CIIINA. 



145 





their rights, and whenever a Chinese army 

 should be sent of sufficient strength to main- 

 tain order in the province, the Czar would 

 order its restoration to China. During the 

 time that has since passed the province recov- 

 ered somewhat under Russian rule from tho 

 depression into which it had sunk during the 

 Mohammedan rebellion. Very little was heard 

 of the Chinese in this region until the close of 

 ] 876. With the campaigns against the Tungani 

 find against Yakoob Beg, they began to reassert 

 their claims to their territory in Central Asia; 

 and after the overthrow of Yakoob Beg's power 

 they claimed the fulfillment of the Czar's prom- 

 ise. But, in spite of the diplomatic represen- 

 tations at St. Petersburg, and the menacing 

 attitude of Tso-Tsung-Tang and his army at 

 Manas and Aksu, the Russian authorities, both 

 at home and in Asia, for eighteen months re- 

 fused to give the Chinese any satisfaction. A 

 Russian commission was finally appointed to 

 draw up a treaty, and in September it presented 

 its* report, containing the draft of a treaty, of 

 which the following are the most important 

 points: First, Russian merchants will be ad- 

 mitted to all the interior markets of China. 

 Secondly, China will pay Russia 5,000,000 

 rubles. Thirdly, Russia is to receive part of 

 the steppe in the upper regions of the Irtish 

 River beyond the Zaisan Sea. The proposed 

 frontier will begin from the fortress of Saur 

 and be continued past the Bostal and Eanas 

 Seas. On the other side of Kulja the frontier 

 is drawn from a point a little more to the south- 

 east of Kanas to the town of Usuntau, from 

 which it runs eastward to the point where the 

 old frontier is cut by the new one. Thus the 

 Tekes River Valley is to remain Russian terri- 

 tory that is to say, about a fifth part of Kulja. 

 This valley was once a Chinese possession, and 

 was surrendered by treaty to Russia twenty 

 years ago. The possession of this strip of ter- 

 ritory will enable Russia to exert a very mate- 

 rial influence upon the progress of events both 

 in Kulja and in Eastern Turkistan. She will 

 continue to hold in her hand the means of re- 

 occupying the province if such a course should 

 in future become necessary. The clauses re- 

 lating to commerce will undoubtedly place in 

 her grasp much of the trade of Western China; 

 and if the Chinese should place restrictions in 

 the way of Russian merchants, an excuse would 

 be available to revert to the present condition 

 of things. In spite of these disadvantages the 

 treaty was accepted by the Chinese. 



In May, Hakim Khan Tufi, the pretender to 

 the Kashgar throne, quitted his exile on Rus- 

 sian territory, and, entering Kashgar with a 

 large number of followers through the Pamir, 

 endeavored to raise a rebellion against the Chi- 

 nese. This step was taken by Hakim Khan in 

 order to profit by the angry excitement then 

 reigning among the Mussulmans of Kashgar 

 on account of the burning of the remains of 

 Yakoob Beg, their late ruler, by order of the 

 Chinese. In consequence of the rebellious at- 

 VOL. xix. 10 A 



titnde of the Mussulmans of Kashgar, and their 

 openly expressed regrets at the loss of their 

 beloved Yakoob Beg, the Chinese authoritii-H 

 ordered the bodies of Yakoob Beg and of his 

 son, Isliana Beg, to be disinterred and publicly 

 burned to cinders. The ashes of Yakoob were, 

 moreover, sent to Peking. Such a proceeding 

 only served to give new force to the existing 

 discontent, and a conspiracy among the Mo- 

 hammedans was the result. Hakim Khan en- 

 deavored to take advantage of this conspiracy, 

 but the Chinese troops put a speedy end to the 

 troubles. 



At the time that Eastern Turkistan again 

 passed into the hands of China, there were 

 taken prisoners four sons, two grandsons, two 

 granddaughters, and four wives of Yakoob Beg. 

 Some of these were executed and others died ; 

 but in 1879 there remained in prison at Lanchan- 

 foo, the capital of Kan-suh, Maiti Kuli, aged 

 fourteen ; Yima Kuli, aged ten ; K'ati Kuli, 

 aged six, sons of Yakoob Beg; and Aisan 

 Ahung, aged five, his grandson. These wretch- 

 ed little boys were treated like state criminals. 

 They arrived in Kan-suh in February, 1879, 

 and were sent on to the provincial capitid to 

 be tried and sentenced by the Judicial Com- 

 missioner there for the awful crime of being 

 sons of their father. In the course of time 

 the Commissioner made a report of the trial, 

 which he concluded as follows : 



In cases of sedition, where the law condemns the 

 malefactors to death by the slow and painful process, 

 the children and grandchildren, if it be shown that 

 they were not privy to the treasonable designs of their 

 parents, shall be delivered, no matter whether they 

 have attained full age or not, into the hands of the 

 imperial household to be made eunuchs of, and shall 

 be forwarded to Turkistan and given over as slaves 

 to the soldiery. If under the age of ten, they shall be 

 confined in prison until they snail have reached the 

 age of eleven, whereupon they shall be handed to the 

 imperial household to be dealt with according to law. 

 In the present case, Yakoob Beg's sons Maiti Kuli, 

 Yima Kuli, and K'ati Kuli, and the rebel chief Beg 

 K nil's son, Aisan Ahung, are all under age, and were 

 not, it has been proved, privy to the treasonable de- 

 signs of their parents. They have, therefore, to be 

 handed to the imperial household to be dealt with in 

 accordance with the law, which prescribes that, in 

 cases of sedition, the sons and grandsons of malefac- 

 tors condemned to death by the slow and painful pro- 

 cess, if it bo shown that they were not privy to the 

 treasonable designs of their parents, shall, whether 

 they have attained full age or not, be delivered into the 

 hands of tie imperial household to be made eunuchs 

 of, and shall be sent to Turkistan to be given as slaves 

 to the soldiery. But, as these are repels from Tur- 

 kistan, it is requested that they may, instead, be sent 

 to tho Amoor region, to be given as slaves to the sol- 

 diery there. 



As Maiti Kuli is fourteen, it is requested that he 

 may be delivered over to the imperial household as 

 soon as the reply of the Board is received. Yima Kuli 

 is just ten, K'ati Kuli and Aisan Ahung are under ten ; 

 they have, therefore, to be confined in prison until 

 they attain the age of eleven, when they will be de- 

 livered over to the imperial household to oe dealt with 

 according to law. 



Kuo-Tung-tao, formerly Chinese Minister in 

 England, returned to China in April, 1879, 

 having been recalled by his Government. He 



