THE RUINED HOUSES OF LÛU-LAN. 625
But those parts that were exposed to sun and wind were soft, brittle, and grey, with long cracks running down them endwise, as well as burst into little squares or twisted like corkscrews, exactly like the withered poplars in the same locality. Posts that were originally four-square have been planed round by the wind, though those parts which were buried in the sand still retain their sharp edges. Round some of the mortices, into which the tenons of other beams were fitted, we still saw the marks of the carpenter's pencil when he outlined them on the timber.
The sides of the smallest apartment measure 5.s and 3.o m., and those of the other small room 5.8 and 6.0 m. respectively. If, as I have assumed, the four interior columns of the largest apartment were used to support the roof, and if that was pyramidal in shape, then the two smaller apartments must have stood outside its span, and been covered independently.
The next house or room in the complex measure i 2 m. in length and i 8.03 m. across the end-walls; how this was divided could not be
ascertained from the foundations that survive. All that remain are five Fig. 284. cross-beams and the two side-beams. A massive round pillar that was
lying on the ground had probably supported the roof. Possibly the roof of this apartment was supported in the same manner as that of the larger room I have just described, namely by four posts set four-square, but of the four only one is left. The inside walls of this apartment consisted of bundles of kamisch set up vertically on end, and securely fastened in places to horizontal stays; the fragments of rope with which they were tied back . are often in a good state of preservation.
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