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| 0670 |
Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.2 |
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The study of the extant conditions in these hills, where
springs are now extremely rare, and all travel depends on
an exact knowledge of the water-supply obtainable from
natural cisterns or 'Kaks,' was to me of special interest ;
for very similar conditions may be supposed to have
prevailed in the now absolutely waterless hills of the Pei-
shan south of Hami during the period when bands of Hun
raiders could still make their way through them towards
Tun-huang and the great Chinese route to the west. In
fact, Kirghiz raids of a corresponding character, effected
from the T'ien-shan valleys upon the Ak-su-Kashgar high
road in the plains, are still a matter of living recollection,
and might yet be revived in practice if the hold of the
Chinese administration were relaxed.
The route down to Kelpin led through narrow gorges
and wild cañons (Fig. 304) cut into rock-walls of glorious
hues by rivers which have long ceased to flow except after
rare rain. How I longed for geological knowledge to
interpret correctly the wonderfully twisting strata, of sand-
stone and gneiss it seemed, which these deep cuttings had
laid bare! In the broad open valley of Kelpin, edged on
the south by the lowest of the outer T'ien-shan ranges, I
found a cluster of some dozen hamlets subsisting on the
water of springs which issue at the debouchure of several
barren stony valleys draining the range to the north. The
oasis lies so far off the main roads that the whole population
had turned out to see the 'Firang.'
During my short halt at this pleasant oasis I could
convince myself how inadequate was the water available
for irrigation to meet the needs of a rapidly increasing
population, in spite of the intensive cultivation here
practised. Yet permanent emigration was unknown, and
even Ak-su with its abundance of water and arable land
could not tempt the men of Kelpin to more than seasonal
visits as labourers. Their eyes were ever wistfully looking
out for an additional water-supply, and I heard the old Beg
guiding me lament that they had no rulers like the 'Firangs'
capable of bringing water right through the mountains from
the Taushkan Darya. Was this a reflex of stories, told
perhaps by Mecca pilgrims, of the great Swat Canal tunnelled
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