Part 5 (1/2)

Both publicly and privately Khudayar Khan advised that the Athalik Ghazi should make some concessions in form to the Russian government. The Russians themselves, having failed to induce Khudayar Khan to put pressure on Yakoob Beg, appear to have arrived at the same conclusion as that set out in the letters of Khudayar. Yakoob Beg must make the sign, and they would meet him half way in his desire to share in the great benefits accruing from a Muscovite alliance. The authorities at Tashkent went so far as to flatter themselves that they had attained a solution of one of their chief annoyances. They had, by making use of the mediation of Khudayar, gone so far as to open the door for Yakoob Beg to abase himself. Such condescension was unheard of, and no doubt was entertained but that this proud Mahomedan ruler would gladly hasten to avail himself of the last chance accorded him by the clemency of the Czar.

But they were reckoning without their host. Yakoob Beg quickly perceived that the bold exterior of the Russian demands concealed a vacillating purpose, and that a power which would go out of its way so far to bring about an arrangement, would yield much more when the discussion became directly carried on. He had evidently impressed the few Russians who had visited him with a belief in his strength, and rumour had magnified his resources, and converted his small and heterogeneous following into a regular and trained army. He was not the man to destroy, when the game was almost in his hands too, all the favourable impressions, that stood him in such good stead during his career, which his policy for four years had succeeded in creating about his personality. After a suitable delay his formal reply to the official letter of Khudayar arrived, and its contents must have been eminently displeasing to the Russians. In general terms he refused to enter into negotiations with the Russians, because they had refused to acknowledge his own government, and had ever supported the cause of his enemies the Chinese. But, not content with this blunt refusal to the offer made from Tashkent, he went on to minor matters and dealt with the question of Russian policy in specific language. The common enemy of him and all his co-religionists was not worthy of any consideration from him or his allies, the rulers of Khokand and Bokhara. ”The Russians that have come here, into my state of Kashgar, look at these localities and become acquainted with the state of the country, and therefore it is better to forbid their coming, for they are a treacherous and crooked-minded people.” In such plain terms did Yakoob Beg speak of a power which could without any serious risk have crushed him at any moment. Yet in one sense his boldness was the height of prudence, and succeeded when perhaps a less decided att.i.tude would have completely failed. The Russians were fairly deluded in their estimate of their new antagonist, and all means having been exhausted for inducing Yakoob Beg to abandon his indifferent att.i.tude towards themselves, it began to be seriously discussed at Tashkent whether, if simply for the purpose of obtaining accurate information of his country, it would not be prudent to acknowledge the existence of a ruler who had for nearly six years been established as responsible sovereign of a very large portion of Asia. The path was smoothed, too, for the Russian diplomatists by Yakoob Beg sending a letter to the governor of Turkestan, stating that it was useless for the Czar to attempt the establishment of diplomatic relations through the good offices of Khudayar Khan; but that if the Russians really desired to enter into alliance with him they could send an emba.s.sy to him, when formal steps could be commenced for securing the trade and other agreements that were desirable. The letter was a very dignified piece of writing, such as one European sovereign would have sent to another in the Middle Ages.

”He did not deny,” he said, ”either the power or the resources of Russia, but as a brave man he placed his trust in G.o.d, and he would never s.h.i.+rk the contest, because all he aspired to was to die for his faith.” This letter produced a great impression at Tashkent, and it was resolved to send an amba.s.sador to Kashgar.

Before pursuing the narrative, it may be as well to sum up what had pa.s.sed between Russia and Kashgar up to this period, for henceforth these two states were to stand in a completely different relations.h.i.+p towards each other. The Russians strove to induce Yakoob Beg to make the most favourable commercial and political concessions to them, while they refused to grant him any equivalent, except the dubious one, ”advantage from the produce of Russian manufactures.” They even added insult to injury by openly proclaiming that they only recognized the Chinese as the rulers of Kashgar, and refused to discuss the arguments advanced by Shadi Mirza in favour of his uncle's claim to be considered _de facto_ sovereign. They adopted an att.i.tude of bullying towards this Asiatic prince, and loudly proclaimed in their practice the truth of the aphorism, that might is right. They backed up their verbal threats on several occasions by a show of military preparations, but not once did they put those threats into execution. On the other hand, Yakoob Beg's policy was consistent throughout and dignified. While studiously avoiding any aggressive measures, even under the excuse of defensive precautions, he was always firm in his refusal to recognize any of the semi-official overtures that were repeatedly made to induce him to show his hand. Instead of appearing in the light of a suppliant, as according to all precedent he should, he a.s.sumed the position of a dictator.

”Acknowledge me as legally const.i.tuted ruler of Kashgaria, or else there is an end to all negotiation. Send a properly accredited amba.s.sador to me, and he shall be honourably received. A representative of recognized rank shall then convey my token of friends.h.i.+p to your master. Refuse to grant me these just considerations, and my kingdom is closed to your merchants and officials without exception. Admission shall only be obtained over my own body and that of my devoted army.” For the first time in the annals of Russian history an Asiatic ruler had tired out the finessing and intrigue that had become customary with that empire as the means for infinite conquest. Yakoob Beg was the only sovereign who refused to be subservient to the Czar, and eventually achieved a diplomatic triumph over his representatives. In the spring of 1872, Yakoob Beg was at the very acme of his prosperity. Not yet had he commenced those later campaigns against the Tungani, which more than anything else tended to weaken his power and to raise discontent against his administration; and, fresh from his diplomatic success over the Russians, he appeared in the eyes of many Asiatics as a fit champion to redeem their fortunes in a conflict with Russia. Excusable as their enthusiasm undoubtedly was, it is tolerably certain that the power of Yakoob Beg was exaggerated both by the adulation of his friends and by the nervous susceptibilities of the Russians. It is noteworthy that Russia proved herself on one occasion to be quite as liable to this latter disease as England is a.s.sumed to be.

To Baron Kaulbars, the explorer of the sources of the Syr Darya, was entrusted the delicate mission of representing the Russian government for the first time at the court of the Athalik Ghazi, and to no better diplomatist could it have been consigned. He set out from Kuldja early in May, 1872, carrying with him a large collection of presents for the ruler and his chief advisers, and arrived in Kashgar without any mishap in June of the same year. Here he was received in the most cordial manner, and the consideration and hospitality exhibited towards him by the ruler were beyond all expectation. In the picturesque phraseology of the East, the Athalik Ghazi, at his first audience with Baron Kaulbars, said, ”Sit upon my knees, on my bosom, or where ye like; for ye are guests sent me from heaven.” The most complete freedom of action was accorded, for the first time, to all the members of the emba.s.sy, and two merchants who had accompanied it for the purpose of exploring the country received a safe-conduct to go on to Yarkand and Khoten. Yakoob Beg scarcely attempted to conceal his gratification at the presence of the Russians; possibly his pleasure chiefly arose from such an unmistakable admission of his skill as a diplomatist. But in every way facilities were afforded his visitors for seeing all objects of interest round Kashgar. Reviews were held in honour of the occasion, and as there happened to be a considerable number of troops in the vicinity, pa.s.sing through to operate against the Tungani beyond Kucha, the show was imposing enough. The Russians were favourably impressed by what they saw, and Baron Kaulbars expressed himself surprised at the military exact.i.tude with which the manoeuvres were carried out. Yakoob Beg, always open to flattery, exclaimed in an enthusiastic moment, ”I look upon the Russians as my dearest friends; if I had not, should I have shown you my military power? a.s.suredly it is not usual even with you to make known one's actual condition to an enemy.” Matters were now in a fair way to a pleasant solution. Baron Kaulbars and Yakoob Beg were mutually delighted; but, after the time for pleasant talk had expired, it was necessary that some definite arrangements should be drawn up for the political and commercial relations of the two countries in the future.

The chief objects the Russians had in view when they sent Baron Kaulbars to Kashgar were three. In the first place they wanted to acquire general information about that state, and to discover whether Yakoob Beg was as powerful as report had a.s.serted. In the second, they wished to put their relations on such a recognized basis with him that they might know what policy he was disposed to adopt in Turkestan and Kuldja; and in the third they desired to secure the monopoly of the trade of his state, so that they might forestall British enterprise, already beginning to direct its attention to this quarter, since the journeys of Messrs. Shaw and Forsyth. The last of these was the easiest to obtain, and the Athalik Ghazi considered all the Russian proposals with regard to trade in a very amicable spirit; but with regard to the second _desideratum_ nothing but the vaguest generalities could all the tact and ingenuity of Kaulbars succeed in obtaining from his host. The first object was amply secured, in so far as geographical and scientific information was concerned; but the precautions taken by the Athalik Ghazi to deceive the Russians as to his power and hold on the country appear to have been successful. Baron Kaulbars certainly confirmed much that had previously rested on mere hearsay; the question is rather, did he not vouch for more than his experience justified him in doing? The result of his mission was, that the Athalik Ghazi was elevated to a position on a level with the Ameer of Cabul, and there is no doubt whatever that such a comparison was not warranted by the facts. A treaty was signed by the Athalik Ghazi and Baron Kaulbars, on the 2nd of June, 1872, but according to the Old Style, still adopted by the Russians, this was the 21st of May, St. Constantine's day. There are two stories with respect to this coincidence, and there is as much evidence for one version as there is for the other.

It was said at the time that Yakoob Beg was so desirous of showing his goodwill to the Russians that he had insisted on signing it on that day in honour of the Grand Duke Constantine. Now there were two or three improbabilities in this statement that struck several observers. In the first place it was extremely improbable that Yakoob Beg knew it was St.

Constantine's day at all; and again, in the second place he was quite as probably ignorant of the existence of a Grand Duke Constantine. At all events, there was no valid reason why a Central Asian ruler should conceive that his politeness to that Grand Duke in particular would demonstrate his desire to be on good terms with Russians in general. The other version, which, like many other circ.u.mstances, has only leaked out in the pages of Mr. Schuyler, is altogether more probable, and is not open to the same objections. According to this, it was Baron Kaulbars, who of course was aware of the saint's day, who demanded that the treaty should bear that date, and who, as soon as it was signed, sent off a message to General Kaufmann saying that the Athalik Ghazi, out of friends.h.i.+p to that general, had specially requested that the treaty should be signed on that day in honour of General Kaufmann's patron saint. However flattered that distinguished general and governor may have felt at the delicate attention of his amba.s.sador, he had to decline the proposed honour; and in the despatch that was sent to St.

Petersburg, describing the event, the name of the Grand Duke Constantine was subst.i.tuted for his own. There is little doubt that this is the correct statement, and it certainly suggests quite a revelation as to the system in Russian Asia of making things pleasant and agreeable to one another, always, however, a.s.suming that there be an exceptional degree of power and pomp reserved for his Excellency General Kaufmann.

Soon after the signature of this treaty, which bears the name of its framer, Baron Kaulbars took his departure, with many expressions of friends.h.i.+p and goodwill from the Athalik Ghazi. Arrangements were, however, made, before he left, for an envoy to visit Tashkent from Yakoob Beg. This amba.s.sador took with him the signed stipulations to be ratified, and was received at Tashkent with every demonstration of amity and respect. So certain did the Russian government appear that their relations with Kashgar would, if only for a short period, be satisfactory, that special care was taken to make a favourable impression on the Kashgarian envoy, and after a short residence in the capital of Turkestan, the nephew of Yakoob Beg, Hadji Torah, who had followed the train of the treaty on a special mission, went on to St.

Petersburg, where he was entertained by the Czar, taken to the reviews, and treated in a most hospitable and princely fas.h.i.+on. The contrast between the reception accorded to him in 1873 and that to Shadi Mirza in 1869 clearly marks the difference that was considered in well-informed official circles to have taken place in their relations with Kashgar.

We have now to consider whether the Russian Government was justified in a.s.suming so confidently that it had secured the permanent friends.h.i.+p of the Mahomedan ruler of Eastern Turkestan. On concluding his visit at St.

Petersburg, Hadji Torah turned south, and after stopping for a brief delay at Moscow and Odessa, he arrived in Constantinople, where he already had many friends and connections. Without inquiring too deeply into his actions at the Imperial City--for of them the reader will be able to judge best by the sequel--we will here simply observe, that having also concluded his residence on the Golden Horn, he took pa.s.sage by the Suez Ca.n.a.l for India, and arrived there in time to join the mission of Sir Douglas Forsyth, then on its way to Kashgar. Hadji Torah therefore brought to his uncle a vast amount of information concerning the three Powers chiefly concerned in the fortunes of Kashgar--Russia, Turkey, and England. But even before his return home, fresh disagreements had broken out between Russia and Yakoob Beg. The year 1872 had not closed, before the Athalik Ghazi concluded some secret negotiations that had been pending for some time with the Sultan, and this champion of Islam appeared in a new and holier light to Asiatics as Emir, or Ameer. He acknowledged the suzerainty of the Porte; and, not content with this formal declaration, gave an extra significance to the event by issuing a fresh coinage, bearing on one side the head of Abdul Aziz. The Russians were, it can well be imagined, displeased at this alliance between two Mahomedan states which might both be considered hostile to their interests, and a very large party in military circles clamoured for an expedition to be sent at once against the insolent Mussulman. At one moment it seemed as if this bellicose party was to gain the day, for the testimony of all the officers and merchants who had visited Kashgar showed that each day Yakoob Beg was becoming more formidable. Prompt measures were pressed on the government of Tashkent, and General Kaufmann seemed half disposed to acquiesce in the proposal to inflict summary chastis.e.m.e.nt on the Athalik Ghazi. Fortunately for Kashgar, the Khan of Khiva had been an older offender in the eyes of the Russians, and the Home Government peremptorily forbade any steps being taken in the regions bordering on the Chinese Empire. It is sufficiently clear that the moderation of the home authorities was a wiser policy than the impulsive demands of certain officers in Tashkent; but it is not so evident why Yakoob Beg abstained from appearing in the _role_ of the liberator of Khokand, at so opportune a moment as that afforded by the great expedition against Khiva in 1873. The treaty of Baron Kaulbars had stipulated for the free admission of Russian merchants into the state on the payment of a 2-1/2 per cent. _ad valorem_ duty. Not only was there to be no further exaction, but good treatment was guaranteed to such Russian subjects as desired to travel in Kashgar, and who came provided with a pa.s.sport, and permission to travel, from a Russian governor. During Baron Kaulbars' residence in the country, nothing could be more considerate than the treatment extended towards the members of his suite, and the merchants who went on to Yarkand were afforded facilities for disposing of the small stock of merchandise which they had brought with them on this journey. This friendly reception of such merchants as came to Kashgar was maintained during the period over which these negotiations extended down to the departure of Yakoob Beg's own amba.s.sador from Russian territory; but with the arrival of Hadji Torah at Constantinople, and the proclamation of the fact that Yakoob Beg had been elevated to the dignified position of Emir by the Sultan of Roum, a change came over the spirit of his policy towards Russia. Indeed, Yakoob Beg saw himself menaced by an unforeseen danger in this treaty of commerce. He had formerly been averse to the presence of Russian merchants in his state because he regarded them as spies; but now that the necessities of his position had to some extent compelled him to enter into a formal treaty with their government, he perceived that his little state literally ran the risk of being invaded by the Russian merchants and traders who flocked to Kuldja for the purpose of partic.i.p.ating in the spoils to be obtained by trafficking with the inhabitants of Eastern Turkestan. He had always been averse to trade. He was a warrior, and inclined to feel and to express contempt at the juggling tricks of Muscovite or Khitay.

But as the former could provide him with better weapons for his army, and warmer clothes for his people, in addition to trinkets for his _serai_, their presence, if only they came in limited numbers, and at stated intervals, could be tolerated; but when he perceived they were about to descend on his state, like so many birds of prey on an abandoned carcase, and when he surmised that in all likelihood they would endeavour to mix themselves up in the political divisions of Kashgar as they had in Bokhara and Khokand, he determined to impose some other check on their visits besides that insignificant 2-1/2 per cent.

on goods that returned a profit of cent. per cent. He had given his plighted word, however, that merchants should receive fair treatment, and how could he find a loophole to avoid fulfilling what he had promised, and yet at the same time escape bringing about an open rupture with the Russian Government. The matter required most delicate manipulation, but Yakoob Beg proved himself equal to the occasion. It was not to be expected, however, that Yakoob Beg could accomplish his task of discouraging Russian enterprise without giving some umbrage to the government.

Despite the friendly reception of Baron Kaulbars, there still remained some uncertainty in the minds of individuals, whether the Athalik Ghazi was as sincere in his protestations as he would have it believed. There was, consequently, some disinclination among the merchants of Kuldja to be the first to send a caravan to Kashgar. They were all willing enough to share the profits, but it was a risky experiment all the same; and each would prefer that his neighbour should inaugurate the enterprise.

In commercial circles, there was much discussion on the new state, and the prospects of trade therewith, and there was much talk as to ”who should bell the cat.” The hesitation, if indeed so natural a sentiment deserves to be specified here, soon pa.s.sed off, and Mr. Pupyshef, a merchant, who had had very large business connections with most parts of Central Asia, resolved to send the first consignment of merchandise to Kashgar. Mr. Pupyshef was, however, unable to go in person, so his caravan set out under the charge of his clerk Somof. It arrived without ”let or hindrance” in Kashgar, where Mr. Somof was provided with accommodation in the Caravanserai specially set apart for foreign merchants. But a change was at once perceptible in the sentiments of the ruler, as the personal freedom of the members of the expedition was curtailed, and all their movements were watched with the most exacting surveillance; and the residence of Mr. Somof was brief in the extreme, for the Athalik Ghazi himself bought up the whole of his stock of merchandise. Viewed as a commercial speculation, this result should have been eminently satisfactory; the Russian merchant had to experience no loss from delay in finding a purchaser for his articles. There was, however, another matter to be taken into consideration, and that was the mode of payment by the purchaser. Mr. Somof received so many Chinese coins at a value fixed by the Ameer himself, and Mr. Pupyshef, on the return of his representative, estimated the loss at 15,000 roubles. The Russian government took up the case of their subject, and presented a remonstrance at Kashgar, demanding the immediate rest.i.tution of the loss incurred by the Russian merchant. Yakoob Beg's reply to this summary request was a model of courtesy and tact. He denied altogether that Mr.

Somof had in any way been interfered with. That gentleman was always at perfect liberty to do what, and to go where, he pleased, and he was quite mistaken in supposing that he, the Ameer, had purchased his goods.

The Badaulet had nothing whatever to do with trade, which he left entirely to his subjects. He was simply a warrior and a follower of the Prophet. He had nevertheless inst.i.tuted inquiries into the matter, and he had discovered that some of his officers, who should be punished, had purchased the merchandise in his name, hoping thereby to obtain it at a cheaper rate. The Athalik Ghazi expressed his regret at the occurrence, and would be most happy to refund whatever sum the Russian government considered their subject had lost by the transaction. A commission was appointed at Tashkent, to inquire into all the circ.u.mstances of the case, and after some discussion the demand of Mr. Pupyshef was reduced from 15,000 to 12,000 roubles. The Ameer acquiesced in the decision, but many months elapsed before Mr. Pupyshef received his money, and then it was again in a depreciated Chinese coinage. We are justified in a.s.suming that this was all planned, and that the obstacles thrown in the path of Mr. Pupyshef were part and parcel of a systematic attempt to disgust Russian merchants with Kashgar. The Russian government, too, was afforded no clear case for complaint, as Yakoob Beg expressed his regret without reserve for the occurrence, all the responsibility of which he s.h.i.+fted on to the shoulders of some of ”his officials whom he had ordered to be punished.” He paid without a murmur the fair demands of Mr. Pupyshef, and if there was some delay in the refunding of the money, it must be attributed to the poverty of his exchequer, and not to any want of goodwill. The burden of his complaint was, ”I am a poor prince; my country is impoverished by the wars that have occurred since the departure of the Chinese; and you will find little therein to repay you for your trouble and expense in entering it. Why therefore will you persist in coming to it? You can do neither yourselves nor my people any good by doing so, and you only cause me anxiety and trouble in preserving your countrymen from insult and injury, which you must admit I have ever done.” There was an under-current of truth in this statement of the case, although it was not credited in Kuldja, where everything that went amiss was set down to the hostility of the Ameer. Yakoob Beg had, however, succeeded in throwing cold water on the enthusiastic preparations that were being made for exploiting Eastern Turkestan, and his mode of doing so had been quite original and characteristic. Few rulers would have foreseen that the best way to get rid of a troublesome visitor was to purchase what he had brought to sell to the people; and that the simple remedy of paying in a questionable currency would suffice to deter hundreds from following the example of Mr. Somof.

Yakoob Beg, however, was not satisfied with leaving well alone. Having paid the claim of Mr. Pupyshef, it might have been supposed that he would maintain a discreet silence on his intentions in the future with regard to Russian merchants. He might have let the question, indeed, find, as it would have found, its own solution; but, in a weak moment, to place his own _bona fides_ beyond suspicion, he desired the Russian government to send another merchant to Kashgar, and then it could judge by his reception whether the Ameer was not amicably disposed towards his ”close allies,” the Russians. The Russian authorities took him at his word, and after an interval of more than twelve months, during which Kashgar had been unvisited by a Russian merchant, another, a Mr.

Morozof, came to put Yakoob Beg's a.s.sertions to the test. True to his word, the reception of this gentleman was most cordial. Facilities were placed in his way for getting purchasers of his articles, and the Ameer bought for his a.r.s.enals such of them as seemed suitable. Mr. Morozof returned to Kuldja, narrating how cordially he had been welcomed by the ruler himself, and how the enterprise had commercially been a success.

Others followed his example, and during the last two and a half years of his rule Russian merchandise, either through Russian or native agents, found its way in considerable quant.i.ties into Kashgar. But this trade was always liable to periods of depression through the clouds that frequently darkened the political horizon, and the Russians did not derive the advantages from trade with this state, that they had previously convinced themselves they were to do. Indeed, English manufactures, after the year 1873, entered into keen compet.i.tion with theirs in the cities of Kashgar, and had driven their goods out of the market of Yarkand at all events before the close of the year 1876. But this fact only served to impress more forcibly on the Russians the necessity either for annexing Kashgaria or establis.h.i.+ng on its throne some puppet, who would be content with the post of deputy of the Czar.

Indeed, many suggested that the Chinese should be brought back; but then they were so far off, and apparently so weak. The party advocating the absorption of Kashgaria every day became stronger and more p.r.o.nounced; and all observers agree that it was only a question of time when the imperial fiat should go forth for the extinction of the rule of Yakoob Beg. Colonel Reinthal was sent in 1874, to endeavour to place matters on a more hopeful footing, but with little success. In addition to the question of trade privileges, the Russians, in negotiating with native states, or securing treaties at the point of the sword, always demanded the right of having consular agents in the chief cities of the state.

The ostensible duty of these official representatives was to look after the interests of their government, and to protect the lives and property of Russian subjects as best they might be able. So far as these very necessary functions were concerned, Russia had a perfect right in demanding these safeguards, when such were deemed to be required. But unfortunately for the reputation of that country, the experience of Asiatics had amply demonstrated that these declared duties were the least important part of their office.

Their secret instructions were to lose no opportunity of discovering the drift of public sentiment in the state where they were stationed; to learn all the ramifications of the dynastic intrigues that unfortunately form the chief incidents in the history of these states, and to promote, by every means at their disposal, the interests of the great empire into whose service they had been admitted. When such lat.i.tude was allowed in their instructions, and so many private and public inducements were offered to raise their zeal, it cannot be matter of surprise if we find the government informed promptly of the s.h.i.+ftings of public opinion in the independent and semi-independent Khanates of Central Asia. Yakoob Beg was keenly alive to the dangers that would arise to him personally from the introduction of such a system into Kashgar, where the discordant elements out of which he had welded a military organization were far from being completely healed. If the presence of a mirza in Khokand and Bokhara had entailed a decade of troubles and of gradual subjection, what was he to expect, a mere military adventurer and a foreigner in the land, from their presence in Eastern Turkestan? But Baron Kaulbars had demanded this concession, perhaps more than any other, and Yakoob Beg had to yield something in form, if he did not surrender much in substance, to the importunities of his visitor. As a great favour he consented to the appointment of _caravanbas.h.i.+s_, or superintendents of the personal comforts of the merchants when they should arrive; but a _caravan-bas.h.i.+_ was an uneducated, unimportant personage, from whom nothing need be feared. This did not at all please the Russian administrators, and all their subsequent efforts were mainly devoted to the attempt to obtain an alteration of this unimportant personage into the prying and inquisitive _mirza_. To defeat their design Yakoob Beg was no less firmly resolved, and the history of the emba.s.sies, from that of Baron Kaulbars to that of Captain Kuropatkine, was one long course of fruitless efforts to force the hand of the Athalik Ghazi on this point. Colonel Reinthal was sent in 1874, after the successful journey of Mr. Morozof, to see if any better arrangement could be attained, but, although the Ameer entertained him very hospitably, he fared no better than any of his predecessors. In that year, too, Yakoob Beg's position had become firmer in his own state. The Tungani had been driven back north of the Tian Shan beyond Turfan, and into the regions east of Lake Lob; the disaffection, too, in the cities of Kucha and Korla was also, to all appearance, dying out; but, above all, the vast aegis of English protection had appeared to be thrown over the integrity of his state. However unjustified this supposition was by the treaty with Sir Douglas Forsyth, the Ameer made as much use as possible of his new-found ally; and the large section of Anglo-Indians, and authorities in this country on the affairs of Central Asia, who, either out of sympathy for the man, or from a belief in the ident.i.ty of British interests with his cause, proclaimed the advisability of supporting him against Russian aggression, gave a colourable excuse to his declaration that England had extended for the first time in her Trans-Himalayan policy her protection to a native state lying north of her natural frontier. The Russian governments in Siberia and Turkestan, emphatically cautioned by their Foreign Office to give this country no cause for umbrage, were at first inclined to make that a.s.sertion an excuse for pus.h.i.+ng their friendly relations with the Ameer; but their advances were not reciprocated, and as it became more clear that the importance of the Forsyth mission had been greatly exaggerated by the representations of the Ameer, the language of the Russian authorities became once more peremptory and menacing. In short, matters after more than two years' discussion had retrogressed to the condition they were in before the Kaulbars treaty. The Russians had not obtained their chief desire, the establishment of consular agents in Kashgar, and Yakoob Beg, as in the past, boldly met threat with threat. Relying on his increased reputation as the most orthodox and the most puissant of Mahomedans in Central Asia, and confident that England would intervene between the Russians and the collapse of his state, he even went so far as to temper his defiant, and almost bellicose, att.i.tude with such irony as the following incident is a characteristic specimen of. Early in the year 1874 the Duke of Edinburgh married Marie Alexandrovna, the only daughter of the Czar; and Yakoob Beg seized the occasion to send a message of congratulation to the Czar of All the Russias on the auspicious event--saying, that he had heard that the son of his good ally, the Queen of England and of India, was about to wed the daughter of his friend the Czar, and that he hastened to send him his congratulations upon the event. To this effusive epistle no reply was deigned, and it is doubtful whether it ever got farther than Tashkent. There is no difficulty in arriving at the conclusion that such exhibitions as this is an instance of detraction from the otherwise great and striking characteristics of the ruler of Kashgar. His opposition to Russia was most laudable; his maintenance of his privileges as an independent ruler was prudent and worthy of our respect; but his petty insults to Russia were neither wise nor dignified. He was clearly in the right in checking the aggressive instincts of Russia, clothed in the specious garb of commercial advantage; he commands not less our admiration for the energetic and persistent manner in which he thwarted every endeavour to introduce Russian espionage and intrigue into Kashgaria; but why should he have weakened the effect of these splendid achievements, why should he have risked all he had secured, by so senseless an insult as the message to the Czar that has been just referred to?