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0165 Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.1
中国砂漠地帯の遺跡 : vol.1
Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.1 / 165 ページ(白黒高解像度画像)

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doi: 10.20676/00000213
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CH. VIII ON THE ' ROOF OF THE WORLD' 77

the more interesting to me was the observation how closely all its constructive features--the three outer stories divided by projecting cornices, the dimensions, etc.—corresponded to the little Stupa of Thol, the last Buddhist remains I had seen in 1900 south of the Hindukush, when approaching the Pamirs from the side of Gilgit and Hunza. The adaptation of an ancient architectural model of Buddhism to Muhammadan use could not have been illustrated more strikingly.

We reached Bozai-gumbaz in glorious sunshine soon after mid-day and yet were glad to seek shelter from the keen air of these breezy altitudes in the felt tents or Kirghas which Muhammad Isa, the head-man in charge of the Kirghiz grazing on the Afghan Pamirs, had caused to be erected for our reception. Once inside, it seemed hard to realize that fully six years had passed since I enjoyed Kirghiz hospitality on the ' Roof of the World.' So familiar appeared the gay-coloured felt rugs spread out on the ground, the brightly woven nettings along the foot of the tent walls, and the other simple fittings which long tradition and the absence of all variety in local resources have helped to standardize in these nomadic homesteads.

There were the same harsh Tartar faces, too, darkened by constant exposure and with features as if roughly hewn out of wood, and the same blunt but hearty hospitality. To listen again to the high-pitched guttural Turki of our Kirghiz hosts was a treat for my ears. But what they had to relate over tea and plentiful bowls of hot milk was by no means cheerful. The snowfall of the winter had been exceptionally heavy and late, and with the snow covering the ground in the valleys to a depth of six feet and more instead of the usual maximum of about three, the yaks had for weeks found it hard to get at their accustomed grazing. So the losses among these beasts, which form the most valued stock of the Kirghiz, had been terribly heavy all over the Pamirs. Their sheep had suffered almost equally. It was easy to realize that the advent of so large a party of official guests from Wakhan was bound to appear that season in the light of an additional hardship.

I was anxious to make this infliction as short as possible ;