国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト
『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ

But when I had a cutting made through the agger the soft reddish soil, quite different from the
yellow clay of the natural ground, plainly suggested the presence of rotten or possibly burnt
vegetable matter. It was obvious that the construction of the border wall was here different from,
and inferior to, that observed along the Limes line farther west.

Limes A little to the east of where we had struck the line, a small semicircular northward bend of it
agger at marked the position of a watch-tower, T. xxxvii. a. It had decayed into a little mound of earth
T. xxxvii.a. about 6 feet high and covered with salt-efflorescence. A hasty search disclosed no ancient refuse
near it. But examination of the agger near by furnished interesting confirmation of a surface
feature which I had observed on previous occasions, but not quite so clearly. Low scrub was
found growing with comparative abundance on the slopes of the mound, whereas its top was left
quite bare. Accordingly, standing on the mound itself, I could make out its direction with ease
for a considerable distance by the double and parallel line of vegetation thus produced. Exactly
corresponding lines of vegetation had been noticed by me, and Afrāz-gul also, at two different
points of the Bēsh-toghrak valley.¹⁰ There the lines had suggested to me the embankments,
perhaps, of an ancient canal, and their reappearance here, under conditions excluding all possi-
bility of optical illusion, helped to strengthen my previous conclusion.

Construc- No signs of ruined watch-stations could be discovered along the line stretching westwards.
tion of I therefore decided to move in the opposite direction, where the line of the agger could be seen
agger. to rise gradually. Half a mile farther on it attained a height of about nine feet and disclosed on
its surface characteristic layers of brushwood. These were about 3 inches thick and alternated with
strata of earth, about 7 inches in thickness. The fact that the reinforcing material consisted not
of tightly bound fascines, such as was used for the Limes wall west and north of Tun-huang, but
only of thin brushwood loosely laid, was a clear proof of inferior construction and also accounted
for the greater width which, it was evident, had originally been given to the agger. The shôr
which might have served as a useful binding material appeared to be absent from both the soil
and the brushwood that had here been locally collected for the agger ; and this may have accelerated
the decay. At one point of this section I found the agger still rising to a height of 12 feet, with five
alternate layers of brushwood and earth still clearly distinguishable near the top. The brush-
wood must have been exposed already in ancient times, for over a distance of about 120 yards
I found the edges of its layers charred. As this burning was to be seen in at least three other
places, it may be assumed with some probability to mark an attempt to destroy the Limes by fire.

Remains of At the distance of about a mile from T. xxxvii. a, a large refuse heap (marked b) was found
watch- near the southern foot of the agger and may indicate the position of a completely decayed post.
towers From the masses of reed-straw, dung, &c., a badly perished wooden slip was extracted of the
T. xxxvii. size usually adopted for ancient Chinese records ; also the pointed wooden stick, T. xxxvii. b. 01,
b, c. of uncertain use. Half a mile or less farther on there rose by the agger the ruin of a watch-tower
built in stamped clay, T. xxxvii. c.¹¹ Most of the northern and eastern faces had fallen, but on the
west the original measurement of the square base, 20 feet, could still be ascertained. The extant
height was about 14 feet. An extensive refuse heap to the south-east, covering about 30 by 22 yards,
could not be thoroughly cleared by the few men who accompanied me. So far as examined, it
yielded, apart from stable refuse and chips of wood, only abundance of hard potsherds, mostly
mat-marked ; specimens of these are noted in the List below.¹¹ᵃ

The line of the agger eastward still rose to a height of 6 to 8 feet and comprised layers of
brushwood which in places showed marks of having been fired. We followed it for two miles