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0527 Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.2
Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.2 / Page 527 (Color Image)

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doi: 10.20676/00000213
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or coined pieces of silver, were, indeed, freely circulating
and readily taken at Hami; but the real medium of
exchange was still the small Chinese copper 'cash,' and
the discount between a Tael in this copper coin and in
silver was considerable enough to require attention. I
soon found out that fully twenty per cent could be saved
by making all payments by means of local bankers' notes.
Of course privileged people like my own followers could
claim their dues in coined silver.

By the morning of October 24th I could at last com-
mence my short tour in the district. Enquiries about old
remains had elicited that certain ruins to be found west of
Hami had already been partially explored by German archae-
ologists, Dr. A. von Lecoq and Professor A. Grünwedel,
working from the side of Turfan. So, as survey work was
to be done in the mountains, I decided first to visit the
remains of some old 'Karauls' and shrines at the foot
of the Karlik-tagh, that easternmost rampart of the T'ien-
shan. Guided by a pleasant old Beg whom the Wang had
attached to my camp, I started off with a light equipment.
The day's march led almost due north, and for the whole
length, close on twenty miles, over the bare gravel of a
great alluvial fan.

Almost as soon as we emerged from the dirty Bazar of
the Chinese town this dreary waste was entered. The
green marshy Nullahs, in which the water of the snow-fed
streams comes to light again in the form of limpid springs,
were soon left behind. Far away to the west the ruins of
some abandoned forts showed clearly above the flat horizon.
There was nothing in this dead plain to distract the eye
from the long snow-capped range northward. Its last
massive offshoot to the east had looked quite imposing from
Hami. Though its height does not much exceed 13,000
feet, perpetual snow-beds and even small glaciers streaked
the slopes of the main peaks, and were lit up in rosy
tints by a blazing sunset. The length of the twilight
reminded me how far northward I had moved since the
previous autumn.

Some fourteen miles from Hami we reached the big
lonely tower known as Akchik Karaul, which was guiding us