8i6 THROUGH ASIA 
dunes close by looked black in contrast with the yellow 
sand. 
February 2nd and 3rd were sacrificed to a visit to the 
place. On the way thither we made an interesting dis- 
covery — namely, that w'e were riding in the dry bed of 
a river, which ended among the sand - dunes in the 
vicinity of a little pool of salt water, called Sisma-kdll.* 
Here again the river had deviated to a more easterly 
course ; but at one time it manifestly flowed close past the 
ruins of the town. 
1 his town was built on a smaller scale than the other, 
but its buildings belonged to the same epoch. I found 
the same style of paintings on the plaster, though in less 
good preservation, the same style of architecture, and the 
same building materials. One structure, quadrilateral in 
.shape, with its opposite sides 279 and 249 feet long 
respectively, resembled a caravanserai ; it was built round 
a courtyard, in the middle of which was a smaller square 
house. In another house the beams of the substructure 
were extraordinarily well-preserved. I did not make any 
discovery of unusual interest ; but studied the manner in 
which the houses were constructed, the beams joined 
together, and the fireplaces arranged. I found however 
the axle of an arba (cart), showing there had once been 
roads there that could be driven on ; and there were a 
vast number of shards from earthenware vessels. 
These ruins are known to the shepherds and hunters 
of the Khotan-daria. My man Kasim, the hunter, had 
been there once before ; it took him five days’ travelling 
from the Khotan-daria. But curiously enough, none of 
these men had ever thought of extending their journey- 
one day further to the east, where they would have found 
water in abundance, people who spoke their own language, 
sheep, bread, and everything they needed. As they only 
took, on a donkey, bread and water sufficient to last ten 
days, they had consequently only been able to stay one 
day among the ruins, where they spent the time, as usual, 
in searching for treasure. Both the forest-dwellers beside 
* “ KdJl ” is the same word as “ kul ” and means “ lake.” 
