CHAPTER VI
THE NIYA SITE REVISITED AND THE REMAINS OF ENDERE
WHEN I left in February Igo' that fascinating ruined site beyond where the Niya river is now lost in the sand, it was with a firm wish and hope for its further exploration. So a fresh visit to it was duly planned and prepared by the time when my second expedition had, at the close of the summer 1906, brought me back once more to Khotan, as related above in Chapter III. I had often thought in the interval how great a help it might be if a search could be made from the air for more ancient dwellings hidden away amidst the dunes. But neither the use of a man-carrying kite nor of a balloon could be thought of for obvious practical reasons, which would equally have applied to the aeroplane if it had then been invented. So I had arranged for my former `treasure-seeking' guide Ibrahim to go out to the site as soon as the summer heat had passed and to try tracing ruins that had before escaped us.
When, after prolonged excavation work in the vicinity of Domoko between Khotan and Keriya, I had reached the Niya oasis again by October 15, 1906, it was encouraging to learn from Ibrahim that his search had been fruitful. Equally pleasing it was to see how readily my old Niya diggers rejoined me. I was resolved this time to take out as
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