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| 0331 |
Sand-Buried Ruins of Khotan : vol.1 |
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centuries preceding the introduction of Islam as the probable date
when these shrines and the settlement to which they belonged had
been deserted. And this conclusion received curious support on
the first day by Chinese copper coins bearing the date of the Kai-
yuen period (A.D. 713–741), which were picked up under my eyes
from the débris-strewn ground near the buildings.
Old Turdi felt quite at home among these desolate surroundings,
which he had visited so frequently since his boyhood. It was the
fascinating vision of hidden treasure which had drawn him and his
kinsfolk there again and again, however scanty the tangible reward
had been of their trying wanderings. Yet the familiarity thus
acquired with the silent relics of the past had developed in him an
instinctive interest in all traces of the life that once reigned here.
As he guided me among these ghostly wrecks of houses and
answered the many questions I put to him about his own observa-
tions, I could see the shy man grow more and more animated. It
was evident from his communications that the conditions of the
dunes were changing very slowly at this site. Consequently Turdi
had no difficulty in recognising the places where he and his com-
panions had been at work during previous visits. Luckily their
scanty resources had never allowed them to overcome the difficulty
experienced in carrying to this distant site supplies sufficient for a
prolonged stay or to bring working parties of more than a few men.
Hence the structures more deeply buried in the sand had escaped
unopened. It was important to select these in the first place for
my excavations, and I felt grateful for Turdi's excellent memory
and topographical instinct which enabled him readily to indicate
their positions. Guided by this first rapid survey, I chose for my
camp a spot from which the main ruins to be explored were all
within easy reach. There were practical considerations which
compelled me to make my choice carefully. For in order to keep
my men at work as long as possible every day, it was necessary to
spare them tiring tramps through the drift sand. It was still more
essential that we should keep to a spot at which fuel could be
readily obtained in the ample quantities I foresaw would be needed
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