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the time of the T'ang; we find a _Sughciu_ in von Le Coq's MSS. from Turkestan and _Sughcu_ in the runnic text of W. Thomsen; cf. PELLIOT, _J. As._, Mai-Juin, 1912, p. 591; the pronunciation _Suk_-chau was still used by travellers coming from Central Asia--for instance, by the envoys of Shah Rukh. See _Cathay_, III., p. 126 n. OF THE CITY OF CAMPICHU. XLIV., pp. 219 seq. "The Idolaters have many minsters and abbeys after their fashion. In these they have an enormous number of idols, both small and great, certain of the latter being a good ten paces in stature; some of them being of wood, others of clay, and others yet of stone. They are all highly polished, and then covered with gold. The great idols of which I speak lie at length. And round about them there are other figures of considerable size, as if adoring and paying homage before them." The ambassadors of Shah Rukh to China (1419-1422) wrote: "In this city of Kamchau there is an idol temple five hundred cubits square. In the middle is an idol lying at length, which measures fifty paces. The sole of the foot is nine paces long, and the instep is twenty-one cubits in girth. Behind this image and overhead are other idols of a cubit (?) in height, besides figures of _Bakshis_ as large as life. The action of all is hit off so admirably that you would think they were alive. Against the wall also are other figures of perfect execution. The great sleeping idol has one hand under his head, and the other resting on his thigh. It is gilt all over, and is known as _Shakamuni-fu_. The people of the country come in crowds to visit it, and bow to the very ground before this idol" (_Cathay_, I., p. 277). XLV., p. 223. OF THE CITY OF ETZINA. I said, I., p. 225, that this town must be looked for on the river _Hei-shui_ called _Etsina_ by the Mongols, and would be situated on the river on the border of the Desert, at the top of a triangle, whose bases would be Suhchau and Kanchau. My theory seems to be fully confirmed by Sir Aurel Stein, who writes: "Advantages of geographical position must at all times have invested this extensive riverine tract, limited as are its resources, with considerable importance for those, whether armed host or traders, who would make the long journey from the heart of Mongolia in the north to the Kansu oases. It had been the same with the ancient Lou-lan delta, without which the Chinese could not have opened up the earliest and most direc
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