§ SIR HENRY RAWLINSONsaid, he wished to ask the Under Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, If Her Majesty's Government have received any information of the march of a Russian force under General Tchernaief from Tashkend upon Bokhara; and, if so, what may be the avowed object of such an expedition?
§ MR. LAYARDSir, a rumour has reached Her Majesty's Government that the Russian forces have been advancing towards Bokhara, but no positive information has reached us on the subject, nor can we tell the object of the advance if it has taken place. But the Russian Government have given Her Majesty's Govern- 422 ment solemn assurances that they have no desire permanently to advance their frontier towards Bokhara.