negotiate between the combatants, and although
Yakoob Beg endeavoured to come to terms with the Chinese, on the
understanding that his personal safety should be guaranteed, all his
diplomatic overtures were met by categorical refusals.

The Chinese after entering Toksoun came to a sudden halt, for which the
causes are not evident. But the terror of their name had gone before
them, and the country east of Karashar was hurriedly abandoned by its
inhabitants. The Chinese delay may have been caused by the necessity for
collecting provisions to enable them to advance further, or perhaps it
may have arisen from the outbreak of some epidemic, as asserted by one
of the Indian journals. On this point the _Pekin Gazette_ is profoundly
silent. The number for the 23rd of June contained a narrative of the
operations round Turfan, and also a list of the honours and rewards
given to the successful generals; but it and its subsequent issues are
silent as to the causes for the Chinese inactivity that then for many
months ensued. The most striking sentence in this report is that which
says that "the Mahomedans who submitted themselves were permitted to
revert to their peaceful avocations;" and if this be true, this is one
instance, at all events, of the Chinese exercising moderation. Strange
as it may seem, with this preliminary success the vigour of the Chinese
invasion appeared to die away, and for five months nothing more was
heard of the whereabouts of the Chinese army. In that interval the most
important events occurred in Kashgaria, but with these, the Chinese,
although the originators of them, had nothing to do. In the closing
scene of all of the eventful life we have been in these pages
considering the invading Khitay had no part. They were probably not
aware of what was taking place some 300 miles from their camp until many
weeks after it had happened; and then conceived that their best policy
would be to give time for the disintegrating causes at work within the
state to have their full effect before they advanced westward. When
Colonel Prjevalsky saw Yakoob Beg it must have been within a very short
period of his death. The shadow of approaching events may have been upon
the defeated conqueror, who from recent disaster could only presage
worse yet to come.

Of the exact manner of Yakoob Beg's death there are various accounts.
The most probable is that he was murdered by a party of conspirators,
who were led by Hakim Khan Torah