or so. The layers of reed fascines had an average height of 21 to 3 inches, and the layers of stamped clay and gravel separating them were about 8 inches thick. The whole had hardened into cement-like consistency.
Along this portion of the wall the ancient track, worn by patrols and others as previously described, was visible with exceptional clearness, even while the sun stood high. It could be traced practically throughout to the edge of the great marshy bed eastwards, a distance of about a mile and a half. It kept uniformly about 9 yards from the foot of the wall, having a width of 1 â to 2 feet and a depth of 4 to 5 inches. I could verify my observations about this strange track of Han times when I returned here in 1914, and I felt then less surprise at its having survived all those centuries, since I noted how clear were still the footprints my horse had left behind on my first inspection of it seven years before. After nearing the edge of the wide marshy depression, the wall descends to about 5o feet below the level of the ` Sai' and then continues across scrub-covered sand and gravel to within about 6o yards of the marsh shore. The actual water-level lay at the time of my visit about 8 to 10 feet below the foot of the last clearly traceable bit of wall.
IIIF Color HighRes
