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is not the Khojan; that the Khojan himself effected his escape to Indajan, and is now alive.

The tribes of Kashghar, Yarqand, and Khotan, and the part they took in the insurrection.-The population of Kashghar, Yárqand, and Khotan consists of two tribes; the one is called Aghtaghlaq, and the other, Karataghlaq. When the Chinese troops arrived for the recovery of Yárqand, the Aghtaghlaqs were all on the side of the Khojan, in revenge of their adherence to whom the Chinese authorities slew all their males, gave their females and children to their own countrymen, and sent them into distant parts of China. Of the Karataghlag, such as favored the Khojan, were killed, and the rest set at liberty.

Commercial operations of the Russians on the Ilah frontier.—About a year and half ago, a report was received of the Russians having taken Kapchaq, and arrived at Ilah, which is a great entrepôt of commerce. Between Ilah and the Russian frontier post is an extensive lake, on the border of which the Russians are stated to have established a fort, and to have built a town in its vicinity. Not wishing to be involved in hostilities with the Russians, the Chinese are said to have paid them a large sum of money to purchase peace. The chief of Ladakh has informed the Emperor of China, that the English are constructing a road to Kaughri, which is situated near Ispitti. On the receipt of which intelligence, the Emperor sent a Zandu, or personal inquiry, to Arzeng, to watch the state of affairs in that quarter; and ordered at the same time, his garrison of Rodokh, which is 12 stages from Ladakh, to be reinforced by a large force.

Opinion of the people of Iskárdoh of the power and authority of the Emperor of China. It is said, that the Emperor of China has 3000 Zandu in his service, and that whenever any affair of importance occurs, one of them is dispatched to settle it. They enjoy great. confidence, and supersede the authority of the Aubus or governors, where they may happen to be sent. If at any time he should suspect or be dissatisfied with the conduct of the Aubus, he deputes a Zandu to look after him; they are his most confidential agents, and possess high influence in the state. Wherever a Zandu is, his acts are supreme, and no one can dare dispute his authority.

Articles imported from Russia.-Twisted gun barrels; Bulghar hides; cast-iron vessels; horses.

Imports from Yúrqand and Kashghar.-Colored cotton piece goods; scarfs; salt; China silk pieces; tea; and China crockery-ware.

Exports. Unwrought gold; zard alu (apricots), and other dried fruits; rhubarb ; asafoetida.

II. Journal of a Tour through Georgia, Persia, and Mesopotamia. By Captain R. MIGNAN, Bombay European Regt. F. L. S. and M. R. A. S.

[Continued from page 590, vol. III.]

After arranging our baggage, and paying the boatmen a tomaun, which is equivalent to 12s. 4d., we directed our course due south, and soon arrived at the gates of Meandáb or Meandow. On entering the town, we passed through filthy lanes, bordered by mud walls; scrambled over ruined huts, and descended deep pits, that furnished materials for new ones; till at length we gained a lofty dilapidated wall, enclosing the principal dwellings, and entering the gateway, passed through a miserable bazar. We looked in vain for streets, much less decent buildings, (a few ants' nests presented themselves,) until we were conducted to the houses of some wealthy merchants— these were most carefully concealed from view by high mud walls of the most wretched appearance, and encircling them were the huts of the poor artisans and cultivators. Although night was fast approaching, no lights were seen in any quarter, except the bazars, which were in fact, the only thoroughfares that deserved the name of streets. We took possession of a large house, the property of one JAFAR KULI KHÁN Its rooms were capacious, its walls white-washed, and what is very uncommon in Persia, its height was nearly one hundred feet. This edifice was fast crumbling to decay, and upon its summit great numbers of storks had built their circular nests of reed. The natives of the place called them " Háji Lag-lag," the former title, from their making a yearly pilgrimage to the level countries during the winter season, (yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed time; Jeremiah, viii. 7,) and the latter, from the loud clattering sound made by its long bills. Although these birds are considered unclean, (these are they which ye shall have in abomination among the fowls, the stork and heron after her kind; Leviticus, xi. 13, 19;) yet, they are marked by qualities of an amiable nature, and so attached to house-tops, they appear under no fear of being dislodged. Indeed the natives entertain an idea that they bring a blessing to the dwelling on which they build, and in Egypt, they are held as objects of veneration. BRUCE in his travels, remarks that it was a great breach of order to kill any of these birds in Cairo, and ALI BEY mentions an extraordinary establishment at Zez for the treatment of lunatics: " it is very strange that great part of the funds has been bequeathed by the wills of various charitable testators, for the express

purpose of nursing sick cranes and storks; and burying them when dead." (See Travels of ALI BEY.)

Meandáb is on the frontiers of one of the most remarkable regions in the world-Kúrdistán, the Switzerland of the East-an immense succession of hill, valley, dells of exhaustless fertility, and mountains towering to the height of Mont Blanc. The top of the great range of Zagros rises upwards of 12,000 feet above the level of the ocean! The oppression and cruelties it has endured; the vengeance it has inflicted upon its Turkish and Persian neighbours; and, above all, its acquisition of independence: these circumstances together invest this country with a peculiar interest. The geographical division of Kúrdistán is nearly as follows:

Kúrdistán proper, comprising the country lying between the degrees of
northern latitude 35 and 38, and longitude 43 and 46, .. Inhabitants, 250,000
Ardelan,
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Of this population, at least four-fifths are Kúrds; the rest are Christians and Jews. The mountainous regions have at no period been under the Turks or Persians. The horse and the sword had made them masters of the plain; they became feudal possessors of the territory under the tenure of service to the SHAH, and held the remaining Kúrds as cultivators of the soil. But thousands removed to the security of the mountains, and as the Turkish or Persian chain became heavier, they flung it off, and joined their free countrymen. The vacancy produced by this flight has never been filled up, though large emigrations have entered the country; and in whatever quarter they settled, they have been hardy, active and intrepid.

Turkish oppression, on the one hand, and Persian, on the other, has been so directly the source of the chief defects in the Kúrdish character, that in proportion as that fatal influence is weakened, so rises the national character. Its nature is so elastic, that it springs up, even in every momentary removal of the pressure; but its true displays are to be found where the tyrant dares not come. The greatest contrast to the inhabitants of the plains is to be found in those mountainous retreats where there are no foreign inhabitants. Here the Kúrds are hardy and heroic, passionately fond of their homes and country, and subsisting on little. The picture has its dark side. They are inconstant, envious, and treacherous. But it must be remembered, that these defects would be the natural qualities of any people leading such uncertain and distracted lives. In his most

inaccessible hold, pent up amid wild tracts of country, shut out from general communication, liable to frequent and sudden inroads of a merciless enemy, and from his cradle to his grave, either the spoil or the antagonist of the oppressor. Poverty, suspicion, loneliness-a life of hazard—flight or attack-what original constitution of virtue could have attained its true stature ? There is no national character that would not have darkened under this perpetual rudeness of fortune. It is really astonishing that the Kúrd retains any qualities entitling him to rank among men.

For several centuries Kúrdistán has been a continued scene of war, turbulence and robbery. Some of its eastern districts have remained in the power of ABBÁS MIRZA, whose force has never been able to reduce to subjection the various chieftains in the north and south, who claimed a predatory independence. The form of the country, indeed, is sufficiently favorable to such pretensions; being intersected by mountainous tracts, over which it is extremely difficult to conduct an army. The Eliáts, or wandering tribes, roam over its extensive plains, and the Persians, from Azerbiján, have long carried their ravages not only over the frontier, but into the heart of the country, over its ranges of hills, and to the gates of its towns. The desolation and want of security can hardly be conceived, when occasioned by these ravages. In some tracts, the whole open country has been swept, the inhabitants having been put to death, or carried away as slaves. The consequence is, that numerous small towns, particularly near the frontiers, have been abandoned, as well as all cultivation. The peasant goes out to his labour with his matchlock slung over his shoulder. All intercourse between villages is carried on with the greatest timidity, and at intervals, when a sufficient number of men can be collected to form a káfilah, and to resist the bands of robbers, even these are frequently attacked, and the merchants and travellers composing them not only plundered, but detained in captivity, or murdered. This state of things has given rise to extensive dealings in slaves.

The tribes which range the deserts differ in their habits, according to the circumstances in which they are placed. In some parts they are pastoral, hospitable, and kind to strangers; in others, they are reserved, and shun all intercourse; in others again, predatory, cruel, and ferocious. Those of the latter description are to be found near Lake Van, and in Armenia, towards Erzeroum*. We find them to the north, on the

As a proof of this, I may mention the recent murder of M. SCHULTZ, a distinguished antiquarian and indefatigable traveller. This melancholy event

borders of Georgia, plundering villages, committing outrages, attacking towns, and carrying off Georgian and Circassian girls. On the south, they dispose of their captives, to the traders who supply Bagdad and other Turkish cities; and on the east and west, are found the wild mountaineers, who are not naturally cruel, but obliged in self-defence to assume a fierce character. This effect can only be ascribed to the distracted state of Kúrdistán, and its inability to afford security to the people.

April 5th.-My muleteers were slow and reluctant to load the mules this morning, having heard during the night that the Kúrds of these parts were a most desperate set, caring for neither God nor devil; that they never took off their boots from one year's end to another, much less prostrated themselves in prayer; that in fact, we should starve by entering the country, as it would be impossible to hold any communications with them. With little difficulty I convinced them in some degree that these opinions were erroneous, and we quitted Meandáb, directing our course south-east, over a plain surrounded by argillaceous mountains. We then struck into a deep valley, profusely covered with coarse weeds and herbage, and through which flowed a stream formed by the melting snow. When we got half way up this valley, we saw several Kúrdish encampments on our right. They appeared very meanly built, chiefly of mud: they were low, having only one small door to admit light and air, and were roofed with a thatch of reed. There were others formed of two stone walls, with a covering of goats' hair cloth. Although our people were dying with thirst, they would not stop from the fear of being plundered; I, however, rode up to one of these encampments, and was served with lubbon, which is a very refreshing beverage. After this, I rejoined the baggage, and we continued to pursue a southerly course, and passed a large body of Kúrds, whose extraordinary dress and appearance, so different from that of the Persians whom we had been accustomed to see, gave a novelty to the scene that was extremely interesting. Their arms, their habits, the furniture of their horses, resembled those of the Turks; but they possessed took place near the village of Bash-Kullah. Sir JOHN KINNEIR immediately sent a confidential person to the spot to collect, if possible, the traveller's papers and effects, and to take steps for the punishment of the murderers. The loss of this intelligent traveller is one of the greatest which oriental literature has ever sustained; it is to be hoped, that the larger portion of his manuscript collections had been received in France, and that those which were in his possession at the time of his death may yet be recovered: so that the fruit of his extensive travels and laborious researches may not be lost to the world.

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