3-065-605 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Yarkund Mission: akoe or Kirgiz tent, occupied by the travelling party, 1874. Scene from '...the journey of Mr. Douglas Forsyth and his party from India across the Himalayas and Karakorum mountains. [Engraving from a sketch by Captain Chapman showing] the "akoe," or Kirghiz tent, which was pitched for the accommodation of the English travellers by the chief of a wandering tribe in the neighbourhood. It was used by the Englishmen as a smoking-divan, since they had their own tents for ordinary habitation. "A peep into our akoe," with the attendants spreading the "dastarkhwan" for a comfortable repast, is the subject of our Illustration...Mirza Yakoob Beg Umsah, as the Dadkwah's representative, entertained our countrymen with liberal hospitality. At Shahid-ulla-Khoja, the temperature being sometimes as low as 4 deg. Fahr., with a piercing cold wind, the shelter of the Khirgiz akoe was highly appreciated'. From "Illustrated London News", 1874.