Ruins Of Desert Cathay Personal Narrative Of Explorations In Central Asia And Westernmost China - free ebook by Aurel Stein

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Ruins Of Desert Cathay Personal Narrative Of Explorations In Central Asia And Westernmost China

Aurel Stein

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PREFACE

PREFACE

THE purpose of these volumes is to furnish the general reader with a personal record of the archaeological and geographical explorations which, during the years 19061908, I carried out under the orders of the Government of India in remote parts of Central Asia and westernmost China. The plan of these explorations was based upon the experiences and results of my earlier journey in Chinese Turkestan, during 1900-1901, of which my Sand-buried Ruins of Khotan, first published in 1903, contained a po

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1 BETWEEN HYDASPES AND INDUS

1 BETWEEN HYDASPES AND INDUS

EvER since, in 1901, I returned from my first journey into Chinese Turkestan, happy recollections of successful labour among its mountains and deserts kept my mind fixed upon the hope of fresh explorations. By the excavations I then effected it was my good fortune to bring to light for the first time authentic remains of that ancient civilization which, as the joint product of Indian, Chinese, and classical influences, had once flourished in the oases fringing the Tarim Basin. There was every re

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II THROUGH SWAT AND DIR

II THROUGH SWAT AND DIR

On April 24th, 1906, all the heavy baggage in charge of the two Ram Singhs had been started ahead to Fort Chakdara, where our journey was to commence in earnest. Two days later, in the evening of the 26th, the tonga carried me, too, down from Abbottabad after a cheering send-off by kind friends. Little did it matter that a sudden storm drenched me and my light baggage before we had got fairly clear of the foot-hills. The swollen Haro River was crossed without much trouble and the midnight train

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III ACROSS THE LOWARAI

III ACROSS THE LOWARAI

Mav 3rd, when I escaped from my prison-shelter at Dir, was a gloriously clear day, and as we drew nearer to Gujar, the last summer grazing-ground at the foot of the Lowarai Pass, some 7800 feet above the sea, my spirits rose rapidly. In the tiny hamlets lower down the fruit-trees and hedges were just in blossom, while above the first shoots of grass were only beginning to sprout near the banks of avalanche snow (Fig. 3). To Mirga, the last hamlet, where Captain Knollys, the Assistant Political A

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IV IN CHITRAL

IV IN CHITRAL

In spite of the strongly pressed offers of further hospitality, I set out in the forenoon of May sth from Drosh for the double march to the Chitral capital. I was eager to meet there Captain E. Knollys, the Assistant Political Agent, and to commence my antiquarian and anthropological enquiries. It was a long day's ride, some twenty-six miles by the road, and lengthened still further by the visit I paid to an inscribed rock on the left river-bank beyond Gairat. The sun shone from a specklessly cl

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V THROUGH MASTUJ

V THROUGH MASTUJ

IT was hard to tear myself away from Chitral, so full of interesting people and things, and from my accomplished host, brimful of the local knowledge needed to explain them. Butapart from my eagerness to approach Turkestan quickly, there was another strong reason for an early start northward. Already on my arrival I had been greeted by the news that four messengers from Wakhan had reached Chitral to report that all arrangements had been made at Sarhad for my reception on Afghan soil. Under the o

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VI ON THE DARKOT PASS

VI ON THE DARKOT PASS

From Kankhun-kuch only two marches remained to the Baroghil Pass, that remarkable saddle in the Hindukush range which at a height of only 12,400 feet gives access to the uppermost Oxus. But before 1 could cross it there was another task to be accomplished, upon which I had set my heart in the face of manifest difficulties. The Darkot Pass, which leads over the glacier-crowned great range south of the highest part of the Yarkhun Valley, at an elevation of about 15,400 feet, did not lie on my rout

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VII IN AFGHAN WAKHAN

VII IN AFGHAN WAKHAN

Tue night preceding our passage to the Oxus proved bitterly cold, the minimum thermometer showing 5% Fahr, So when on May 19th we started at 6 A.M. for the pass under a specklessly clear sky the snow was hard frozen. It was a delightful change to see the long string of baggage animals move now over the glittering surface without needing the track which had been ploughed by them the day before with such efforts. But the growing intensity of the sunshine, doubly felt by me with a face still bliste

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VIII TO THE SOURCE OF THE OXUS

VIII TO THE SOURCE OF THE OXUS

THERE could be no doubt about our now nearing the Pamirs when, after a cold night with the thermometer sinking to a minimum of 25 degrees below freezing-point, we started across stony and partly marshy ground for the low saddle known as Dasht-i-Mirza Murad. By crossing it the route cuts off a southern bend of the now much broadened Oxus Valley. A ten miles’ ride over alluvial plateaus still retaining snow in great patches brought us to a low spur from which I first sighted north-eastwards the ro

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IX FROM SARIKOL TO KASHGAR

IX FROM SARIKOL TO KASHGAR

THE journey down the Taghdumbash Pamir, on which I started on May 28th from K&amp;k-térok, took me over ground already familiar from 1900, and therefore my account of it may be brief. After a refreshing night's rest at Tigharmansu, where Muhammad Yusuf Beg’s clean and comfortable Kirgha might almost have tempted me to forsake my own little tent, we rode down in a long march to the Karaul or watch-station of Bayik. It was pleasant to listen en route to all my host had to tell. Things had fare

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X AT CHINI-BAGH, KASHGAR

X AT CHINI-BAGH, KASHGAR

THe days in Kashgar which followed that night of my arrival in the midst of a dust-storm were as pleasant as the kindness of old friends and the varied comforts of the hospitable shelter they offered could make them. After five years’ absence Chini-bagh still showed all the attractions which had so often made me look back with longing regret to my previous stays there, and which I have endeavoured to describe in the account of my previous journey. The British representative's residence, which Mr

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XI TO YARKAND AND KARGHALIK

XI TO YARKAND AND KARGHALIK

Earry in the afternoon of the same day, June 23rd, I took leave of my kind hosts and the friendly shelter of Chini-bagh to start for Yarkand, my first ape on the long journey south-eastwards. It was not without a feeling of regret that I cast a farewell look over the sun-lit terraces of the garden and the stately poplar avenues which give shade to its walks. I could not say this time whether my return journey would bring me again to Kashgar, and anyhow an interval of two years seemed a long time

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XII STAY AT KOK-YAR

XII STAY AT KOK-YAR

In the early dawn of July 7th I started from Karghalik southwards, There was just light enough as we rode through the Bazars to observe the gaily decorated cookshops and a stately Mosque and Madrasah with polychrome woodwork, Karghalik once again reminded me of some small town in Kashmir, probably on account of its fine trees, the abundance of running water, and the plentiful use of timber in its houses (Fig. 43). Scarcely two miles from the town we left cultivation behind us, and were moving ov

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XIII ALONG THE FOOT OF THE KUN-LUN

XIII ALONG THE FOOT OF THE KUN-LUN

Or the morning of July 25th I said farewell to Kék-yar and its obliging people just as the dawn broke. I had thought to have taken leave of my Ta-lao-yes,’ too, the evening before. But, lo, as I approached the outlying farm of Ujmeliik Langar, where the valley turns to barren Dasht, I found them awaiting me with a farewell Dastarkhan of tea and eggs, spread out on red felts in orthodox fashion. Considering how averse Chinamen of easy circumstances seem to be from early rising, I was pleasantly t

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XIV MY RETURN TO KHOTAN

XIV MY RETURN TO KHOTAN

THE night among the dunes near the shrine of ‘My Lord of the Sands’ proved unexpectedly pleasant, the quick radiation of the drift sand helping to emphasize the change from the day’s heat. Dinner did not appear until close upon midnight. But what was the long wait compared to the happy feeling of being once mare on the very border of ‘the Kingdom," and enjoying also a foretaste of the peace and freedom of the desert! When I rose next morning at 4 A.M., later than usual in those days, the air was

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XV TO THE NISSA GLACIERS

XV TO THE NISSA GLACIERS

THE only route available for approach to the westernmost head-waters of the Yurung-kash was the one I had first followed on my expedition of 19oo, but in the inverse direction. So no detailed account need be given here of the four long marches which took us from Langhru across a succession of high transverse spurs and through barren gorges to Nissa, Nothing had changed in the desolate look of these curiously eroded rugged ranges and the mighty strata of detritus and loess dust which cover their

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XVI ON THE OTRUGHUL GLACIER

XVI ON THE OTRUGHUL GLACIER

EarLy on the morning of August 19th I had our camp moved to the very foot of the previously surmised great glacier filling the true head of the Nissa Valley. 1 called it the Otrughul Glacier, from the chief grazing-ground lower down. The bottom of the valley leading up to it proved for the last few miles so broad and open that the general course of the glacier could be fixed from a distance by intersections of the high snowy peaks flanking it. Its length as thus ascertained proved over twelve mi

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XVII IN THE KARANGHU-TAGH MOUNTAINS

XVII IN THE KARANGHU-TAGH MOUNTAINS

On the morning of August 24th it took three long hours to pass our baggage piece-meal across the Kash River by the wire rope. It included this time also my lively little terrier tied up ignominiously in a bag; for he could not possibly have crossed the so-called bridge, and none of the Taghliks felt plucky enough to carry him over it. Then one by one we clambered over the frail beam. It swung uncomfortably towards the middle, and the other tree was too low down to afford a firm hold for one’s ha

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XVIII A FEAST AT KHOTAN

XVIII A FEAST AT KHOTAN

My Khotan camp had been pitched in old Akhun Beg’s suburban garden, which before in the autumn of 1900 had offered me peace and shelter since gratefully remembered. But the absence of my host sadly dimmed my pleasure at this renewed hospitality, Already during my visit in August the most genial of my Khotan friends had talked of his intention to proceed on the Mecca pilgrimage. Seeing how little fitted for such a trying journey the aged gentleman looked, with his asthma of yore increased and als

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XIX BY THE DESERT EDGE OF KHOTAN

XIX BY THE DESERT EDGE OF KHOTAN

On the morning of September 15th 1 set out from Khotan. I had decided first to revisit the interesting large ruin of Rawak, the scene of my last excavations in 1901, partly in order to ascertain whether any change had since taken place in the condition of the surrounding dunes, and partly for the sake of inspecting some remains newly reported in that neighbourhood. At the same time Ram Singh was to start independently for the foot of the Kun-lun south of Keriya, in order to carry triangulation a

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XX THE SHRINES OF KHADALIK

XX THE SHRINES OF KHADALIK

ON the morning of September 22nd I set out for the thirtyfive miles’ march through gravel Sai and desert to Chira. It was dark by the time we reached the first outlying portion of the oasis and with it the limit of the Keriya district. There a most cheering welcome awaited me from Ibrahim Beg, my old Darogha, who had helped me so valiantly in the desert campaign of the winter 1901. On my recommendation he had subsequently, as Mirab Beg, been put in charge of the canals of Chira, but had managed

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XXI SITES AROUND DOMOKO

XXI SITES AROUND DOMOKO

WaiLe Naik Ram Singh was directing the opening of trial trenches, and my ever alert Chinese Secretary carefully watching for any remains which the diggers might light upon incidentally, with note-book and brush ready to record their position, I managed to pay visits to some smaller ruined sites scattered among the sand-cones and tamarisk scrub of the neighbouring desert at distances varying from one to three miles. Apart from Tati areas strewn with potsherds, their only remains consisted of almo

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XXII TO KERIYA AND THE NIVA RIVER

XXII TO KERIYA AND THE NIVA RIVER

WHILE my camp rested peacefully in Dash at a well-to-do villager’s homestead, two days’ continuous work allowed me to clear completely the deposits of ancient refuse at Mazartoghrak. So by the morning of October 6th I was able to start on the march to Keriya which my successful work about Domoko had put off longer than I had expected. Twice in 1901 I had followed the high road to Keriya, and I now took occasion to vary the route by visiting Achma, a flourishing new oasis to the north of the road

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XXIII AT THE NIYA SITE RUINS

XXIII AT THE NIYA SITE RUINS

On the morning of October 20th we left behind the last abode of the living, and also the present end of the Niya River. Five camels carried the first supply of water for my column, counting in all over fifty labourers. I was bent upon moving that day as far as possible ahead towards the ancient site to which my thoughts had turned so often since those happy days of labour in the winter of igor. Yet unexpected finds en route delayed my arrival at the ruins which had then served as familiar landma

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XXIV RECORDS FROM A HIDDEN ARCHIVE

XXIV RECORDS FROM A HIDDEN ARCHIVE

For my new camp I had chosen the group of ruins on the extreme west edge of the site which on my previous visit had been discovered too late for systematic exploration. For the sake of them I had wished ever since to return to the site, and I soon had gratifying proof that these remains I had so long kept 2 petlo, as it were, deserved my faithful remembrance. From a small and almost completely eroded structure to the south of the group nearly three dozen official letters on wood were recovered d

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XXV LAST DAYS AT A DEAD OASIS

XXV LAST DAYS AT A DEAD OASIS

Tae ruin (N. xxiv.) where we had discovered the small hidden archive was adjoined eastwards by three smaller dwellings half smothered by dunes. The excavation of them, which occupied us on October 25th and 26th, was not rewarded by similarly striking finds, but revealed various interesting details of domestic architecture. In one of these dwellings, buried under fully seven or eight feet of drift sand, we came upon a fine double bracket in wood which once supported the ceiling of the main room (

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XXVI TO THE ENDERE RIVER

XXVI TO THE ENDERE RIVER

On the morning of November 1st our camp separated. Ram Singh, the Surveyor, was sent south to Niya and Sorghak with instructions to resume his triangulation along the foot of the great Kun-lun range, and to carry it as far east towards Lop-nor as time and conditions would permit, The Charchan oasis, where the two available routes eastward meet, the one skirting the mountains and the other through the desert, was the nearest point where touch could be resumed between us. I myself with the rest of

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XXVII FROM THE ENDERE RUINS TO CHARCHAN

XXVII FROM THE ENDERE RUINS TO CHARCHAN

On the morning of November 8th I shaped my course into the desert south-eastwards, and after eight miles across low dunes and dreary wastes with tamarisk scrub and salt efflorescence, reached the high Stupa ruin which mounts guard over the ancient site at Endere first visited by me in rgor. Want of time then had obliged me to confine my exploration to the interior of the ruined fort about one mile to the south-east of the Stupa (Fig. ro3), and even within it to leave uncleared some apartments wh

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XXVIII ALONG THE CHARCHAN RIVER

XXVIII ALONG THE CHARCHAN RIVER

CuarcHa fulfilled whatever promises my first impressions of the place had held out. The two days’ halt, which was all T could afford, proved a pleasant and refreshing change from the last five weeks’ desert journeyings for both men and animals, There was plenty of dry lucerne for the ponies to revel in after all the hard fare on reeds and thorny scrub. The camels, too, found a treat after their own fashion on the foliage of the Jigda trees, withered as it was by the frosts. The men had the means

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XXIX AT VASH-SHAHRI AND CHARKLIK

XXIX AT VASH-SHAHRI AND CHARKLIK

WitH the footsore camels painfully lagging behind and the ponies, too, showing signs of exhaustion, it was impossible to cover on November 29th the thirty odd miles which still separated us eastwards from Vash-shahri, the first little oasis of the Lop-nor region. For a considerable distance we had to surmount, too, a succession of big sand ‘ Dawans’ which stretch inlet-like northward from the submontane belt of true desert. So I was glad when by nightfall we found a spot with some grazing and a

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XXX START FOR THE LOP DESERT

XXX START FOR THE LOP DESERT

On the morning of December 6th, 1906, I set out from Charklik. 1 was up long before daybreak, but it took four hours’ constant urging to tear my big caravan from its flesh-pots. In its full strength it was not likely to see such again for a long time. For two miles we passed between well-tilled fields, and then reached a somewhat narrower belt of arable land known as Tatran, where cultivation was said to be carried on intermittently every third year. Low tamarisk growth was allowed to encroach o

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XXXI ACROSS AN ERODED DRY DELTA

XXXI ACROSS AN ERODED DRY DELTA

Next morning, December 15th, I had all the bags of ice which were available on the thirty donkeys carefully stacked on the north side of the highest sand cone, which we marked with a conspicuous signal staff. I arranged that the donkeys, in charge of two extra men brought for the purpose, should return as quickly as possible to the Chainut-kol base. After two days’ rest there the men were to march back to our desert depot with as many donkeys as were needed to bring up the labourers’ reserve foo

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XXXII SURVEY OF THE ANCIENT STATION

XXXII SURVEY OF THE ANCIENT STATION

On December 19th, in the bitter cold of the early morning, work was started with the clearing of a fairly well preserved ruin some sixty yards to the south-west of what we called the ‘Ya-mén' Neither the dimensions of the dozen rooms still traceable nor the size of the timber pieces were large here. But drift sand had accumulated within the broken walls to a height of three or four feet, and this, together with the familiar look of the ground plan and the wattle and timber construction, exactly

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XXXIV RECORDS FROM AN ANCIENT RUBBISH HEAP

XXXIV RECORDS FROM AN ANCIENT RUBBISH HEAP

It is impossible to describe here in detail the progress and results of the excavations which for the rest of December 19th and the next three days kept us all hard at work among the ruins of the little walled ‘town.’ The remains of the half-dozen dwellings left for clearing varied greatly in extent in accordance with the protection from erosion they had enjoyed. But in almost all of them there was enough drift sand or consolidated refuse to preserve wooden records inscribed in Chinese or Kharos

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XXXV DISCOVERY OF ART REMAINS

XXXV DISCOVERY OF ART REMAINS

THE opportune arrival of the camels which I had sent back to our half-way depot for the men’s reserve supplies and ice, allowed me to arrange for shifting camp to the western group of ruins by the evening of December 23rd. As the distance was only about eight miles I was able to use the whole forenoon for getting the remains we had cleared buried again by the men for the sake of protection. I myself was busy in taking a careful plan and elevation of the Stupa, which with its height still rising

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XXXVI ACROSS THE DESERT TO THE TARIM

XXXVI ACROSS THE DESERT TO THE TARIM

Tue morning of December 29th, a bright day and the first fairly calm one, saw our departure from the ancient site (Fig. 126). All the Charklik labourers who were returning vie Abdal had their accounts for wages and donkey-hire duly settled in silver and Russian gold, with an ample Bakhshish in addition. Rai Ram Singh, for whom we had a comfortable couch prepared on the back of a camel, and Mullah, who was to look after the dismissed labourers as Yiiz-bashi, sud. pro fem., received my final instr

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XXXVII BY THE TARIM AND CHARCHAN DARVA

XXXVII BY THE TARIM AND CHARCHAN DARVA

IT was a strange sensation to have dropped so suddenly upon water in abundance and upon traces of human habitation. The latter, however, was manifestly intermittent ; for neither our united shouts nor a shot fired from a carbine succeeded in drawing any sign of life from the hut visible in the distance. It was of importance to make sure of our exact position; and as the chance of catching a guide was greater if we approached the main bed of the Tarim and the route leading along it, we decided to

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XXXVIII THE RUINED FORT OF MIRAN

XXXVIII THE RUINED FORT OF MIRAN

My stay at Charklik gave my men the rest which they amply deserved and needed. But I myself found the five days to which, in spite of my efforts, it dragged out, almost too short for all the tasks there were to get through. An early visit to the Ya-mén, where Liao Ta-lao-ye greeted me with the cordiality of an old friend, allowed me to arrange for the rapid progress of Ibrahim Beg, who was to proceed to Kara-shahr and fetch my silver reserve with all possible speed. Using freely all official res

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XXXIX FINDS OF TIBETAN RECORDS

XXXIX FINDS OF TIBETAN RECORDS

IT was hard to find time or the right mood for the examination of antiquarian details during the five days of trying work which the clearing of the old fort cost us. Icy gales, mostly from the north-east but veering at times to north or east, were blowing almost without interruption. The misery which they caused to all of us was severe. In order to watch the excavations proceeding in different places, I had to keep most of the time on the top of the dominating east rampart, where the force of th

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XL ANCIENT TEMPLES OF MIRAN

XL ANCIENT TEMPLES OF MIRAN

THE abundance with which the ruined fort yielded up materials illustrating the conditions of the later occupation of the site, only increased my eagerness to get at remains which might help me to trace its earlier history. So I felt heartily glad when on January 29th the advanced state of the fort excavations allowed me to take a portion of my band of diggers across to the ruined temple a little over a mile away to the north-east, where experimental clearing in December had disclosed some sculpt

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XLI A DADO OF ANGELS

XLI A DADO OF ANGELS

On the morning of February 1st the clearing of the circular passage was resumed as early as I could get the men to leave their fires, It was soon ascertained that the passage had been lighted by three windows, besides the entrance passing through the completely destroyed west side, The north and south windows were found to be almost exactly orientated and to reach down to about two feet eight inches from the floor. The fresco frieze or dado decorating the wall segments between each pair of windo

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XLII THE FRESCOES OF MIRAN

XLII THE FRESCOES OF MIRAN

I't is more than the mere thought of difficulties successfully overcome, or of art pleasure afforded to others, which makes me look back upon the result of my toil at the Miran temple with special gratification. Subsequent examination of the fresco remains thus recovered has made me realize fully how little my notes and photographs, even if taken under less hampering conditions, would have sufficed for an adequate record of all points of artistic interest presented by these remarkable paintings.

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XLIII A CYCLE OF FESTIVE FIGURES

XLIII A CYCLE OF FESTIVE FIGURES

THE work of packing the frescoes just discussed was still far from complete when a closer inspection of the other ruined mounds near by revealed to my delighted surprise a piece of coloured stucco just showing from the débris of the square ruin some sixty yards to the north-west. It was a badly decayed mass of brickwork, rising to a height of about fifteen feet and marked M. v. on my plan (Fig. 144); its shape and the flatness of the top had from the first suggested that it could not, like sever

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XLIV MURAL PAINTING OF BUDDHIST LEGEND

XLIV MURAL PAINTING OF BUDDHIST LEGEND

Thuis cycle of youthful figures, proclaiming as it were the rights of the senses, seemed a strange decoration for the dado of a Buddhist temple, and the problem presented by the contrast between it and Buddha's orthodox preaching made me turn with increased interest to what remained of the fresco decoration above. The wall of the northern hemicycle had suffered much damage, and of its frieze only detached groups of figures, mostly broken, were to be seen, which, though full of interest in themse

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XLV THE START FOR TUN-HUANG

XLV THE START FOR TUN-HUANG

THE excavations at Miran had completed my archaeological tasks in the Lop-nor region. But there was plenty of hard work in the way of packing and preparations to be got through at Abdal before the actual start for Tun-huang and the westernmost parts of true China. Yet after alt the exposure undergone at Miran the halt necessitated was pleasant, however humble the shelter which the wretched reed huts of Abdal offered. I was glad to find the depot left behind there quite safe under Tila’s care and

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XLVI ON OLD TRAVELLERS TRACKS

XLVI ON OLD TRAVELLERS TRACKS

FEBRUARY 26th was spent in a refreshing halt, of which men and beasts were sadly in need. Koshe-langza, not without reason, is a favourite halting-place. There were a number of springs with tolerably fresh water oozing out from the reed-covered peaty soil, and grazing was abundant. The day began calm and relatively warm, with a minimum temperature of not less than 23 degrees Fahrenheit. But, unsuspected by us on arrival at night, close to our camping-ground lay the carcass of a camel left behind

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XLVII THE LAST OF THE DRY LOP-NOR

XLVII THE LAST OF THE DRY LOP-NOR

On the morning of February 27th we resumed our journey, with an icy wind blowing in our faces from that usual quarter, the north-east. For some ten miles the route skirted the still clearly marked lake shore over bare wastes of gravel and coarse sand, or else crossed in places small salt encrusted inlets. Then the ground through which the track led onwards changed to a broad belt of vegetation with plentiful tamarisks and other scrub. On the south the cliffs of the ancient lake shore altogether

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XLVIII A STRANGE OLD LAKE BED

XLVIII A STRANGE OLD LAKE BED

Tue day's halt which I allowed at Besh-toghrak was turned to good use by us all. Fortunately the east wind dropped in the forenoon, and the delicious calm and warmth which followed helped us greatly in our several tasks. The thermometer registered a maximum of 72 degrees Fahrenheit in the sun at 2 p.m. Not since our halt by the Endere river on November 14th had I felt such comfort in my tent. Camels and ponies needed careful examination for treatment of sore backs and other ills. Of saddlery rep

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XLIX FIRST GLIMPSE OF AN ANCIENT FRONTIER

XLIX FIRST GLIMPSE OF AN ANCIENT FRONTIER

THE interest of the ground we had now reached was so great that for the sake of closer exploration I would gladly have left our camp where it had been pitched at night. fall, though dismal were its surroundings. But the total want of water and grazing obliged us to push on next morning, For two miles or so we continued to thread a maze of steep clay terraces and then emerged on the north edge of a lagoon-like dry bed which stretched away to the south-west. Though bare of all vegetation, it showe

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LI FIRST HALT AT TUN-HUANG

LI FIRST HALT AT TUN-HUANG

Ox the morning of March 12th, 1907, we were prepared to make our entry into Tun-huang town. All the men had been looking forward eagerly to our arrival. But circumstances seemed to combine to deprive it of all state and even comfort. An icy gale was blowing from the east, and cutting as it was among the trees and houses, we congratulated ourselves inwardly that we had escaped it in the open desert. But what, somehow, seemed worse was that, though the town was said to be only some twenty Li, or a

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LIII A DIFFICULT START FROM TUN-HUANG

LIII A DIFFICULT START FROM TUN-HUANG

AFTER the fascinating prospects that hurried excursion had opened before me, it seemed hard to continue my clerical toils unbroken during the days which followed; but the tasks were so heavy that, busy as I was at my table from morning until midnight, the time seemed only too short. The departure of a Khotan trader, who was to start for Charklik by March 21st, offered a chance of sending off with him Kurban Niaz, the Dak man, the last safe link for my mails to Kashgar, India, and Europe, which I

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LV DISCOVERY OF HAN RECORDS

LV DISCOVERY OF HAN RECORDS

Next morning broke with an icy north wind which later on shifted round to the north-west without losing any of its violence. My first business was to despatch one of the Ya-mén messengers with a letter to the magistrate asking for more labourers to push on excavations. Then I set out with every available man for the ruin sighted due south of our camp and next to the one prospected in the evening. The camp was to follow with a supply of water in tanks. It was essential to spare our handful of dig

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LVI TO THE NAN-HU OASIS

LVI TO THE NAN-HU OASIS

Our march on April 3rd from Shih-tsao back to Tun-huang was short, and, I confess, we all felt glad for it. The prospect of shelter was pleasant after the icy blasts we had faced for the last week along that desolate ‘ Great Wall’ Whether it was the protection afforded by the trees of the oasis, or at last a sign of approaching spring, the air seemed warmer in spite of the continued north wind. Being with Chiang-ssii-yeh far ahead of the baggage, I could use the time gained before pitching camp

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LVII ANCIENT REMAINS FOR THE FUTURE

LVII ANCIENT REMAINS FOR THE FUTURE

But even so far we were not destined to go. After the few warm days we had enjoyed in Nan-hu, a storm was gathering. It broke with full violence from the north: west just as the caravan had left the last fields of the oasis, . and was toiling up the steep sand-covered ridge which borders it northward, I had ridden ahead to the ruined. tower which crowns the ridge west of the picturesque gorge cut by the waters of Nan-hu, to get bearings for the plane-table. But scarcely had I reached it when the

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LX DISCOVERIES BY THE ‘JADE GATE’

LX DISCOVERIES BY THE ‘JADE GATE’

I suALL not attempt to describe day by day the labours which kept me busy for fully a month along this ancient Limes. Every watch station we cleared furnished its quota of antiquarian spoil, often in novel forms, Even where my task was merely to trace the old wall across desert and marshes, there was an abundance of interesting observations to record about the changes, if any, which the ground had undergone since the line was first planned. No better gauge could have been designed for showing to

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LXXX FROM KAN-CHOU TO THE TIEN-SHAN

LXXX FROM KAN-CHOU TO THE TIEN-SHAN

My six days’ stay at Kan-chou, though made busy by a number of practical tasks, afforded welcome rest, and I was able to get many interesting glimpses of the conditions of life in a typical large Chinese city (Figs. 255, 256). Owing to the successful resistance which this important administrative seat and trade emporium had offered to the Tungan rebels, many quaint old buildings survive here uninjured. But I cannot pause to describe them nor to mention more than one of my personal experiences. W

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LXXXI AT THE HAMI OASIS

LXXXI AT THE HAMI OASIS

Ix the desert, which only knows extremes, the weather had already been getting wintry, with occasional icy blasts. But after reaching, on October 19th, the oasis of Hami, or Kumul as the Muhammadans call it, I was glad to find that its sheltered position at the foot of the easternmost T'ien-shan still promised a few bright days of autumn, in spite of the high latitude of forty-three degrees. So I could not but prefer the fresh air of my tent to the quarters offered in one of the dingy Bazars of

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LXXXIV FROM KHORA TO KUCHAR

LXXXIV FROM KHORA TO KUCHAR

THE conditions of work at ‘ Ming-oi,” under what seemed to me Cimmerian gloom, had been so trying, that it was a great relief for all when the completion of the tasks I had set myself at the site allowed us just before Christmas to move up to the cold but sunny mountains of Khora. There, some twenty miles up the broad Kara-shahr Valley, information elicited with much trouble from reticent Mongol shepherds led to the discovery of Buddhist remains hitherto unnoticed. It was a collection of much -d

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LXXXVIII BY THE NEW KERIYA RIVER BED

LXXXVIII BY THE NEW KERIYA RIVER BED

AFTER the sixteen days’ continuous tramp across dunes a short halt was imperative for both man and beast. So the 13th of February was spent in enjoyable rest at our river camp (Fig. 287). There was plenty for us all to do, writing up notes for me, and for the men much mending, from the camels’ ‘Shotas' to worn-out boots, my own included. Delightful peace prevailed, and now that we were not ourselves on the move the total absence of life was more than ever impressive. Since we left the Tarim I ha

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LXXXIX MORE TAKLAMAKAN RUINS

LXXXIX MORE TAKLAMAKAN RUINS

THE ground we had passed through had its own fascination, and survey work on it offered considerable geographical interest. Yet I was glad when, after a day’s much-needed rest, I could by February 19th, 1908, resume archaeological labour at the Kara-dong site, which the river by its latest change has again approached after long centuries. On my first visit in March 1901, a succession of sandstorms prevented a complete examination of the site. The shifting of dunes had since laid bare a number of

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XC FROM AK-SU TO YARKAND

XC FROM AK-SU TO YARKAND

ON April 20th I started from Mazar-tagh down the dry bed of the Khotan River for Ak-su. During the eight rapid marches which carried us north to the river's junction with the Tarim we suffered a good deal from the increasing heat of the desert and a succession of sand-storms. Such conditions made me realize with full intensity the experiences of Hedin on his first disastrous crossing of the Taklamakan in May of 1896. Kasim, who had met him afterwards during his enforced rest at the shepherd camp

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XCIV ACROSS TIBETAN PLATEAUS

XCIV ACROSS TIBETAN PLATEAUS

A Busy evening and morning at Ulugh-kol were spent over selecting the fittest of the spare donkeys, and making up reserve loads of supplies and baggage. It was encouraging to note how well the brave donkeys, which struggled through with us, had stood all their trials. The less fitlooking animals were sent back to Polur, as twenty donkeys would now suffice for the reduced stores; for these and the hired ponies we retained the five sturdiest of the ‘Kirakash’ men. The little band of gold-miners wh

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