empt to throw dust in strangers'
eyes, is impossible to discover; for it was a matter of little moment
whether jade came from Aksu, or Khokand, so long as we knew that it
formed an important commodity, both in the rough and in the chiselled
state, in the cities of Kashgaria.

The customs tax, or _Zakat_, is sanctioned by the Shariat, and was
levied at all the border posts on the various roads leading into the
state. Up to the ratification of the treaties with Great Britain and
Russia, its regulations were vague and elastic in the extreme. In fact,
any merchant who might have been so foolhardy as to venture into Kashgar
would have had reason, before these events, to think himself fortunate
if he escaped the penalty of his rashness; for assuredly his luggage
would not, but would have been confiscated for the special benefit of
his Highness the Ameer. So late as 1869, Russian merchants were robbed
of their baggage, and personally ill-treated, and only after long years
of negotiation did the Russian Government obtain any satisfaction for
the injuries and loss inflicted on one of their subjects. And then how
did the Athalik Ghazi send the sum of money he agreed to pay for the
loss the merchant had incurred?--why in a depreciated Chinese currency,
part of a large number of coins that he had found in a disused temple in
Kashgar! Before this, all the external trade had been carried on with
Khokand and Bokhara, Afghanistan and Badakshan, and the receipts from
_Zakat_ were quite insignificant, barring such treasure trove as the
spoliation of a merchant from Tashkent, or from Leh. But with the
persistent efforts on the part of the Russians on the north, and of the
English native merchants on the south, to pierce the gloom hiding the
country of Eastern Turkestan, it became impossible for Yakoob Beg to
maintain much longer the incognito he was so jealous in maintaining.
Perhaps also the prospect of deriving an income from _Zakat_, that
should smooth down many of his difficulties, was not without some
influence on his mind when he came into direct contact with civilized
empires. His expectations were far too sanguine, and he seems to have
once more, during the last twelve months of his life, become indifferent
to the advantages or disadvantages of trade with his neighbours. In
fact, when he placed his customs on a fair footing, he found that it
would require many years to recoup him for the excessive exactions he
surrendered. The mer