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0670 Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.1
Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.1 / Page 670 (Color Image)

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doi: 10.20676/00000213
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438 THE RUINED FORT OF MIRAN CH. XXXVIII

we were digging at Miran they would recover sufficiently to be able to take charge subsequently of the convoy of

antiques I intended to send back from my Abdal depot,

and to escort it safely to Kashgar. Half of the hired

Charchan camels, too, were no longer fit for work,   illi

and had to be paid off to return to their oasis. Those

raised at Charklik similarly showed signs of exhaustion,

and could not be reckoned upon for the long journey

through the desert.

Our marches to Miran lay along the route followed

before and were uneventful. There was but little wind,

and that from the south, where the view of the mountains   ~~
was now completely effaced by a dust haze. On approach-

ing Miran late in the evening of January 23rd I was   la'

surprised to find that we had to cross a thin sheet of ice   el

spread out for more than a mile's width before we reached   iii

the edge of vegetation. This wide and shallow bed of   it

gravel had on our passage in December been completely   it

dry and bare. Tokhta Akhun explained that this happens   1r

every winter. Evidently when the water in the actual   ill

river bed gets frozen hard, the supply furnished by springs   h

rising in the bed at the foot of the gravel glacis is   il

forced to make its way laterally, and being protected from   ill

evaporation by the cold spreads itself more widely than it   ifi

can at any other season.   di

It was again in complete darkness that we made   ii

our way to the jungle belt by the river. But we had   V

spied a fire to guide us, and by its side there waited   ti

dear Chiang-ssû-yeh, quaint old Mullah, and a dozen of   `

Lopliks from Abdal to give us a joyful welcome.   In   ,i

obedience to my original order they had camped here

ti

patiently for a week past in readiness for fresh excava-

tions.   It was delightful to be reunited once more to

my devoted Chinese helpmate. Since, alas ! no corre-

spondence mutually intelligible could pass between us,   t
there were plenty of details to tell him of our work and

experiences as I sat by his camp fire, and, refreshed by   d

his hospitable ministrations, waited and waited till the   1

baggage arrived late at night.   i

The night, with a minimum of only 15 degrees of frost,   I

'~5..