CH. XXXI IMPLEMENTS OF THE STONE AGE 365
camp, did we come upon a well-marked and far-stretching depression which recalled a river bed, with wall-like banks some fifteen feet high ; and here, too, the general direction seemed to coincide with that of the prevailing northeast wind.
But it was not the physical aspect of the ground alone which suggested that the area we were moving across had once been occupied by extensive riverine jungle—at some early period, intervening between the time when the lake sediments of its soil were deposited and the present stage, when, owing to complete desiccation and consequent denudation, it was undergoing rapidly progressing erosion and deflation. Curiously enough, we had scarcely moved for more than a mile from camp, across eroded ground, when implements of the Stone Age began to appear in numbers. The first which I picked up myself were a rudely worked small axe-head in stone, then an arrow-head and knife-blade in flint. More finds of similar implements, especially of knife-blades, files, and miscellaneous flakes in flint, followed in frequent succession, as the men with me were encouraged to keep a look-out for such small objects. Honest Jasvant Singh, the Surveyor's far-travelled cook, had been since my first journey an experienced searcher for small antiques, such as eroded ground near ruins displays to those who are keen-eyed and patient. For the sake of his ever cheerful ways and well-bred manners I liked to keep him by my side now that Chiang was not with us ; so I could watch his hunt proceeding steadily under my own eyes. Fragments of very coarse hand-made pottery, grey, brown, or red, together with slags, were also met with at intervals over most of the march.
As our route had to be kept as straight as possible, and search to right or left was practically excluded, the frequency of these finds is conclusive evidence that this tract must have been occupied by men in prehistoric times. Down to what period the physical conditions continued to allow of such occupation it was impossible to be sure. Some of the arrow-heads found that day were so carefully worked that even without expert knowledge I felt certain of their being neolithic. From what I had seen and heard
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