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| 0531 |
Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.2 |
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rough boarding had replaced missing folds of the neatly
carved window screens. But I soon found a cosy little
room looking out on the garden. How Western all its
shelves and cupboards appeared to me, unaccustomed to
such luxuries ever since leaving Chini-bagh!
Then while a carpet and some small felts were being
spread, I hurried out into the garden to look for the ruins
there promised. After traversing a few hundred yards of
terraced orchards I found myself suddenly before a series
of cellas, carved from the live rock of a bold little ridge,
which had once contained colossal images (Fig. 259). The
stucco masses in which the latter were sculptured had
almost completely collapsed; but in one of the shrines
which still retained part of its roof vault, at a height of
nearly fifty feet, the outlines of a colossal seated Buddha
had survived. The remains of fresco decoration in the
corners of the stuccoed walls showed close resemblance
to the designs familiar to me from the Ch'ien-fo-tung
shrines. It was clear that the ruined shrines dated from
the time of Uigur dominion (9th-12th century A.D.), when
Buddhism had flourished here.
Eagerly I explored the less imposing remains of brick-
built cellas and dwellings which covered the north face and
the top of the little ridge. But when I was proceeding to
extend this first hurried inspection to the ruins rising
boldly on the crest of a higher ridge to the west of the
orchard, the Beg now playing the cicerone raised so meek
and plaintive a protest that I felt ashamed for having in my
antiquarian eagerness quite forgotten the bodily cravings of
a pious Muhammadan pining for food after the daily fast of
the Ramazan. So reluctantly I left the ruins as dusk was
setting over the prettiest bit of scenery that has ever
offered me a chance of archaeological work. The impres-
sions of that evening, so rich in glowing colours, haunted
me as I wrote by the cheerful fire of my princely quarters
till a late hour.
Alas! the ruins did not prove as fruitful for the excavator
as their picturesque setting would to the artist. Even in
the ruins of two large cellas which I found occupying the
top of the ridge westwards, the clearing effected in the
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813
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