The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1889-02-19

a CITY OF THE DEAD.
skulls and Bones Everywhere but Nothing
Living tn Ise seen.

! skulls and Bones Everywhere but Nothing
| Living To I;e seen.
Here is graphic description by Vas
sill Verestchagin, the Russian artist,
of the results of the MOhammedan re-
bellion against the Chinese Govern
ment in the region of Tchugutchak:
Presently large clumps of trees
were visible in the distance on both
sides of the road, marking the farms,
of which there were many round
| Tchugutchak. About two versts out
side the town We saw several ruined
houses and chapels: the paintings on
the walls were still uninjured. Some
| splendid old trees were still standing.
but quite dead. for the irrigation ca
mails are silted up and the soil il quite
| dry. In the town similar sights meet
! the eye. Wonderful groves and ave-
hues, the work of years, are some
times completely destroyed or going
to decay. As you approach the town
il is hard to believe il il empty: you
can not help hoping to meet some hui
man being, if il be only IA robber. But
not soul is to be seen any where.
The houses are for the most part un-
injured, and likewise the paintings on
the walls and the wooden lattice work
of the windows. Potsherds and frag-
ments of articles of every conceiva-
BILE kind were lying all about
vessels of iron and clay of all
sizes, a quantity of copper coins
strung on string, dresses, caps. plaits
of hair, shoes OF all siZeS-the clumsy
shoes of Dunghans arl Calmucks side
by side with the mir iature slippers of
Chinese women. put u pair Of ex-
traordinary small slippers in my
pocket as memento. But above all
skulls are 10 be seen lying about every
where. The town is ike vast tomb,
and the whole impression produced is
terrible. | walked about for whole
| day in BIS company, and then for
several days alone, without being able
| to accustom myself to this stiffness as
of the grave, and to the sight of all
these streets. chapels. theaters and
squares standing forever empty. The
gate of the fortress. which the be-
| siegers had blown in. is still tOlerably
strong. Near the gate is TO be seen
| the entrance into the subterranean
gallery by which the besiegers. after a
long and tedious siege. made their way
into the fortress. Then came merci-
less butchery. in which no one was
| spared. Skulls and bones lie literally
in heaps against the walls here and all
| around the fortress: at many points,
e. e., by several of the gates, the
skulls were piled up to a great height.
| In the fields around the town. too. lie
skulls; as far as the eye can reach,
skulls, and skulls. and again skulls.
The wolves and the jackals have
| already done their work: the ravens
are still engaged in picking the bones
clean for the sun and rain to bleach.
One of the farms in particular which
lies nearest the town abounds in bones.
A body of Calmucks fifteen thousand
strong came this way TO help the be-
| sieged, but force of only few hun
dred Dunghans fell upon them. drove
them back and killed them to the very
last man. What wonderful energy on
the part of the insurgent Mohamme-
dams, what cowardice on the part of
the Chinameni had enough to occu-
Ply ms. From the Governors palace
to the simple little houses of the COM
mon people. all the dwellings were
habitable, all were painted, all deco
rated with paintings, sculptures, bas-
reliefs, flowers. dragons. etc Thea
tiers of an original construction, Bud
dhist temples in which some colossal
idols were still intact (though the Mo-
hammedans evidently showed great
zeal in Overthrowing these and break
ing them in pieces). seemed almost to
be waiting for the people to throng in
to their prayers and their amusements
For three whole weeks | lived with
one Cossack and one Tartar in a
wretched cabin outside the walls of
the fortress. and every day from
morning till evening | rOamed about,
looking at every thing. drawing and
painting. Occasionally wild goat
would stray into the courtyard where
/ was painting, stand transfixed with
establishment. and then rush off at full
speed across the stcppe. Philadelphia
North american.