SIEGE OF CHOBSEN. 127 



immediately followed by a wholesale butchery of the 

 vanquished ; no prisoners were made, no quarter 

 given. ^ 



The bands of Dungans who made plundering in- 

 cursions into Kan-su and on the borders of Mongolia, 

 were composed of every kind of vagabonds, half of 

 whom were often unarmed ; the remainder carried 

 spears or swords, and a few matchlocks. Old men 

 and women followed to collect booty, and bring it 

 home under cover of their companions' escort. 



To give a correct idea of the absurd nature of 

 the military operations of the Dungans, I will de- 

 scribe the siege of the temple of Chobsen, which 

 happened three years before our arrival in Kan-su, 

 as it was related to us by some of its defenders. 



The temple is surrounded by a mud wall, 20 

 feet high and 280 feet square. In the centre of 

 each face and at the four corners stand small towers, 

 each capable of containing fifteen or twenty men. 

 The wall has a wooden roof, sloping on either side, 

 and at a short distance from it, about 100 houses are 

 scattered about, each standing in its own enclosure. 

 There is no well inside the temple, and water is ob- 

 tained from a spring in the immediate vicinity. 



In the summer of 1868 several thousand Dun- 



* In every place where the Mahommedans revolted, the Manchu 

 officials and Chinese soldiers were in general exterminated to a man ; 

 occasionally soldiers were spared on condition of their embracing 

 Mahommedanism. Of the peaceable Chinese population living in Dun- 

 gan territory, those who became Mahommedans had equal rights \vith 

 the concjuerors ; the others were made slaves. Women were not re- 

 quired to change their religion. 



