ppears, too, that in
superiority of system lay the sole pre-eminence of the latter; for the
Tungan, or policeman, of China was, individually man for man, a superior
class to the Kashgarian and other constables of Yakoob Beg. In short,
the whole credit of their existence belongs to that ruler.

Let us now give some account of this important body. It was divided into
two chief divisions quite distinct from and irrespective of each other,
secret and municipal. The _secret_ was not, like ours, a perceptible
class of detectives, acting in combination with the municipal, to which
was entrusted the discovery of crimes and conspiracies. It may loosely
be described as consisting of every member of the community, for all
desired to stand well with the powers that be, and the easiest way to
attain that object would be to place all confidential information at
their disposal. But it is evident that even in a state of irresponsible
power, like Kashgar, a clear encouragement, such as this, to invent
libels of one's neighbours, could only end in unprofitable litigation
and confusion. There was certainly a check on the too zealous
imaginations of the subjects, and, although there is not much evidence
on the subject, it appears to have been twofold. In the first place a
libeller incurred the risk of receiving very severe punishment,
particularly if the person libelled were of saintly lineage, or if he
filled any official post. This operated as a check on too hasty
accusations, especially when it became known that the reward for such
service was seldom speedily forthcoming, and scarcely ever answered the
expectations of the informer. But this check, which alone seems to have
been adopted in the earlier years of Yakoob Beg's authority, was found
to be insufficient as his power became consolidated. The secret police
then became organized to a certain degree; that is to say, they so far
formed a distinct corps that a member had to be approved of either by
the Dadkwah or the Rais. So well, however, was the secret of their
individuality maintained that few of them were generally known to the
people. Suspicion was wide-spread throughout all ranks of society, and
the governor in his _orda_, or the Rais in his hall of justice, or the
shopkeeper in his booth, or the artisan in his hut, never felt safe that
his neighbour, the man with whom he was holding the most friendly
converse, was not dissecting his expressions to discover whether they
contain