An Interesting Meeting, 



corner towers gracing the walls of Chinese cities, we nearly- 

 disappeared through the floor, the building being rickety and 

 dilapidated. After that I made the Beg precede me, a task not 

 at all to his liking, but the best course for me to adopt under 

 the circumstances. 



Aksu was certainly the dirtiest town 1 had seen in Turkistan, 

 sufficient criterion that the local officials were busy looking after 

 number one. I gathered there were a number of soldiers here, 

 those I saw being a mixed lot, some old and decrepit, and all 

 utterly useless. I never passed a pohce station without seeing 

 the guardians of the peace busy gambling, more intent on raking 

 in the shekels than worrying their pig-tailed heads about 

 mundane things. They were armed with sticks, three-pronged 

 forks and scythes, murderous looking weapons, the very sight 

 of which should be sufficient to overawe the most unruly. 



Whilst in Aksu I called on the Taotai, whose authority 

 extends over the whole of the Aksu district and surrounding 

 country, and who is responsible to the Governor-General at 

 Urumchi. 



I left Aksu on July 15th, going out to the Khona Shahr, or 

 old city, some five miles further on, to attend a feast given in 

 my honour by the few Indian traders there. They had prepared 

 a courtyard with some fine carpets, rugs, and a shamiana in 

 the centre, and were kind and hospitable. 



I met a delightful and entertaining old man there, Mahomed 

 Amin, hailing from Peshawar, but who had lived forty-five years 

 in Turkistan and had served with several noted explorers. 

 The old man was well the far side of eighty but nevertheless 

 hale and hearty. He desired to see again the land of his birth 

 in far-away India, and I strongly advised him not to delay but 

 undertake the journey, arduous though it be, at once. He had 

 long deferred his departure, being appalled by the difficulties of 

 the route, and now, realising that advancing years were weighing 

 heavily upon him, determined to set forth. He showed me 

 many letters received from famous travellers, such as Shaw in 



159 



