as an event that has actually taken place. It is a myth of the myth-land
to which it belongs. And yet, when we read how the Amban summoned all
his officers to his chamber, where he sat in state surrounded by his
wives, his family, and his servants; how all were silent, and yet sedate
and prepared; how, at the given signal that all were present, and that
the foe was at the gate, the aged warrior dropped his lighted pipe into
the mine beneath; how the exulting foe won after all but a barren
triumph; and how the Khitay taught the natives that if they had
forgotten how to conquer they had not how to die, we feel that there is
an under-current throughout the story, that, apart from the admiration
it must command, has claims to our own special sympathy. The Chinese, as
we did in India in the dark hours of 1857, asserted their superiority
over the semi-barbarous races under their sway, even when all hopes of a
recovery seemed to be abandoned. After the fall of the citadel the
Khoja element was supreme in Yarkand, and a priest named Abderrahman
was set up as king.

The other cities of Altyshahr promptly followed the example of Yarkand,
and the Chinese power was completely subverted on all hands. The Khitay
were massacred whenever they fell into the hands of the Mahomedans, and
the only places that still held out were the citadels, notably the
Yangyshahr of Kashgar. The inhabitants of this city appear to have been
unable to keep their advantage over the Chinese, for they appealed to
the Kirghiz to come in and assist them. These nomads, under their chief,
Sadic Beg, were nothing loth to join in expelling the Chinese, as such a
change could only increase their advantages by substituting an unsettled
for a settled government. Siege was accordingly laid to the citadel of
Kashgar, but the irregular troops of the new allies were unable to make
any impression on the fort, defended as it was by a large Khitay
garrison. If the Chinese commander had assumed a more active policy, he
might have destroyed his opponents, but he was waiting for the arrival
of reinforcements, which he expected before many months. In not relying
solely on his own resources he proved himself unable to read the changed
signs of the time; if, indeed, he was not already meditating that
surrender, which he ultimately concluded with Yakoob Beg. Sadic Beg,
finding himself unable to take the fort, and knowing that it was
uncertain how long the Kashgari would remain fri