Evening star., 1901-11-06
SAND-BURIED CITIES.
Account of the Interesting Discoveries
by DR.. Stein.

account of the Interesting DiscOyerfe,
by DR.. Stein.
From the London Chronicle.
Our representative has had an Interview
with DR.. NJ A. Stein, who is returning tt
India this week, after making a prelimi.
nary arrangement of the remarkable hnds
brought to light during his recent expedi-
ton in Chinese Turkestan. The cursory ex-
animation that has SO far been possible
within the short time available reveals In
striking manner and for the first time
many points bearing the culture and
daily life of localities which for many CEN
turies-some for nearly two thousand years
have been buried under a sea of sand, and
whose history has hitherto been practically
a blank.
Speaking Of this point Dr. Stein saws
how for the first time have been brought to
light some aspects Of the everyday life,
home industries and arts of the inha bita nts
OF the villages of Chinese Turkestan which
were abandoned at the beginning of the
Christian The culture of the people
was derived mainly from India, and there
can be no doubt the inhabitants were
Buddhists. DR.. Stein added:
VI special interest We're the refuse heaps
which we unearthed near some ruined
houses, once apparently tenanted by VIII
laSe officials-kinds of waste paper bas-
kets, containing hundreds of documents
beautifully written on wooden tablets, and
carefully tied and sealed Owing to the
preservative nature of the sand MANY of
these We're In splendid condition-the ink
as black and the seals and string as per-
feet as If they were only few weeks old
AS these documents are in a known Indian
script, their decipherment can be expected
TO reveal in q fascinating manner many of
the details Of the ancient village life. But
1t Will be task requiring years of close
study, as in India itself the materials avail
Scrfnt hpu
very scanty. At sites less ancient we also
found paper documents In Sanskrit Chi
nese and also Thibetan manuscripts. In
none of the excavations did 1 find any un-
known characters.
Round most of the sand-buried houses
were brought to light carefully planned lit
tie gardens, with avenues of trees, fenced
lanes, orchards, and SO forth. 1t was truly
astonishing, on clearing away the sand, to
find under the shriveled hedges heaps of
dried leaves Just as they had fallen in
ages gone by. The gardens were much
the same In character as those still to be
found in Turkestan today. The trees were
mostly poplars and peach, mulberry and
apricot trees. There is no evidence that
these places were abandoned owing to any
sudden catastrophe, but their gradual de-
sertion was evidently due to the impossi-
blilty OF continued irrigation, causing an
advance of the sand. While articles of
real value were, therefore. removed by their
possessors, we found In the dwelling places
many household implements of small value,
such as pitchforks, mouse traps, boots,
chairs, shoemakers' lasts, etc.
In the ruined temples we found a sort Of
unlntentional exhibition of the fabrics of
these remote ages, for In front of some of
the Idols were heaps of torn shreds of elab-
orately worked silks and other fabrics
which had been deposited as votive offer
ings: In one temple it was curious to note
an instance of where a pilgrim anxious
apparently to propitiate as many deities as
possible, had torn into portions a Thibetan n
manuscript, which he had divided among
the various idols. These fragments are
now once more united under glass panes.
Many colossal statues in stucco were un-
earthed from the monasteries and temples
one OF the latter contained in its clo;sters
over hundred statues, all over life size.
Whlle as many as possible of these were
cleared Tor the purpose Of taking photo
graphs, only few could be rescued, as
when the protecting sand was removed the
great stuccoes threatened to collapse owing
to their inner wooden work haying rotted
away. However. interesting portions Of
them were successfully brought away