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

news of the great European conflagration. But for the telegraph line passing Kan-chou I should
have escaped them much longer. During this refreshing stay I was able to make arrangements
which permitted the indefatigable Lāl Singh to set out again westwards, after the briefest of halts,
for fresh surveys in a portion of the Richthofen range that had not previously been mapped. They
were to take him up the big valley debouching at Li-yüan above the point where we had seen it
in 1907 (Map No. 46. A. 3), and thence along an unknown portion of the northern slopes of the
main range to the head-waters of the Hsi-ta-ho descending west of Kao-t'ai (Map No. 43. D. 2, 3).
In this way our survey of the whole mountain area drained by the Kan-chou river would be
practically completed.

Journey
along river
below Kan-
chou. On August 22nd I myself set out from Kan-chou on the long-planned journey which was
to take me across the desert ranges of the Pei-shan back to Turkestān for the work of the autumn
and winter. In order to gain Mao-mei, the appointed rendezvous for my several parties, I chose
the route leading along the right bank of the Kan-chou river which had previously been partially
mapped by Lāl Singh. Most of the ground traversed by us on the eight long marches to Mao-mei
was pleasant. But to me personally the journey proved somewhat exhausting, as the effort of doing
it on horseback in which I rather unwisely persisted inflicted a severe strain on my leg. I had
further reason to regret that the absence of boat traffic on the Kan-chou river did not allow us to
do at least part of this journey by water and with the comfort that this means of progress during
the flood might have offered. For the heavy rain experienced during the first few days had turned
the track that our carts had to follow, within the belt of rich cultivation extending along the river
down to Lo-pa (Map No. 43. D. 2), into an almost continuous stretch of bog. Farther down the
brave Chinese mules and ponies harnessed to the carts experienced equal trouble from the ridges
of dunes which in places, especially below the villages of Hsi-pa and Chêng-i (Map No. 43. D. 1),
stretch from the barren hills eastwards right down to the river bank.

Remains of
mediaeval
'Great
Wall'. The crumbling remains of the clay-built mediaeval 'Great Wall', a poor structure only eight
feet thick, were first met with below the village of Ping-yu-pao. There it runs up a steep little spur
on the low but in places rugged hill range that flanks the right bank of the river all the way down
to Mao-mei. It perhaps had its continuation south-eastwards along the top of the hill chain,
which watch-towers crown at intervals. Or it may be that the impassable character of the chain
was deemed to afford sufficient protection, along the part extending towards the point east of Kan-
chou where the late border wall was seen again (Map No. 46. B. 3). Farther down, this wall cropped
up again in long stretches, usually along the edge of the present cultivation, as shown by the map ;
while elsewhere it had completely disappeared, and only the line of more or less decayed watch-
towers remained to mark the direction along which it probably ran. This complete decay over
long distances of the mediaeval 'Great Wall', which runs on to, and ends at, Chia-yü-kuan beyond
Su-chou, helps us the more to appreciate the time-resisting solidity which the methods of construc-
tion employed by the engineers of Han times had assured to most parts of their Limes wall on ground
offering far greater physical difficulties. On the other hand, it must not be overlooked that the
less arid climatic conditions of the valley of the Kan-chou river down to the defile below Chêng-i,
where the mediaeval wall comes to its end on the right bank, were not as favourable to its preserva-
tion as those of the ground farther west towards Su-chou.³

Temple of
Lai-lai-
miao. Among other points along this route that deserve brief notice I may mention that, a short
distance east of the village marked on the map as Sun-nai-pao,⁴ we made a night's halt at a large
and interesting temple. It is known as Lai-lai-miao (?) and is situated near high dunes. It seemed