National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
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Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.1 |
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254 SITES AROUND DOMOKO
CH. XXI
explanation was that the latter were draining strata
saturated with subsoil water far lower than those feeding
the sources of the Domoko stream some eight or nine
miles higher up on the Sai.
The observations thus gathered at the great dam of
Domoko helped to bring out clearly two facts of wider
geographical interest. It became evident that the opening
of the Malak-alagan colony was the direct result of a move-
ment by which the Domoko stream had endeavoured to
carry its water once more towards the old village site
abandoned about 1840 A.D. Had it not been for the
timely construction of the dam, practically all the available
water would have turned into the Yar, leaving the canals
irrigating the present village lands to run dry. In that
case, it is safe to assume that the settlement would have
been shifted back again to the position occupied by ' Old
Domoko.' In proof of this it is sufficient to point out
that, as I convinced myself on the occasion of a subsequent
visit in 1908, the old village lands are now being gradually
approached again by the surplus water of Malak-alagan
brought northward along the old canal alignment, still
traceable, even without any aid of water from the Domoko
stream.
The fate of abandonment which threatened the extant
oasis and was averted only by an engineering feat of
unusual importance for this region, shows plainly that
changes in the cultivated area may take place on ground
peculiarly situated without necessarily being occasioned
by desiccation and a consequent diminution of the water-
supply. But more important still is the lesson we may
draw from it as to the influence which a quasi-historical factor,
the assertion of human energy, must have in respect of
such changes. Had it not been for the effective adminis-
tration introduced on the Chinese reconquest of the
country and the economical development which it has
fostered, the damming up of the Domoko Yar would
certainly have proved too great a task to be attempted
with local resources. The villagers of Domoko would
have been left to face their calamity as best they could,
and everything points to the probability of their adopting
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