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work on the high relief carvings.
     On this occasion I was forced to leave in Peking my excellent interpreter whose health and nerves were broken down by our experiences in  and near Honanfu, and it seemed inadvisable to engage a man unused to my peculiar requirements. The necessary permission was obtained without delay from the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and I returned to Kung Ksien bringing with me Mrs. Warner and a man who claimed to be an expert in rubbings. He was unfortunately quite unable to cope with the problems before us, having had practice only on the dressed stone tablets incised for the express purpose of taking ink impressions. But with the aid of the local paper hanger, whom I trained to my methods, and after several experiments to find a proper paper, I was able to secure a large number of good rubbings from the reliefs, even those difficult of access on the cave roofs.
     As Chavannes had published illustrations from the interior of only one out of the five caves, I presumed that he had been unable to penetrate the others and resolved not to lose the opportunity of securing new material.
     One remarkable characteristic of the chapels is that, in spite of their being cut from solid rock cliff, the ceilings are carved in imitation of a wooden structure with crossed roof beams and angle studs in relief. The panels between the beams are decorated with angels and Buddhist sacred emblems. In some places the floors of the caves were covered with earth that had been brought in by floods to the depth of a foot and a half, and the clearing away of this earth disclosed important sculptured dados on the walls and central pillars, most of which