Not only have sparks from the engines set it on fire in several places, but there are other disasters possible.

A large number of boats, for the most part laden with petroleum, pass up and down the Amou-Daria, and it frequently happens that these become fire-ships.

A constant watch is thus only too well justified, for if the bridge were destroyed, its reconstruction would take a year, during which the transport of passengers from one bank to the other would not be without its difficulties.
At last the train is going slowly across the bridge.

It is broad daylight.

The desert begins again at the second station, that of Karakoul.