ourhood of Aksu the battle of this war took place, and Hakim Khan
was defeated, "by the overwhelming numbers of his enemy." Beg Bacha's
chief loss was the death of Mahomed Yunus, the Dadkhwah of Yarkand, his
ablest and most faithful adviser. Hakim then fled to Russian territory,
with 1,000 _sarbazes_, who were promptly interned by order of General
Kolpakovsky, and there he sought to restore his shattered fortunes by
carrying on intrigues with the Russian government. It is scarcely
necessary to say that these came to nothing, and that Hakim Khan has
sunk into that insignificance which, to judge from his acts when called
into public life, is his most befitting atmosphere.

While engaged on this successful campaign east of Aksu, an event
occurred of singular significance, as illustrating the condition of
Kashgar under Beg Bacha. The Kirghiz chief Sadic Beg, who had
disappeared from the scene since his old rivalry with Yakoob Beg
thirteen years before, seized the opportunity afforded by Beg Bacha's
embarrassment to attack the city of Kashgar, denuded of the greater
portion of its garrison. He plundered the suburbs, and only withdrew
when the young Ameer hastened back from Aksu to defend his capital. The
Kirghiz, true to their nature, at once sought the desolate regions of
Kizil Yart. They had, however, made the confusion arising from the death
of the Ameer and the disaffection of Hakim Khan worse confounded, and
completed those elements of weakness and discord which had always proved
an invaluable ally to the Chinese. By themselves both Hakim Khan and the
Kirghiz depredator were beneath contempt; but with an enemy established
on the soil of the country, they assumed a too clear and mischievous
importance. The minor seditions that manifested themselves in Sirikul
and at Khoten completed the round of dissension that, combined with
external force, shattered the fair show of Yakoob Beg's empire. We are
completely ignorant of the details of the disturbances that were
reported to have taken place round Tashkurgan or Sirikul; but it is
plausible to suppose that these were caused either by inroads on the
part of the Wakhis or Badakshis, or by some fresh Kirghiz attack. The
inhabitants of Tashkurgan being Yarkandi settlers, it is not probable
that the rising, or whatever form the commotion assumed, originated with
them; at Khoten the rising was more tangible, and more easily
understood. The people of that city never forgave Yakoob Be