Tu-ho-lo " (Tukhara), which apparently includes the cities of Mo and Han-mo, " has long been deserted and wild. All the towns are ruined and uninhabited." Stein, who explored a part of the central ruins, puts the date of their final abandonment between 719 A. D. and 800 A. D., on the unquestionable evidence of some dated bits of Chinese and Tibetan writing found in a temple. Evidently, the writing was that of pilgrims, or at least of worshipers. The coins which he found, and the style of art, seem to Stein to point to an earlier date as the time of the main occupation of the ruins. Apparently, they were abandoned between 518 A. D., when Sung-yun saw them, and 644 A. D., the time of Hwen Tsiang's visit. A religious establishment, however, persisted, or was reëstablished, after the time of Hwen, and lasted for a century or two. The case seems to be analogous to that of Dandan-Uilik.
The northern, more remote parts of the ruins of Tu-ho-lo appear to be decidedly older than the southern part which Stein visited. In the northern part, called by the natives Kallussti, the entire absence of any trace of houses, the finely broken character of the pottery, and the occurrence of archaic stone hammers and a flint knife suggest great age. In the southern portions, called simply the " Potai," the preservation of portions of the clay walls of houses, the presence of mulberry, white poplar, and other trees still standing in orchards, the greater size and ornamentation of the fragments of pottery, and the occurrence of grooved millstones indicate a later date.
The features of late date are most noticeable in the most southerly ruins. Here I discovered a fort about three miles
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