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0205 Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.2
中国砂漠地帯の遺跡 : vol.2
Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.2 / 205 ページ(カラー画像)

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doi: 10.20676/00000213
引用形式選択: Chicago | APA | Harvard | IEEE

OCR読み取り結果

On the evening of May 4th I arrived at a ridge
tapering away as usual at its end into a line of isolated
terraces. The fact that both the end of the ridge and the
last outlying terrace were occupied by towers was bound
to attract my attention. As the distance between them
was only about two miles, the ruined tower to the east and
within the line (T. VI. B) could not have been intended for
a mere signalling-post. So the thought suggested itself
of some controlling main station. The plentiful débris
adjoining the tower seemed to indicate quarters somewhat
larger than usual, and numerous refuse layers scattered
over the gravel slopes near by furnished proof of prolonged
occupation (Fig. 182).
The position, though not more than a hundred feet
above the basin, seemed well chosen for a sort of *point
d'appui* on this flank. It commanded a complete view of
the southern and south-eastern shore of the lake basin, up
to the foot of the hill chain covered with high dunes which
was seen to come from the direction of Nan-hu and to bend
round to the north-west. It was clear that, as any attack
from the west and the Lop-nor route would have to keep
between the shore of the marshy basin and the impassable
high sands, the line of watch-posts thrown out almost to
within sight of the latter and controlled from this station
would effectively prevent the main *Limes* being outflanked
by raiders.
That evening we made an experimental scraping of the
gravel-strewn slope at a point where a few wooden posts
protruded some twenty yards north of the tower, and soon
brought to light about two-score inscribed Chinese tablets
of the usual shape. Though many of them had their sur-
face decayed through exposure, the find was encouraging.
Next morning I sent Chiang back from camp to continue
the search while I had to look after the sinking of a
well. When I rejoined him an hour later I found him
triumphantly guarding for me nearly a hundred fresh
Chinese records on wood, almost all complete, and in spite
of slight damage from moisture quite legible. It was a
delightful surprise, and my satisfaction grew still further
when I ascertained that the numerous dated pieces all