Ush Turfan, New Turfan, is a small town on the road from Kashgar to Aksu, and is not to be confounded with the better known Turfan which is situated in the far east on the highway to Kansuh. This latter town is called Kuhna Turfan, or Old Turfan, to distinguish it from the other. Ush Turfan, without ever having been a place of the first importance, derived very considerable advantage from its position on the road followed by the Chinese caravans, and Yakoob Beg converted it into a strong military position by constructing several forts there. Aksu, one of the old capitals of Kashgar, may fairly be called the third city of the state, although it has, perhaps, more than any other declined since the expulsion of the Khitay. Before that event took place there was a road across the mountains to Ili, by the Muzart glacier, and relays of men were kept continually employed in maintaining this delicately constructed road in a state fit for passage both on foot and mounted. But all this has been discontinued for many years now, and not only is the road quite impassable, but it would require much labour and more outlay to restore it to its former utility. In the neighbourhood of this town there are rich mines of lead, copper, and sulphur. These have, practically speaking, been untouched in recent years. Coal is also the ordinary fuel among the inhabitants; and both in intelligence as well as in worldly prosperity, the good people of Aksu used to be entitled to a foremost position among the Kashgari. As a consequence of the blocking up of the Muzart Pass, the old trade with Kuldja has completely disappeared, and all communications with this Russian province are now carried on by the Narym Pass to Vernoe. This change benefits the city of Kashgar, but is a decided loss to Aksu. Aksu may still justly rank as an important place, and under very probable contingencies may regain all the ground it has lost. In conclusion, we may say that Yakoob Beg has converted its old walls and castles into fortifications, which are said to be capable of resisting the fire of modern artillery. We have enumerated six cities--Kashgar, Yangy Hissar, Yarkand, Khoten, Ush Turfan, and Aksu--and these constitute the territory of Kashgar proper. At one time, indeed, it was called Alty Shahr, or six cities, from this fact. In addition to these may be mentioned, in modern Kashgaria, Sirikul, or Tashkurgan, in the extreme south-west, which is principally of importance as the chief post on the frontier of Afghanistan. Near Sirikul are Badakshan and Wakhan, and it has been asserted that Shere Ali, of Afghanistan, viewed with a suspicious eye the presence of Kashgar in this quarter. It is quite certain that he would not have tolerated that further advance along the Pamir, which Yakoob Beg seemed on several occasions inclined to make. Sirikul commands the northern entrance of the Baroghil Pass, and has consequently been often mentioned in recent accounts of this road to India.