for having given us something better than a repetition of the depravity of the Khoja rulers, and of course among his coevals he is entitled to far the highest place. If it is only asked for him that he should be placed above them, no one can raise the slightest objection to it; for beyond the shadow of a doubt, he was the most energetic and talented ruler that had appeared among the Khanates for several centuries. But it would be affectation to deny that a higher place than this has been claimed for him; and before according his right to occupy it, the evidence on which his claim rests must be sifted with the greatest care. Even now I do not say that his claims are unproven; but that it is open to doubt whether his work has not been exaggerated, I think must be admitted by every one who has studied the course of his life in Kashgar. It is absurd to talk of Yakoob Beg having been an equal of Genghis Khan or of Timour, in any other way than that of showing that his personal abilities were of a transcendent order. As a legislator and public benefactor, it is fair to compare him with the Chinese, who possessed some advantages over him, but who laboured under some disadvantages in religion, and other conditions, as compared with him. And when we do this, after impartial consideration we find that the balance is greatly in favour of the Chinese. What can we judge from this, but that the rule of Yakoob Beg, while presenting some striking features, was inferior in degree to that of the Chinese? It is only fair to remember that the difficulties in his path were great, and that he overcame many of them. Before closing this chapter some description of the chief men who assisted him to conquer the country, and then to govern it, may be not without interest to the reader.