 
 made sweet in answer to the complaint of the inhabitants : 
 *‘ And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray 
 thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my Lord seeth ; 
 but the water is naught and the ground barren. And he 
 said, bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they 
 
21 
 
 brought it to him. And he went forth unto the spring of 
 the waters and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the 
 Lord, I have healed these waters ; there shall not be from 
 them any more death or barren land. So the waters were 
 healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha 
 which he spake ” (2 Kings ii., 19-23). 
 
 Under the spring are the remains of a wall of Roman 
 date. It is generally admitted that Herod drowned in this 
 spring his relative Aristobulus, upon whom the people looked 
 as his successor. 
 
 16. Ruins of a Samaritan Temple at Shechem. 
 
 When the Jews returned from captivity in Babylon, the 
 Samaritans, who “ feared the Lord but served their own 
 gods,” desired to assist them in rebuilding the temple but 
 were refused. They then resolved to build one for them- 
 selves on Mount Gerizim, and their hostility to the Jews 
 increased to such a point that it became a sin to extend the 
 rites of hospitality on either side, and the words of the 
 woman of Samaria to Christ expressed well the feeling 
 which afterwards existed between the two races : “ How is 
 it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me who am a 
 woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the 
 Samaritans.” The temple on Mount Gerizim was destroyed 
 later, and on the place where it stood, probably out of the 
 same materials, was built a church dedicated to the Virgin, 
 also now in ruins. The walls are thick and the stones very 
 huge. Some of these stones, of unusual size, are identified, 
 according to the legend, with the twelve stones brought from 
 the Jordan and erected at Gilgal as a memorial, but this is 
 highly improbable. Even more dubious is the assertion of 
 the Samaritans that Abraham offered up Isaac at this spot, 
 and that Jacob had here the vision of the heavenly ladder, 
 etc., etc. 
 
22 
 
 The Samaritans to the present day celebrate their Pass- 
 over here with offerings, and the entire ceremonial as in 
 olden times. It may be remarked that their numbers are 
 very small, some fifty souls at the most, and they are con- 
 stantly diminishing. I have not had the opportunity of 
 sketching one of their types, but find them very like the 
 Jews in appearance. The summit of Mount Gerizim is 
 nearly three thousand feet above sea level. The view from 
 the table land and the ruins is beautiful. On one side may 
 be seen the Mediterranean, and on the other, the snowy 
 crest of Hermon. 
 
 17. An Old Street in Samaria, Sebastia. 
 
 Under the reign of Asa, King of Judah, Omri, King of 
 Israel, bought the hill Samaria, for two talents of silver, built 
 a city, 'and removed thither his residence from Shechem. 
 His son Ahab, who married Jezebel, introduced again the 
 worship of Baal. “ And he reared up an altar for Baal, in the 
 house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. And Ahab 
 made a grove, and Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God 
 of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were 
 before him” (1 Kings xvi., 30-32). At a later date the 
 miracles of Elisha took place here. 
 
 Herod entirely rebuilt the city, embellished it and called 
 it, in honor of the Emperor Agustus, Sebastia. The columns 
 now remaining belong to this period. These noble sur- 
 vivors of the past magnificence of the place, rearing aloft 
 above the corn-fields, appeal powerfully to the imagination. 
 Looking upon the desolate scene one is reminded of the 
 words of the prophecy : “ Samaria shall become desolate for 
 she hath rebelled against her God ” (Hosea xiii., 16). “ I will 
 make Samaria as an heap of the field and as plantings of a vine- 
 yard, and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, 
 and I will discover the foundations thereof” (Micah i., 6). 
 
23 
 
 i8. Entrance to the Tombs of the Kings. 
 
 Near Jerusalem, on the road to Damascus, a large 
 monumental staircase, cut in the rock, leads to an entrance 
 which was lately thoroughly excavated. (It is easy to see 
 on the picture that part of the rock which remained for 
 centuries under the earth.) 
 
 This entrance opens on a large court, surrounded by 
 rocks of very imposing character. The waters are led away 
 to cisterns, which, like the whole work, are of a coarse but 
 solid structure. 
 
 19. Tombs of the Kings. 
 
 In this court (see last picture) is a wide vestibule, 
 formerly surported by two columns, of which next to 
 nothing remains. Under the opening is a long sculptured 
 frieze, of excellent taste, with the traditional bunch of grapes, 
 emblem of the Promised Land. A fine cornice over it is 
 unfortunately much injured. The learned Frenchman, De 
 Saulcy, was of opinion that here were the tombs of the 
 Israelite kings ; he supposed also that the sarcophagus 
 which he found here was that of David ; but both suppo- 
 sitions are incorrect, and now it is admitted that Helena, 
 Princess of Adiabene, who became a convert to Judaism, was 
 buried here with her family, about the beginning of our 
 era. 
 
 In the course of his excavations De Saulcy found here 
 many urns, vases, and lamps of Roman date, some small 
 vases of oriental alabaster, some caskets of precious stones 
 and gold ornaments. He found also a room previously 
 unknown, containing a sarcophagus with a human corpse 
 inside. On first opening it the body was found well pre- 
 served, but it crumbled away almost immediately. The 
 tomb contains many low rooms surrounded by niches in 
 
24 
 
 which the bodies of Helena’s numerous family were laid. 
 Most curious is the entrance stone, so constructed that a 
 thief or any one who did not know the secret might enter, 
 but could not come out. He would be buried alive ! 
 
 20. A Fountain near Nazareth. 
 
 A very old one, dating from the early years of our era, 
 and doubtless visited by Christ and His brethren on their 
 way to and from Nazareth. It is half way between 
 Nazareth and Kefr-Cama, the Cana of Galilee, where the 
 miracle of turning water into wine was performed, and 
 where are shown at the present day the very vessels which 
 served for this miracle (!) 
 
 21. That Part of Jordan where Christ was Baptized. 
 
 The bed of the river is only about a hundred feet wide ; 
 the stream, however is very rapid, and looks treacherous — 
 nearly every year it carries off some careless worshippers, 
 deceived by its quiet, calm surface. The shores are covered 
 with willow, tamarisk, and oleander trees, in whose thickets 
 lurk the wild boar, the panther, and occasionally a Bedouin 
 robber. As in the times of Christ, this locality is the 
 resort of runaways and fugitives from the police, so that it 
 is never considered quite safe. Many efforts have been 
 made to mark out the exact place where the Israelites 
 crossed the Jordan, but the question is far from decided even 
 now, the river having several times changed its bed. 
 
 It was hereabouts that the prophet Elijah divided the 
 waters, crossed the dry bed of the river, and was taken up 
 to heaven. Here, too, Elisha divided the river with the 
 mantle of his master and the words : “ Where is the God of 
 Elijah ! ” The main interest, however, centres round one 
 of the greatest events of the New Testament, the baptism of 
 
25 
 
 Christ by John, which according to tradition took place 
 here. “Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto 
 John, to be baptized of him.” “And Jesus when he was 
 baptized, went up straightway out of the water : and lo, the 
 heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the spirit of 
 God descending like a dove and lighting upon him : and lo, 
 a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son in 
 whom I am well pleased “ (Matt, iii , 13, 16, 17). 
 
 Every year great numbers of worshippers visit the river : 
 Greeks, Russians, and others precisely at this spot, the 
 Latins a little farther down. The former gather in great 
 caravans, and on the 18th January, men and women old 
 and young, sink into the holy stream, where a strong rope is 
 fastened for the purpose. Nobody pays any attention to 
 personal appearance after this bath, salvation being the only 
 thought of the moment. 
 
 22. Capernaum (Tell-Hum). 
 
 A melancholy place on the north coast of the Sea of 
 Tiberias. Immediately behind the little hut shown on the 
 study are ruins of a most imposing character, probably the 
 finest both in size and beauty of workmanship to be found 
 in Palestine. Overgrown with tall grass and weeds are 
 lying huge blocks of white marble splendidly ornamented, 
 capitals of pillars, architraves, etc. 
 
 Wilson says in his book : If Tell-Hum be Capernaum, 
 this is without a doubt the synagogue built by the Roman 
 centurion, and one of the most sacred places on earth. It 
 was in this building that our Lord gave the discussion on 
 the Bread of Life (John vi.). “ These things said he in the 
 
 synagogue as he taught in Capernaum.” In Capernaum 
 Christ passed three years of his life and had “ his own 
 house.” “ And leaving Nazareth he came and dwelt in 
 Capernaum which is upon the sea-coast, in the borders of 
 
26 
 
 Zabulon and Nephthalim ; that it might be fulfilled which 
 was spoken by Esias the prophet, saying : The land of 
 Zabulon and the land of Nephthalim by the way of the sea, 
 beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles ; the people which 
 sat in darkness saw great light ; and to them which sat in 
 the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up” (Matt, 
 iv., 13-16). 
 
 Among the miracles performed here were the healing the 
 paralyzed man, the healing of the mother-in-law of the 
 Apostle Peter, of the centurion’s servant, and so on. 
 
 It has been supposed that these are the ruins of Chorazin, 
 but tradition is strongly against this idea. 
 
 23. Bethsaida. 
 
 The home of the Apostles Peter, Andrew, Philip, James, 
 and John. “ And is came to pass that as the people pressed 
 upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of 
 Gennesaret and saw two ships standing by the lake ; but 
 the fishermen were gone out of them and were washing 
 their nets ” (Luke v., 1). He entered into Simon’s ship and 
 taught the people on shore, and afterward performed the 
 miracle of the draught of fishes which astonished Peter, 
 James, and John ; and the Master said unto them : “Fear 
 not, from henceforth thou shalt catch men. And when 
 they had brought their ships to shore, they forsook all and 
 followed Him ” (Luke v., n). Here the blind man received 
 his sight, and on a height in the vicinity was performed the 
 miracle of the multiplication of loaves. 
 
 No other part of the sea-coast is so convenient for fishing 
 as this small bay with its low sandy bank. Even now 
 fishermen are living here. On our demand they immedi- 
 ately drew their nets and caught some fine fish. Here and 
 there are seen heights of waste ground under which would 
 probably be found some interesting remains. 
 
27 
 
 24. Mount Tabor. 
 
 Of very regular form, rises to the height of 2,362 feet 
 above sea-level. On the summit are ruins of a fortress of 
 ancient date, so that it is nearly impossible to suppose that 
 the Saviour chose this spot for the transfiguration ; indeed, 
 it is only from the time of Jerome, or the fourth century, 
 that Tabor is accepted as the place of the miracle which, 
 with more probability, may be assigned to any other “ high 
 mountain apart,” the only words of the New Testament 
 indicating the place of the event. 
 
 25. The Summit of Tabor. 
 
 There are ruins of two churches of the Crusaders’ time. 
 The Catholic monks to whom they belong intend to restore 
 the once splendid buildings. The view from this point is 
 beautiful 
 
 26. Entrance to the Grotto of the Mount of 
 Temptation. 
 
 From time out of mind this mountain was pierced with 
 grottoes of anchorites, and there is a very probable tradi- 
 tion, according to which Christ passed in one of these grot- 
 toes His forty days of fasting and prayer. On the summit, 
 at the place where it is said our Saviour was tempted by 
 the devil, are still the ruins of a church attributed to the 
 Empress Helena : “ And the devil taking him up into a 
 high mountain showed unto him all the kingdoms of the 
 world in a moment of time.” The entrance to the grotto 
 is half-way up the mountain. A road now is made instead 
 of the old path from which pilgrims sometimes fell into the 
 abyss below. 
 
 A Greek monk is the only inhabitant of this grotto. 
 When not engaged in prayer he diverts himself by feeding 
 
No. 26. 
 
29 
 
 the only living creatures of the neighborhood — blackbirds, 
 which catch the bits of dried fruits thrown to them. 
 
 27. The Mount of Temptation by Night. 
 
 In the night, when a light burns in the grotto, the 
 imagination is carried back 1854 years, when the Great 
 Anchorite prepared His poor food, or prayed and meditated 
 on His future deeds and destiny. More than once, prob- 
 ably, the devil came to tempt Him and make Him doubt 
 whether the only possible way before Him was that which 
 led through a shameful death on the Cross. 
 
 28. Kitchen of the Monks in the Grotto. 
 
 The hermit monks are most abstemious ; their diet con- 
 sisting of black bread of a very coarse kind, beans, onions, 
 garlic, and olives. They nevertheless find means to help 
 the poor Bedouins in their necessities. 
 
 29. Refectory of the Grotto. 
 
 The walls were once covered with frescoes, but of these 
 scarcely anything remains. A door opens on a balcony 
 whence there is a really charming and interesting view over 
 the Jordan valley. Just in front is Jericho; further on a 
 line of vegetation shows the direction of the Jordan, with 
 the monastery of St. John. On the right is the Dead Sea, 
 with the monastery holy Gerasimus, built, it is believed 
 on the spot where the Virgin Mary rested on her way to 
 Egypt (?). On the left is the Jordan valley with the road 
 leading to Tiberias and the mountains of Samaria. 
 
 30. The part of the Grotto which according to tra- 
 dition dates from the time of Christ. 
 
 From early Christian times this part of the grotto was 
 converted into a chapel and was venerated as the place 
 
30 
 
 where our Saviour set the example of retreat, fasting and 
 penitence. “ And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost 
 returned from Jordan and was led by the spirit into the 
 wilderness, being forty days tempted by the devil. And in 
 those days he did eat nothing ; and when they were ended 
 he afterward hungered.” (Luke iv., 1-2.) 
 
 31. The Cupola of the Holy Sepulchre in Jeru- 
 
 salem. 
 
 This was many times destroyed by fire and rebuilt. As it 
 stands at present it was erected at the cost of the Russian, 
 French, and Turkish governments in 1869. The diameter 
 of the cupola is 78.7 feet. 
 
 On the western side of the Sepulchre Church the ruins 
 of the Basilica of the Emperor Constantine were discovered 
 some years ago by the Russian archimandrite, Antonin, and 
 apparently also the foundation of a city gate, by which pos- 
 sibly our Saviour was led to execution. 
 
 32. One of the old Jewish Tombs near Jerusalem. 
 
 An extremely low entrance leads to a small, very low 
 room in the rock, wherein are many niches for corpses. In 
 one of such niches, never before used, was interred the 
 body of Christ, in a rock near Golgotha where Joseph of 
 Arimathea, possibly, had his family tomb. The entrance 
 was usually closed with a big stone, and it was impossible 
 to enter or come out otherwise than by the small aperture 
 seen on the study. 
 
 Such are all the tombs of those times ; there was no 
 other style ; and if at present the grave of our Saviour has 
 the form of a box, it is because the rock over it has been 
 broken off, partly for the necessities of worship, partly by j 
 the worshipers themselves for relics. 
 
3i 
 
 33- Mount Chattin. 
 
 This is the summit of a rock on the way from Nazareth 
 to Tiberias, remarkable as the scene of the last battle fought 
 between the Crusaders and the Mussulmans, which decided 
 the fate of Christendom in the Holy Land. Seven hundred 
 years ago, on the 14th July, 1187, Saladin vanquished the 
 Christians under the command of King Lusinian, who 
 allowed himself to be enticed to this rock from a good 
 position he had occupied on the road to Nazareth. After a 
 march of twenty-four hours, during which the knights were 
 harassed by heat, hunger, thirst, and constant alarms, the 
 Christian army took up their position for the night on this 
 field, and were at once surrounded by the enemy, so that 
 by the following morning the issue of the battle was already 
 decided. The heavily armed and wearied knights on their 
 tired horses could not withstand the light bodies of Arabs, 
 and were very soon forced to retire to the summit of the rock 
 (shown on the sketch). Here the king, surrounded by the 
 clergy, high officials, and officers, surrendered after a desper- 
 ate defense. 
 
 34 . The Hermits on the Jordan. 
 
 These hermits, who are not numerous, live partly on the 
 shore itself, partly on the sandstone hills some distance off, 
 near the monastery of St. John. They excavate caves with 
 two or three rooms in each, so small that it is difficult to 
 turn round in them. These holes are usually covered with 
 images, crosses, etc. ; they are warm in winter and cool in 
 summer. The only inconvenience is the great number of 
 mosquitoes of all sizes, down to some so small as to be nearly 
 imperceptible. Those who inhabit caves on the shores 
 complain of toads, snakes and other reptiles. The occupa- 
 tions of the hermits are praying, fishing, and turning crosses 
 
32 
 
 of sandal-wood, or tying woolen chaplets, etc., these objects 
 being gladly bought by worshipers visiting the Sacred 
 River. 
 
 35. Portrait of a Hermit. 
 
 Still a young man, of steady appearance. He has served 
 in the Church of Golgotha, but was obliged to abandon it, 
 in order to avoid the example of the other monks in their 
 free manners with the female worshipers. 
 
 36. A Russian Hermit. 
 
 Father Vassian from Kamenetz Podolsk, in South Russia, 
 formerly a miller by profession, is waiting for an opportunity 
 to build a good mill for some cloister, and afterward to die 
 in peace near the Sacred River. He was particularly pleased 
 with the chaplets on the sketch, which serve him for his 
 prayers, three times a day, morning, evening, and midnight, 
 when he gives 300 points to Christ, 300 to the Virgin Mary, 
 200 to the Angels, Archangels, Prophets, and Apostles, and 
 200 to all the Saints ! His belief is great and sincere, but 
 the devil evidently tempts him, as he asked me in confidence, 
 “If the Tsar would see his portrait, and possibly give him 
 some gratification.” 
 
 37. His Lodging. 
 
 On the summit of a hill, with a small canopy over the 
 entrance. Passing worshipers lay at his door some trifling 
 gift, such as biscuits or copper money. 
 
 St. John the Baptist probably lived in a similar hole. 
 According to tradition he led a wandering life, and had two 
 or three refuges on the other side of the river, more or less 
 remote, according as his relations happened to be with the 
 authorities. ■ . 
 
No. 38. 
 
 38. Portrait cf a Jewish Rabbi. 
 
 A Rabbi from the Western Provinces of Russia. The 
 Jews, especially the aged, come in great numbers to the 
 Holy City, in order to pass in it their last years, and to be 
 
34 
 
 buried in the valley of Jehosaphat, whence they believe they 
 will be called before others to the future life. The Jewish 
 population of Jerusalem has largely increased in latter years, 
 partly because of the great number of charitable institutions 
 built and supported by Montefiore, the Rothschilds, and 
 some other banker-kings. The Turkish government was 
 so much alarmed by this invasion of Jews, that it issued an 
 order forbidding them to remain in the Holy Land more 
 than thirty days, and to settle there. The Turks are evi- 
 dently afraid that the Promised Land will again pass into 
 the possession of the Jews — and this will certainly happen 
 some day. 
 
 This portrait was only obtained under a promise that it 
 should not be hung in a Christian church. 
 
 39. A Rabbi. 
 
 Stipulated for a glass of brandy at each sitting. 
 
 40. A Rabbi. 
 
 41. Portrait of an Arab. 
 
 The Arabs came here with the Kalifs as conquerors. They 
 have a good type, are hospitable, and belong mostly to the 
 Sunni sect, of the Mohammedan religion. There are, how- 
 ever, many Christians now among them, large sums of money 
 having been spent every year by different Christian sects 
 to attract Arab families to their faith. Often after having 
 accepted help from one community, the Arab returns to his 
 former faith, or allows himself to be converted to another 
 religion where the reward is more substantial. This rivalry 
 between the different Christian faiths is the cause of great 
 corruption in the character of modern Arabs in the Holy 
 Land. 
 
35 
 
 42. An Arab Woman. 
 
 The type of the Arab woman may be called beautiful. It 
 is common to meet women at places of public resort of 
 striking beauty ; but, like all Oriental women, they grow old 
 very early. The poorer Arab women work very hard, while 
 the rich look upon every kind of work as degrading, and 
 pass their days in incessant chatter. 
 
 43. A Court of a House in Jerusalem. 
 
 A characteristic old building near Solomon’s Wall, such 
 as are ordinarily occupied by two or three families, who are 
 constantly quarreling among themselves. While engaged 
 at my work, I heard an incessant clatter proceeding from 
 the shrill voices of women, mingled with occasional cries of 
 children, the men very seldom interfering in these disputes. 
 To make matters worse, the atmosphere in these picturesque 
 courts was often insupportable from bad smells, and many 
 of the children were suffering from different contagious dis- 
 orders, such as sinall-pox. 
 
 44. A Greek Monk. 
 
 45. The Holy Family, as I understand it, according 
 to the following texts of the Gospel. 
 
 Matthew i., 25 ; xii., 46, 47, 48 ; xiii., 55, 56. — Mark iii., 
 3 1 , 3 2 , 33, 34, 55 J vi., 3-— John ii., 12 ; vii., 3, 5, 10. 
 
 46. Jesus with John the Baptist on the Jordan. 
 
 “ Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John to 
 be baptised of him ” (Matthew iii., 13). John vowed him- 
 self to the Lord ; he neither cut his hair nor drank wine ; 
 from his youth he withdrew to the desert, where he lived in 
 the most ascetic manner. “And John was clothed with 
 
No. 
 
3 7 
 
 camels’ hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins, and 
 he did eat locusts and wild honey ” (Mark i., 6). 
 
 He was an ascetic, resembling those ascetics who may still 
 be seen in India, whence most probably the type came over 
 to Judaea. The people regarded him as a Prophet or even 
 as a Messiah, and for a long time the Priests and the 
 Pharisees dared not undertake anything against him, not- 
 withstanding his bold and loud condemnations of their life 
 and rules. 
 
 The people streamed to him to be baptised, as the sign of 
 the adoption of the new principles. Christ, who at that 
 time was very little known, came also to John, and was 
 baptised with the others. 
 
 “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and 
 saith, ‘ Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin 
 of the world. This is he of whom I said, after me cometh 
 a man which is preferred before me, for he was before me 
 (John i., 29, 30). “Now when John had heard in the prison 
 the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said 
 unto him, ‘ Art thou He that should come, or do we look 
 for another ’ ” (Matthew xi., 2, 3). “ And as they departed, 
 Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, 
 ‘ What went ye out into the wilderness to see ? . . . A 
 
 prophet? Yea, I say unto you and more than a prophet. 
 For this is he of whom it is written ’ ” (Matthew xi., 7, 9, 10). 
 
 47. Jesus in the Desert. 
 
 “The spirit driveth him into the wilderness, and he was 
 there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan ” 
 (Mark i., 12, 13). 
 
 Possibly Christ, on returning from Jordan, remained forty 
 days in the desert in one of the numerous old grottoes of the 
 so-called Mount Quarantania, and left the retreat only after 
 hearing of John’s imprisonment. Many times afterwards He 
 
39 
 
 retired to the desert, partly for safety, partly to meditate and 
 compose his thoughts. . . . 
 
 From the statement of contemporaries it is known that 
 our Saviour had a handsome figure, beautiful blond hair — 
 auburn, according to Bysantic tradition. 
 
 He seldom smiled but was easily moved to tears. 
 
 Women were greatly devoted to Him, and He was often 
 followed by a number of them. His face was beautiful 
 according to some, while the others testify quite to the con- 
 trary (Tertullian). 
 
 48. Christ on the Sea of Tiberias. 
 
 Jesus went out of his house, and sat by the sea-side. 
 And great multitudes were gathered unto him, so that he 
 went into a ship and sat ; and the whole multitude stood on 
 the shore” (Matthew xiii., 1, 2). 
 
 “ And it came to pass that as the people pressed upon him 
 to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gen- 
 nesaret. . . . ” (Luke v., 1, 2, 3). 
 
 49. The Prophecy. 
 
 “ Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of 
 his mighty works were done, because they repented not : 
 “ Woe unto thee, Chorazin ! woe unto thee, Bethsaida ! for 
 if the mighty works which v/ere done in you, had been done 
 in Tyra and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in 
 sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, it shall be more 
 tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment than 
 for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto 
 heaven, shall be brought down to hell, for if the mighty 
 works which have been done in thee, had been done in 
 Sodom, it would have remained unto this day. But I say 
 unto you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of 
 
40 
 
 Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee” (Matt, xi., 
 20-24). 
 
 It is to be remarked that now not only in the desolation 
 of these sites, but in the very dispute about their identity, 
 it had indeed been “more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon ” in 
 the day of their earthly judgment than for those cities : the 
 flames of Tyre and Sidon are preserved, their sites are 
 anquestioned, but here the names are gone, and the cities 
 problematical. 
 
 50. The Future Emperor of India. 
 
 When the Prince of Wales traveled through India the 
 native chiefs vied with one another in the splendor and 
 ceremony of their receptions. There might be seen con- 
 spicuous red costumes by the side of picturesque remnants 
 of mediaeval taste ; above all gleamed costly jewels, gold 
 and silver. . . . When I came first to Jeypore I found 
 
 that the houses were agreeably painted in different colors : 
 green, blue, yellow ; but on returning to the spot later on, I 
 was perfectly astonished : previous to the entrance of the 
 Prince of Wales into his residence, the Maharajah of Jey- 
 pore gave strict orders to strew with roses all the buildings 
 of his town, without exception. 
 
 51. The Window of Selim-Shisti’s Monument. 
 
 The great Mogul Akbar, the most powerful Indian 
 chief, erected this monument over the remains of his friend 
 and counsellor, Selim-Shisti, a man who led a most holy 
 life, and whose memory is still held in reverence by all the 
 Mohammedans of India. This window, like the monument 
 itself, is of pure white marble. On the veranda surround- 
 ing it pilgrims converse with the descendants of the saint, 
 who perform religious offices without being themselves in 
 the least degree holy. 
 

 No. 50. 
 
42 
 
 52. The Gate of Aliah-Uddin in Ancient Delhi. 
 
 Has been built upwards of six hundred years, of red sand- 
 stone admirably preserved. Court attendants, and grooms 
 with horses, await the coming of their master. 
 
 53. The House of Berbul in Futtehpore Sikri (in 
 the neighborhood of Agra). 
 
 So massive are the red stone buildings, so fine and deli- 
 cate their details, that from the outside, as well as from the 
 interior, the structure seems carved out cf ivory. Raja 
 Berbul, favorite of the great Moghul Akbar, was one of the 
 adherents of the party who contemplated a fusion of Sara- 
 cenic with Indian elements, and this building bears witness 
 to his intentions. 
 
 54. The Chief Mosque in Futtehpore Sikri 
 
 Stands on the western side of an immense courtyard, sur- 
 rounded by beautiful galleries, with many other mosques 
 and enormous gates. 
 
 Built after the pattern of the mosque in Mekka, erected 
 over the grave of Mahomet, entrance to which is strictly 
 forbidden to unbelievers. 
 
 55. The Pearl Mosque in Agra. 
 
 The temple is of white marble in Mauresque style, of very 
 fine proportions. There are few or no ornaments, but the 
 beauty of lines and of the material compensate for it. The 
 mosque was built in the year 1654, at the time when the 
 first signs of decay in the Mogul art began to be felt. 
 
No. 54, 
 
44 
 
 56. Sunrise in the Himalayas. 
 
 Opposite Darjiling. Sunrise and sunset in these moun- 
 tains afford the most ravishing and magnificent sights which 
 the brush can only approximately depict. 
 
 One day I went out to make a sketch of the sunset. I 
 prepared my palette, but the sight was so beautiful I waited, 
 delayed the work in order to examine better the sight. 
 Several thousand feet below me all was wrapt in a pure blue 
 shadow ; the summits of the peaks were resplendent in pur- 
 ple flames. I waited, and waited, and would not begin my 
 sketch. “ By and by,” said I, “ I want to look at it still, it is 
 so splendid ! ” I continued to wait, and waited until the 
 end of the evening — until the sun was set, and the mountains 
 were enveloped in dark shadows. Then I shut up my paint- 
 box and returned home. 
 
 57. The same. 
 
 58. The Taj in the Morning (from the Garden). 
 
 59. The Taj in the Evening (from the Garden). 
 
 60. The Taj in the Evening (from the River). 
 
 The Taj is properly a monument erected by the Great 
 Mogul, Shah Jihan, over the grave of his favorite wife. She 
 died in full strength of youth and beauty, and the Great 
 Mogul promised in memory of her to build such a monu- 
 ment over her tomb that would surpass all the existing con- 
 structions. And so he did. I must say that in my opinion 
 there is nothing even in Europe which can surpass the Taj 
 — this quiet, solemn, wonderful place of the last rest of a 
 charming woman, who died giving birth to her first child, 
 the future emperor. Built of white marble, it is decked from 
 top to bottom with ornaments of lapis-lazuli, malachite, cor- 
 nelians, and other precious stones. It is difficult to form an 
 
45 
 
 idea of the splendor of this building without seeing it. 
 From the garden it affords a particularly charming aspect, 
 where its beautiful lines and dazzling white marble are 
 thrown into high relief by the dark green foliage. 
 
 There were 20,000 men engaged upon it for seventeen 
 years, and although the labor cost nothing, the sum of 
 $20,000,000 was swallowed up by this building. 
 
 The entrance door was made of massive silver, and an 
 enormous diamond was placed on the tomb itself. One may 
 remark, perhaps, that the middle cupola is a little too heavy, 
 or that some other details could have been treated in another 
 way, but taken in its ensemble, as I remarked somewhere 
 before, Taj can be compared to a beautiful woman whom 
 you make bold to criticise when she is absent, but in whose 
 presence you can only say : Charming, charming, charming ! 
 
 61. The Private Mosque of the Great Moguls in 
 the Palace of Dehli. 
 
 Surrounded from all sides with white marble w^alls, the 
 mosque is strongly reflected — no dark shadows — fresh, cool, 
 airy. I like the Moslem mosques ; the prayer is simple and 
 not less solemn than that of the Christian’s ; but the Deity is 
 not represented there in any painted or sculptured form. 
 You may feel that God is present at your prayer, but where 
 is He ? — it is left to your soul to discover it. . . 
 
 62. Mount Kanchinjinga, from Darjiling in the 
 Evening. 
 
 63. Tibetan Lamas. 
 
 Good-natured, voracious creatures, who never change 
 their clothes, which therefore smell, and are full of insects. 
 Nevertheless, all the higher Lamas are immortal, i. e ., their 
 souls, according to the Buddhist belief, are immediately after 
 death born again in the bodies of little children. 
 
46 
 
 64. Hindu Workman. 
 
 Down-trodden, poor beings, who can never quite satisfy 
 their hunger. The Hindu is remarkable for his talent for 
 any work requiring great patience. Builder of the greatest 
 and most handsome monuments, accomplished workmen in 
 the finest jewelry work, hard worker in every line — he lives 
 on five cents a day, himself and family. When the hard 
 time of famine comes on he only tightens his belt, compress- 
 ing his stomach more and more every day. 
 
 65. Bhutanese of Sikkhim in the Himalayas. 
 
 The Bhutanese are of Mongol race ; an idle, quarrelsome, 
 and extremely superstitious people. The tribe is closely 
 connected with Thibet, properly speaking : and these men 
 are very numerous in the Thibetan army, the English have 
 to face in their present war. 
 
 66. Bhutanese Girl. 
 
 67. Bhutanese Woman. 
 
 68. Hindu Mohammedan Workman. 
 
 The Mohammedan Hindus are, probably in consequence 
 of their warlike religion, not so apathetic as the Brahmans. 
 Their religion allows the former to do many things forbid- 
 den to the latter. 
 
 69. Kanchinjinga, Pandim and other Mountains in 
 in the Clouds. 
 
 These effects of sun in India are simply astonishing — 
 without seeing them it is difficult to have faith in the truth- 
 fulness of the artist. 
 
 70. Sunset in India. 
 
47 
 
 71. The Forgotten Soldier.* 
 
 These lines are by the artist , and are translated from the original by IV. li. S. 
 Ralston- 
 
 (a) Hushed is the battle : silence fills 
 Anew the hollows of the hills ; 
 
 Save where, amid the rocks alone, 
 
 Is feebly heard a dying groan. 
 
 * * * -x- * $ 
 
 Above the topmost snowy height, 
 
 A somber spot in azure light. 
 
 On steady wing, intent on prey, 
 
 A vulture wends its circling way. 
 
 ( b ) Far from its watch-place in the skies, 
 
 A gleam of scarlet it espies. 
 
 Amid the bushes, where the mist 
 The forehead of the hill has kissed. 
 
 Sweeps the vulture widely round, 
 
 Sees what cumbereth the ground, 
 
 Folds its pinions ; from afar 
 Earthward drops — like a falling star. 
 
 (c) Together to the banquet fly 
 
 Its comrades, summoned by its cry ; 
 
 With eager beaks and claws the troop 
 Of vulture’s on the booty swoop. 
 
 But hark ! fresh pinions cleave the air 
 The eagles to the feast repair ; 
 
 Above the dead, with hunger’s rage, 
 
 The rival bands in fight engage. 
 
 How long the contest lasted none 
 Can say, nor which the vict’ry won ; 
 
 Only the hills, the battle o’er, 
 
 Have seen the vulture wheel no more. 
 
 * x x- x- x- * 
 
 All in the mountains is at peace, 
 
 There all things flourish, gleam, increase ; 
 
 Day follows day, the years go by — 
 
 The soldier’s bones .forgotten lie. 
 
 * Only one of these large pictures could be exhibited here. 
 
No. 74. 
 
49 
 
 72. In Bulgaria during the War (Outposts in 
 the Balkans.) 
 
 73. In Bulgaria after the War. 
 
 74. Cossack Picket on the Danube. 
 
 Pickets of Cossacks and Hussars were stationed along 
 the left bank of the Danube opposite Rustchuk, before the 
 Russians crossed this river. At each Cossack picket was a 
 beacon with tarred straw twisted round it, to be lighted in 
 case of alarm, in order that danger might be at once sig- 
 nalled down the whole line. 
 
 75 Skobeleff at Shipka. 
 
 The day after the battle at Shipka, where the Turks under 
 Vessel Pasha were surrounded and fe&ken prisoners, Skobeleff 
 reviewed his troops, and thanked them for the victory. The 
 regiments were drawn up facing the Turkish forts, with 
 their left flank on Mount St. Nicholas. Putting spurs to his 
 horse, the general galloped down the line, and, waving his cap, 
 shouted to the men : “ In our country’s name, on the part 
 of our Sovereign, I thank you my comrades ! ” It would 
 be difficult to describe the enthusiasm that prevailed as the 
 soldiers threw their caps in the air and cheered repeatedly, 
 Skobeleff was evidently deeply moved, as I saw tears in his 
 eyes. Indeed all were overjoyed at the success, every one 
 kept holiday— except the dead, slain but yesterday, and still 
 littering the ground before the trenches. 
 
 76. The Earth Huts at Shipka. 
 
 The road up the Shipka Pass reminded me of a village. 
 On one side were the earth huts of the soldiers, with an 
 occasional small house of a commanding officer ; on the 
 
5i 
 
 other a row of fir tops to show the direction of the road in 
 misty weather. Having no warm clothing, the men covered 
 themselves with anything they could get, mostly bits of tent 
 canvas which served instead of overcoats. This was a very 
 slight protection against the cold, and large numbers were 
 frostbitten every day. The close earth huts swarmed with 
 every species of insect, and though bullet-proof to some 
 extent, afforded no shelter against artillery fire, particularly 
 shells, which often burst through the roofs and killed every- 
 body inside. It was dangerous to venture outside the huts, 
 owing to the commanding positions held by the Turks, who 
 enfiladed our men on three sides, and could pick them off 
 with their rifle fire. It became particularly lively at meal 
 times, when the rations were brought round in troikas (carts 
 drawn by three horses) from the shelter of the hills, and 
 now and again a shell would burst in the midst of a crowd 
 surrounding one of these provision wagons, and confuse in 
 one heap, cart, horses, and men. The water-bearers also 
 suffered heavily, many of them never returning. All day 
 long bullets were whizzing about, literally like flies ; every 
 minute a shell would burst, now on this side, now on that. 
 Well do I remember one day sitting down to sketch under 
 cover of a Turkish bullet-proof block-house, and being 
 obliged to leave my work unfinished, three shells in rapid 
 succession having struck the roof, entered and broken every- 
 thing, covering my palette thickly with dust and dirt. 
 
 77. Snow Trenches on the Pass. 
 
 The day of our crossing the Balkans, in order to guard 
 against a possible flank attack, Skobeleff ordered trenches to 
 be dug. The earth was so hard frozen, that it became 
 necessary to throw up breastworks of snow, which lay so 
 deep on the ground that the Turks never thought of attack- 
 ing us, but only assembled in crowds in their positions on our 
 
No. 78. 
 
53 
 
 front, on a level with us, evidently surprised at our move- 
 ments in the deep snow, while the few shells fired from their 
 batteries caused us no loss. That night the frost was intense, 
 and our soldiers having nothing but their thin overcoats 
 to wear (the warm clothing did not arrive till spring) strict 
 orders were given in the regiments that every one should be 
 kept awake. Slumber that night meant death. I remember 
 trying to doze near the camp fire, protected with a number of 
 warm wraps, yet in spite of ail this I felt that I was freezing, 
 and accordingly lit a cigar and waited by the fireside till it 
 was time to march. 
 
 78. “All Quiet at Shipka ! ” 
 
 (All Quiet along the jPotomac.) 
 
 General Radetsky’s report to the commander-in-chief : 
 The daily losses from Turkish bullets were far exceeded by 
 those from frost-bite. Nearly the whole of the 24th division 
 was frost-bitten. Regiments were dreadfully reduced in 
 strength ; in some companies only ten men and a few sub- 
 alterns were left ; at length, the pitiable remnants were with- 
 drawn from position. The General reported as usual, “ All 
 is quiet at Shipka ! ” 
 
 79. Before the Attack. 
 
 The day on which the third attempt to storm Plevna took 
 place was cloudy, and from early morning a fine rain fell, 
 soaking the clayey soil, and making it impossible to walk 
 much less to storm the heights. I remember the com- 
 mander-in-chief exclaiming, as he clasped his forehead with 
 both hands : “ How will our men advance ? How can they 
 march in such mire ? ” The attack, nevertheless, was not 
 postponed, as it was the Emperor’s birthday, and the gene- 
 rals were inspecting their men and urging them to make a 
 birthday present of Plevna to H.I.M. The troops lay down 
 while awaiting the signal for the attack. 
 
54 
 
 8o. The Emperor Alexander II. before Plevna. 
 
 By the time I had made my way to headquarters I heard 
 shouts, “ Road, road ! ” and at that minute a Cossack escort 
 rode past, followed by an open carriage in which sat the 
 Emperor. He greeted me with a “ Good morning, Verest- 
 chagin.” Shortly afterward prayers began at headquarters, 
 the priest in trembling accents imploring God to “ grant the 
 victory and preserve the men.” . . . 
 
 While we were yet on our knees, suddenly the crash of 
 artillery fire and roll of musketry burst on our ears. This 
 proved to be a mistake on the part of some of our forces 
 who had anticipated the time fixed upon for the assault by 
 four hours. After prayers were over breakfast was served, 
 and during this meal His Majesty turned to us, goblet in 
 hand, and said : “To the health of those now fighting there, 
 hurrah ! ” Our answering cheer was drowned in the din of 
 battle. 
 
 The sky was heavily overcast, and the rain continued to fall, 
 as the group of officers and others surrounding the Emperor 
 watched with their field-glasses the course of the fighting, every 
 now and then exchanging a few words of comment, and dis- 
 cussing the probabilities of the situation. Meanwhile, he sat 
 motionless on his camp-stool with his eyes fixed on the Turk- 
 ish redoubts. The roar of artille ry and rattle of small arms 
 were unceasing. We heard distinctly the hurrahs of the 
 Russians, and the Aliah ! Allah ! of the Turks. At first 
 the Turkish redoubts were almost silent, and many supposed 
 them to be short of ammunition, but as our columns advanced, 
 volley after volley poured forth and raked the storming bat- 
 tallions with shells and grape-shot. We saw our advance 
 checked, the ranks thrown into confusion, the lines broken. 
 
 . . . Again they move forward with a cheer. . . . but their 
 advance is slower. . . . they are disorganized. . . . Some 
 stop. . . . their cheers sound faint and uncertain. . . . 
 
See ! they turn back. 
 
 . . . they run. The 
 field of battle is 
 shrouded in smoke. 
 
 81. After the Bat- 
 tle. 
 
 The following day, 
 having learned from 
 an aide-de-camp who 
 had arrived from Gen- 
 eral Skobeleff that of 
 my two brothers who 
 were with him, one 
 had been killed and 
 the other wounded, I 
 set out with my wound 
 still unhealed to reach 
 the left flank, which 
 was a long way off. I 
 met numbers of 
 wounded along the 
 road, and on reaching 
 the field-lazaret asked 
 a doctor how many 
 had passed through 
 his hands. “ We have 
 reached the seventh 
 thousand,” was his 
 answer. Altogether 
 18,000 men were 
 placed hors de combat 
 on the Russian side. 
 
 The doctors worked 
 
 No. 80, 
 
56 
 
 with wonderful zeal and unselfishness, the services rendered 
 by the Sisters of Mercy were beyond all praise, yet in 
 spite of this, vast numbers remained for days together with 
 their wounds undressed, without either food or drink ! 
 All previous calculations and preparations were falsified by 
 actual necessities. Orders had been given to prepare for 
 three to four thousand wounded ; instead of this there were 
 actually over 13,000. At the divisional hospital I visited, 
 accommodation had been provided for 500 men, but several 
 thousands were brought in, causing enormous over-pressure. 
 In their anxiety that their wounds should be dressed, all 
 crowded to the tents intended for the severely wounded only. 
 
 At the entrance of one of these there is the figure 
 of a man breathing heavily, convulsively. He com- 
 manded the regiment which first entered the Turkish 
 redoubt and was mortally wounded. He is left in peace 
 with a gauze covering to keep off the flies adhering 
 to his warm blood. Farther on is a general with a broken 
 leg patiently awaiting the dresser, and inquiring of new- 
 comers the position of affairs at the front. Some are beyond 
 the surgeon’s skill and the attendants are summoned to 
 remove their bodies and make room for others. Their 
 places are quickly filled. This time a wounded soldier is 
 brought in, covered with a soiled cloak thrown negligently 
 over him ; beneath it what would be difficult to recognize 
 as a living man. The face is of an ashen hue, the features 
 distorted with agony, the eyes dull; he turns a fixed gaze 
 upon the approaching surgeon who stoops and opens his 
 clothes. . . . then lets them drop and passes on to the 
 next : the wound is mortal, no time to waste over it. 
 Without a sob, without a cry, every one waits his turn to 
 have his wound dressed and to be sent home. In dry 
 weather the wounded were comparatively better off ; during 
 the rains, however, all these thousands, for whom there was 
 no room in the tents, sat, stood, and lay in pools of water. 
 
57 
 
 82. Dressing the Wounded. 
 
 The carts used in transporting the wounded were the same 
 as those in which the supplies of rusks were brought to the 
 army, and these were supplemented by local carts. After 
 the third assault on Plevna the whole road from this town 
 to the Danube was thronged by transport trains of these 
 carts ; what with the primitive construction of the vehicles 
 and the execrable roads, the agonies of the wounded were 
 horrible beyond description, and the most trifling wounds 
 gangrened and became mortal. During a removal from one 
 hospital to another, lasting usually several days, in the heat 
 and dust, all the wounds became full of worms, and the Sis- 
 ters of Mercy had to display extraordinary fortitude in clean- 
 ing, dressing, and healing all this. Whatever the behavior 
 of women in other countries and other armies may be, I know 
 not, b*ut this I can say, that the Russian woman showed 
 herself a true heroine in her devotion, her honor and 
 unselfishness. 
 
 83. The Turkish Hospital at Plevna. 
 
 After the surrender of this town we found the whole 
 of the principal street filled with hospitals ; the houses on 
 both sides were crowded with sick and wounded. In the 
 company of a doctor and another friend, I visited these 
 “hospitals.” At the first gateway I met the owner of the 
 house, and learned of him that there were thirty sick men in 
 it, “ but some,” he added, “must have died.” We entered. 
 No words can express the horrors : the foetid air, the filth, 
 the dirt, and in the midst of it all what a scene of death ! 
 nothing but death ! The same thing in the next house, the 
 third, fourth, tenth, twentieth, fiftieth — all alike. Now 
 and again something stirred in a corner under a heap of 
 •rags, showing that life was not quite extinct. In one house 
 
No. 84. 
 
59 
 
 only a wounded Turk met us, with terribly inflamed eyes. 
 He had heard approaching footsteps, and had probably 
 wanted to meet 11s, but he was only able to stand by sup- 
 porting himself against the wall, and mutter a few words 
 between his teeth ; he could not articulate. In the panic 
 of the last few days before the surrender of the town, and 
 also afterwards, the Turks forgot and abandoned their sick 
 and wounded ; the Turkish doctors and surgeons all dis- 
 persed, and had to be caught and forcibly made to enter the 
 hospitals. But it was almost a hopeless task, for this mass 
 of brave men were beyond human aid. 
 
 84. The Spy. 
 
 “ Come and see them leading away a spy,” said General 
 Skobeleff (father of my friend, Michael Skobeleff), to me. 
 We seated ourselves on a bench opposite a house entered 
 by Colonel P. of the staff, and an aide-de-camp of the com- 
 mander-in-chief, who had just arrived from headquarters. 
 Before the porch were posted soldiers with fixed bayonets, 
 two in front and two on either side. The examination and 
 interrogatories lasted some time, and half-an-hour must have 
 elasped before we saw the figure of a tall, dark man on the 
 threshold. He was handsomely dressed, and wore his cap 
 a little on one side. At the sight of the soldiers he turned 
 somewhat paler, stopped, took a deep breath, and thrusting 
 his hands into his pockets began descending the steps with- 
 out moving his eyes from the soldiers. 
 
 85. The Adjutant. 
 
 Si jeune et si d^corS. 
 
 86. The Road of the War Prisoners. 
 
 The road from Plevna to the Danube for a distance of 
 thirty to forty miles was literally strewn with the bodies of 
 
frozen wounded Turks. The frost set in so suddenly, and 
 with such severity, that the brave defenders of Plevna in 
 their stiff frozen overcoats were too weak to resist it, and 
 by ones and twos fell on the road, and were frozen to death. 
 With the assistance of a Cossack companion I tried to raise 
 some of these fallen and set them on their feet, but they fell 
 down again, so completely enfeebled were they, though 
 evidently anxious to follow their comrades. Sitting and 
 lying in the snow they moved hands and feet as though 
 they longed to be moving, but were powerless. The next 
 day their movements became less, and they lay on the snow 
 by the hundred, prostrate on their backs, moving lips and 
 fingers as they gradually and slowly froze to death. (Having 
 heard that this kind of death was one of the least painful, I 
 closely examined the faces of the corpses lying in every 
 imaginable position along the road, and convinced myself 
 that every face bore the impress of deep suffering. This 
 form of death then is evidently also not painless.) I recol- 
 lect two Turks in particular — an old man, and quite a youth, 
 seated by the side of the road, warming themselves by a 
 diminutive fire of a few sticks. When I stopped my horse 
 near them in the morning, the youth tried to speak to me, but 
 burst into tears, and I could only understand, “ Oh, Effendi, 
 Effendi ! ” I answered, pointing to heaven, “ Allah, Allah ! ” 
 The older man was silent, and looked gloomily down. On 
 returning to Plevna in the evening I sought out the place 
 where I had left them ; the little fire had long burnt itself 
 out, the young Turk lay prostrate and apparently dead, while 
 his companion sat motionless beside him bent almost double. 
 He, too, was probably also dead. 
 
 The first few days there was nobody to remove the dead 
 and dying, so that passing carts and gun-carriages crushed 
 their bodies into the snow and rendered it impossible to ex- 
 tricate them without spoiling the road. 
 
6i 
 
 87. A Resting-place of Prisoners. 
 
 I remember a party of eight to ten thousand piisoners at 
 Plevna overtaken by a snow-storm. They extended along 
 the high road for a great distance and sat closely huddled 
 together, with heads bent down, and from all this mass of 
 human beings there rose a dull moaning from thousands of 
 voices as they slowly and in measure repeated, “ Allah ! Allah ! 
 Allah ! ” The snow covered them, the wind blew through 
 their chilled forms ; no fire, no shelter, no bread. When 
 the word of command to start was given, I saw some of 
 the older, venerable Turks, probably fathers of families, 
 crying like children, and imploring the escort to let them go 
 as far as the town to dry their clothes, warm themselves, 
 and rest ; but this was strictly forbidden, as there were 
 such numbers of them, and only one answer was returned 
 to all their supplications, “ Forward, forward ! ” 
 
 88. The Conquered. 
 
 A regiment of Chasseurs of the Guard having been 
 ordered to make a feigned attack on the Turkish fortress of 
 Telisch, instead of manoeuvring, by mistake attacked in 
 earnest. Half were immediately killed or wounded, the 
 remainder retiring. The Turks left their fortifications, and 
 throwing themselves upon the dead and wounded, plunder- 
 ing and stripping them naked, even mutilating them in the 
 most barbarous fashion. . . Two days afterwards, when 
 
 the Russians captured the fortress, they collected the bodies 
 of their unfortunate comrades, counted, and buried them all 
 in one large grave. The priest performed the burial service, 
 and offered up prayers for all those who had lain down 
 their lives for their Fatherland. 
 
’88 ’ON 
 
^3 
 
 89. Russian Types. 
 
 (a) Blacksmith, native of Vladimir, 59 years of age. 
 
 (b) His wife, 50 years of age. 
 
 (c) Coppersmith, native of Smolensk, 62 years of age, 
 has all his life made cockades. 
 
 (d) Girl of district near Mosko, 15 years of age. 
 
 (e) Dvornik (gate-keeper), 40 years of age, native of 
 Riazan. 
 
 (/) Retired valet de chambre , 70 years of age, has been 
 50 years in service, and looks upon his masters with feelings 
 not unmixed with irony. 
 
 90. The Kreml, from the opposite side of the River 
 
 Moskva. This is one of the most curious sights in 
 existence. I do not know any other city in the 
 world that would present more original and even 
 more striking views. 
 
 91. Crucifixion by the Romans. ^ “ E,ye for 
 
 94. Private Mosque at the Palace of the Great 
 
 Moguls in Delhi. 
 
 95. Mendicant Friar of the Order of Nakhsb-bendi at 
 
 the doors of a Mosque in Turkestan. 
 
 96. The Kreml of Moscow in Winter. 
 
 97. The same. 
 
 98. The Moscow Cathedrals and the river Moskva 
 (in the spring). 
 
 92. Blowing from Guns in British 
 
 Eye, 
 
 India. 
 
 93. Hanging in Russia. 
 
 Y Tooth 
 for 
 
 J Tooth.” 
 
04 
 
 99- A Street in the T own of Rostov, in the winter 
 with the setting sun. 
 
 ioo. Tkonostass of an old Wooden Church in the 
 Village of Tshna. 
 
 Services are rarely held in this church. Therefore it is 
 preserved as it was in the XVIIth century. It has escaped 
 the hands of the. restorers and of the lovers of modern 
 sumptuosities. 
 
 ioi. Interior of same Church. 
 
 This is the Prior’s Pew, the church having formerly 
 belonged to a monastery. 
 
 102. Entrance Door of the same Church, 
 
 Together with the good old woman who, in place of her 
 octogenarian husband, takes care of the church and protects 
 it against embellishments. 
 
 103. Ancient Terems (palaces) in the Kreml of 
 
 Rostov. 
 
 These palaces were occupied by the Dukes of Rostov ; 
 after them by the metropolitans of the province ; and, 
 among others, by Philaret, father of the first Tsar of the 
 house of Romanof, who was forced to take orders by 
 another pretender to the throne, a more powerful man, 
 Godunof, who succeeded in getting into power for a short 
 time. 
 
 104. Entrance Door to the Ipatief Cathedral at 
 
 Kostroma. 
 
 At this door came out the first Romanof, the Tsar 
 Michel Feodorovitch, when he showed himself to the people 
 after his election. The young prince was hiding, together 
 with his mother, behind the walls of the monastery from the 
 
A Jew of Jerusalem. 
 
67 
 
 Poles, who devastated Russia at that time ; and it was here 
 that he received the delegated who came solemnly offering 
 the crown to him. 
 
 105. Family Vault of the Soltykofs and other princely 
 families in the monastery of Bogojavlensk in Kostroma. 
 
 ❖ sfs % 
 
 The exhibition also includes a collection of Photographs 
 of my earlier works, chiefly relating to Central Asia. 
 
 106. The Portico of a Church of the XVIIth Cen- 
 tury in Jaroslexv. 
 
 It is on such galleries that, waiting for the service to 
 begin, or at the end of it, the people come out to rest 
 themselves and to converse. The vaults and the walls are 
 covered with paintings on subjects from the Holy Writ, with 
 appropriate inscriptions. 
 
 107. The same. 
 
 PHOTOGRAPHY. 
 
 108. An Ambush. 
 
 A small Russian detachment, sent on a reconnoitring 
 expedition, has encamped in a valley, unaware that the 
 enemy (Uzbeks and Kirghizes) is concealed in the neigh- 
 boring hills, watching a favorable moment for the attack. 
 
 109. The Surprise. 
 
 No sooner has the detachment dispersed, intent on various 
 errands, than masses of the enemy are upon it, uttering 
 terrible cries, and brandishing their swords and spears. All 
 those Russians who had gone a little distance are cut down; 
 the remainder assemble and prepare to sell their lives dearly. 
 (I was present at one of these engagements.) 
 
68 
 
 no. Surrounded — Pursued. 
 
 The handful of brave survivors, surrounded on all sides, 
 retreats fighting. They have beaten off the enemy, and 
 keep him at a respectful distance with their rifle fire. The 
 dead are abandoned, the wounded led away. An officer 
 is carried by his men. (A picture representing the total 
 destruction of a detachment in a mountain defile, where the 
 last survivors are shot down and killed by fragments of rock 
 hurled from the crags above, was not finished.) 
 
 ill. Presenting the Trophies. 
 
 In the palace of the Emir of Bokhara, at Samarkand. In 
 the background is the celebrated ‘ Kok-tash ’ — the throne 
 of Tamerlane. The heads of the slaughtered Russians are 
 brought to the Emir, who rewards the bearers of these 
 trophies with the customary robes of honor, each individual 
 receiving according to the number of heads he brings. 
 
 1 12. Triumph. 
 
 The Emir presents his people with the heads of their foes. 
 These are then stuck upon high poles in the principal square 
 in Samarkand, in front of the mosques. A mollah preaches 
 on the text : “ Thus God ordains that infidels should perish ; 
 there is only one God ! ” 
 
 113. Returning Thanks for the Victory. 
 
 The Emir and his retinue offer up thanksgivings for the 
 victory at the grave of Tamerlane — great Mohammedan 
 saint of our day — noted conqueror and robber of former 
 times. 
 
6 9 
 
 114. Apotheosis of War. 
 
 Dedicated to all the great conquerors, past, present, and 
 future. This picture is not the creation of the artist’s 
 imagination — it is historically correct. Tamerlane and many 
 other heroes raised such monuments on their battle-fields, 
 leaving the bones to be cleansed and whitened by the sun 
 and rain, by wolves, jackals, and birds of prey. Not very 
 long ago, about i860, the celebrated German scientist, 
 Schlagintweit (while in the English service), was murdered 
 by Valikhan-tiure, despot of Jetyshar in Kashgaria, and his 
 head was thrown on a similar, though smaller pyramid, 
 which it was the Khan’s amusement to watch growing daily 
 bigger. 
 
 1 15. Gate of Tamerlane. 
 
 In the palace at Samarkand. 
 
 116. Gate of a Mosque. 
 
 Two friars of the begging order of Nakshbendi engaged 
 in the usual way ; a common mode of passing spare time in 
 Central Asia. 
 
 117. Hush! Let Them Enter. 
 
 During the defence of Samarkand by the Russians, an 
 assault was momentarily expected through one of the 
 breaches made by the enemy in the walls. The shouts of 
 the approaching multitude were audible, and I begged 
 Colonel N., then in command of the garrison, to sally out 
 to meet them but his answer was, “ Hush ! let them enter.” 
 
 1 18. They Have Entered. 
 
 The assault has been repulsed, and the tired soldiers are 
 calmly smoking their pipes, whilst a few remove the dead 
 bodies. 
 
70 
 
 119- From Mountain to Valley. 
 
 In autumn the Kirghiz abandon their encampments near 
 the snow line, and remove to winter quarters. In order not 
 to damage their clothes by packing them into boxes, they 
 attire themselves in all their best robes, so that one of these 
 migrations has all the appearance of a holiday procession. 
 
 120. Underground Prison at Samarkand. 
 
 Built of brick, with a narrow funnel-shaped mouth, the 
 only means of ingress and egress being by a rope with loops. 
 When I descended into this gloomy dungeon I almost fainted 
 from the stench and foul air, and could with difficulty make 
 my sketch. And here prisoners remained for more than ten 
 years in succession without ever breathing pure air. This 
 infernal den was called the bug-hole, and I believe a certain 
 kind of bug or other insect was purposely bred to stock it, 
 and prey day and night upon the unfortunate victims. Let 
 me add, however, that I found no bugs in it. 
 
 In this very dungeon the ill-fated Stoddart and Conolly 
 were imprisoned for a time. At the instance of the Russian 
 agent they were released, and might have availed themselves 
 of their opportunity to escape, but refused to do so (an his- 
 torical fact). 
 
 121. The Mortally Wounded Soldier. 
 
 The first man I saw wounded was a soldier who had been 
 struck by a bullet in the chest. He threw away his gun, 
 placed both hands over his wound, and began reeling like a 
 drunken man. “ Oh, comrades, they have killed me, they 
 have killed me. My death has come to me.” . . . “Lie 
 
 down, brother,” answer his companions, but he continues to 
 stagger a little longer, then falls prone to the ground. 
 
7 1 
 
 122. The Kirghiz Sportsman. 
 
 The favorite pastime of the rich Kirghiz is hawking. For 
 this purpose hawks and eagles are trained by being blind- 
 folded, and by never being allowed to sleep. 
 
 123. Sale of a Slave. 
 
 124. Central Asian Politicians. 
 
 Ragged, half drunk with opium, they are nevertheless 
 among the keenest of politicians. They know and discuss 
 not only what the Ak Padishah, i. e. f White Tsar, does and 
 says, but what he thinks and is meditating. 
 
 125. Beggars at Samarkand. 
 
 Along the highways leading to the chief places of resort 
 they may be seen by the dozen, sometimes sitting on the 
 ground, and importunately begging alms. 
 
 126. Chorus of Dervishes or Divans. 
 
 Of the aforesaid monastic order of Nakshbendi. They 
 parade the streets in troops led by their chief singer, and 
 howl unceasingly until they receive alms. Every novice, on 
 joining the fraternity, receives a cap, a belt, a bowl made of 
 a gourd, and a dress of variegated patches of stuff obtained 
 by begging at the bazaar. 
 
 127. Dividing the Spoil. 
 
 128. The Conquerors. 
 
 Turks stripping the Russian dead on the field of Telisch. 
 
 129. Parleying. 
 
 “ Surrender ! ” “ Go to the devil ! ” 
 
72 
 
 130. The Forgotten Soldier. 
 
 In Turkestan. (The original picture was destroyed by the 
 artist.) 
 
 131. Russian Graves on the Shipka. 
 
 SKETCHES. 
 
 (a) Various. 1853-58. 
 
 (^) Caucasus and Transcaucasus, Russian Lecterians. 
 1863-64 
 
 (c) Caucasus and Transcaucasus, Mussulman Shiyth pro- 
 cession. 1864-65. 
 
 (d) Danube types. 1866. 
 
 (e) Russian peasants. 1867. 
 
 (/) Types of Jerusalem. 1888. 
 
 COLLECTION OF ARTISTIC WORKS, CURI- 
 OSITIES, ETC. 
 
 COLLECTED IN MY VARIOUS JOURNEYS. 
 
 132. Large Carpet from India. 
 
 133. Same, Kashmirian. 
 
 134. Same, Tibetan. 
 
 135. Same, Yarkandiam. 
 
 136. — — Same, Turkish. 
 
 137. Same, Persian. 
 
 138. Same, Turkoman. 
 
73 
 
 139* Glazed tiles from Jerusalem, from the Mosque of 
 Omar, and various other buildings. 
 
 140 . Others from the old Duma, or council house of 
 
 Moscow. 
 
 141 . Tiles from the Mosque of Shah Zinda at Samarkand. 
 
 142 . A piece of marble trellis-work from the tomb of 
 Tamerlane in the Mosque of Ghur-Amir. 
 
 143 . A fragment of marble from the tomb of Tamerlane’s 
 son in the Mosque of Ghur-Amir. 
 
 144 . Stones with sacred Budhistic figures and inscriptions 
 from Ladak and Western Tibet. 
 
 145. Medallions used as talismans, of Tibetan workman- 
 ship. 
 
 146 . Tibetan prayer wheels. 
 
 147 . Specimens of Tibetan art. 
 
 148 . Drum, and pipes made of human bones from Tibet 
 and Sikkhim. 
 
 149* Drinking-cup made from a human skull. 
 
 150. Bowls made of a full human skull. 
 
 151. Bowls made of the skeleton of a snake. 
 
 152. Bowls made of dried fruit. 
 
 153. Tibetan images. 
 
 154. Marbles from the Mosque of Omar. 
 
 155- Root of an ancient cypress from quarry under the old 
 Temple of Jerusalem. 
 
 156. Articles used in Budhistic service, etc. 
 
 157. Masks of Tibetan saints. 
 
 158 . Arms of the Turks during the last war: guns of 
 infantry, and cavalry swords. 
 
 159 . Arms of the Russians : guns, swords, etc., of infantry 
 and cavalry ; army sword remodeled, bayonet, cutlass. 
 
74 
 
 160. Arms, helmets, shields, chain-armor, etc., from India 
 and Central Asia. 
 
 l6x. Indian Vessels. 
 
 162. Dish from India. 
 
 163. Ditto from Cashmere. 
 
 164. A Snake of Indian workmanship. 
 
 165. English lady represented by Hindoo. 
 
 166. Different Brahmin deities in copper. 
 
 167. Vishnu in white marble. 
 
 Ancient Russian Applied Art as Seen in Different 
 Objects of Household Use. 
 
 16S. A bowl (a cup) called “ bratina ” for drinking wine, 
 belonging, as I presume, to the XVIth century, with an 
 inscription in Old Slavo-Russian, very difficult to decipher : 
 “ And wine will cheat the spells (dispel the charms), the 
 leisure of the toper ” (further on I could not make out the 
 inscription). 
 
 169. A bowl, “ bratina,” in copper of well-nigh the same 
 age. 
 
 170. A scoop for wine, of the XVIIIth century, with the 
 inscription : “ Apostle Paul says, ‘ It is not the wine that is 
 cursed, but cursed is drunkenness.’ ” 
 
 171. A cup for Vodka. 
 
 X72. Cups, “ Koobky,” of the time of Peter the Great. 
 
 173 . Inkstands. 
 
 174. Table-knives. 
 
 175 - A copper scoop. 
 
 176. A wooden ladle. 
 
 X 77 - A thumper for beating clothes in washing. 
 
75 
 
 1 7 8. A copper dish. 
 
 179. An ivory casket. 
 
 l8c. Wooden caskets for money and effects. 
 
 18 1. Caskets with iron ornamentation. 
 
 182. A candlestick. 
 
 183. A wooden salt box. 
 
 184. Snuffers. 
 
 185. Baskets of carved birch bark. 
 
 186. An iron ball fastened to a strap as a weapon. 
 
 187. Buttons of man’s and woman’s attire. 
 
 188. Ear-rings and clasps. 
 
 189. A medallion for white paint and rouge. 
 
 190. Women’s head-dresses and “ phaty,” i.e., veiling worn 
 on the head. 
 
 191. Hand-made lace taken from towels, bed-spreads, and 
 so forth. 
 
 192. Silk lace. 
 
 193 - Gold and silver lace and galoons. 
 
 194. Samples of gold cloth. 
 
 195 - Kerchiefs. 
 
 196. Crosses in copper, silver, gilded and enameled, for 
 wearing close to the body. 
 
 197. Crosses and medallions for wearing over the dress. 
 
 198. Chains in silver ; gilded and enameled chains. 
 
 199 A wooden cross. 
 
 200. A cross with a chain — the belt of a hermit. 
 
 201. Samples of wood-carving taken from churches. 
 
 202. Beads in bone, cornelian stone, in wood, in silk, 
 in wool, and in leather. 
 
 203. Reproductions from church ornaments. 
 
At the Railway Station. 
 
 On Board Swiss Steamer. 
 
 Magyar.— Serbian. 
 
 Roumanian. — Austrian Soldier. 
 
A Jew of Jerusalem. 
 
• r " r V;' ■ ; ■’ r >' V*- 
 
 NO IV READY. 
 
 PROGRESS IN ART 
 
 T; _ ANI) ' ■" ^ 
 
 REALISM. 
 
 
 -ALSO- 
 
 VERESTCHAGIN, 
 
 am 
 
 Painter, Soldier, Traveler. 
 
 Revved Edition , with much new matter added . 
 
 BY 
 
 VASSILI VERESTCHAGIN. 
 
 TRANSLATED BY 
 
 F. H. PETERS, M. A. 
 
 r . 
 
 Illustrated with many original sketches by the Author. 
 
 For sale at the American Art Galleries, and by 
 Booksellers. ( ' 
 
 .P? 
 
 i - .