FROM KASCHGAR TO THE JARKENT-DARJA. 7
called Tukku-su. From it is derived the water which irrigates Jangi-arik. Thus we were now in contact with the system of the Ges-darja. The canal continues to Terem and Moghal, and sends off an arm which supplies Jupoga. Higher up this big irrigation artery lie the villages of Bore-kitaj, Urum-basti, Ökesch, Janje, and several others. The village of Kan-arik possesses a large and lively bazaar, in which the products of the district, such as cereals (especially maize and wheat), fruits, cotton, and so forth, are bought and sold. The estimates of the population of the place differ widely, and consequently cannot be relied upon. In i 895 I was told that it embraced I o0o households; in i 899 the beks, or begs, of the town asserted that it exceeded double that number. Any way Kaschgar, which is situated in a relatively sterile and badly watered region, derives a large portion of its natural supplies from this fertile district.
At Kan-arik I turned off from my route of i 895, leaving it to the south, and proceeded direct to Jupoga, which I had not visited on the former occasion. The road now traversed a magnificent avenue of willows, mulberry-trees, and poplars, standing so close together as to plunge the track into deep shade. The poplars, which were of the ordinary kind, were here topped, or pollarded, to prevent. them from getting too tall; and their branches, all growing straight up, formed a sort of inverted tassel or sheaf. For long stretches the foliage was so dense that the road resembled a tunnel of greenery, through which not a single ray of sunshine was able to pierce — most cool and refreshing on that hot autumn day. From the kischlak of Kan-arik the road runs direct to Fajs-abad.
For a couple of hours after leaving Kan-arik the country is desert, partly flat sand dotted with tussock-grass, partly schor, or moist saliferous ground destitute of vegetation. Then we came to the villages of Jangi-arik och Jek-schambabasar, and beyond them again was the desert. The sand-dunes we here encountered, sporadic outliers of the sandy desert to the south and south-east, were not more than 3 meters high and presented their steep faces towards the east, indicating that at that season of the year the prevailing winds came from the west. Next we passed through the villages of Toktaka and Kalta-jajlak. Between the latter and Kajgulla, a village belonging to the district of Jupoga, were extensive fields of maize. Here we had on our right an arik which shed off from the Kan-arik; it was some 3 meters wide, and carried a considerable volume of water. We crossed it just before entering the village of Jupoga, with its houses of adobe or sun-dried bricks, its gardens and orchards, its fields of maize, and reservoirs for holding the overflow-waters of the Kan-arik. The year of our visit the canal was said to carry a less quantity of water than usual; in fact, there was barely sufficient for the needs of the place. Jupoga, with its associated villages, was reputed to embrace 2000 families, each of 4 to t o members, an estimate which is undoubtedly too high. At any rate Jupoga is not bigger than Kan-arik. Here the usual cereals are grown, except rice, for which there is not sufficient water.
Irrigation is supplied by the Ges-darja, coming via Tasghun and Kan-arik. For twenty days every summer it is continued on from Jupoga to Terem and Moghal, and the time of our visit fell about a month after the supply to these places had been cut off. Whenever there is sufficient water to admit of it, more than a twenty
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