had attained. So, while refusing to acknowledge the new state
in Eastern Turkestan and deeply deploring the departure of the Chinese,
orders were given to the frontier officers to obtain the sanction of the
Kashgarian officials in the neighbourhood to the construction of a
bridge across the Naryn and of a military road over the Tian Shan into
Kashgar. This was in 1867, and it is not to be wondered at that the
Kashgarian authorities replied with a categorical refusal. To have
acquiesced in this demand would have been to have placed the city of
Kashgar at the complete mercy of the Russians. The position of that city
is most disadvantageous in a military point of view, and the only
obstacle an army advancing from Issik Kul has to encounter is the
difficulty of the road from the Naryn torrent, and the general
impracticability of the passes through this portion of the Tian Shan
range. The Russian government was much disappointed at this rebuff
experienced at the hands of a native ruler, and accordingly in great
haste it was resolved that a fort should be constructed on the Naryn
just within their frontier. In 1868 this fort was completed, but by that
time a fresh change had taken place in the state of affairs, and hopes
were entertained that an agreement might yet be arranged by peaceful
means with Kashgar. During these two years there had been continual
disturbances and fighting in Western Turkestan. Bokhara, instigated,
according to Russian assertions, by Yakoob Beg, had joined with Khokand
and Khiva in a combined uprising against Russia; but in so far as that
uprising was combined it never occurred, for both Bokhara and Khokand
fell an easy prey in detail to the armies of the Czar. The punishment of
Khiva was reserved for a future occasion, and indeed of all the
confederates Khiva was the only one which obtained any successes in the
field. The most palpable result of that campaign was the acquisition of
Samarcand by Russia, and for a time all opposition seemed to be stamped
out. No sooner, however, had the main Russian army returned to Tashkent
than a large force invested the small garrison left in Samarcand, and
the whole country rose in arms again. The Russian garrison held tightly
on to its post, and, although in comparison to its strength its loss was
most severe, the town was preserved until the arrival of General
Kaufmann with reinforcements. Bokhara then sued for peace, which, after
some delay, was concluded with the