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detachment stationed at T. VI. b, who were sent to Pu-ch'ang to fetch grain. On two successive
journeys they carried six sacks altogether. 'This makes a total of 188 li and 120 steps for going
and coming, that is for each man 62 li and 240 steps.' Leaving aside the meticulous addition
of 120 steps to the total, as the ancient 'military Babu' himself evidently did when he calculated the
average distance done by each man, and taking 360 steps as the recognized standard for 1 li, we get
62·66 ÷ 2 = 31·33 li as the distance covered on each journey, and consequently 15·66 li as the distance
between T. VI. b and Pu-ch'ang.
If we look at the map and consider the character of the ground, it is quite clear that sup- Pu-ch'ang
plies of food-stuffs reaching T. VI. b from a permanently occupied post could come only from the post identi-
side of the Limes line proper, the whole length of which, I may note here, is practicable for fied with
carts.¹¹ The watch-station nearest to T. VI. b on that side is T. VI. a, and the direct distance to it T. VI. a.
just three miles. This converted into li at the rate of 5 li for the mile, which I have found the
approximately constant average for early Chinese measurements of distance in Central Asia, gives
us exactly 15 li.¹² The agreement with the distance recorded to Pu-ch'ang is complete, considering
that allowance must be made for its slightly greater length by road, and I therefore think it prac-
tically certain that the watch-post of Pu-ch'ang must be identified with the ruined station T. VI. a.
Furthermore, we find in T. VI. b, ii. 7, another perfectly clear record (Doc. No. 258, Plate VIII), the Position of
posts of Pu-ch'ang and Ling-hu, i. e. T. VI. b, mentioned together as evidently adjacent stations to Kuang-wu
which the watch-post of Kuang-wu sends on a message for the purpose of circulation.¹³ The post(T.v?)
location of Kuang-wu at the ruined station T. v, the next to the north, naturally suggests itself; but
as the name is not found again it is impossible to test the conjecture.
Leaving the points of general interest for the history and conditions of the Tun-huang Limes Miscel-
that are presented by the records to be discussed in Chapter XX, I may conclude this account laneous
of T. VI. b with brief references to some of the miscellaneous relics found among the refuse-heaps. relics from
They were by no means as plentiful as might have been expected from the great extent to be refuse.
searched. T. VI. b. i. C01–004 (Plate LII) are wooden pegs of a curious type, which was found
abundantly represented elsewhere along the line of the Limes (see T. C02 in List). Its purpose has
not yet been determined. The pegs resemble in shape the usual tent-peg and have a flattened
triangular section; their top is roughly cut and painted to give it the appearance of a human head.
From the wear usually shown by the pointed end it is safe to conclude that these pegs were meant
to be driven into the ground; but they are certainly not strong enough to have served as real tent-
pegs, especially in a region exposed to such violent winds. T. VI. b. i. 009, 0011 are remains
of shoes, made mainly with woven string, apparently of hemp, and after a pattern illustrated in Hemp for
Plate LIV by specimens from other stations on the Limes. The fibrous material of which the string shoes.
used in these shoes is made deserves a more exact examination, in view of the record on a slip from
this very station, T. VI. b. i. 102, Doc., No. 96 (Plate V). It contains a 'fatigue' statement of three
men who had been sent to collect hemp for shoes. As each covered only 10 li in going and coming,
the plant must have grown quite close to the station, probably on marshy ground.¹⁴
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