144 FROM YARKAND TO AKSU. 



service in Turkistan. There is, in spite of all 

 his faults, one good point in the Chinese char- 

 acter : however low a man may be in the social 

 scale, he manages to dress himself respectably. 

 No doubt his person and habits are very dirty, 

 and he stinks like a badger ; still, he presents a 

 tidy exterior. They are a miserable race as to 

 size, and although they look wretched, seldom 

 ail, which is a proof of the saying, " A Chinaman 

 is only ill once in his life, and that when he dies." 

 The soldiers are miserable specimens, and the 

 officers either drunk or insensible from opium. 

 Their towns are fortified, and surrounded by 

 good brick parapets and ditches, but no guns 

 mounted indeed I do not believe they have 

 any in this country. 



At this point of the journey my guide missed 

 the way, but the country being open, we struck 

 across the jungle which separated us from the 

 road, and came upon the most extraordinary 

 forest, consisting of large trees of the aspen and 

 poplar species, which predominate in this region. 

 But it was a forest of the past : not a weed or a 

 blade of grass was alive. The soil was fine dust 

 mixed with shore, slightly crusted on the top, 

 though not sufficient to bear the weight of the 



