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0524 Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.2
Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.2 / Page 524 (Color Image)

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doi: 10.20676/00000213
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CHAPTER LXXXI

AT THE HAMI OASIS

In the desert, which only knows extremes, the weather had
already been getting wintry, with occasional icy blasts. But
after reaching, on October 19th, the oasis of Hami, or Kumul
as the Muhammadans call it, I was glad to find that its
sheltered position at the foot of the easternmost T'ien-shan
still promised a few bright days of autumn, in spite of the
high latitude of forty-three degrees. So I could not but
prefer the fresh air of my tent to the quarters offered in
one of the dingy Bazars of the town, and after a long
search found a pleasant camping-place in Zahid Beg's
garden beyond the spring-fed stream which flows past the
west side of the Chinese town. Recommendations from
Mr. Macartney and my old friend P'an Ta-jên had pre-
ceded my arrival, as was soon shown by the greetings and
presents of welcome which poured in from the different
Ya-mêns.

Next morning it was a novel experience to commence
the round of my official visits with a call on a local Muham-
madan chief. Mahsud Shah, the ruling 'Wang' or prince of
Kumul, still retained a good deal of power over the Turki
Muhammadans of the district. It seemed a genuine
survival of the system by which Chinese rule contented
itself with leaving the administration of Turkestan in the
hands of hereditary chiefs; some recent disturbances, which
had caused bloodshed among the Wang's subjects, and of
which I had heard through the wire at An-hsi, were directly
attributed to his oppression. As I rode under the big
vaulted gates of the Wang's stronghold, the presence of a

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