478 KAMI. OR KUMUL 



standing side by side. Kumul is now, however, a verit- 

 able stronghold of Islam, and its inhabitants keep more 

 strictly to the law than do the greater number of 

 followers of the Prophet. 



At the present day Kumul consists of a native Chanto * 

 town, surrounded by high mud-walls and dominated by 

 a great mud-palace — the residence of the Khan ; to 

 the north-east is a walled Chinese town, containing 

 yamens, quarters for the garrison, and bazaars, where 

 most of the business is transacted. The population 

 of the capital is probably about ten thousand, the 

 native Kumuliks being in a slightly greater majority 

 than the Chinese, the Dungans, and the garrison com- 

 bined. It is probable that in recent years the Chinese 

 element has increased, represented, as it is, chiefly by 

 traders and small shopkeepers ; but the Chanto farmers 

 cannot have increased much, owing to all available land 

 being already under cultivation. Any further increase 

 would undoubtedly cause either discontent or a desire to 

 emigrate. 



Around the town lies the oasis, a veritable Garden 

 of Eden in the midst of a howling wilderness. The 

 inhabited zone of cultivation is very small, extending 

 only for about seven miles north and south, and five 

 miles east and west ; but such is the richness of the 

 soil, and with such care is the ground terraced and 

 watered, that it supports a considerable population in 

 proportion to its size. Kumul lies in the midst of a 

 salt-encrusted plain, and its existence depends upon 

 the drainage from the highlands of the Karlik Tagh 

 lying some fifty miles away. The water which drains 

 southwards from these ranges is for the most part lost 



^ See footnote, p. 397. 



