CH. XXXIII REMAINS OF ENCLOSING WALLS 387
Basin. Was it then, perhaps, a lasting impress left by that Indo-Scythian conquest from the side of Bactria, of which we catch dim glimpses through Buddhist tradition in China, and which seems temporarily to have broken Chinese imperial control in these parts during the first or second centuries of our era ? Or could this influence of a power which had its base on the north - western confines of India be traced still farther back ?
It was impossible at the time to give much thought to such fascinating problems. Leaving Naik Ram Singh in charge of the labourers who were to clear the remaining rooms of the ` Beg's house,' as we promptly christened it in distinction from the ` Ya-mên,' and the adjoining ground, I set out myself for a closer inspection of the immediate surroundings of the main group of ruins. As I moved along the south side of the latter my eye was caught by a long terrace which rose above eroded ground just like the Yardangs close by, but differed from their absolutely regular bearing by stretching from east to west. On approaching the terrace and examining its top I soon noticed that it bore the much - decayed remnants of a rampart in stamped clay, still rising to a height of four and a half feet in places with a maximum thickness of five feet. The longest continuous stretch I was able to trace on the south side measured about ninety yards.
These scanty remains of an enclosing wall—for as such they could clearly be recognized—had helped to protect from erosion a narrow terrace which was covered with an unusual quantity of pottery débris. Built against the inside of the wall remnant at one end I found the badly eroded traces of a rush-wall structure ; but otherwise the rampart ran clear of adjoining buildings. Guided by the indication here furnished I soon discovered corresponding wall fragments, shorter but equally distinct in bearing and construction, extending in a straight line along the north side of the main group of ruins. In places the wall still stood to a height of eight feet, and the layers of tamarisk twigs inserted at regular intervals to strengthen the stamped clay could be made out with ease. The distance
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