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0239	Innermost Asia : vol.1
極奥アジア : vol.1

it passes most of the gold brought down from the pits in the Arka-tāgh and nominally reserved
for official purchase only. Illicit acquisition of such gold meant profit, as did also the smuggling
of opium into Kan-su, for which Charchan offered a safe base.

On my arrival at Charchan I learned from native traders that a small but well-armed party
of these people, incensed at the detention by the Charkhlik district magistrate of a large consign-
ment of smuggled opium, had about a fortnight before set out for Charkhlik. After committing
some outrages en route they were reported to have attacked and captured the unfortunate magistrate.
The Chinese sub-divisional officer of Charchan had been helpless to prevent the outbreak and,
being overawed by the set of 'revolutionaries' who had remained behind, was evidently sitting
on the fence. He considerately provided me with two recommendations for the Charkhlik Ya-mên.
One was addressed to the helpless Amban, on the assumption that he had by some means regained
freedom and authority, and the other to the leading spirit of the local 'revolutionaries', a Ssŭ-yeh
or petty official out of employment, who had started for Charkhlik on learning of the success of
the coup and who was shrewdly guessed to have been installed in office instead of him.

We started from Charchan on New Year's Eve, 1914, and did the desert journey of about
142 miles to Vāsh-shahri, the westernmost inhabited place of the Charkhlik district, in seven marches.
The route followed was the usual one for caravans, leading along the left bank of the Charchan
river as far as Lashkar-satma (Map No. 22. D. 3, 4; 26. A, B. 3). Down to this point it was new
to me, but as it has been followed by other travellers and fully recorded,¹¹ no description is needed.

As regards points of antiquarian interest I may note that the small mound known as Tim
and situated about 10 miles below Tatran (Map No. 22. D. 3) was visited by me on my second
journey and then recognized as probably representing the remains of a Stūpa base.¹² Its position
near the left bank of the river proves the existence here of a small settlement in Buddhist times,
and this well agrees with the wording of the Chinese itinerary of T'ang times, previously discussed,
which seems to indicate that at that period, too, the route coming from Hsin-ch'êng or Vāsh-shahri
crossed to the left bank of the river somewhere about Lashkar-satma and followed it to Chü-mo
or Charchan.¹³

I found that Tatran, now the only inhabited place between these two localities, had increased
to about 25 households against the 8 or 10 which it included in 1906 according to the statement of
my old guide, Ismail 'Pāwān', a descendant of the original founder of the little colony and now
once again with me. There was said to be abundance of water at all seasons for a further extension
of the cultivated area. But two abandoned canals showed that special difficulties exist here, owing
to the rapid silting up of the channels, which cannot be cleared with the necessary regularity,
owing to the inadequate supply of labour available.

After leaving Tatran we did not meet with a single wayfarer, which struck me as strange at
the time and left me in doubts as to the situation we might find at Charkhlik. But when approach-
ing on January 6th the jungle belt which from the west screens the ruined site of Vāsh-shahri (Map
No. 26. c. 3), we found the route guarded by a large party of armed Muhammadans who at first
from a distance mistook us for a fresh batch of 'revolutionaries' and were preparing to resist
(Fig. 106). Fortunately the mistake was promptly cleared up, and from Rōze Bêg, the headman
of Vāsh-shahri and an old acquaintance, I learned the queer story of the course that events had

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