before  the  public  mind  some  idea  of  those  countries
of  which  I  speak,  and  to  call  attention  to  some  of
those  problems  to  which  their  existence  has  given  rise.
And  I  do  so  with  all  the  more  willingness  because  of
my  firm  belief  in  the  truth  of  those  lines  which  I
have  caused  to  be  inscribed  on  the  title-page  of  this
book,  that  it  is  in  Asia  once  again  that  will  be
decided  the  destinies  of  the  world  ;  that  that  nation
which  succeeds  in  making  its  voice  heeded  in  the
East  will  be  able  also  to  speak  in  dominating  accents
to  Europe.  If  a  further  excuse  for  these  pages  is
demanded,  it  may  be  found  in  the  fact  that  it  is
comparatively  few  to  whom  is  given  either  the  time
or  the  opportunity,  or  perhaps  even  the  inclination,
to  put  away  for  a  prolonged  period  the  ties  which
bind  them  to  their  own  country  and,  leaving  the
highroad  of  convention,  to  strike  deep  along  the
devious  pathways  of  alien  and  not  always  hospitable
lands.
I  have  never  attempted  to  deny  that  the  countries
of  Asia  have  for  me  an  extreme  fascination,  but  at
the  same  time  it  would  be  absurd  to  suggest  that
a  journey  such  as  that  which  forms  the  thread  upon
which  the  following  chapters  are  strung — a  journey,
that  is,  of  upwards  of  10,000  miles  by  railway,  steam-
boat, raft,  wheeled  conveyance  of  many  kinds,  and
pack-pony,  through  such  countries  as  Asiatic  Turkey,
Persia,  Transcaspia,  Turkestan,  Siberia,  and  Manchuria
— is  by  any  means  one  which  is  productive  of  unal-
loyed pleasure  and  amusement.  There  is  nothing  even
remotely  amusing  in  long  hours  in  the  saddle  at
caravan  pace  across  the  desert  steppe  of  Mesopotamia.
