Thus ended this imposing interview, imposing not for any magnificence or barbaric splendour that appertained either to the court or person of the ruler, but by reason of the mysterious character of the Ameer himself, of his vague power and influence, and of the hold he had acquired over such of his subjects as comprised his court and his body guard. All his Khokandian friends and relations, whose fortunes, indeed, depended on his power, were stanchly attached to his person. It could not be given to envoys to possess such complete prescience as to foresee that the jarring elements, that still existed beneath the surface would suffice to overthrow his rule still more irretrievably when it received its first shock from external foes. To the observer, the appearance of Yakoob Beg and his military following was the highest evidence of latent power. Order was supreme, and discipline was as apparent in the palace of the Ameer as in the barrack yards of his fortresses.
The formal interview took place on the 11th of December, when the presents from our government to the Ameer, carried by over 100 men, were delivered to His Highness. There were guns of all kinds, including two small cannon, vases, &c., &c.; but the token of friendship at which the ruler showed most symptoms of pleasure was the autograph letter of Her Majesty. This letter was enclosed in a "magnificent casket of pale yellow quartz, clamped with gilt bands and handles, and bossed with onyx stones." The Ameer received this with unconcealed satisfaction, several times repeating, "God be praised." And then he made those declarations of friendship which, taken in conjunction with our admiration for the man, were the means of riveting England and Kashgar into a closer alliance than any that has as yet subsisted between ourselves and any other Central Asian ruler. "Your Queen is a great sovereign. Her government is a powerful and a beneficent one. Her friendship is to be desired, as it always proves a source of advantage to those who possess it. The Queen is as the sun, in whose genial rays such poor people as I flourish. I particularly desire the friendship of the English. It is essential to me. Your rule is just. The road is open to every one, and from here to London any one can come and go with perfect freedom."
On the 13th of December our representatives paid their first visit to the city of Kashgar. The country round Kashgar is very fertile, highly cultivated, and thickly populated, and the mission was not less struck by the air of prosperity prevalent here than it had been at Yarkand. In addition, the people had a healthier appearance, mainly through the absence of goitre. The Dadkhwah of Kashgar, Alish Beg, who was a Kashgari and not a Khokandian, was not less friendly than the Governor of Yarkand had been, and a very pleasant day was passed in his company. On the 18th a grand review was held, but for some reason, far from clear, only of the old Chinese troops who had taken service under the new ruler when Kashgar citadel fell. The description of the manœuvres which this force performed reads more like the display of an itinerant circus than of a disciplined army, but, nevertheless, these Khitay troops were excellent material for an army. Their practice with the tyfu, an awkward weapon, being a sort of gun-cannon, carried by two men and served by three, was pronounced very good up to 250 yards.
It is proper to state here, very clearly, that while the English mission was on Kashgarian soil it lived and travelled free of all expense, and as the Ameer paid his subjects in hard cash for whatever service they rendered, it is obvious that for a small state such as his was this was no trivial expense. It is only fair that this fact should be as widely known as possible, for some discontent was aroused by a similar hospitality being extended to the Seyyid Yakoob Khan last year. That discontent arose from ignorance; for it is hardly to be imagined that any Englishman would grumble at reciprocating the courteousness of a Central Asian potentate. The mission remained at the capital almost four months, and altogether the time passed very pleasantly. The weather was certainly rigorous; but then there was much to be done in the way of business, sight-seeing and amusement.
On the 2nd of February Yakoob Beg placed his seal to the treaty of commerce, and this act concluded the business portion of the English mission. On the 16th of March formal leave was taken of the Athalik Ghazi, and the mission returned to India. It had accomplished its task with pre-eminent success, and the Forsyth Embassy deserves long to be remembered as the most ably conducted and practically useful embassy that ever set out from India.
Since the signature of that treaty the Turkestan Trading Company has been very actively engaged in despatching several caravans annually into Kashgaria; but now, whether temporarily or permanently remains to be seen, its operations have come to a standstill. In these later years, Mr. Shaw, in his old post as Commissioner in Ladakh, had been as quietly performing his useful work as ever before; and there were rumours that he was to receive his reward in being sent as another envoy, or rather as a resident agent, into Kashgaria, last year. If the appointment were made, it has at this date (October 1st) been for the time suspended; and such entirely new considerations have come into play that it may be postponed for an indefinite period. Hadji Torah's visit to this country, in June and July, 1877, when the Turko-Russian war had rendered the Eastern Question once more acute, revived our interest, which had been flagging, in Eastern Turkestan. But he came at an unfortunate moment, for June brought us tidings of reverses round Turfan, and July did not pass away without the intelligence of the death of the Athalik Ghazi himself.
There had, before the receipt of this definite intelligence, been absurd rumours of the part Yakoob Beg was resolved to play in Central Asia as the ally of the Porte, while he, poor man, was opposing with despair, and at the cost of his life, a relentless and irresistible foe. Such is the irony of circumstance! The vanquished in Asia was by some freak of imagination converted in Europe into the arbiter of a great question, and the guide of all those peoples of either Turkestan who chafe at the bit because of Russian rule. But in reality, with the return of Sir Douglas Forsyth, our relations with Kashgar, which at one time promised to have been most cordial, languished for want of a motive. No amount of admiration would suffice to make us permanently guarantee Kashgar against Russia, for the bare facts concerning the intervening country at once chilled the sympathy at our hearts. The Grim Pass, and the road lined with desiccated travellers and animals, effaced the bright picture of the orchards of Kashgar and the busy streets of Yarkand. There was a sigh of profound relief, that would not be suppressed, when Sir Douglas Forsyth's report made the fact clear, that wherever else India might be menaced she was safe, at least, from attack north of Cashmere. It is true that there is a feasible route from Khoten to Ruduk, and thence to India; but Yakoob Beg did not hold it, and its consideration was considered to be beside the question. In fact, after 1874, we entertained much the same opinion towards Kashgar and Yakoob Beg that we did towards Poland and Kosciusko; and we were beginning to reconcile ourselves to a Russian installation in that state, when the returning Chinese made us reflect more deeply on Central Asian matters, and discover that after all has been said against the assertion there exists a third, and hitherto neglected, great Power in Central Asia. There was never anything save a kindly feeling between the two countries, and all who could admire bravery and justice and hospitality and frank courtesy were attached to the individual who had proved that he possessed all these attributes in no mean degree. But there was no deeper sympathy than this, or rather there was no stronger connecting link. The Indian government felt that it would be championing an unrecognized cause in supporting Yakoob Beg against all comers, and in the press of more urgent matters our relations with the Athalik Ghazi became lost sight of.
The effect of this treatment upon the Ameer was not unapparent, and during the last twelve months of his rule he had become more Russian and less English in his policy. But we preserved "the even-tenor of our way." Yakoob Beg had no hold over us such as must always be possessed by the ruler of Afghanistan. Practically speaking, his state was more inaccessible to us than Tibet, and the Russians at Yarkand would be a source of far less danger to us than warlike and hostile Chinese might become at Lhasa. To sum up, England and Kashgar were friends because they had no reason to be foes; but they were indifferent friends. The tear might be shed for mutual misfortunes, and condolences might be uttered when cause for grief arose; but that was all. There was no alliance in the true sense, nor was there firm and unswerving friendship. There was a brief space occupied by sympathy and goodwill; then ensued an unbroken period of unvarying indifference. Before 1877, the spark that had been kindled by Mr. Shaw, and fanned to the dimensions of a flame by Sir Douglas Forsyth, had gone out, and with its extinction passed away the solid fabric that many had hoped to rear upon the base which the enterprise of a few intrepid men had diligently prepared. Whether we were prudent or imprudent, true or false, kind or unkind, Yakoob Beg leaned on a broken reed when he bade defiance to Russia, trusting on our support. This chapter of our policy in Central Asia may be closed as speedily as possible; if we do not come out of it with much glory, it is to be hoped that a lenient posterity may judge our demerits with a merciful consideration for the preservation of a strict and irresponsible neutrality.