National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

ground which the renewed visit rendered possible, proved the geographically interesting fact
of a bifurcation taking place here in the waters of the Su-lo-ho. While the river itself turns
sharply westwards to terminate fully 180 miles beyond in the marshes flanking the westernmost
section of the Limes, a small stream, fed by an inundation bed of the river below the oasis
of Yü-mên-hsien and also by subsoil drainage from the irrigation received from the Su-lo-ho,
flows to the east and ultimately is lost in a separate basin to the north of the small oasis of
Hua-hai-tzu or Ying-p'an. ³⁷

It was along this stream and thus to the east that we discovered the continuation of
the Limes line, instead of south-eastwards in the direction of Su-chou
Explorations in as I had been previously led to assume. The ground crossed by it had
Ying-p'an basin. remained so far unsurveyed, and the exploration of the ruins along it
was made increasingly difficult beyond by the distance which separated the long forgotten
border from the nearest water. Nevertheless we succeeded in tracking it for some distance
to the north-east of Ying-p'an before ultimately losing its line where it passed into an area
covered by big dunes close to the barren foothills of the Pei-shan. ³⁸ Thence we proceeded
to the large town and oasis of Su-chou at the beginning of May in order to make prepar-
ations for our next move northward.

This journey led me down the united course of the rivers of Su-chou and Kan-chou
into a portion of southernmost Mongolia offering geographical and
Ancient Limes traced historical interest. Leaving Su-chou on May 10, I marched by a new
N. of Su-chou. route to the oasis of Chin-t'a, already visited in 1907. Following the
Su-chou river beyond, I succeeded in tracing afresh the line of the ancient Limes where it
emerged on less impracticable ground near the south-eastern extremity of the Pei-shan.
Thence we tracked it through to the north of the Mao-mei oasis, the last Chinese settlement.
There Lāl Singh rejoined me after having followed a hitherto unsurveyed route along the
Kan-chou river where it breaks through the westernmost hill range of the Ala-shan. ³⁹
As we moved down the Etsin-gol, as the united river is called by the Mongols, we found
evidence that the ancient border line after crossing the river beyond Mao-mei had continued
into the desert eastwards. But by the time of our return from the Etsin-gol delta in June
the summer heat precluded its further exploration on this waterless ground.

The survey of the ground passed on the long trying marches along the Etsin-gol bed,
then completely dry, proved of distinct geographical and also quasi-
Explorations along historical interest. In a striking way it illustrated physical conditions
Etsin-gol. such as must have prevailed in the Lou-lan area north of Lop-nôr
before its final desiccation. ⁴⁰ While I was kept busy by fruitful excavations at the ruined
town of Khara-khoto, first visited by Colonel Kozloff and identical with Marco Polo's 'City
of Etzina,' and by explorations in its vicinity, Lal Singh carried out surveys right down the
Etsin-gol delta to the two marshy lake-basins in which the river terminates. ⁴¹

On the conclusion of these tasks I let our hard-worked camels depart for their summer
holiday in the Kungurehe hills north-eastward. By sending Muhammad
Journey to Kao-t'ai Yakūb with them it became possible to map some hitherto unsurveyed
and Kan-chou. ground on the border of independent Mongolia. ⁴² I myself with Lāl
Singh turned southwards for fresh explorations in the Nan-shan ranges. From below Mao-mei
we followed a route through hitherto unsurveyed portions of the desert hills to the east and
north of the Kan-chou river and after considerable fatigues due to heat and scarcity of water
reached this near the town of Kao-t'ai. ⁴³ From there I proceeded to Kan-chou by the main
road in order to gain time, while Lāl Singh after visiting a ruined site to the west of Kao-t'ai
followed me by a new route along the right bank of the river.