OF EASTERN TURKESTAN. 99 
being greatly in want of some spirits of wine, I managed to 
procure about a dozen bottles of a weak sort of wine (called 
musallas) from the Bazar. This liquor was brought to me with 
a great show of secresy, as it is supposed to be forbidden for any 
one to manufacture intoxicating beverages in Yarkand. I got 
such a very small proportion of alcohol out of the stuff, by dis- 
tillation, that I think 1t would take a good deal of this musallas 
to do the Yarkandis any karm. On the whole I think the people 
of this country are decidedly dirty in their habits: the streets of 
the City and Fort are often very offensive ; and the Yarkandis see 
no harm in drinking the most horribly dirty water imaginable. 
An execution took place in the City on the 17th; the 
eriminal, who appeared to be a confirmed thief, had previously 
had his hand cut off; and being caught again stealing was 
publicly hung. Before the culprit was hauled up by the neck, 
he was hit on the head by an axe in order to draw blood, and 
was said not to have kicked or struggled afterwards. With 
such punishments as these it may be imagined that thefts, and 
serious crimes generally, are wonderfully rare in Kashgharia. 
On the 22nd a Sarbaz or foot-soldier was brought in to 
me badly burnt about the arms, chest, and neck. He had 
mislaid his powder flask and on going out to parade m the 
morning he had taken the amount of powder he was likely to 
require for the day in an old cap tucked loosely into his belt. 
A spark from a live match chanced to fall on the powder and of 
course, the result was an explosion which injured the man in 
the way I have mentioned. When this contretemps occurred, a 
bystander, with great presence of mind, cut off a donkey’s 
ear and dabbed the burnt parts all over with blood ! 
This month [ got a fine Vulture ( Vuléwr monachus), captured 
at Sughuchak. Hypotriorchis subbuteo, Tinnunculus alaudarius, 
Halietus leucoryphus, Circus cyaneus, Circus eruginosis and 
Milvus melanotis have all been common. Subo maximus and 
Athene bactriana have been rarely seen. 
Hirundo rustica has been very common ; but during the last 
week only, the Swifts (Cypselus acuticauda and C. pekinensis) 
seem to have quitted the neighbourhood of the Fort and City. 
Caprimiulgus arenicolor, called by the natives Ayagh siz or 
‘footless,’ has been brought in from the Dolan. Cuculus canorus 
is still numerous; but it is now quite silent. Then all the 
following birds remain as numerous as when they are last enu- 
merated, viz. :— 
Upupa epops, Lanius arenarius, Oriolus kundoo, Saxicola is- 
abellina, Cyanecula suecica, dAcrocephalus arundinaceus, Suya 
albosuperciliaris, Phyllopneuste rama, Nisoria undata, Sylvia 
curruca,  Motacilla personata, Budytes citreola, Corydalla 
