662 KEPOET — 1889. 



tivation ; for the rest it runs over a barren plain or amongst low hills. An easy road 

 through a very devastated country leads to An-si-chow, bordered by the Nan-shan 

 Mountains and the desert occupied by Tibetans and Mongols ; the Chinese occupy 

 the narrow intervening strip, which consists of cultivated stretches, desert, and 

 grazing grounds. 



The Gobi for 200 miles is almost an absolute desert ; water can, however, be 

 readily obtained and is often close to the surface, and springs occur apparently at 

 intervals of 20 to 30 miles in any direction. The route could be readily stocked 

 with grass from Hami, but carters prefer to carry chopped sti-aw and grain. The 

 water is brackish but wholesome. At Hami, a rich oasis of no size, the two cart 

 ruts from Si-nan-fu open out into four, two going to Kulja, 800 miles, and two to 

 Kashgar, 1,200 miles. Here also a good camel road joins in from Peking, distant 

 by it 1,255 miles; it passes through desert chiefly to Kwei-hwa-cheng, and supplies 

 have to be carried. 



Barkul, the Chinese Pa-li-kul, is reached from Hami in three days over a pasture 

 country beyond the pass over the Tian-Bhan elevated 9,000 feet ; thence for 130 to 

 140 miles the Tian-shan is traversed by an easy cart track, leading through natural 

 valleys, with good pasture here and there, but otherwise all desert. On leaving the 

 hills, to Hung-miot-za or Urumtsi, 200 mues, a few towns are met with, and at 

 intervals desert, pasture, and most fertile oases alternate. The oases are in part 

 occupied only ; the towns and villages are in ruins and rank grasses choke many of 

 the fields. 



Hung-miot-za is now the capital of Kashgaria, or the Sin-kiang or New Province, 

 formed to include Kashgaria, Outer Kansuh, Hi, Zungaria, Sec, and extending to 

 the Russian border and Mongolia. Here the Chinese have concentrated their chief 

 military strength, and are building a new city. Hence the cart road leads on to Hi, 

 400 miles. From Urumtsi the Tian-shan range was re-crossed to Toksun, a re- 

 markable depression in Central Asia elevated about 350 feet, by an easy pass ; 

 country, generally desert ; from Toksun, a hilly country is passed through, heavy 

 for carts ; road over sand and shingle, chiefly desert for 140 to 150 miles before the 

 oasis of Karashahar is reached, the natural eastern limit of Kashgaria ; to its west 

 lies the diflUcult pass leading to Khur or Khorlia, 33 miles oft', whence it is 340 to 

 350 miles to Aksu, the country between consistmg of much desert, a little pasture 

 land, with oases at intervals. A China boy fnjm Chifu at Karashahar delivered 

 himself of the opinion that Sin-kiang no belong Jirst chop piecie place : it improves 

 westwards, for several of the oases, Khur, Kuchar, Bai, &c., are of size, and in 

 them grain is plentifully grown, and fruits and milk in all its varieties abound. 



Aksu is an important trade centre, but a most filthy town, and here Indian 

 merchants are first met with. 



From Aksu to Kashgar the country consists of forests, deserts, and oases, some 

 of the latter of size. Mosquitoes were in myriads between Toksun and Karashahar, 

 and nearly killed the horses, and here the stretches of forest, some 30 to 50 miles 

 deep, must be rushed at night, for from dawn till dusk horse-flies occupy them in 

 millions. 



At Kashgar the Prussian consul makes a good show with an escort of fifty 

 Cossacks, and his presence there is looked upon as the first step towards the annexa- 

 tion of Kashgaria by Russia ; the Turks do not favour the Russians, but would not 

 £gbt for the Chinese. They are a gone-by people and can never hope for inde- 

 pendence ; their possible future dependent position on Russia may, however, be an 

 eventful one. 



A fertile country connects Kashgar and Yarkand, and from the latter town, the 

 chief centre of Indian trade, caravans reach Leh in a month ; horses have to be 

 trained for this hill route, which is well frequented notwithstanding its difiiculties 

 and the loss of ponies that takes place ; both are remediable, and should be remedied, 

 for to pack-animals it is a veritable passage through the vale of the Shadow of Death 

 in its present state. 



