course the preservation of order, and to maintain the
balance impartially between the numerous litigants was the first article
in the creed of the Chinese viceroys. As tranquillity settled down over
these distracted regions, trade revived. The native industries, which
had greatly fallen off, became once more active; and foreign enterprise
was attracted to this quarter, which Chinese power soon made the most
favoured region in Central Asia. But the rulers did not rest content
with the mere preservation of good order. They did not leave it to the
inclination of an indolent people to progress at as tortoise-like a
speed as they would wish; but they themselves set the example which the
rest felt bound to imitate. Not only did the enterprising Khitay
merchant from Kansuh and Szchuen visit the marts of Hamil and Turfan,
but many of this class penetrated into Kashgar proper, where they became
permanent settlers. These invaluable agents supplied the deficiency that
had never before been filled up in the life of the state, for they
brought the highest qualities of enterprise and practical sagacity,
together with capital, as their special characteristics. In the train of
these Khitay merchants came wealth and increased prosperity. Yarkand,
Kashgar, Aksu, and Khoten became cities of the first rank, and the
population of the country in the year 1800 was greater than it had ever
been before.

There was perfect equality too between all the various races in respect
to trade. The Chinese did not demand special immunities for their own
countrymen, as might have been expected. The Khitay, who came all the
way from Lanchefoo in search of a fortune, must be prepared to compete
in an equal race with the Khokandi, the Kashgari, or the Afghan. His
nationality would obtain for him no immunity from being taxed, or could
give him no advantage over the foreign or native traders. The main
portion of the trade of the country remained in the old hands. Khokand
benefited as much as Kashgar by the trade, and China, in a direct
manner, least of the three.

The Chinese have at all times been justly famous for their admirable
measures for irrigating their provinces. The wonderful canals which cut
their way, where there are no great rivers, in China proper are
reproduced even in this outlying dependency. Eastern Turkestan is one of
the worst-watered regions in the world. In fact there is only a belt of
fertile country round the Yarkand river, stretching