24H ANTIQUARIAN PREPARATIONS [CHAP. XV.
reliable " treasure-seeker " from a village of the Yurung-kash canton, had visited the most distant of the locally known sites, called by them DandanUiliq (" the houses with ivory ") . Among the specimens brought back by them I found to my great satisfaction several pieces of fresco inscribed with Indian Brahmi characters, fragments of stucco relievos representing objects of Buddhist worship, and also a small but undoubtedly genuine piece of a paper document in cursive Central-Asian Brahmi.
It turned out, on further examination of the " treasure-seekers," that the ruins from which they had unearthed these
TURDI, " TREASURE SEEKER." remains, and which they de-
scribed as reached after nine to ten marches north-eastwards through the desert, were apparently identical with the site which Dr. Heflin had seen on his memorable march to the Keriya Darya, and which is spoken of in the narrative of his travels as the " ancient city Takla-makan." He had reached it by another route from Tawakkel on the northern edge of the oasis. So Pan-Darin, whom I informed of the results of this reconnaissance, sent word to the Beg of Tawakkel to produce the two hunters who had guided Dr. Hedin on his journey. On November 20 the Ahmad Merghen and Kasim Akhun, the men I wished to examine, were duly produced by the Beg himself, who had brought them to Khotan in person. Their examination in the presence of
IIIF Color HighRes
