Untitled

270 EAST ASIA.
the civil war, and now mainly peopled by Lisu and half-castes. Tali-fit also, which
occupies a much more convenient position on the west side of the vast lake of like
name, was still in a ruinous state when visited by Gill in 1877. All the surrounding
villages were wasted during the insurrection, and not a tree was left standing in
the district. To its strong strategical position Tali-fu was indebted for all its
Fig. 128. TALI-FU AND LAKE TALI.
Scale 1 : 560,000.
12 Mil's.
misfortunes. The plain where it stands terminates north and south in a narrow
defile between the hills and the lake, and these two passes have been strengthened
by fortifications, which have converted the whole coast of Tali into a vast citadel..
In the time of Marco Polo this
place, then called Carajan (Karayang),
was the
"
capital of seven kingdoms," and one of the great cities of South China. Recently