sumed. A large multitude--"some tens
of thousands of people"--was speedily sighted by the advanced guard, but
on examining these through glasses it was discovered that scarcely more
than a thousand carried arms. All the troops were then brought to the
front, and Kin Shun issued instructions that all those found with arms
in their hands should be slain, but the others spared.

The armed portion of the Kashgarian army drew off from the unarmed,
leaving in the midst the large assemblage of Mussulman villagers who
were being carried off to Kucha. These were sent to the rear by order of
Kin Shun, and distributed in such of the villages as were most
convenient. In the meanwhile a sharp fight took place a few miles in the
rear of the old position, near a village called Arpa Tai. The action
appears to have been well contested, but the superior tactics and
weapons of Kin Shun's small army prevailed; and the Mussulman army
retreated with considerable loss and in great disorder. Kin Shun
followed up his success with marvellous rapidity and restless energy,
while the Kashgarian troops fled incontinently to Kucha, abandoning the
people and the country to the invader. The unfortunate inhabitants
implored with piteous entreaties the mercy of the conqueror, and it is
with genuine satisfaction we record the fact that Kin Shun informed them
of their safety, and bade them have no further alarm.

By this time it is probable that the Chinese army had been largely
reinforced from the rear, for we have now come to a more arduous portion
of the enterprise, the attack against Kucha. When the Chinese appeared
before its walls they found that a battle was proceeding there between
the Kashgarian soldiers and the townspeople, who refused to accompany
them in a further retreat westward. On the appearance of the Chinese
army, the Kashgarian force evacuated the city, and joined battle with it
on the western side of Kucha. The Chinese at once attacked them, at
first with little success; and a charge of the cavalry, numbering some
four or five thousand men, was only repulsed with some difficulty. But
the cannon of the Chinese were playing with remarkable effect upon the
Mahomedans, and the Chinese reserves were every moment coming upon the
ground. The infantry were at last ordered to advance, under cover of a
heavy artillery fire, and the cavalry made a charge at a most opportune
moment. The whole army then broke and fled in irretrievable confusion,
le