National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

they are mostly employed as soldier farmers, and to prevent their leaving the country are
scored on the left cheek with a razor; they are a despicable set, and speak mixed languages,
such as Khitáy, Mánjhú, Kalmák, &c. There are none of these in Yuldúz, only Kalmák and
Khitay. Yulduz produces wheat=sagdutaran, barley=khârataran, rice=tuturgho, maize=
ardoushishi, millet=carásuc-tirik, melon=gho, water-melon=turbus, cucumber=tamshak, opium
=khartamki, egg plant=petingán, pear=kermin, apple=almia, &c. All these were grown by the
Kalmák and Khitay in Karáshahr in quantity to supply their own wants and all Lob and the
Yuldúz camps.

The only cultivation now, besides the Musalmán settlement on the river, is that around
the new fort by the soldiers of the garrison. This fort was built by the Amír at Tawulgah
three and a half tásh north-east from the city and half a tásh from the river. It is
on the plain two days' journey from Lake Baghrâsh on the south, and four days' from the moun-
tains to the north. It is of square shape and built of red bricks of which the Chinese left
immense piles here; the fort has one gate on the south side, and is surrounded by a deep ditch
all round, and on each of its four sides are eight high turrets. It is the best fort in the
country; between it and the river is a settlement of 300 farms held by families originally from
Kámol; and to the west of the fort is the Shitán settlement, which is now deserted and in ruins.

The Kalmák are a distinct people from the Turk tribes of Káshghar, and differ from them
in origin, physiognomy, language, religion, manners, customs, and mode of life. They belong
to the great Monghol Tártár race from the north, and their principal divisions in this region are
the following, viz., Monghol in Mongholáy, sixteen days' journey north-east from Karáshahr;
Chokúr at Issik; Tánghút in the Tánghút valley; Olot and Mánjhú in Ila; Turgút in Ila,
Yuldúz, Karáshahr and Lob; Koshot in Yuldúz; Kará Kalmák in Yuldúz, Lob, Cháchán, and
Tibet; Sárigh Kalmák in Yuldúz, Lysum, Orúmchí, and Turfán; and Tuwat in Tuwat or
Tubat or Tibet which is also called Joh. All these originally came from Kok Nor, which is
seven days' journey north of Mongholáy, and Mongholáy is twelve days' journey north-east of
Orúmchí. There are besides two other countries of the Kalmák also called Kok Nor. One is
five days' journey north of Orúmchí, and the other is, beyond Lob, five days' journey to the south
of Kúchá. This last is continuous with Cháchán on the east of Khutan, and in it are the ruins of
several ancient cities of which nobody knows anything. The principal of these is called Kok
Nor. "Kok Nor means 'blue lake,' and these several countries are so called, because they
have such sheets of water in different parts of their surface. But these ruins of Kok Nor I
have myself seen." So says my informant whom I have before introduced as the traveller
during thirty years all over this region. "They are on the desert to the east of the Katak
ruins, and three days' journey from Lob in a south-west direction along the course of the
Khutan River. The walls are seen rising above the reeds in which the city is concealed."——"No.
I have not been inside the city, but I have seen its walls distinctly from the sandy ridges in the
vicinity. I was afraid to go amongst the ruins because of the bogs around, and the venemous
insects and snakes in the reeds. I was camped about them for several days with a party of
Lob shepherds who were here pasturing their cattle. Besides it is a notorious fact that people
who do go amongst the ruins almost always die, because they cannot resist the temptation to
steal the gold and precious things stored there."——"You may doubt it, but everybody here
knows that what I say is true; and there are hundreds of Kalmáks who have gone to the temple
in the midst of these ruins to worship the God there."——"Yes. There is a temple in the centre
of the ruins, and in it is the figure of a man. It is of the natural size, and the features are
those of a Kalmák, and the whole figure is of a bright yellow colour. Ranged on shelves
all round the figure are precious stones and pearls of great size and brilliancy, and innumerable
yámb or ingots of gold and silver. Nobody has power to take away anything from here."——
"This is all well known to the people of Lob. And they tell of a Kalmák who once went to
worship the God, and after finishing his salutation and adorations secreted two yámb of gold
in his fob, and went his way. He had not gone very far when he was overpowered by a deep
sleep and lay down on the road side to have it out. On awaking he discovered that his stolen
treasure was gone, though the fob of his debil or frock was as he had closed it. So he went
back to the temple to get others, but to his astonishment found the very two he had taken
returned to the exact spot from which he had removed them. He was so frightened that he