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0573 Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.2
Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.2 / Page 573 (Color Image)

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doi: 10.20676/00000213
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CH. LXXXIII SARMATIAN CONDITIONS   371

Korla, but had no opportunity to trace the connection farther.

During the fortnight spent at the Shikchin ruins

we worked under quite Sarmatian conditions. Minimum temperatures down to 42 degrees Fahrenheit below freezing-point I should not have minded so much, had we been saved those chilling vapours sent forth by the great

Baghrash Lake south. Day after day an icy mist enveloped

ruins and camp. The nightly hoar - frost practically amounted to a light snowfall, and continued to cover the ground even when the sun fitfully struggled through at last. For some days I almost despaired of getting adequate light for the needful photographs, and the hoar- frost is conspicuous in most of them. Fortunately there was shelter of some kind for the men among the small cellas still retaining part of their vaulting.

Such climatic conditions made it easier to understand

the relative frequency of grazing and water which Rai Lal Singh reported having found in the westernmost valleys of the Kuruk - tagh. After moving from Turfan south to Singer over a succession of barren plateaus, he had made his way by seven long marches across previously unmapped ground to Korla, whence he hastened to rejoin me, bringing welcome help for the digging.