n which are accumulated enormous quantities of
woollen stuffs, velvet-pile carpets in the brightest of colors, shawls
of graceful patterns, all thrown anyhow on the counters of the shops.
Before these samples the sellers and buyers stand, noisily arriving at
the lowest price. Among the fabrics is a silk tissue known as Kanaous,
which is held in high esteem by the Samarkand ladies, although they are
very far from appreciating the similar product of Lyons manufacture,
which it excels neither in quality nor appearance.

Madame Caterna appeared extraordinarily tempted, as if she were among
the counters of the _Bon Marche_ or the _Louvre_.

"That stuff would do well for my costume in the _Grande Duchesse_!" she
said.

"And those slippers would suit me down to the ground as Ali Bajou in
the _Caid_!" said Caterna.

And while the actress was investing in a remnant of Kanaous, the actor
paid for a pair of those green slippers which the Turkomans wear when
they enter a mosque. But this was not without recourse to the kindness
of the major, who acted as interpreter between the Caternas and the
merchant, whose "Yoks! Yoks!" sounded like a lot of crackers in his
large mouth.

The arba started again and went off toward the square of Ribi-Khanym,
where stands the mosque of that name which was that of one of
Tamerlane's wives. If the square is not as regular as that of
Righistan, it is in my opinion rather more picturesque. There are
strangely grouped ruins, the remains of arcades, half-unroofed cupolas,
columns without capitals, the shafts of which have retained all the
brightness of their enamelling; then a long row of elliptical porticoes
closing in one side of the vast quadrilateral. The effect is really
grand, for these old monuments of the splendor of Samarkand stand out
from a background of sky and verdure that you would seek in vain, even
at the Grand Opera, if our actor does not object. But I must confess we
experienced a deeper impression when, toward the northeast of the town,
our arba deposited us in front of the finest of the mosques of Central
Asia, which dates from the year 795 of the Hegira (1392 of our era).

I cannot, writing straight away, give you an idea of this marvel. If I
were to thread the words, mosaics, pediments, spandrels, bas-reliefs,
niches, enamels, corbels, all on a string in a sentence, the picture
would still be incomplete. It is strokes of the brush that are wanted,
not strokes of the pen. Ima