May 13, 1920] 



NATURE 



331 



part of middle Asia which forms the most 

 westerly province of the Chinese Empire, under 

 the title of Hsin-Chiang-, or the New Province, 

 for it is of comparatively recent occupation (since 

 Keen-Lungf, 1758). Although an integral part of 

 the Celestial Empire, it is actually Central Asian 

 in physical features, character, and inhabitants. 

 This desert plain is girt on three sides by great 

 mountain walls, yet these barriers seem to be 

 less of a hindrance to man than is the endless 

 desert zone which cuts it off from China proper. 



The Chinese rule, but the natives 



look to Mecca, not to Pekin, and 



trade with Moscow and Peshawar 



rather than with the cities of 



China. The oases l:)elong to the 



group which extends from Kho- 



tan, in the east, to Bokhara, in 



the west. 



Chinese Turkestan, then, is a 



colony where mild and unwarlike 



farmers, probably the most 

 phleg^matic of all peoples in the 

 world, are ruled by a handful of 



Chinese officials. On the north 



and west was a great and virile 



Russian Empire ever ready to 



overflow still further eastwards 



and southwards, while on the 



south great mountain walls arose 



behind which ruled the Emperor 



of India. Kashgar, the capital, 



was the only place in Central Asia 



where Great Britain maintained 



a representative. From the Cau- 

 casus to Siberia, and from 



Siberia to China proper, we had 



no official residents. It was to 



this far-off city that the authors 

 went in 191 5, Sir Percy Sykes to 



act for Sir George Macartney, 

 the Consul-General, on leave. 



We have a general account of 

 the journey out, by way of Nor- 

 w-ay, Sweden, and Finland, 

 Petrograd, Moscow, Tashkent, 

 and Osh, followed by chapters on 

 life at the British Consulate, 

 around Kashgar, and trips to the 

 Russian Pamirs and to the great 

 oases of Yarkand and Khotan. 

 These chapters, by Miss Ella 

 Sykes, are ably supplemented by p-.^. , _a hum 



her brother's (Sir Percy Sykes) 



section, which deals with the geography, govern- 1 



ment, and commerce of the district, and also givei | 



us an historical sketch which is admirable in i 



its brevity and conciseness, for it covers i 



in three short chapters a period from some- I 



where about the third century B.C. up to ' 



1915 ! It should be realised that Turkestan his- ' 



tory was shaped by Hun, Chinese, Turk, Arab, ; 



and Mongol, while the romantic names of Kutayba, j 

 Jenghiz, Tamerlane, Amursana, and Yakub Beg | 



NO. 26.^7, VOL. 105] 



figure largely. Sir Percy Sykes traces the story 

 right up to the year of his visit, and by no means 

 the least interesting part is that which deals with 

 the modern period. His final sentence contains 

 much of import : "The future of Chinese Turkes- 

 tan is not finally settled, but the World War, 

 which has temporarily broken up the Russian 

 Empire, will undoubtedly stimulate China to move 

 along the path of progress. If so, there is hope 

 that the condition of this outlying province of her 

 Empire may benefit, more especially by improved 



g eagle. 



Ihrmgli De>erts and O.ises of Central Asia. 



communications. At the same time, there are 

 many parts of Asia which have reason to envy 

 the peace and plenty enjoyed by the inhabitants 6f 

 Chinese Turkestan." The chapter on "The 

 Kashgar Farmer" is noteworthy; it shows the 

 difference between this desert land and others. 

 Whereas other arid regions are dependent on 

 scanty and uncertain rainfalls, the great oases 

 of the low, hot plains of Turkestan live by a sure 

 and abundant water supply brought down from 



