triking tokens of
amity. But on this occasion the danger from Russian movements was so
close at hand, and all the efforts of the state were so concentrated in
preparations for defence, that Alim Kuli, whatever he may have thought
of its prospects, and however much he may have sympathized with its
object, was unable to give the Kirghiz emissary any aid in his
enterprise. When, however, Buzurg Khan, the only surviving son of
Jehangir Khan, either of his own free will, or instigated, as some say,
by Yakoob Beg, offered to assert his claims on Kashgar, Alim Kuli
expressed his approval of the design, and gave his moral assistance so
far as was compatible with no active participation therein. He, however,
gave Buzurg Khan the services of Kooshbege Mahomed Yakoob to act as his
commander-in-chief, or Baturbashi. Thus did Alim Kuli free himself from
his troublesome subordinate, and despatched on an errand which seemed
likely to end in disgrace and defeat, but which really led to empire,
the only native whom he dreaded as being capable of supplanting him.

Yakoob Beg had up to this point given little promise of future
distinction. He had, indeed, earned the reputation of being a gallant
soldier, if a not very prudent one; and in the intrigues that had marked
the history of his state for twenty years, he had borne his fair share.
But no one would have dreamt of prognosticating that he possessed the
ability necessary to win campaigns against superior forces, and then to
erect a powerful state on the ruins that fell into his possession. The
most favourable opinion would have been, that he would have died
manfully as a soldier, and as a true Mussulman. When he embarked in the
enterprise of conquering Kashgar, he was no longer in the first flush of
youth, but was a man who covered his fiery spirit and great ambition
with a cloak of religious zeal and diplomatic apathy. Twenty years'
experience in the most intriguing court in Central Asia had placed every
muscle at his complete command, and even in the most disastrous moments
in his career, he is always represented as being calm and
collected--calm in his belief in Kismut, and collected in a persuasion
of his own resources. One fact that will account for the slowness with
which he advanced into notoriety is that he was entirely dependent on
his own capacity for promotion. He had no wealth, no large following,
and in the two leaders, Kipchak and Kirghiz, Mussulman and Alim Kuli, he
had