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BARKUL
Barkul is built on the steeply dipping N slope of the Tian Shan mountains. The Chinese town is dominated by the ground in the S, SW and SE. The wall is neglected, 3 1/2 fathoms high and has a crenellated parapet. There is a fosse only in front of the W part. No outer protected space. The fosse is only flanked by the gate projections. The corner and wall projections are small. The N wall forms a very irregular line and is entirely pilapidated in parts. There are loopholes in the parapet, but no embrasures for guns. Gates of rough timber with iron fittings. In the gateway the wall is 18 paces. Above the 4 gates turret-shaped pagodas of wood. A similar tower on a stone foundation in the middle of the town. Barracks ssurrounded by small crenellated walls in the SW corner and in the middle of its SE part. A wide, uninhabited space extends along the N and W walls. There is a narrower, open space along the S wall. The ground is entirely exposed without either buildings or trees, except those marked on the map, as far as you can see. The only irregularities are small burial mounds, about 1 m at the base and 0.3 m in height, adjoining in the W, N and especially in the E. - The Manchurian fortress is abandoned and going to ruin. Its W has partly fallen to pieces. The others are in bad condition. In the space inside the wall there are only 3 temples in the way of buildings and a group of buildings surrounded by a wall near the middle of the S wall. - Drawn by the author. |
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