650 
THROUGH ASIA 
Ak-su possesses a mixed population of divers races. 
Amongst others I noticed a great number of Chinese, a 
hundred or so of Andijanliks (people of Andijan) or 
merchants from Russian Turkestan, besides three Afghans, 
who have paid periodical visits to Ak-su for a space of 
over twenty years. Mohammed Emin, the aksakal or 
head of the Russian subjects trading to the town, was 
a Tashkendlik, i.e. a man of Tashkend, and had been 
domiciled in Ak-su for a dozen years. The Andijan 
merchants trade principally in wool, cotton, and hides. 
Of the last-named commodity some 30,000 are sent every 
year to Tashkend on the backs of camels, via the pass 
of Bedel, Kara-kol (Przhevalsk), Pishpek, and Aulieh- 
ata. The caravans only travel during the winter. All 
the hot months of the year the camels run at pasture 
on the grassy slopes of the mountains near the town. 
Moreover, all communications are greatly hampered during 
the summer by the high state of the water in the swollen 
rivers. 
Of “ lions ” that would repay a visit there were scarce 
any. The chief mosque, which as usual was called the 
Mesjid-i-Juma or Friday Mosque, was not particularly 
remarkable, except that it occupied a picturesque situation 
on one side of a small open square, which communicated 
with the principal bazaar through a side-lane. The square, 
called Righistan, is the centre of the life of Ak-su. On 
market-days it is packed with people, and all sorts of 
commodities are offered for sale on a multitude of little 
stalls. Lumps of ice, collected in winter and preserved in 
subterranean cellars, are an important commodity during 
the hot season, and one that I personally enjoyed in 
liberal measure. In the principal bazaar there are two 
theological colleges, the Kok-madrasa (the Blue College) 
and the Ak-madrasa (the White College). Their fagades 
are plain, with poor earthenware decorations, nor can their 
balconies or cloisters boast of any architectural merit. 
The mollahs or theological students live in cells, opening 
out upon the courtyard. Some of the students had pre- 
viously studied five, and even ten, years at the theological 
