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CHAPTER VII. 



YARKAND. 



A TURKl'S HUT OUR VILLA RESIDENCE AN AWKWARD 



SITUATION VISITING THE AMBAN MAHOMED UNIS MAKES 



US A PRESENT THE RETURN CALL REFITTING. 



YANGI-SHAHAR, or Chinese town of Yarkand, 

 appeared, on approaching, to be a great square 

 fort with high mud parapet and ditch. At in- 

 tervals along the top of the parapet were loop- 

 holed towers, with the graceful concave sloping 

 roofs and ornamental eaves so affected by the 

 Chinese. There were embrasures along the 

 parapet, but no guns appeared to be mounted. 

 As we rode up to the gate of the city which 

 opens northward on to the Kashgar road, a group 

 of horsemen appeared, and dismounting, ad- 

 vanced to meet us. We concluded they must 

 be Mahomed Unis and the Kashmiri Aksakal. 



