and villages, and fortresses; but not one town exists at present of all the above, and the nation of the Seefaun is now reduced to a nomadic state. They are divided by the Chinese writers into two classes: the HeSeefaun, or White Seefaun, and the Whang-Seefaun, or Yellow Seefaun. These denominations are not given them because they live on the banks of the Kara Mooran, or Whangho or the Black river, and the Yangtse Keeang or Yellow river, as Malte Brun erroneously says, nor from their complexion, which in both tribes is swarthy, but from the colour of their tents. In this instance, Malte Brun has committed two mistakes, in calling the Yangtse Keeang, the Yellow river, whereas it signifies the river, Son of the Sea, and which appellation is only given to the Keeang in the lower part of its course, whereas its true name is the Keeang-Koo, or Blue river; and secondly, in saying that the Yellow Seefauns dwell on the Yangtse Keeang, he confounds it with the Min Keeang, a mere tributary of the Great Keeang, and which originates in this region under the name of the Heshwee Ho. The Black Seefauns, besides tents, have also houses, and are governed by two chiefs, who depend on a third, but are very uncivilized. Those seen by Father Regis, were dressed like the inhabitants of Hamee, or Khamil, in the eastern extremity of Chinese Toorkistaun. The women wear their hair parted into tresses, hanging down their shoulders, and full of little glass mirrors. The Yellow Seefaun are subject to certain families, whereof the eldest is made a lama, and wears a yellow habit. These lamas are all of the same family, and govern in their respective districts. They have the power of deciding causes and punishing criminals. They inhabit the same canton, but in separate bodies, without forming large families of the same kindred, which seem like so many camps. The greater part of them dwell in tents, but some have their houses built of earth, and a few with bricks. They want none of the necessaries of life, and have numerous flocks of sheep. Their horses though small, are well shaped, strong, and full of fire. The lamas who govern these people, do not vex or oppress them, provided they render them due honours, and punctually pay the duties of Fo, (Boodha) which are very trifling. These seem to be a sort of tithes exacted on a religious account. Boodhism has ever

been the religion of the Seefaun, who always chose their lamas to be their ministers of state, and sometimes to command their armies. The black and yellow Seefaun are said to speak different dialects of one language, but they understand each other well enough for the purpose of mutual commerce. The books and characters used by the lamas and chiefs are those of Tibet. Though bordering on the Chinese, their manners and customs are very different. In some customs they resemble the Kalkhas, and the Eluths of Kokonor. Both the black and yellow Seefaun are nearly independent of the neighbouring mandarins, who dare not treat them with rigour or force obedience; their frightful mountains which they inhabit, and whose summits are covered with snow even in the month of July, secure them against all pursuit. They have abundance of gold which their rivers bring down from the mountains, which they well know how to collect and work, for of it they make vessels and small statues of Boodha. The use of this metal is very ancient amongst them, as we are told that a certain emperor of the Han dynasty, having sent a deputation to certain Seefaun chiefs who had made a foray into the Chinese borders, these chiefs endeavoured to pacify him by a present of gold plate. But the officer who headed the deputation refused it, telling them that rice in dishes of gold did not relish with him. It is impossible to determine from Du Halde whether

the Seefaun belong to the Mongolian or Tibetian race; and his account of the geographical site of the Seefaun is confused and inconsistent, for whilst the first sheet of the map of Tibet exhibits the country of the Seefaun very distinctly, yet his account seems to place them to the N. of W. and N. of the Whang-Ho, and according to him the borough of Topa, 4 leagues N.W. of Sining, in Shensee, is the property of, and subject to, a lama of the yellow Seefaun. We much doubt that the indefinite appellation Sefaun, people of the west,' has led to some confusion on this head, and that a number of different nomadic tribes who roam on the W.N.W. and S.W. of China have been confounded with each other, by means of this Chinese appellation. The subject is obscure and likely to remain so.

II. THE ELUTHS OF KOKONOOR.

THESE are the Koscioth, or Koshotee Eluths, a branch of the great Kalmuck stem, consisting of the four tribes of the Torgoots, the Soongars, the Derbets, and the Koshotes. These last are said to amount to 50,000 families, and roam in the vicinity of the Kokonoor, or 'blue lake.' The country in which they roam lies to the N. of the Seefaun country described before, to the W. of Shensee, to the N.E. of Tibet ; and on the other sides is bounded by the Kobi, or Great Sandy desert.' We have a most confused and inaccurate account of this region in Du Halde; for, after having described the country of the Seefaun, he next describes that of the Tartars of Kokonoor, which is made to contain, in one place, all the country W. of China, extending from the Kobi to the frontiers of Yunnan and Ava -thus including, not only the Seefaun before described, but also the tracts watered by the Yalong, Kinsha, Lantsang, and Noo-Keeang rivers, down to 25° 33′ N. lat., and in another place it is made to extend 7 degrees of lat., namely, from the above southern lat. to 33 N., which totally excludes the country of Kokonoor which lies N. of that lat-, and includes the Seefaun he had already described. In this blunder he is followed by the learned authors of the Modern Universal History, although that description be quite inconsistent with their geographical account of the Seetaun, in the 7th volume of that learned and laborious work. Were it not for the Jesuits' maps accompanying Du Halde's performance, we would be lost in a mass of confusion, so discordant are his materials; and even in the large map of Sechwen, the country which, in the first sheet of Tibet, is properly called the country of the Seetaan, is there called Kokonoor. Mate Brun who has a rare kack of avoiding difficulties, or wrapping himself up very conveniently in the cluas of generalities, tells us that the Chinese call the Kushokee Eztás. Seefanns. It can be only so as they le W. of China; and since the term is altogether manim i would be beszer, to avoid contusion, to divide the people to the W, of China into Northern sad Southern Seetaan, in respect of their relative stization to enact eder & wet as their relative struation to China. Ta this way, the Sechim to the S. at the Nomspan Qabashee would be the Southern Sedan W, of Sechrea, and the Astotee Euths to the N. of the same dividing rings, the Nethert. Seeman to the W. of Shensee; waderstanding, at the same time, that these are diferent people from each other, though stil epas A WESEL, I respect of China. The Southern or Proper Sexta as dit ngusha, ran the &asarees, would still retain their place s hi van n the ts sheet of the map of Tibet; whilst the Northern Seesan wait oncessant at the country of Kokonoor, as laid down in the 4th sheet of the most of Tis. Dus regun is very

ог

mountainous throughout, and towards the source of the Whangho, and alongst its upper course, is called Moma and Thokan. On the E. it is parted from Shensee by lofty mountains, particularly those called SweeShan, or the snowy mountains,' extending N.E. of Sining, to Lyang-chew, and N.W. from it to Hya-yu-quan. It abounds with rivers and lakes, all the former, with a few exceptions, falling into the Whangho. The latter are very numerous, most of them having no outlets. Of these, that called Kokonoor, or the Blue Lake,' in Mongolian, and Zin-chay and See-hay, 'the western sea,' in Chinese. It is more than 70 British miles long by half that in breadth, in a very elevated site, surrounded by mountains, and containing an area of 1,840 geographical square miles. It lies immediately to the W. of Sining-chew, in Shensee, between 36° and 37° N. lat. and its western extremity is 17° W. of Pekin. We have no particular account of its productions, whether animal, mineral, or vegetative, but, to judge from analogy, they must be much the same as those of Tibet. We know that the musk-deer and the yak abound in this region-animals which cannot exist but in cold mountainous regions. As the sources of the Whangho lie on the very frontier of this region, we are certain that gold is a native production of the mountains whence they flow. But it is most famed for its rhubarb, the best in the world, which is produced in the Swe-shan, or 'snowy mountains,' in the vicinity of Sining, and Soo-chew, the Succur of Marco Polo. It grows in the clefts of rocks, in dry and arid situations; the roots are pulled up in April and May, and then hung on the trees to dry. There are no towns in this region, as it is merely a pastoral region for wandering Tartars, who dwell in tents, but never build cities. The Koshotee Kalmucks are divided into eight tribes, under as many taidshas or chiefs, all of whom submitted to China after the defeat and death of Kaldan Pojukhtee, Khan Taidsha, or supreme prince of the Soongaree Eluths. The chief taidsha received the title of Wang, or Head Regulo' of all the Koshotes, whilst the others received subordinate honours from the court of Pekin. They are all staunch Boodhists, devoted to the interest of the Tibetian Lama, whose protectors they were, till deprived of that honour by the celebrated Kaldan. In every point of religion, mode of life, manners and customs, they so much resemble their pastoral brethren of the Mongolian, that there is no necessity of retailing what has been said on that head before, and we shall therefore conclude with a very short view of the political history of this region. It was not till some time after the extinction of the Seefaun monarchy that this country made any political figure. By the assistance of several petty Seefaun tribes, Likitsyin, a native of Topa, a considerable city W. of Sining, was enabled to found a new dominion near the Whang-Ho in 951, the capital of which was Ning-Heea, whence the kingdom took its name of Heea, and See-Heea, or the Western guards,' and which was denominated Tangoot, or the Western kingdom,' by the Mongols, because it lay to the W.; and hence the name Tangoot passed to the Mussulman historians of the W. Its capital Ning-Heea is the Campion or Campetion of Marco Polo. This dynasty gradually enlarged its dominions at the expense of the Kin emperors of Northern China, till it rose to be a powerful and respectable monarchy; and a prince of this dynasty, Yuan Chao, received the title of emperor from the Kin sovereign. This same prince introduced the Indian writing (the letters and language of Tibet, originally from India, as before stated) amongst his subjects, after making some alterations in the mode of writing the characters.

The time when this prince reigned is not told us

by the Chinese; and although this dynasty lasted 276 years, from 951 to 1227, and must have contained 12 successive sovereigns at least, supposing their average reigns to have been 23 years, which is even too much, yet the Chinese annals mention only four princes, the first, Likitsyen, and the three last, who reigned from 1205 to 1227, and who are merely mentioned because they were contemporaneous with Jenghis Khan; and Lite, the last of these three, was put to death by that conqueror, and both kingdom and dynasty for ever extinguished, and the very name of Tangoot blotted from the political map. The western historians never heard of this kingdom till it was overturned, and its last sovereign is the only one mentioned by them, under the name of Shidaskou. This is all we learn of the powerful empire of Tangoot, so much spoken of by the writers of the 13th century, from the meagre, dry, and brief annals of the Chinese.

III. DISTRICT OF SHACHEW.

To the W.N.W. of Hya-yu-quan, the most N.W. gate of the great wall, lies the district of Shachew, projecting W. into the Kobi, or Great Sandy Desert, and surrounded by it on all sides, but where it is connected with Kansoo, or the N.W. of Shensee, by passes accross the mountains, and by a chain of small forts. The district itself is a long narrow valley, extending for about 200 miles W.N.W. of Hy-yu-quan, chiefly watered by the small stream of the Polonkir Pira, which falls into the Hara Noor or black lake;' long. 22° W. of Peking. This district contains the fortified cities of Shachew, Quachew, Gansechew, Chontori, and others, and was merely reserved as an advanced line of military stations towards the Kobi and province of Hami, to secure the empire against the Hyong-noo, and their successors, the western Tartars. This district was first united to the Chinese frontiers by the emperor Vootee, about a century before the Christian era. It was after the expedition of Ho-khiuping, in the reign of that emperor, that the Chinese frontiers were, for the first time, carried so far west as the district of Souchew, which, in the ancient Chinese books was known by the appellation of Tsieou-Tsiouan, or the fountain of wine.' The country so conquered was peopled speedily by Chinese colonists, and divided into 4 kiun or territories, Wow-wei, Tchang-ye, Thunhoang or Shachew, and Sou-chew. These establishments were destined to protect the passes of Yangkouan and Iumen to the E. of Shachew, and which lead over the Swee-Shan, or snowy mountains' into Shensee. Ever since that period, the district of Shachew, the most advanced of the three, which are on the line of the Great wall, has always been retained as an advanced post by the Chinese court, except when, through the imbecility of the government, it was unable to retain it. It was sometimes even proposed, in the Chinese cabinet, to abandon this district, as difficult to maintain from its great distance, and its being always exposed to the attacks of the Tartars. But it was always overruled in the council, as being considered not only a protection to the two passes above mentioned, but also as it prevented, by its situation, the union of the Tartars with the Kiang or Tibetians to the S., which might prove fatal to the empire. It was therefore retained as a strong garrison, and the idea of abandoning it, and withdrawing the garrison to Lyanchew, was given up. When the kingdom of Tangoot rose in the 10th century, this district, and all western Shensee, fell under its power. It then passed under the Mongolian dominion with the other provinces of Tangoot, and remained so, till it was retaken by Hong-voo in 1370, and refortified by

Yongloo, his son. The city of Shachew lies in 20° 40′ W. of Pekin, and 40° 20′ N. lat., 180 British miles direct distance from the N.W. entrance of the Great Wall at Hy-yu-quan. We have no description of it but what has been given by the ambassadors of Sharok Meerza in 1420. When that vigorous emperor, Yongloo, filled the throne, Shachew, according to this account, was 25 days' journey from Hami, and for the last 10 days' journey, it was a perfect desert to Shachew, without wood or water. Shachew, says the writer of the account, is a very extensive city, built in a square form, and surrounded by a very lofty wall. The streets of the bazaars are 50 guz (100 feet) wide, full of ingenious artizans, and regularly swept and watered. The streets are all drawn in a straight line, and intersected at right angles by others. Each street is terminated at both extremities by wooden cupolas of singular elegance, having projecting beams richly ornamented. At equidistances on the wall are placed covered bastions; the four city gates front each other, and although the intervening distance be immense, yet, from the straightness of the streets, and the multitude of pas. sengers, it appears inconsiderable; a tower of two stories surmounts each gateway. The number of temples (of Boodha) is prodigious, with spacious courts, paved with brick, and covered with carpets; young men are placed at the door, who give admittance with acclammations of joy. From Shachew to Khanbalic (Peking), the residence of the emperor, are 99 yam or towers, adjacent to so many towns, and between each of these are so many surgbu, which are towers 60 guz (120 feet) in height, where ten sentinels constantly watch. Each surghu is situated so as to be in sight of another; and if any accident occur, such as the invasion of an enemy, the sentinels kindle a great fire; the same is done instantly by the next, until the news be carried to court. Intelligence may thus be conveyed in 24 hours from a place three months' journey distant from the capital. Such is the account of Shachew, and it is valuable when we have no other. It is stated to be nine yam or stations distant from Cam-chew, a still larger city than it; the same with the modern Kan-chew, capital of Kansoo, or Western Shensee. Qua-chew, another place of importance, lies in 40o 35′ N. and 20o 8′ W. of Pekin, and is strongly fortified. Of the other places in this district we have merely the names, and can say nothing about them.

Thus we have finished our account of Central Asia. It is very imperfect, indeed, from the want of materials, and there is little appearance that our knowledge of it will be increased for a long time to come; and the curious public must just rest satisfied with what meagre accounts they possess, till some revolution, political or moral, open up the way for the future investigation of this extensive and almost unknown region.