was a place of great celebrity both as a entrêpot. It was, however, completely de ker; but was again rebuilt by his orders. and 1827, this city was supposed to equa Singh, in size, containing 10,000 houses. . tion and thronged with strangers. Kla City of the horde,' by Abulfeda, and 1 Kih-shi-ko-urk by the Chinese.

Yarkund.] This is the largest a... Toorkistaun. It is situated in 38 This city also was destroyed by restored to prosperity and populati he found the air and water of the made it the place of his residence adorned it with splendid buildin high, and planted 1200 gard defended by a stone and mud supported by donations in lanthe houses are of stone cen It is under a Mussulman is called the Hakim, and t der the command of the above 40,000 individuais The inhabitants of these moollahs. There are n Badakshaun and Kauti: the large glandular sw li or 124 British mile Khotan, &c.] For country is filled with. on is the celebrated habitation on the w fertile district, 100 to a Chinese de 1777. It is be. it is impossibi marshy groun the source superior of the follow Karia, a what is journey, The co oasis i this pl flax, l rious:

enga the

place!

e tract S. of the Teen ➡ountains and the subccounts, much mineral and

the soil in the valleys and ins near the source of the -Lonur, sal ammoniac, and sil

ferman, the Uks of Islenief, nore of them is known than Jarashar is probably the Keon the left bank of a navigable resident Chinese governor. On soo, the stream of the Eela or Da city, in former days the caIzzet Oolah's Chinese itinerary ourneys N.E. of Auksoo. This e maps, near the pass of Khongis, the source of the Eelee from that the Lake of Lop. Izzet Oolah was ese governor of Eellah had 100,000 even raised it to 300,000 men; but roved this enormous estimate. In his

the N. of Eelah, (whereas all the and at the western extremity is a which is no other than the Balkhash

NE province of Little Bukharia. It

a great number of cities, as the rakoja or Oramshi, the Aramuth of This district, though high and cold, is the Cialis of Goes, signifies in Persian, eaty of its fountains and pastures, a most

so nourishing, says Sherefeddin, as to 's time. Toorfaun is a large city, where Mohammedan hakim. Some distance to tann. Goes represents it as a strong well A map it is placed in 43° 30′ and 89° 36′ E. WV. of Peking, but in Sir George Staunton's Toofan, the Chinese being unable to sound the only 24° 30′ W. of Peking, or 91° 58′ E. of By the Jesuits it is stated to be six days' jour

ranch of the Cobi, but 10 days' by the hills De safer road. It must be remarked, that e Jesuit missionaries, who made the map ste is fixed merely from itineraries and the

The inhabitants of Toorfaun, says Haitho, a History, ch. 2d, are called Jogoors; they ae, and eating animal food. They raise

Their towns are very pleasant and conne worship of idols; they cultivate the arts al silicted to war; they have a peculiar a chucacter,) which has been adopted by is. The inhabitants of Toorfaun, says mot # 1490 se adolaters (Boodhists) who per

es of their religion in spacious temples, on the carpets was placed a large image, which they called Sacyo Moonee, Sacyo,) a Shanscrit appellation of Boodha. To the W. of ht or nine leagues, is Hochew, the ancient capital of the and still called Pe-ting-too-hoo-foo by the Chinese, says father his history of the Ywen dynasty. According to the Mohamhistorians, Bishbaligh was the capital of the Oigoors, but this is a me, as Bishbaligh is far to the N.W. of Toorfaun, and in Soongaria The base of the volcanic range called in Turkish Ak-taugh, the white intain.' This district, and that of Ab-maligh, to the W., belonged to Le Toorkish tribes and not to the Oigoors. To the E. of Toorfaun three days' journey, is Karakoja, or Aramuth, according to Shadi Khuaja and Gees. We have no other account of it, than that it is 35 caravan journeys N.E. of Khotan, and 31 from Tetkawl the frontier of China, where there is a wall between two mountains, in which wall is a great gate and caravanserais to lodge passengers, and where several soldiers are always stationed to guard the frontier and entrance of the wall. The Tetkawl of Sherefeddin can be no other than the fortress of Khyayuquan, at the western extremity of the great wall, in 39° 48′ N. and 17° 37′ W. of Peking, so that from Khotan to Khyayuquan by Karakoja, is not less than 66 days' journey of a caravan. But the direct road from Khotan to Khyayuquan, is stated at only 40 days' journey, but then it is wholly through the Cobi, without a single house or tent on the road, through moving sands, and where, though the water of the wells is easily come at by the thirsty caravan, yet in several it is poisonous, and kills the animals which drink of it.

The

Province of Hami.] This lies to the E. and S. of Toorfaun, and is merely an oasis of the Cobi, surrounded by deserts. The climate, says Du Halde, (not the missionary, as Malte Brun calls him, for he was never out of Paris,) is very warm in summer, but we are equally certain, that it must be very cold in winter, from its great elevation and that of the neighbouring mountains. We are told by Shadi Khuaja, in his route from Hami to Shachew, that he and his companions met a flock of yaks or Tibetian bulls, called by him gao-kitas. Now we know that these animals and the musk-deer cannot exist but in regions intensely cold or of great elevation. The gao kitas, says Shadi Khuaja, are said to be so strong as to support their riders for a considerable time on their horns. The mountains produce agates and diamonds, says Grosier, but the only vegetable productions are said to be melons and grapes, the former are of superior quality, and served up at the table of the Chinese emperor. people are strong, able-bodied, active men, well-shaped and handsome. The city of Hami stands 90 leagues N.W. of Khyayuquan, the western extremity of the great wall, and 185 miles N.N.W. of Shachew, the most western fortress of China, in 42° 53′ 30′′ N. and 22° 23′ 20′′ W. of Peking by observation. Between these two places and Hami extends the Shamo or Cobi, full of arid shifting sands, and for 10 days' journey on the road from Shachew to Hami not a drop of water is to be found in the desert. Immediately beyond this, is a small pleasant grove of trees, and several springs, where the governor of Shachew entertained the ambassadors of Sharokh Mirza, on their journey to that city. The country contains, besides the capital, Hami, a number of towns and villages, as marked on the map, but beyond their names nothing more is known. The inhabitants of this province, like that of Toorfaun, were all Boodhists, and

Shadi Khuaja mentions the Boodhist temples as numerous and very splendid, and filled with an endless variety of images of all sizes. The dissolute manners of its Boodhist inhabitants are graphically described by Marco Polo, who says that they seemed born for dancing, singing, and revelling, just like the people of Khotan, of whom the Chinese writers give an account perfectly similar. Both this province and that of Toorfaun constituted the country of the Oigoors, so famed in Mongolian story. They have been incorporated with China since 1720, and made no part of the Eluth dominions conquered by Kienlong in 1757. Ebeide Oollah, the Mohammedan chief of Hami, for his services to Khanghee in the war with Kaldan, khan of the Eluths, was recompensed with the honour of having his troops enrolled under a distinct standard in the imperial army, and was honoured with the title of chief of the Shassak or legion of Hami. A grandson of his, called Yoosoof, having rendered new services to the emperor, obtained the title of Wang or king, and the pre-eminence over all the other chiefs of Hami or Kamoul. The prince of the Turks of Toorfaun, named Amin-Khojah, was for similar reasons created a Shassak, or head of a banner, in the reign of Yong-ching in 1725. He also received a seal, and his subjects were formed under a banneret, of which he was the commander. This was succeeded by the title of wang or king.

Thus we have gone over the geography of Little Bukharia as accurately as our limited information would permit, and shall conclude this part with observing that we have no account of the city of Lop, mentioned by Marco Polo, near the lake of that name, the eastern end of which is in 42° 20′ N. and 25° long. W. of Peking. The fountain named Urtu Pulak in the first sheet of the map of Tibet, is the most western position, geometrically determined by the Jesuits in the province of Hami, in the work of Du Halde.

Inhabitants.] These are composed of Bukhars or Taujiks, Toorks, Kirgees, and Kalmucks. The first are the same race as the Bukhars of Great Bukharia; and what has been said of them equally applies to those of Little Bukharia; but it would seem that they are most numerous in the province of Khashghar. The second class are the indigenous nomades of the country, whilst the two latter are intruders who have come here as conquerors. Respecting the Oigoors, who once and long inhabited the eastern parts, we cannot say what is become of them: whether they have mingled with the Toorks and Western Mongols, or have migrated to Tibet. But of this we are certain, that they have now no political existence, and no mention of them as a distinct race is made in modern times.-Respecting the language of the Bukhars and Toorks it is Toorkish, but so mingled with Persian, that Klaproth has ventured to pronounce Persian to be, if not the basis, at least the body of the language. Boodhism, at an early period of history, seems to have been imported hither from Hindoostaun, as is clear from the case of Khotaun and the number of Shanscrit terms and names used in that system, as practised formerly amongst the natives. But the system of Mohammedism gradually spread from Khashghar eastwards till it supplanted the Boodhism of Khotaun, Toorfaun, and Hami. In the middle of the 14th century, Togalak Khaun, a descendant of Jagatay the son of Zingis, embraced Islamism with all his Mongol subjects, to the number of 160,000 men. Ever since it has been

the prevailing religion amongst all classes, the Eluths or Western Mongols excepted, if any such still wander in the steppes of this region.

SOUTHERN PART OF CENTRAL ASIA.

THIS extensive region may be divided into two great portions, the Western, and the Eastern: the former comprehending all the elevated tract watered by the upper courses of the Indus and Sutluj,—and the latter commonly and strictly denominated Tibet, and Great Tibet, together with the region of the Seefaun or Toofaun, and the extensive country of Tangoot. The whole of this region is bounded on the W. by the Beloor Tagh; on the N. by the Mooz Tagh; on the S. by the Great Himalaya, which separates it from Northern Hindostan, the upper valley of the Burrampooter, and the Birman dominions; and on the E. by China.

I. WESTERN DIVISION.

This again may be conveniently subdivided into the upper basins of the Indus and Sutluj, the former of which is the subject to be first described.

CHAP. I.-UPPER BASIN OF THE INDUS.

THIS Comprehends all the tract from the Beloor to the sources of the Indus, having the Mooz Tagh on the N.; and the Hindookhoosh, or Western Himalaya, which separates it from Afghaunistaun and Cashmere, and the Caillas range, which divides it from the upper valley of the Sutluj, on the S. This large tract may be conveniently denominated Western Tibet, or the N.W. portion of it; the S.E. portion being confined to the upper course of the Sutluj. As this is almost an unknown region, it would be presumptuous in us to fix its boundaries by degrees of longitude and latitude. We shall content ourselves, therefore, with giving its leading divisions, beginning from the W. They are the following: Upper Kaushkaur, Baltistaun or Little Tibet, Khofalun, Ladauk, and Changthang.

Upper Kaushkaur.] Respecting the first, according to Elphinston's information whilst at Peshawer, Kaushkaur was represented as lying immediately to the E. of Badakshaun, to the N. of the Hindookhoosh, having the range of the Pamer, or the Mooz Taugh, on the N., and Baltistaun on the N.E. and E. In his map, it occupies a large triangular space, of which the Hindookhoosh is the base, and the Beloor Tagh, and the range separating it from Baltistaun, form the two sides; whilst the N.W. junction of that range with the Beloor constitutes the apex or head of the triangle. Of this country almost nothing is known, but merely, that it is very cold and high, and is possessed by a nation called Cobi, who dwell in tents, and even have some towns. They are at present Mohammedans, and under several petty chiefs to the number of four, three of which are called respectively Chitraul, Droosh, Mastooch. S.E. of these are the Dards, bordering on Cashmere, to the S. and S.E., evidently the Daradæ of Ptolemy, who places them near the source of the Indus, in a very mountainous country; for he says expressly that the mountains of the Daradai · maxime supereminent." These Dards extend all the way E. to the frontiers of Ladauk, and infest the road from thence to Cashmere, ruining the villages, and carrying off the inhabitants, and selling them for slaves.

13

"If the word be derived from Dhar, a mountain-ridge, then the term means the mountaineers; but his Indus seems to have been the Abba Seen, which enters the Indur at Mullai, rising from mountains in the N. W. more than 20,000 feet above the plain of Peshawer.

ho. The chief point of this district, which extends 300 British miles N. and S., is in 39° 30′ N. and 7° 30′ W. of Peking. These Mongols are governed by several petty chiefs under six standards, and pride themselves on the largeness and number of their tents, as well as the multitudes of their flocks. Their country once made part of the empire of Tangut or Hya. Thus we have gone over the territories and standards of the Mongol tribes as briefly as possible. Although all these tribes live a roving life, yet they have their limits fixed by custom, beyond which they must not pass; and an act of this kind would be viewed as hostile. boundary, called the karou, or limit,' has been fixed by imperial authority between the Khalkhas, or black Mongols, and the Sharra, or yellow Mongols, just described. It runs from S.W. to N.E.

A

As the Sharra Mongols belong to the same stock as the Khalkhas, the similarity of pastoral manners, customs, mode of life, religious opinions, and other things, is so great, that, in describing the one branch, we have, in fact, described the other. The only difference seems to be, that the latter being in the very vicinity of China, and enjoying the advantage of frequent intercourse with a nation more civilized than themselves, they are consequently somewhat more polished than their more rude and distant kindred. Since 1620, they have been possessed of a code of laws, subscribed by 44 princes and chiefs. In these the greater part of crimes is punished by fines, and actions of public utility are rewarded. He who refuses milk to a traveller is fined of a sheep. Trial by ordeal is admitted ; ̈ likewise solemn oaths from a superior, attesting the innocence of an inferior, institutions coinciding with those of Europe in the middle ages. The southern Mongols are those of the race which always remained in the vicinity of China, and the Khalkhas such as were driven out of China and retired to the N. Thus we have gone over the two grand branches of the Mongolian family-the Khalkhas and Sharras. There is a third branch of Mongols, which inhabit the northern part of Tibet, and who are denominated, in Tibetian, Hor, and Ghia Hor, or the Ghia of Hor. The name Ghia, in Tibetian, signifies a great and very diffused people. The name of the Tibetian Mongols, in Mongolian, is Siraigol or Charagol. As we are very ignorant of the geography of Tibet, we cannot say much about the site of this Mongol branch; but probably it is about the source of the Whang-ho, in 35" N. lat. and 19° long. W. of Peking; where we find marked, in the 5th sheet of the map of Tibet, two lakes called Charingkol and Oring-kol, and a small stream called Kara Pira, or the 'black river,' descending N. to the Oring-kol. In Tibet, likewise, the Mongols are usually denominated Sogh-po, or 'people of the prairies or meadows,' or, in other words, nomades or wanderers.

11. SOONGARIA, OR COUNTRY OF THE ELUTHS.

If little is known of the geography of Mongolia, still less is known of Soongaria, and that for two obvious reasons. This country has never been explored by Europeans, nor ever trodden by a European foot since the days of Ruysbroeck, in the middle of the 13th century; whereas, the road for the Russian embassies to China being through Mongolia, we have been enabled to say something of Mongolia, from the journals of these embassies. The second reason is, that, though little is known of Mongolia, yet we had some aids from the Chinese historians to clear our way, and give some idea of the country. But we have not the same aids respecting Soongaria; for if the Chinese know something of their neighbours, yet