who participated in four expeditions to East Turkistan in
the early 1900s. This article he wrote about the fourth
expedition was translated into Ottoman Turkish and
published in the Istanbul journal "Yeni Mecmua" in
June 1918.//
Albert von Le Coq
biography click here for his bio.
Fourth Turfan German Expedition
The Journey
The task of our fourth expedition was to visit the ancient sites at the
south end of the rocky deserts that are today waterless sandhills.
Since these places can only be visited in the winter - because only
when the waterways there freeze over can they be passed - the
expedition was scheduled to begin in the Fall of 1912. The Berlin
Turfan Exploration Expedition's support was provided from the
Emperor's (Wilhelm II) purse.
Unfortunately, an obstacle to our task appeared because in May of
that same year an uprising occurred among the Chinese soldiers,
starting in Urumchi and spreading to all of the big cities on the
northern edge of the desert. These soldiers joined with the most
destitute people of the lower class, occupied the area and killed
many of the civilian and military mandarins. The rebels succeeded
in taking complete control and the revolt was particularly bloody
in Kashgar. If English Chief Consul (George) Macartney had not
intervened to quell the uproar, the rebellion would have reached an
By the Fall of 1912 order had been restored throughout the country.
Nevertheless, the Russians significantly increased the number of
guards assigned to their consulate in Kashgar to protect the employees
there and this made the Chinese uncomfortable. In this regard,
myself and (Theodor) Bartus, the expedition's engineer, were in
Beijing and we were denied travel permits by the Chinese government
on the pretext that they could not even effectively protect their own
officials in the Kashgar region. Consequently, it became impossible
to begin the expedition in the Fall of 1912.
However, as the result of our communications with Mr. Macartney,
we were able to determine that the danger in the Kashgar area had
completely abated and he assured us of his support. So at the end of
March 1913 we set out for Kashgar without Chinese government
travel permits. In order to travel across Russia (from Germany) V.V.
Radloff, a member of our organization in St. Petersburg, arranged
for our travel documents and provisions. After many stops along
the way (probably on the train), on 17 April we reached Andijan,
from where we went by caravan to Kashgar.
Our caravan journey was not without difficulties. First, because of
a sudden thaw all the big rivers overflowed and, secondly, we faced
the constant danger of avalanches coming down from the mountains
as we passed through. We had to spend the night in a tent at the high
Terek Pass, at the same altitude as Mount Blanc of about 3,000 meters,
At this altitude, breathing was quite difficult and sleeping was
impossible. Eventually, we made it through the pass unscathed.
As we climbed the mountain, we encountered a Russian military
detachment that had been sent to reinforce the guard contingent at
the Russian Consulate in Kashgar. Most of the soldiers were Loch
and Petrikav German Russians and Poles and they were in a sorry
state because of the weather and irregular food supply.
detachment that had been sent to reinforce the guard contingent at
the Russian Consulate in Kashgar. Most of the soldiers were Loch
and Petrikav German Russians and Poles and they were in a sorry
state because of the weather and irregular food supply.
//END of PART I//
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