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0120 Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.2
中国砂漠地帯の遺跡 : vol.2
Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.2 / 120 ページ(カラー画像)

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doi: 10.20676/00000213
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it comprised lay scattered about in tiny hamlets, sheltered
by fine elms and ashes. All round them extended well-
tilled fields with rows of big trees lining the irrigation
channels. So carefully was all ground within the oasis
utilized that, not wishing to camp in the middle of a
ploughed field, I was at last grateful to find room for my
tent in a little quiet grove occupied by graves. The good
folk of Nan-hu must have thought it a queer taste, but had
no objection to offer. They seemed a quiet, thriving set
of farmers, endowed with delightful insouciance such as
their comfortable conditions as regards arable land and
water would foster.
About their pious zeal I could entertain no doubt when I
found that this little settlement boasted of eight well-kept
shrines 'in being' (Fig. 167), not counting the miniature
chapels attached to almost every homestead and a number
of small temples still in ruins, as the last Tungan inroad
had left them. It seemed hard to think of that devastating
tornado having swept across a place so placidly secluded as
Nan-hu. Yet, according to the information we received,
scarcely a man, woman, or child of the old population had
then escaped with their lives. However this may be, those
who had taken their places were now enjoying the ease
resulting from under-population.
But it was the opportunity for archaeological observa-
tions of interest, not the rural attractions of this 'sleepy
hollow,' which made me extend my stay to four days.
At the first reconnaissance, guided by an elderly villager
whom Lin Ta-jên's petty officer had secured for us, we
found a number of remains throwing light on the history
of the oasis. At a distance of only about one mile east-
wards from the edge of the present oasis, and approached
over ground which manifestly had once been under cultiva-
tion, there rose the broken clay walls of a small town built
in the form of an irregular rectangle. Of the north face,
measuring about 400 yards in length, the greater part still
survived, half-buried under high dunes which had afforded
protection. Of the east and west walls, too, considerable
portions were still extant though cut through and broken
up by wind erosion. Yet the 'masonry' of the wall,