794 
THROUGH ASIA 
« 
was unable to make out the ground-plan of the city, 
nor could I trace the streets, bazaars, and squares, because 
the whole of the site, which occupies an extensive area, 
from two to two and a half miles in diameter, was buried 
under high sand-dunes. The only houses which were 
visible above the all-engulfing ocean of sand were those 
that were built upon original rising ground, or now stand 
in the depressions between the sand-dunes. 
Excavating in dry sand is desperate work ; as fast as 
you dig it out, it runs in again and fills up the hole. 
Each sand-dune must be entirely removed before it will 
give up the secrets that lie hidden beneath it ; and that 
is a task beyond human power — nothing except a buran 
can do that. All the same I succeeded in making a 
sufficient number of discoveries to derive an idea of the 
general character of the ancient city. 
In one of the buildings, which the men called Bud- 
khaneh (the Temple of Buddha), the walls were still 
extant to the height of about three feet. They con- 
sisted of kamish (reed) stalks tightly bound together 
in small hard bundles and fastened to stakes, and were 
plastered with a coating of clay mixed with chaff, making 
a tough, solid, and durable building material. The walls, 
which were quite thin, were plastered outside as well as 
inside, and were decorated with a number of paintings, 
executed in a masterly manner. They represented female 
figures, somewhat airily clad, kneeling with their hands 
folded as in prayer. Their hair was twisted in a black 
knot on the top of the head, and the eyebrows were 
traced in a continuous line, with a mark above the root 
of the nose, after the fashion customary among the 
Hindus of the present day. We also found pictures of 
men with black beards and moustaches, in whom the 
Aryan type was clearly distinguishable at the first 
glance ; they were dressed in the same manner as the 
modern Persians. Besides these, there were figures of 
dogs and horses, and boats rocking on the waves — a 
strangely impressive picture in the heart of the arid 
desert — ornaments, running borders of ovals, each en- 
