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

and where little water was met it was often the reverse. This village contains about 1,000
houses, divided into the following petty districts:—Kurghán (the chief centre), Golok, Khush
Toghrák, Kuyok, and Jainak.

There are two streams which enter the Artysh valley, the Toyanda before described, and
the Bogoz River; a branch of the former irrigates the villages of Beshkerim and Bu Miriam,
where the greater part of the water is absorbed; a small remnant however flows eastward, and
in favorable seasons finds its way to Khush Toghrák, a southern hamlet of Kalti Ailák, where
it mingles with the canals from the Kashghár River, employed to irrigate that village. The
north branch of the Toyanda River is probably almost all expended in irrigating the fields
of Upper Artysh, but it is possible that a small quantity may find its way down to Lower
Artysh, or at all events may help to form the supply for certain springs which issue from
the ground west of that village. The main water-supply, however, for the latter village is
derived from the Bogoz River, which rises in the Chakmák range of hills, about 30 miles to the
north, but derives a large portion of its water from hot springs a few miles north of the village.

On the 17th of February we started for Tangitár, making a march of about 20 miles in a
northerly direction. Following the banks of the River Bogoz, a narrow but somewhat rapid
stream, easily fordable, we reached after three miles the range of hills forming the north
boundary of the valley. Here on a small isolated mound stand the ruins of an old Chinese
fort; a mile beyond this the stream divides, the left (west) branch is the main one and
comes from the snows; the temperature of its water was 42°, while that of the right hand
one coming from the warm springs before mentioned was 57°. Our road followed the east
branch; a path along the other goes to Chung Terek in the Toyanda valley, distant about 32
miles. Continuing our road along a ravine passing through the range of hills (which here
have a breadth of about three miles from north to south), we at last emerge on to another
extensive plain extending like that of Artysh from west to east, and about six miles in breadth
from north to south. On the west it was bounded by the hills above Chung Terek, and
extended along eastward, as far as one could see, for several miles, merging into the open plain,
where the ridge to the south comes to an end. On our right, near where we entered the
valley, is the village of Argu, said to contain 800 houses, but from its appearance I should not
have judged it to hold half that number. Its water-supply is derived partly from springs,
partly by irrigation from the Bogoz River. The road crosses in a north-west direction over a
perfectly bare, stony plain, which continues away on the left as far as the eye can reach; one
or two houses only near the bank of the river break the monotony and barrenness of the land-
scape, neither grass nor wood being elsewhere visible. After six miles we enter a gap through
which the Bogoz River issues from another range of hills, also running from west to east.
Here is another Chinese Karáwul* in good preservation. The road passes to the north along
the Bogoz valley through the hills for about nine miles, to Tangitár, 5,800 feet above sea level.
The valley was in places of considerable width, and contained much wood and grass, as a natural
consequence of which numerous Kirghiz encampments were scattered over it. We passed
successively those of Buábi, Bulák, Kuktam, and Jai Ergiz. On our right were some very
precipitous hills, forming the ends of spurs running generally from west-north-west to east-
south-east.

Our camp at Tangitár, after a march of 20 miles, was at the entrance of a defile, where
two small fortifications are perched up on rocks commanding the south entrance. If larger,
they might possibly be of considerable use for purposes of defence, but as they cannot hold a
garrison of more than 20 men, they could only be useful in keeping in check badly armed
Kirghiz or bands of robbers. They are built on the limestone formation which here com-
mences, the hills through which we had hitherto been marching having been composed of
clay and gravel.

The situation of such forts, both here and in other parts of the country, are, I think, con-
vincing proofs of the fact that the Chinese in their dealings with the Kirghiz and other robber
tribes, nearly always acted on the defensive, and did not attempt to hold the hilly tracts, or
claim sovereignty over them. They apparently used to content themselves with posting strong