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0573 Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.2
Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.2 / Page 573 (Color Image)

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doi: 10.20676/00000213
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Korla, but had no opportunity to trace the connection
farther.

During the fortnight spent at the Shikchin ruins
we worked under quite Sarmatian conditions. Mini-
mum temperatures down to 42 degrees Fahrenheit below
freezing-point I should not have minded so much, had we
been saved those chilling vapours sent forth by the great
Baghrash Lake south. Day after day an icy mist enveloped
ruins and camp. The nightly hoar - frost practically
amounted to a light snowfall, and continued to cover the
ground even when the sun fitfully struggled through at
last. For some days I almost despaired of getting adequate
light for the needful photographs, and the hoar-frost is
conspicuous in most of them. Fortunately there was
shelter of some kind for the men among the small cellas
still retaining part of their vaulting.

Such climatic conditions made it easier to understand
the relative frequency of grazing and water which Rai Lal
Singh reported having found in the westernmost valleys of
the Kuruk - tagh. After moving from Turfan south to
Singer over a succession of barren plateaus, he had made
his way by seven long marches across previously unmapped
ground to Korla, whence he hastened to rejoin me, bringing
welcome help for the digging.