THE PLAIN OF TAGHARMA 
28 z 
they deceive the credulous Kirghiz, as well as the Russians 
on the other side of the frontier, into believing that their 
garrisons are very much stronger than they are in reality. 
Woe to the Kirghiz who should presume to count the 
soldiers of the Celestial Empire by the same common 
rule as that by which he counts his sheep ! A short time 
before my visit in that quarter a Kirghiz yuz-bashi (chief 
of 100 men) was asked by Mi Darin, commandant of 
Tash-kurgan, how many men there were at Su-bashi. 
The chief replied, “Thirty.” Thereupon Mi Darin wrote 
to his colleague Shi Darin, asking if the statement was 
correct. Shi Darin promptly sent for the yuz-bashi, and 
beat him, asking him how he dared to count the garrison, 
or even presume to think about its size. 
The Chinese troops at Su-bashi were armed with half-a- 
dozen English rifles and an equal number of Russian ; 
except for these, their principal weapons were Chinese 
bows and lances. The European rifles were in bad con- 
dition, not having been cared for. I myself saw two or 
three of the troops stick their rifle-barrels downwards into 
a muddy brook and use them as jumping-poles to get 
across with. Less than a dozen of their horses were 
really serviceable animals ; the others were nothing better 
than sorry caravan horses. Drill, rifle-practice, or other 
military duties are seldom performed. Togdasin told me, 
that the entire garrison, the commandant included, spend 
days and days smoking opium, gambling, eating, drinking, 
and sleeping. These frontier garrisons are relieved at 
irregular intervals from Kashgar, Yarkand, and Yanghi- 
hissar ; and three or four times a year are supplied with 
provisions by means of caravans from the same towns. 
The Kirghiz pay no taxes to them; but are under the 
obligation to supply half-a-dozen sheep every month, for 
which the Chinese pay at the rate of about one-half or 
one-third of their real value. 
