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Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

them for a distance of thirty miles. From Safarbáy a caravan road goes north over the
Bedal Pass to the head waters of the Nárin river, and beyond, across the Zauka Pass, to Isigh
Kol. The Bedal Pass marks the north boundary of U'sh Turfán and the Amír's territory, and
at the entrance to the gorge leading up to it is an outpost called Bedal Karáwul.

From Safarbáy eastward the valley widens, and is studded with little farm settlements on
the streams coming down the glens on either side. They form two streams called Aksáy and
Táoshkán which unite and join the Aksú River south of that city. The population of this
division is altogether agricultural, and estimated at 2,000 houses, or 14,000 souls at seven
per house.

The capital had formerly a strong little castle, but it was destroyed with the town in 1765
A.D., and its people massacred by the Chinese for revolt in favor of the Khoja rebellion. It
is now an open market town of 800 houses commanded by a fort on a hill overlooking it from
the north-west. The garrison consists of 300 men, and the townspeople are the descendants of
taranchi or "labourers" planted here by the Chinese after the massacre.

Farmsteads are scattered all over the valley, but the principal settlements are Safarbáy,
Karáwul, Akyár, Achítágh, and Aral. Sheep, cattle, and horses are very numerous. The fine
wool of the first is woven by the Kirghíz into a variety of materials for home use, and with
the tobacco and cattle of the town finds its way to the Aksú market. The limits of the
division are Kákshál on the west and the Aksú River on the east, the Bedal mountain on the
north, and the Balauti ridge on the south. Its communication and trade are entirely with
Aksú of which by some it is considered to form a part.

Aksú.—This is the central division of the country, and is situated at the base of Alátágh
or Tangri Ula at the southern entrance to the Múzárt or "Glacier Pass." Under the Chinese
it was an important military post at the junction of the roads from Ila by the Múzárt, and
from Kánsúh by Khámil and Turfán. It was the centre of the Chinese trade and formed the
division between the eastern and western cities of the province, and was the limit of the
trade privileges accorded by the Chinese Government to the Khokand Khan over the cities of
the western division.

Its limits are from the Aksú River on the west to the Kizil or Nárinj stream beyond
Sáyrám on the east, and from the water-shed of Tangri U'la on the north to Sáy Arik, and the
Aksú and Tárim rivers on the south. Its population is reckoned at 12,000 houses, of which
6,000 are allotted to the city and immediate suburbs. The rest are distributed thus. Settle-
ments to the north—Chodá 60 houses, Kázghán 100, Sirilmá 40, and other homesteads 300.
On the west—Aykol 20, Sáyarik 40, Kálpin 60, Chilan 60, Súgat 40, Marákala 20, Besh
Digarman 60, and other homesteads 400. On the south—Súbalik 80, Sagfarcha 50, Daulat-
bágh 200, Ká rá Moghcha 20, Bálaring 20, Amarjama 50, Kúmbásh 200, Dolán 50, and others
630. On the east—Jám 100, Tázlung 100, Ká rá-yúlghún 150, Yakka Arik 150, Koshtami 250,
Báy 600, Karábágh 100, Sáyrám 800, and others 1,250. Total of all 12,000 houses, at seven
per house 84,000 souls.

Aksú is a very ancient city, and was formerly called Arpadíl or Ardabíl. It covers two
ridges of gravel heights on the left bank of the Aksú river where it is joined by the Úsh or
Kákshál river, and has a citadel on each. The city is surrounded by fortified walls, and has two
gates—that on the west Sú Darwáza or "Water Gate," and that on the east Tumurchi Darwáza
or "Blacksmith's Gate." The climate is described as very salubrious, though the winter is an
extremely rigorous season; and the natives I have seen bear testimony in confirmation by their
clear healthy looks and robust frames. The citizens are said to be peaceable and industrious,
to be very sociable, and fond of gaiety and the pleasures of life generally. They are more
purely Turk in physiognomy, judging from the few I saw in the Amír's service, than the
citizens of either Yárkand or Káshghar, and are supposed to be the purest representatives,
together with the people of Artosh north of Káshghar, of the ancient Ayghúr or Uighúr
conquerors.

Aksú is celebrated for its manufactures of saddlery and harness, its pottery, and its raw
hide jars called dabba for oil, butter, &c. Its tobacco also is considered the best that is pro-
duced in the country. All these, together with cattle and the shawl wool of U'sh Turfán, are