now becoming a place of some importance. Tashkend, or Stone Town, fifty years ago was a badly built town of some 3000 houses, with ten medressehs; but in 1865 was captured by General Tchernaief, and has since become the capital of Russian Toorkestan, with a population estimated at 70,000. Khojend, a fortress surrounded by gardens, situated on the Syr and on the road from Uratupeh to Khokan, was the first-fruits of the victory of Yirdjar won by General Romanofsky in 1866. The Ta-lo-sse of Hiouen Tsang, subsequently known as Talas, Taras, and Toorkestan, has been a Russian possession since 1864; while Ak-Mesjeed, or the White Mosque, fell in 1853, and merged its very name in that of Fort Perofsky.

Few, if any, vestiges remain of Otrar, originally called Farab, once upon a time the capital of Toorkestan. It was taken by Chinghiz in 1219, but is better known in history as the scene of Timour's death in 1405. It is mentioned by Haiton, the Armenian prince, as Octorar, while Pegoletti speaks of it as Oltrarre, and states that it is forty-five days' journey, with pack-asses, from Armalec '-Almalik on the Ili.

What remains of the Khanat of Khokan is virtually dependent on Russia, and will be formally annexed at the first convenient opportunity, with a view to the rectification' of the frontier line from Samarkand to the eastern extremity of the Tian-Shan mountains. It is simply a question of time, and indeed it little matters to Europe how soon this measure is carried out, provided it be not made a stepping-stone to encroachments upon Eastern Toorkestan. Few, however, will be found to share the late Sir Roderick Murchison's enthusiastic appreciation of the benefits conferred upon science, commerce, and civilization, by the progress of Russian influence in Asia.

In his annual address delivered on the 23rd May, 1870, the illustrious President of the Royal Geographical Society committed himself to an expression of opinion that testifies rather

to his amiability than to his sagacity. The day, indeed, has now arrived,' he said, 'and to my great delight, when the Russian Imperial Government on the North, and the British Government on the South, are rivals in thoroughly exploring and determining their respective frontiers, leaving between each dominion wild tracts which will probably be for ever independent, but whose chiefs will well know how to respect their powerful neighbours. These geographical operations are also, I doubt not, the forerunners of the establishment of good commercial intercourse, and are, I venture to think, the surest pledges of peace.'

CHAPTER XIV.

EASTERN TOORKESTAN.

'LITTLE BUCHARIA.'— RIVERS-MOUNTAINS-THE GOBI-THE YAK-POPULATION THE KIRGHIZ-THE TUNGANIS-HOUSES-COSTUME-MANNERSHORSES-UGHLAK- COINAGE MR ROBERT SHAW-LIEUTENANT HAYWARD-SANJU—KARGHALIK-POSGAM-YARKUND-YANGHISSAR-KASH

GAR-MOHAMMED YAKOOB BEG- AKSU- USH-TURFAN-KHOTAN-MR

JOHNSON.

THE Country now called Eastern, and until the last few years Chinese Toorkestan, is more familiarly known to English readers as the Lesser Bucharia, whose youthful and chivalrous monarch Aliris, son of Abdalla, won the heart of Lalla Rookh, the lovely daughter of Aurungzeb.

The appellation of Little Bucharia, when first applied to distinguish Toorkestan from Bokharia proper, was singularly illchosen, for the former was actually the more extensive of the two countries. At that time it extended from the 35th to the 45th degree of north latitude, and from the 72nd to the 110th degree of east longitude, and comprised not only Eastern Toorkestan, but also Ferghana and Zungaria, the desert of Gobi, and the Chinese provinces of Kansu and Shensi.

The present kingdom may be described as a depressed valley 400 miles in length from north to south, by 300 in breadth from east to west, shut in on three sides by mountain-ranges of great height, on the north by the Tian Shan, on the south by the Kuen Lun, and on the west by the Bolor chain. the most part a barren and unproductive country.

It is for

Near the

foot of the hills the soil is clayey or stony, and in the interior sandy, while to the eastward the sand drifts into shifting ridges and hillocks. The air is dry, and rain of rare occurrence, but the melting snows fill the river-beds with an abundant supply of water.

The Kashgar river, or Kizil Darya- Red River '-flows. out of a small lake situated in the angle formed by the intersection of the transverse section of the Pameer chain by the Tian Shan, there called the Artush range. After a course of 300 miles it joins the Yarkund river, which was discovered by Lieutenant Hayward to take its rise not from the Sarikol district as previously conjectured, but from the basin of a small plateau upwards of 16,600 feet above the sea, a little to the north-west of the Karakoram Pass. Abreast of the town of the same name this river, after a course of 420 miles, is nearly a mile in width, and in summer can only be crossed in boats, though in winter it is fordable on horseback. After uniting their waters, the Kashgar and Yarkund rivers merge their respective names in that of the Tarym or Erguo Gol, which after a further course of 250 miles empties itself into the Lob Nor on the edge of the Gobi, a word signifying 'desert.' The entire length of the Yarkund river from its lofty source to its final discharge into that extensive lake exceeds 1200 miles, and below the town of that name it is navigable during June, July, and August.

Another river is the Karakash, which rises on the northern slope of the Karakoram mountains at an elevation 16,800 feet, and, after a course of nearly 600 miles, falls into the Yarkund river. Its waters are much used for irrigation, especially in the province of Khotan, but in winter it is frozen over.

Eastern Toorkestan stands at a considerable height above the sea level. On the west the elevation of the land is computed at 4000 feet, with a gradual slope to the eastward, so that it

¿ces act exceed 130 feet on the rondzes of the G.ċi The Than Shan range, which forms the natural boundary on the nori, a known to the people of the country as the Artush or Koketal range. Though a key chain, these mountains present few peaks above 18,000 feet in height, and the passes are probably a Kirle under 15.000 feet. On the southern skapes no trees are to be found, but the northern side descending to the Naryn valley is covered with fresta.

The Pameer steppe, which constitutes the western frontier, is a lofty table-land 16.000 feet in height, extending from the Hindoo Koosh to the Tian Shan, to the west of the Terek Pass. This plateau rises on its eastern edge into a range called the Kizil Yart, which descends into Torkestan by a succession of steep, rugged slopes. It was formerly supposed that the Karakoram and Kuen Lan mountains were parts of one ecntinuous chain, but Lieutenant Hayward ascertained that a distinct watershed and the Yarkund and Karakash rivers intervene. The name Karakoram, generally given to an extensive and towering range of mountains, is locally applied only to the pass, while the mountains themselves are called the Muztagh, or Glacier Mountains.

According to Dr Thompson, the elevation of the Karakoram Pass is not less than 18,660 feet, while the Chang Lang Pass in the same mountains is said to be 18,839 feet above the sea. The chain may be taken to commence about 74° east, whence it runs in a south-easterly direction nearly parallel with the Kuen Lun. The crest averages about 20,000 feet, but several peaks attain to 25,000, while one near the Muztagh Pass rises to the enormous altitude of 28,278 feet.

On the north side the snow line is placed at about 18,600 feet, and on the south a few hundred feet lower. The passes are all impracticable till the end of May, by which time the trees in sheltered valleys are in full leaf and blossom. The