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Welcome to Mid-Afternoon Map, our exclusive members-only newsletter that provides a cartographic perspective on current events, geopolitics, and history from the Caucasus to the Carolinas. Subscribers can look forward to interesting takes on good maps and bad maps, beautiful maps and ugly ones — and bizarre maps whenever possible.***Col. Frederick Gustavus Burnaby never received the fame or geographic moniker enjoyed by men such as Lawrence of Arabia or Chinese Gordon. Even in the realm of British Central Asian adventurers, his reputation is still eclipsed by that of Alexander “Bokhara” Burns. But despite this, Burnaby’s jauntily titled A Ride to Khiva remains a classic specimen of 19th century travel literature.Bored by the professional opportunities available to him at home, Burnaby set out from St. Petersburg to visit the city of Khiva in 1875. His journey took place amidst growing Great Game tensions, as Moscow’s steady expansion into Central Asia brought it ever closer to British India. Russian forces captured Bokhara and Samarkand in 1868, then Khiva in 1873. Then, in 1875, they fought a war with the Khanate of Kokand that ended with its annexation.Map showing Burnaby’s ride to Khiva, Harper and Brothers, 1877Burnaby undertook his journey through Russia’s newly taken territory with the permission — if not always the active cooperation — of the tsar’s government. Given the circumstances, his interactions with Russian colleagues remained jovial enough. In the town of Kasala, he met several Russian officers who were “bored to death.” The recent fighting in Kokand hadn’t been enough for them: “we might as well shoot pheasants; none of our seniors get killed.” One officer declared, “When we fight you fellows in India, then we shall have some promotions.” The discussion turned to whether the British would go to war over a Russian attack on Kashgar. “Who knows, and who cares?”