field of oriental studies." Walikhanov and Dostoevsky While still in Omsk, Dostoevsky had met Shoqan Walikhanov. In Dostoevsky's opinion, Walikhanov was a brilliant, intrepid person, a scholar and ethnographer, and a talented folklorist. In their correspondence, the two intellectuals admitted their great mutual love and admiration. When Dostoevsky served in Semipalatinsk (now known as Semey), he met Walikhanov once again. The two men were also closely acquainted with renowned geographer Peter Semenov Tian-Shansky and Baron A. E. Wrangel, who came to Semipalatinsk from Petersburg in 1854 to serve as the new district prosecutor. Dostoevsky wrote from Semipalatinsk on 14 December 1856 one of his most enthusiastic letters ever, addressed to his friend Walikhanov: There is a statue of Walikhanov and Dostoevsky in the city of Semey, Kazakhstan, near the local Dostoevsky museum. Major works Walikhanov produced many articles and books devoted to the history and culture of Central Asia. A short list: "Chinese Turkestan and Dzungaria: Walikhanov and other Russian travellers", The Russians in Central Asia, London, Edward Stanford, 1865. Traces of Shamanism among the Kazakhs Regarding the camps of Kazakh nomads The Qazakhs Tengri Forms of Kazakh Traditional Poesy Issyk-Kul Travel Journal Kul-Ju Travel Journal Notes on jungars Walikhanov also compiled epic poetry, including "Kozy-Korpesh - Bayan-Sulu", as well as collecting the first known recorded variant of what he called the Iliad of the Steppe, the Epic of Manas, from an unnamed performer later identified as Nazar Bolot uulu. Walikhanov's report of his trip to Kashgar in 1858-59 remains a valuable account on the situation in Xinjiang in the aftermath of Wali Khan's invasion of the region and on the eve of the Muslim Rebellion of the 1860s. The Shoqan Walikhanov spring The Shoqan Walikhanov spring is in the Altyn-Emel National Park. It is located in the Kerbulak district of Almaty region, on the road to the singing Dunes, among the tract at the foot of the Maly Kalkan Mountains. Shoqan Walikhanov names the spring. Walikhanov's path ran from Russia to Kashgaria in 1856, through the territory of what is now the park. The expedition stopped to rest at the spring. Since that time, there has been a folk belief that the water in the spring is healing and can cure many diseases. There is a small stream from which possible to drink water in July and August months, when the spring mostly dries up. Notes References Works by