EXPLORATION IN CHINESE TURKESTAN. 773 



found already detached 1 .succeeded in hrinoing- away a considerable 

 number without mishap. 



The Kawak relievos show in style and most details of execution the 

 closest affinity with the so-called Grieco-Buddhist sculptures of the 

 ruined monasteries and shrines on the northwest frontier of India. 

 This makes their close stud}^ with the help of the numerous photo- 

 graphs I secured, a matter of great historical and artistic interest. 

 Though no epigraphic or manuscript remains have come to light, the 

 evidence of the numerous coins I found, deposited as votive offerings, 

 goes far to prove that the sculptures of the Kawak Stupa belong 

 approximatel}' to the same period as the ruins of the "Nij^a River 

 site." 



The daily sand storms, together with the increasing heat and glare, 

 had made the work of excavation at Ilawak trying to the men as well 

 as myself. So I was g'lad when the completion of this task permitted 

 us to withdraw from the desert. On m.y return to Khotan I was bus}^ 

 with arranging my collections of archaeological finds and repacking 

 them for their long journey to London. While thus engaged I suc- 

 ceeded in clearing up the last dou))ts as to the real nature of the 

 strange manuscripts and ''block prints" "in unknown characters" 

 which had, during recent years, been purchased from Khotan in such 

 remarkable numbers, and which had found their way not only to Cal- 

 cutta but also to great public collections in London, Paris, and St. 

 Petersburg. The grave suspicions which my previous inquiries had 

 led me to entertain as to the genuineness of these supposed "finds" 

 had gradually ))ecn strengthened almost to certainty by the explora- 

 tions of the winter. Ample and varied as the maiuiscript materials 

 had ])een which rewarded my excavations. 1 had utterly failed to trace 

 tlie smallest scrap of Avriting in "unknown characters.'' The actual 

 conditions of the sites explored also entirely dltl'ered from the condi- 

 tions under which those ()ueer manuscripts and priiits ^\■ere alleged to 

 have been discovered. There was good reason to Ixdicve that Islam 

 Akhun, a native of Khotan, from whom most of those purchases had 

 been made during the 3'ears 1895-1SU8, was directly concerned in the 

 forgeries. 



After my return to Khotan I expressetl to Pan-Darin a wish for a 

 personal examination of this inter(>sting individual. Some days later 

 he was duly pi'oduced from a village of the Kei'iya district, where he 

 had recently been practicing as a "medicine man."" Ishun Aklnin's 

 examination proved a lengthy afi'air. He readily acknowledged his 

 guilt in various recent frauds (including one practiced on Captain 

 Deasy), for wliich he had received du(> punishment from local Chinese 

 justice. But in the mattei-of the "old books"" heat Mi'st i)i'otest(>d com- 

 plete innocence. His defense, however, collapsed in the course of a 



