KHOTAN, a city and district of eastern Turkestan, lying between the northern slopes of the Kuenlun mountains and the eastern portion of the Gobi (Takla Makan) desert. The district is well watered by a number of rivers, the most important of which, the Karakash and the Khotan Daria, meet to the north of the city. Both soil and climate are excellent, and the vegetation is characterized at once by variety and luxuriance. Indian corn, barley, jowar, buckwheat, rice, olives, pears, peaches, apricots, mulberries, grapes, currants, melons, the charas plant, the cotton plant, are all produced in abundance. Willows, poplars, and tamarisks are the ordinary trees; in some parts they form extensive forests. Of the mineral wealth of the country glowing accounts are given,—gold, copper, iron, antimony, salt, sulphur, coal, jade, and a variety of precious stones being the principal items. Upwards of twenty gold mines are known to exist, and those of Sorghak and Kappa are worked by 4000 and 3000 men respectively. Jade is obtained, more especially in the Karakash district. Among the wild animals are goats, wolves, jackals, foxes, and hares; and the Khotanese keep camels, horses, mules, asses, goats, sheep, geese, ducks, and fowls (the goats and the fowls being particularly numerous). The total number of the inhabitants is variously estimated at from 130,000 to 250,000, and the country is capable of maintaining a much denser population. Females preponderate to as much as 25 per cent. There are six districts, each with a town of its name—Khotan or Ilchi (42,000), Karakash (7000), Yurung Kush (7000), Tchira (28,000), Kiria (28,000), and Naya (3500). The city of Khotan (in Chinese Hu-tan, locally Ilchi) is situated 150 miles south-east of Yarkand and 90 miles due east of Sanju, and is ...