doubt as to Li-sieh (Li-tsa) being the name of the settlement or small tract to which the ruined shrines and dwellings of DandanUiliq belonged.
It makes it further clear that the administrative division in which this settlement was included bore a Chinese designation meaning " Six Cities " (Liu-Cheng) ; for this identical term is used in the title of the " Inspecting Superintendent of the Six Cities " to which the report preserved in Mr. Macartney's first document was addressed, and it also occurs in my first find immediately after the name of Li-sieh. According to the information supplied by Sun, Mr. Macartney's Chinese literatus, and verified also from other sources, the term " Six Cities " is still well known by Chinese administrators in the " New Dominions " as an old designation of the Khotan District. It is supposed to be. derived from the six towns (Ilchi or Khotan, Yurung-kash, Kara-kash, Chira, Keriya, and a sixth of doubtful identity) which were reckoned to belong to it previous to the modern division of the Ambanships of Khotan and Keriya.
Those few interesting finds, together with hours of bright sunshine that gave relief after the bitter cold of the night, had helped me to pass Christmas Day in good heart. In the evening on leaving the buildings excavated, I had occasion to learn by experience how easy it was to lose one's way amidst the monotonous .sand-waves. The discovery of a well-preserved Chinese coin bearing the mark of the Kai-yuen period (A.D. 713-741), which I picked up at the foot of a dune close to the south of the ruin, and the search for more relics made me tarry behind the men who were hurrying back. Remembering how near the camp was, I did not think it necessary to retain any one with myself. When after a while I set about to return in the twilight I mistook the track, and then after tramping through the low dunes for about a mile vainly attempted to locate my camp. There was no sound nor any other indication to guide me. Realising the risk of completely losing my bearings as it was getting dark (my magnetic pocket compass had unfortunately been left in the tent that day), I was
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