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Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books
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| 0249 |
On Ancient Central-Asian Tracks : vol.1 |
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fruitful. Here it must suffice to mention only a few observa-
tions and finds of special interest. The careful clearing of a
small Buddhist shrine yielded abundance of fine pieces of
wood-carving, including beams of over seven feet long,
showing decorative motifs of a distinctly Hellenistic or
Graeco-Buddhist type (Fig. 62).
Wind erosion had worked terrible havoc here, too, and
at some large dwellings about a mile off to the south-east.
Yet we recovered at the latter plenty of interesting relics.
They included fine pieces from elegantly carved and lac-
quered furniture; fragments of carved wooden panels with
motifs almost Roman in style (Fig. 61); decorated textiles such
as a well-preserved slipper adorned with tapestry designs
unmistakably Western, etc. Near another small Buddhist
shrine there survived dead fruit-trees of an ancient fenced
orchard, the only proofs of ancient cultivation to be traced
at the site. There were other indications also that the settle-
ment once existing there and around the fortified station
had derived its importance far more from the traffic with
China which passed through it than from its local resources.
My desire to trace the line followed by this traffic through
the vast expanse of unexplored desert eastwards was eager
enough. But any attempt at this very difficult task was pre-
cluded at the time. Our ice store was getting very low.
Increasing cases of illness among the men showed how
exposure to the continual blasts was telling on them. So
when, by December 29, 1906, the exploration of all struc-
tural remains at the western site also was completed, the
main body of the men was sent back to Abdal along with
the 'archaeological proceeds' in charge of Surveyor Rai
Ram Singh. Rheumatism brought on by exposure to the
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561
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571
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578
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