Part 6 (1/2)

The following day there was an interview of ceremony with the Dadkhwah of Yarkand, Mahomed Yunus Jan, for whose history the reader is referred to Chapter IX, and then the visitors were pero wherever they liked On Mr Forsyth's former visit a similar freedom had not been accorded him Their first appearance in the streets was the occasion for a great deal of bustling on the part of the curious, but of friendly goodwill also All the principal streets and bazaars were visited in turn, such as the butchers' street, or market, where the varieties of meat were clearly to be seen, and their quality tested by their tails or heads being left untouched It appears to be the fashi+on in Yarkand to purchase the necessaries of life during theThere is a special evening bazaar, called Sham, where hats and other clothes, in addition to various other articles, are put up for sale in the afternoon This, when lit up with Chinese laht, very silas Forsyth does not tell us whether under Yakoob Beg it was custoaudy laination of such a scene must be referred back to the days of the old domination

Nor were these harmonious relations confined to the lower people and ourselves alone Their rulers set an example that all strove to imitate

Between the officers of theuest towards host sprang up, and was heartily reciprocated; while Hadji Torah smoothed down all difficulties by his ready tact and never-failing resource The latter did not remain the whole time of the three weeks that the mission remained at Yarkand, but set out for the capital, in order to put the Alish affairs, and the exact objects our authorities had before theard to his country

Mahomed Yunus had placed at the disposal of the mission a considerable number of the carts of the country, which proved very serviceable These carts are strongly built, with theels, six feet in diameter, and are drawn by four or six ponies, as the case ht than ten hundredweight, but with that load it is quite customary for them to perform journeys of twenty and twenty-five e was carried froar, while the hter ca these carts, so superior to the Indian modes of conveyance, ill ree coaches They ply frequently between the fort and city of Kashgar, a distance of fivethe whole distance froes But no coulations and bye-laws has a monopoly of this branch of locomotion, and there is a tariff fixed by lahich cannot be departed from

On the 28th of November the h officials, by order of the Dadkwah, bore it coy Hissar the country was equally prosperous-looking, but there was es of Kok Robat and Ak Robat (na Blue and White Post-house respectively) wore a flourishi+ng look, and the appearance of Yakoob Beg's soldiery, still _jigits_, who looked prim on parade, and yet could play the part of waiter, carpenter, or what not, with equal facility, added a sense of order and cohesion to the whole display The appearance of Yangy Hissar wasto the view by the proxi had erected there; but in itself, owing to the houses being surrounded by mud walls, with crenellated tops, it closely resembled a fortification There was only a brief stay here, and the e of all The 4th of Decelish envoy enter that capital, which Mr Shaw had visited four years before in a non-official capacity Special quarters had been prepared, at a short distance from the fort, where is also the royal palace, for the envoy, and these Elchi Khana had been fitted up in a very comfortable, if not luxurious style Ihrar Khan Torah, who had visited India as envoy twice before, was the first to pay a visit to the new arrivals, and to request that they would co description is Sir Douglas Forsyth's own account of his first intervieith the A to etiquette we disateway, and walked slowly along with Ihrar Khan, the Yasawal-Bashi+, or head chaateway soldiers were seated on a dais with their firearround before theround We then crossed obliquely an eateway filled with soldiers, crossed another court, on all sides of which soldiers in gay costued seated From this court we passed into the penetralia, a small court, in which not a soul was visible, and everywhere a deathlike stillness prevailed At the further end of this court was a long hall, with severaldoors Ihrar Khan then led us in single file, with measured tread, to so al, beckoned with his hand to n forat the threshold of a very co rooood carpet on the floor: looking about I saw enter at a doorway on the opposite side a tall stout man, plainly dressed He beckoned with his hand, and I advanced, thinking that it must be a chamberlain as to conduct me to 'the presence' Instinctively, however, I made a bow as I advanced, and soon found myself taken by both hands, and saluted with the usual for before the far-famed ruler of Eastern Turkestan After a feords of welcome the Athalik led me across the room and seated me near him, by the side of aAt this hness asked in an eager tone after the health of Her Majesty, and of the Viceroy, and soon afterwards called, in a low voice, to Ihrar Khan to bring in the other officers They came in one by one, and each was shaken by the hand, andand so which the Athalik eyed each one of us with intent scrutiny I had been told that etiquette forbade the guest to speak ood manners to sit perfectly still with downcast eyes After this silent ordeal had been undergone for son from the Athalik, sixteen soldiers ca a loaf of bread shared it with us After the cloth was re our lesson inour beards, said, 'Allah o Akbar;' soon after which the Athalik said, 'Khush, a interview, inificence or barbaric splendour that appertained either to the court or person of the ruler, but by reason of the ue power and influence, and of the hold he had acquired over such of his subjects as couard All his Khokandian friends and relations, whose fortunes, indeed, depended on his poere stanchly attached to his person It could not be given to envoys to possess such co elements, that still existed beneath the surface would suffice to overthrow his rule still more irretrievably when it received its first shock fro and his hest evidence of latent power Order was supreme, and discipline was as apparent in the palace of the Ameer as in the barrack yards of his fortresses

The formal interview took place on the 11th of Deceovernment to the Ahness There were guns of all kinds, including two small cannon, vases, &c, &c; but the token of friendshi+p at which the ruler showed raph letter of Her Majesty This letter was enclosed in a ”ilt bands and handles, and bossed with onyx stones” The Ameer received this with unconcealed satisfaction, several ti, ”God be praised” And then he made those declarations of friendshi+p which, taken in conjunction with our adland and Kashgar into a closer alliance than any that has as yet subsisted between ourselves and any other Central Asian ruler ”Your Queen is a great sovereign Her government is a powerful and a beneficent one Her friendshi+p is to be desired, as it always proves a source of advantage to those who possess it The Queen is as the sun, in whose genial rays such poor people as I flourish I particularly desire the friendshi+p of the English It is essential to me Your rule is just The road is open to every one, and froo with perfect freedom”

On the 13th of December our representatives paid their first visit to the city of Kashgar The country round Kashgar is very fertile, highly cultivated, and thickly populated, and the mission was not less struck by the air of prosperity prevalent here than it had been at Yarkand In addition, the people had a healthier appearance, ar, Alish Beg, as a Kashgari and not a Khokandian, was not less friendly than the Governor of Yarkand had been, and a very pleasant day was passed in his corand revieas held, but for some reason, far from clear, only of the old Chinese troops who had taken service under the new ruler when Kashgar citadel fell The description of the manoeuvres which this force performed reads more like the display of an itinerant circus than of a disciplined army, but, nevertheless, these Khitay troops were excellent material for an ar a sort of gun-cannon, carried by two ood up to 250 yards

It is proper to state here, very clearly, that while the English arian soil it lived and travelled free of all expense, and as the Ameer paid his subjects in hard cash for whatever service they rendered, it is obvious that for a small state such as his was this was no trivial expense It is only fair that this fact should be as widely known as possible, for so extended to the Seyyid Yakoob Khan last year That discontent arose frolish the courteousness of a Central Asian potentate The ether the tiorous; but then there wasand a placed his seal to the treaty of colish mission On the 16th of March formal leave was taken of the Athalik Ghazi, and the mission returned to India It had accomplished its task with pre-e to be remembered as the most ably conducted and practically useful enature of that treaty the Turkestan Trading Co several caravans annually into Kashgaria; but nohether temporarily or permanently remains to be seen, its operations have come to a standstill In these later years, Mr Shaw, in his old post as Co his useful work as ever before; and there were ru sent as another envoy, or rather as a resident agent, into Kashgaria, last year If the appointment were made, it has at this date (October 1st) been for the time suspended; and such entirely new considerations have come into play that it may be postponed for an indefinite period Hadji Torah's visit to this country, in June and July, 1877, when the Turko-Russian war had rendered the Eastern Question once , in Eastern Turkestan But he cas of reverses round Turfan, and July did not pass aithout the intelligence of the death of the Athalik Ghazi himself

There had, before the receipt of this definite intelligence, been absurd ru was resolved to play in Central Asia as the ally of the Porte, while he, poorwith despair, and at the cost of his life, a relentless and irresistible foe Such is the irony of circuination converted in Europe into the arbiter of a great question, and the guide of all those peoples of either Turkestan who chafe at the bit because of Russian rule But in reality, with the return of Sir Douglas Forsyth, our relations with Kashgar, which at one tiuished for want of a motive No auarantee Kashgar against Russia, for the bare facts concerning the intervening country at once chilled the sympathy at our hearts The Grim Pass, and the road lined with desiccated travellers and aniar and the busy streets of Yarkand There was a sigh of profound relief, that would not be suppressed, when Sir Douglas Forsyth's report ht be menaced she was safe, at least, from attack north of Cashmere It is true that there is a feasible route fro did not hold it, and its consideration was considered to be beside the question In fact, after 1874, we entertainedthat we did towards Poland and Kosciusko; and ere beginning to reconcile ourselves to a Russian installation in that state, when the returning Chinese made us reflect more deeply on Central Asian ainst the assertion there exists a third, and hitherto neglected, great Power in Central Asia There was never anything save a kindly feeling between the two countries, and all who could admire bravery and justice and hospitality and frank courtesy were attached to the individual who had proved that he possessed all these attributes in no ree But there was no deeper sy link The Indian governnized cause in supporting Yakoob Beg against all coent ht of

The effect of this treat the last twelve lish in his policy But we preserved ”the even-tenor of our way” Yakoob Beg had no hold over us such as hanistan Practically speaking, his state was more inaccessible to us than Tibet, and the Russians at Yarkand would be a source of far less danger to us than warlike and hostile Chinese ar were friends because they had no reason to be foes; but they were indifferent friends The tear ht be uttered when cause for grief arose; but that was all There was no alliance in the true sense, nor was there fir friendshi+p There was a brief space occupied by syoodwill; then ensued an unbroken period of unvarying indifference Before 1877, the spark that had been kindled by Mr Shaw, and fanned to the dione out, and with its extinction passed away the solid fabric that many had hoped to rear upon the base which the enterprise of a few intrepid ently prepared Whether ere prudent or i leaned on a broken reed when he bade defiance to Russia, trusting on our support This chapter of our policy in Central Asia may be closed as speedily as possible; if we do not colory, it is to be hoped that a lenient posterity e our demerits with a merciful consideration for the preservation of a strict and irresponsible neutrality

CHAPTER XII

YAKOOB BEG'S LAST WAR WITH CHINA, AND DEATH

Until the close of the autu had not devoted much personal attention to his eastern frontier After the first Tungan war and the capture of Kucha he had confided to his son and his lieutenants, the charge ofhis doainst any hostile attempt on the part of the Chinese About the e tidings in Kashgar The ine, was terrible in its brevity The Chinese had appeared north of the Tian Shan They had sacked Urue to Manas

Their nunified to almost a hundred thousand combatants, and they came armed with all the auxiliaries Western science could supply

Before following the ar upon the receipt of this intelligence, it will be necessary to consider what had been the history of this Chinese araria

When in the natural course of events the Chinese govern and Panthay difficulties, having restored order where disorder had been supre created an aranized rabble, turned its attention to the question, which it had never lost sight of, of chastising the Tungan rebels beyond Kansuh, the victorious soldiers of Yunnan, instead of being disbanded, were invited to participate in a fresh careat stretch of iination to realize the scene when the i on all true soldiers to vindicate their country's honour and their outraged religion against the Tungan outcasts; how the generals, such as Chang Yao, set an example of enthusiasm which the main body of their soldiers speedily followed In the presence of such military enthusiasm we are transported back to the days of imperial Rome, when the subjection of one province was only the prelude to son found in the ranks of the army the veterans of the last So it was that the victors of Talifoo, by long h Szchuen and Shensi, reached Lanchefoo, the capital of Kansuh, where the viceroy of that province was gathering together the munitions of war, and the recruits ere to swell the nucleus of trained soldiers to the proportions suitable to an invading ar that there is much to support such a view, that there was a politicala desire on the part of the ruling fae disciplined body of men, who if retained in China proper would be at the service of any powerful conspirator or presumptuous aspirant to imperial honours Whether there is any foundation or not for this supposition, it is certain that those troops ere not required for garrison work in Yunnan were taken by a round-about route at a great distance from the capital to the north-west frontier town of Lanchefoo, there to prepare for the most arduous military enterprise China had undertaken since her conquest of Eastern Turkestan in the last century

It is not certain when these an to be carried out, but there appears to be no reason to doubt that the advanced portion of the Chinese army had commenced its march ard before the end of the year 1874 In the barren region between Lanchefoo and Hamil, a tract of country some 900 miles as the crow flies, but probably nearer 1,200 by the road followed by the Chinese, such difficulties were encountered that one if not tinters were occupied in overco these preliminary obstacles to the advance of the main force The interval was not passed in coazines of ar collected, recruits enlisted and drilled, and the plan of can that was to astonish Asia, if not Europe also, was being drawn up by the Viceroy of Kansuh in person and his able lieutenants At last, with the break of spring upon the desert plains of Gobi, the Chinese army, which nu road across the desert to thenorth and south of the Celestial Mountains Of the details of this portion of the enterprise the _Pekin Gazette_ is strangely reticent The h it was known that ress in the north-west, their object and their extent were uard, which had to form fixed encampments, or rather settlements, in the desert, and plant the corn that was to enable it to advance in the following spring, no serious check was experienced by the Chinese until they appeared before the walls of Uruan leaders had resolved to defend

Although several officers in the service of Yakoob Beg happened to be in the city, and several of the leading Tungani resided there, the defence was not prolonged, and after a few days Urumtsi surrendered to the Chinese Many of the inhabitants had fled to the neighbouring city of Manas, but the garrison was enerals

There is no mention in this case of what fate befell those of the inhabitants who reust, 1876, and on the 2nd of September the Chinese sat down before the fortifications of Manas, a ly situated city, and defended with the whole force of the Tungan people The first panic at the appearance of the Chinese had passed off, and the defenders of Manas recognized that they were not only fighting for their cause and independence, but also for their lives and the honour of their families The terrible lesson of Urumtsi was not without its effect upon the resolute but despairing garrison of Manas

The capture of Urumtsi was a creditable perforn had to be decided before the ramparts of Manas On the 2nd of September the Chinese batteries commenced to play on the north-east portion of the wall, and for two months the boour Several assaults were repulsed, and the Tungani, in face of superior odds and weapons, had behaved like brave men But the Chinese were as persistent in their attack after an eight weeks' siege as they had been on the first day of their arrival, and the provisions of the Tungani were almost exhausted

With their supplies ebbed also their courage, and, after an unsuccessful sortie, the Tungan general, Hai-Yen, presented hi to be accorded an honourable capitulation Ostensibly, terranted--or, rather, to put the matter as it is expressed in the official Chinese report, everything was left vague--and on the 6th of Nove men came forth from the city towards the Chinese camp The subsequent events are not clear, but it seems that the attitude of this body was suspicious The men were armed, they were in a well-ordered phalanx, and to the Chinese on the hills around it looked as if they were about to atteenerals entertained the suspicion, they proceeded to act promptly upon it, as if it were an incontestable fact, and the Tungani, attacked from all sides, by artillery, horse, and foot, were in a short time annihilated Such of their chiefs as were not slain were brought before the Chinese generals, and forthwith executed ”with the extreme of torture” Every able-bodied man found in the city or its vicinity was massacred; but the report distinctly states that the women, children, and old men were spared, and there is no reason to doubt the veracity of the Chinese There would, in their eyes, be no need to palliate such strictly just acts of retribution as these

Not content with having chastised the living Tungani, by annihilating theeneration to coan movement in its infancy, such as To-teh-lin, Heh-tsun, and Han-Hing-Nung, were exhumed and quartered, as an example to all traitors to the Chinese Ehout Central Asia, and at the intelligence a panic spread aaria The enterprise had been conducted with such astonishi+ng secrecy, and the blow had been struck with such rapidity and skill, that the effect was enhanced by these causes, new alike in the annals of China and Central Asia Not only had the Khitay returned for revenge, but they had brought with theland and Russia the doer advanced in the clue, but in obedience to orders based on the models of France and Gerer to the artillerists alone, but as effective as the workshops of Herr Krupp can supply But, above all, their generals had es of Urumtsi and Manas they had proved themselves to be no mean tacticians; in their next and more extended enterprise they were to show that they ists