RECORDS OF THE JOURNEY
orders to dismount and proceed on foot and hand over his cartridges. When he explained that the cartridges were mine, and refused to obey, he was given several blows with sticks. The beating cannot have been very serious, for he was able to cook dinner as usual and »forgot» to tell me his adventure. I only heard about it on the following day. As the matter concerned the servant of a European and moreover an Andijanlik, I decided that I could not ignore the incident. The indisposed and invisible Shenguan informed me that the soldiers were in the service of the Wang and that it was therefore beyond his competency to punish them. The Wang replied that he would ascertain whether the cook had really been beaten and would punish the guilty parties. A subsequent message advised me that two soldiers had been found guilty and would be punished. I replied, however, that all 8 men were guilty and demanded that they should be sentenced and in my presence, otherwise I should telegraph to the Governor at Urumchi to have the matter settled. Various alternatives were proposed, but after 24 hours' deliberation, I was informed that the Wang had agreed to my terms and had fixed the trial for the following day. I was allowed to choose the time. In the evening the last messenger appeared, a Tartar and a Russian subject, whose assistance had been enlisted by the Wang in a last endeavour to settle the matter amicably. As I was by no means. delighted with the prospect of witnessing the coming performance, but rather was anxious to raise the prestige. of the Russian Tartar in the eyes of the Wang, I agreed to let the matter drop, provided all the 8 soldiers received prders to apologise to my cook. The latter was good enough to forgive them and the Russian subjects in Hami rejoiced over the incident which had doubled their (as they said) diminishing reputation in the eyes of the population.
Hami or Kumul, as it is still called by the Sart population, consists of three towns built October 29th. close to each other. If you come from the north, as I did, you first reach the suburb with its Hami. bazaar and along its main street you ride through the so-called »new town», »Sincheng»,
high, with a crenellated parapet and a fosse, about 2 1/2 fathoms wide and 1-1 1/3 fathoms deep, which is flanked by the gate projections and partly by other wall projections. Covered clay buildings, 2 between the wall projections, 3 between the corners and gate projections and r on each wall projection, all with a gun embrasure facing outwards, are built on the ramparts. Above the gates the usual towers of wooden lattice-work. The wall is of unbaked bricks and in good preservation. The gates are of logs with iron fittings, enclosed in arches of baked bricks. In the archway from gate to gate 44 paces. The N and S walls of the fortress are 68o paces in length, the E and W walls 62o. Infantry barracks in the NE corner. The yamen of the district near the W gate. The bazaar street joins the NW corner from the W. The N wall is adjoined at a short distance by a not quite connected group of houses. W of the SW corner a few single houses. SW of it a small space surrounded by a massive, high, crenellated wall. Communications in the town are good. — Huicheng, the Sart town, is surrounded by a wall of irregular height and shape with innumerable wall projections. The greatest height near the yamen of the Prince is about 9 fathoms, in other places 3-4. It has a crenellated parapet, but the ramparts appeared to be narrow and J. saw no ascents. The space inside the wall is densely populated and communications are difficult. In the WNW a large group of buildings containing the mausoleums of the princes. — The ground is a level, tilled plain with single houses, small groups of trees and single trees. In the W and N the desert begins at a distance of i —r 1/3 mile from Laocheng. The rivers on either side of the fortress flow in small gullies which do not provide cover. -- Drawn by the author.
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