National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
| |||||||||
|
Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.2 |
CHAPTER LXII
ON THE WESTERN FLANK OF THE LIMES
I
t WHEN on the morning of May I st I set out to visit the
i neighbouring ruins and reconnoitre this new ground, I was
i obstructed not a little by the strange combination of water
and fire. Most of the ground separating our camp terrace
i from the three watch-towers within view was marshy, and
it cost much care and many détours to avoid hopeless
It bogs. At the same time, where the soil on the edge of
it the .wide depression was firmer, the fire in the reed-beds
it was still smouldering, and a passage had to be picked with
q caution. All over the low ground salt efflorescence was
ij abundant, and its contrast with the blackened tamarisks and
i; Toghraks and the singed reeds very striking. It seemed
i cruel to see this hardy jungle vegetation, which had held
it; its own amidst such deterrent conditions of soil and climate,
II succumb to fire just when it was preparing to greet its
ii short-lived spring.
i But physical drawbacks were soon forgotten over the
`~ absorbing antiquarian interest of the site. A careful
survey of the ground soon convinced me that I now stood
t. within the westernmost extension of the Limes. With that
f unfailing eye for topography and all its strategic bearings
d which the Chinese have proved again and again to possess,
10 the engineers of the Emperor Wu-ti had carried their
i fortified border line right up to the point where it could
rest its flank safely upon a huge depression—once, no doubt, a great lake basin and since historical times an impassable bog in most places. A look at Map I. and its inset A, much reduced as is the scale, will fully explain this ; but a much larger map would be needed to illustrate
135
---7.:- JP :I.14.0-"-f V +r.s!r- -. - ~ - - . . .,... ~ . _.-...~.._
|
Copyright (C) 2003-2019 National Institute of Informatics and The Toyo Bunko. All Rights Reserved.