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| 0206 |
Sand-Buried Ruins of Khotan : vol.1 |
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lection of huts by the side of a swampy depression fed by a
little canal. But of Baikhan nothing was to be seen, and
evidence as to its distance was conflicting. The prospect of
being benighted over our search, or of having to traverse the
sand-dunes towards Ordam-Padshah with no daylight to
guide us, was distinctly uninviting. I therefore felt bound
to abandon the projected visit and to make for the shrine
where I supposed my caravan to have preceded me.
So after securing a shepherd guide, we set off to the south,
and gradually approaching the line of white sandhills, after
an hour and a half's ride entered the true desert area. All
scrub disappeared, and only hardy tufts of grass known as
'Kumush' covered in patches the glittering sand. With the
hope of a more extended view we made for a higher sandhill.
Far away to the south stretched a sea of sand, curiously resem-
bling the ocean with its long wavelike dunes. Through the
dust-haze that lay over the long succession of ridges there
appeared to the south-west a darker range of low hills for
which the extant maps had in no way prepared me, and nearer
to us a series of high posts marking the sacred sites to be visited
by the pilgrims. With the help of these far-visible marks it
was easy to ascertain the position of Ordam-Padshah, as well
as of the subsidiary 'Mazars' of Dost-bulak, Sultanim, and
Kizil-jaim.
Following our guide, we struck to the south until we
reached the main route of the pilgrims near a lonely rest-house
known as Uftu Langar. There we looked in vain for the
track of the camels which we expected to have passed long
before. After a long and somewhat anxious wait—for it was
getting late, we saw at last far away to the north the caravan
emerging from behind the sandhills. Assured that I should
not have to wait in vain for the baggage, however belated it
might be, I rode on in the twilight towards our destination.
The sand-dunes to be crossed steadily increased in height,
and the going became more difficult. Even in the failing light
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