REMINISCENCES OF KASHGAR 239 
the ample folds of which golden dragons played hide and 
seek, whilst golden lions of fantastic shape climbed up a 
bewildering tangle of interlaced garlands. A mystic 
button on his silk skull - cap proclaimed that he was a 
darin or mandarin of the second class. To complete his 
gala costume, he wore round his neck a long chain of hard 
fruit-kernels, polished and carved on the outside. 
Upon arriving in Kashgar, one of my first duties was 
SHANG, ])AO TAI OF KASHGAR 
of course to go and pay my respects to this high and 
influential official. He received me in a singularly polite 
and cordial fashion. He lived in a straggling yamen 
(official residence), consisting of a labyrinth of square 
courtyards, with mulberry-trees planted in the middle 
and wooden verandahs running round the sides. The 
pillars which supported the verandahs were decorated 
with Chinese ideographs, and the walls of the building 
With mural paintings, representing for the most part 
dragons and other fantastic animals. The Dao Tai 
