National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
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The heart of a continent : vol.1 |
1891.] R ZTSSIA NS ORDER ME A WA Y. | 331 |
in that case, have to use force. There was, of course, no answering this argument, for he had thirty Cossacks, while I
had not a single soldier with me. I therefore informed him that I should have, in these circumstances, to submit to any terms he might wish to impose, but I should do so under protest, and should report the whole matter to my Government. Beyond that I had, therefore, nothing further to say.
Colonel Yonoff again repeated his regrets at having to treat
me as he had been instructed to do, and said that he would so
far modify his action as to allow me to proceed by myself
instead of escorting me. He then drew up, in French, a form
of agreement, in which it was said that, acting under the instruction of the Russian Government, he was to cause me to leave Russian territory, and that I agreed, under protest, to do this, and undertook to proceed to Chinese territory by the Wakhijrui Pass, and not to return by any of a number of passes which he named, and which included every known pass across the watershed of the Pamirs from the vicinity of the Alai as far down as the Baroghil Pass. Having signed this agreement, and made a copy of it, I told Colonel Yonoff that I hoped he would consider that business over, and return to our former friendly relations, and have supper with me. His baggage was far behind, and it was now nearly midnight. We accordingly all sat down to a rough supper ; and the Russian officers afterwards went off to their own encampment and left me alone once more. Next morning I packed up my things and started for the Wakhijrui Pass. As I rode past the Russians, Colonel Yonoff and his companions came out to wish me good-bye, and express their sincerest regrets at having to treat a friend as they had been obliged to treat me. They presented me with a haunch of Ovis poli, from an animal they had shot on the previous day, and we parted on as friendly terms as it was possible to be in the circumstances.
I, of course, at once reported the whole matter to my
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