8o2 
THROUGH ASIA 
I have described, never existed among the Turki races 
who now inhabit East Turkestan. There cannot be a 
doubt that the city was of Buddhist origin. We may 
therefore conclude a prion, and without fear of contra- 
diction, that the city is older than the Arab invasion led 
by Kuteybeh I bn Muslim in the beginning of the eighth 
century. Most of the saints’ tombs which from time 
to time I have had occasion to mention are memorials 
of that proselytising campaign. I have already quoted the 
Chinese traveller, Shi Fa Hian, who in the seventh century 
A.D. visited the Tukhari (Tokhala, Takla, Takla-makan .^), 
who dwelt east of the Khotan-daria, south of the Tarim, 
and south-west of Lop-nor. If along with this historical 
testimony we consider the inferences that may be drawn 
from the archeeological data I collected, and from the 
observations I made regarding the rate at which the 
sand-dunes move, we may form an approximate calcula- 
tion of the time which the sand has taken to travel 
from the city south-west to the region in which the last 
sand-dunes are now met with along the northern foot of 
the Kw'en-lun Mountains. 
Neither the fact, that the wooden cornice with its 
carvings was in a state of excellent preservation, nor the 
fact that the camels and donkeys consumed w'ith relish the 
kamish (reeds) of which the walls were constructed, will 
warrant the conclusion, that the city belongs to a com- 
paratively recent epoch. The slow rate at which the 
sand-dunes move militates effectually against any .such 
supposition as that. Moreover, as I have already men- 
tioned, the fine, dry desert sand possesses a certain power 
of conserving organic matter. 
In the region of the buried city the prevailing winds 
come from the north-east and east, and are particularly 
violent in April and May. It Is in these months that the 
greater number of the kara-burans or “ black sandstorms ” 
occur, which carry on their wings such vast quantities of 
sand and dust as to make day as black as night. In March 
and June come the sarik-burans or “yellow sandstorms,” 
which, although less violent, nevertheless possess an enor- 
