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Innermost Asia : vol.1 |
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CHAPTER VI
REMAINS OF AN ANCIENT DELTA
Section I.—THE RUINED FORT OF L.K.
Departure
from Mīrān. On the morning of February 1st I was at last able to start my large column on its way north-
eastward. To my great relief freedom and time to execute my plans now seemed assured. The
easy-going indolent Lopliks of Mīrān were also, no doubt, relieved at our departure. But their
broad honest faces reflected only kindness when they wished us farewell with the customary shouts
of Yol bolsun (' May there be a way ').
All baggage that could possibly be spared was left behind in charge of two of my men, and
with it also Li Ssŭ-yeh, whose weakly constitution made it impossible for him to face the hardships
of desert exploration. While at Mīrān, I had offered him his discharge with a liberal allowance
for his return journey to the flesh-pots of Kāshgar ; but he would not accept it, auri sacra fames
being, I fear, the prevailing motive. The task of conveying him safely along the desert track to
Tun-huang still remained, and subsequently fell to the faithful Ibrāhīm Bēg, much to his chagrin.
When sent back for this purpose from the Lou-lan Site, he gravely asked for instructions as to
what he should do with Li Ssŭ-yeh's body if he died, as seemed to him likely, on that troublesome
journey.
Tokhta
Ākhūn's
reconnais-
sance. My immediate goal was a large ruined fort which Tokhta Ākhūn, my old Loplik follower,
had first sighted from a distance in the spring of 1910, when he returned to Abdal from the Lou-lan
Site after guiding Mr. Tachibana, the young Japanese explorer, to that place. Pressed for time
as the party were owing to want of water, they had not stopped to examine the remains. So as
soon as I heard of it on my arrival at Mīrān, I sent out Tokhta Ākhūn to ascertain the exact
position of the ruin and to bring me back information about its character. Tokhta Ākhūn returned
from his search having with the unfailing local sense of the hunter succeeded in finding the ruin
notwithstanding the very deceptive character of the wind-eroded desert around it. His description
of the site, supported by miscellaneous small objects, including two Han coins, that he had picked
up near the ruin, left no doubt about its antiquity, and the rough sketch with which he accompanied
his report showed clearly that it could best be explored from the route I had followed on my first
visit to the Lou-lan Site. So by that route our fresh start was now made.
March along
dying
Tārīm. Our first march, by the track already twice followed in 1906–7, brought us to Abdal on the
Tārīm (Map No. 30. b. 1). The change, as already briefly mentioned,¹ which had since come over
the quondam ' capital of Lop-nōr ' was indicated by a row of brick-built houses all now completely
deserted but one, where Tokhta Ākhūn, the hunter, once again acting as my guide, offered comfort-
able shelter. Next morning we crossed the terminal bed of the Tārīm, measuring 48 yards across
and frozen hard at the time. As we followed the well-marked track, leading at first along the left
bank in the direction of Kum-chapgan, we came upon a reach where the river, still confined to a
single bed, was clear of ice. It was here 45 yards wide and flowed with a current of 50 yards in 140
seconds. Its depth, as at Abdal, was stated to be very great. And yet the river was said to have
completely dried up during the preceding summer, with the exception of deep pools such as the bed
appears to contain at this and other points. Such an event was not remembered to have happened
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Copyright (C) 2003-2019
National Institute of Informatics
and
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