But there was no time to lose.

As usual, the town is double; one half, built by the Russians, is quite modern, with its verdant parks, its avenues of birches, its palaces, its cottages; the other is the old town, still rich in magnificent remains of its splendor, and requiring many weeks to be conscientiously studied.
This time I shall not be alone.

Major Noltitz is free; he will accompany me.

We had already left the station when the Caternas presented themselves.
"Are you going for a run round the town, Monsieur Claudius ?" asked the actor, with a comprehensive gesture to show the vast surroundings of Samarkand.
"Such is our intention." "Will Major Noltitz and you allow me to join you ?" "How so ?" "With Madame Caterna, for I do nothing without her." "Our explorations will be so much the more agreeable," said the major, with a bow to the charming actress.
"And," I added, with a view to save fatigue and gain time, "my dear friends, allow me to offer you an arba." "An arba!" exclaimed Caterna, with a swing of his hips.

"What may that be, an arba ?" "One of the local vehicles." "Let us have an arba." We entered one of the boxes on wheels which were on the rank in front of the railway station.