444 SEARCH FOR HIUEN-TSIANG'S PI-MO [CHAP. XXIX.
for a visit to the extensive débris area spreading on the outskirts of the desert beyond Hanguya, the northernmost large village of Sampula. It was a typical ` Tati,' just as Turdi's report had led me to expect, covering several square miles. Thanks to his expert guidance, I had no difficulty in tracing in the midst of it the much-decayed remains of a Stupa, known to the people of Hanguya as the Arka-kuduk Tim. The ruin itself showed no feature of special interest, but it was curious to note that, owing to deep erosion of the surrounding ground, the remains of the Stupa now stand on an isolated loess bank fully 20 feet high. In reality the lowest
VILLA(iE CHILDREN, KERIYA.
course of the brickwork marked the original level, and the mound on which it now appeared to be raised was but a witness or " Zeuge "—to use the geologist's term—indicating the remarkable depth to which the slow excavation of the loess soil had been carried by the force of the winds. Ancient coins, seals, and other small objects are frequently picked up on this site, and the specimens I acquired on the spot from one of Turdi's associates were as clear a proof of its antiquity as the extent of erosion.
The dreary expanse of the Tati looked doubly doleful in the yellow dust haze, and I felt quite relieved when in the evening, after a long ride over much sandy waste interspersed with patches
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