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| 0291 |
Ancient Khotan : vol.1 |
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northern edge of the oasis. Any possible doubt as to the identity of Dandān-Uiliq was set at
rest when a few days later I was able to examine, in the presence of Turdi, the two hunters
Ahmad Merghen and Kāsim Ākhūn, who had guided Dr. Hedin on his journey and whom at
my request Pan Dārin (Ta-jên), the kindly Amban of Khotan, had promptly sent for. I was
thus able to arrange definitely the initial programme of my tour, by fixing upon this site as
the best place for commencing systematic explorations in the desert.
The specimens brought back by Turdi had the further advantage of convincing the
Amban, who previously, notwithstanding his thoroughly friendly attitude, had been somewhat
sceptical as to the existence of ancient remains in the desert, that my enterprise was fully
justified. Pan Dārin's scholarly type of mind and his keen historical sense made it easy for me
to explain to him the direct bearing which the exploration of such ruins would have upon the
elucidation of the accounts of old Khotan left to us by the great T'ang sêng ('The monk of
the T'ang period', i.e. Hsüan-tsang) and other Chinese travellers. His effective assistance for
all the needful preparations was thus more readily assured, and to it I owed largely, as results
show, the possibility of successful work at the site.
The week following my return from Yōtkan (Nov. 29) was spent busily at Khotan in
writing up accounts of my geographical and antiquarian observations for dispatch to Europe,
and in final preparations for the desert journey. In order to keep the camels, on which we
should have to depend for the difficult marches through the sands, as lightly laden as possible,
it was necessary to restrict the baggage to absolute essentials and to leave behind at Khotan
a depôt of all stores and materials not immediately required. The elimination was no easy
matter. On the one hand, no estimate could be formed of the length of time during which my
explorations would keep me away from Khotan, while, on the other, it was certain that in the
inhospitable regions where we were to pass the winter any deficiency in the necessary supplies
and equipment might seriously affect our health and hamper my movements. It was largely
through the care bestowed on transport and supplies that I was subsequently able to extend
my operations so much further from the Khotan base than was originally anticipated.
On the morning of December 7, a misty and bitterly cold day, I set out for the winter
campaign in the desert. In order to reach Dandān-Uiliq I had decided on the route via
Tawakkël, which, though longer than the track leading straight into the desert north-east of
Yurung-kāsh, which Turdi, my 'treasure-seeking' guide, was accustomed to follow, somewhat
reduced the extent of actual desert-marching with its inseparable privations for man and beast.
The first day brought me, partly over marshy ground where the Lasku-Ūstang and other
canals finally lose themselves, to Yangi-arik, a village on the edge of the oasis north of Khotan.
Its fields, as the name shows, had only been brought under cultivation in recent times. After
two more dreary marches along the barren left bank of the river, where nothing was to be
seen but high dunes of drifting sand to the west and reed-covered strips near its winding
course, we crossed the Yurung-kāsh and soon arrived at the southern end of the Tawakkël
oasis.
This oasis owes its existence to the construction, some sixty years before my visit, of an
irrigation canal which takes off the river waters a few miles further south near Kalama-Langar.
Originally settled by forcibly transported colonists from different parts of the Khotan oasis,
Tawakkël has since developed into a prosperous small canton of some thousand households.
The names of the various hamlets, called Tosalla, Borazān, Yurung-kāsh, &c., still recall the
tracts which supplied the original parties of settlers. The proximity of the forest belt, which
accompanies the Yurung-kāsh on its course through the desert, provides a plentiful supply of
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724
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