now, in autumn, almost entirely overspread with the peltated leaf of the nymphæa nelumbo, or lien-wha of the Chinese. ****** The route was continued westerly through the city. The dwelling-house of some Russians was pointed out; and, what was more singular, a library of foreign manuscripts, one of which was said to be an Arabic copy of the Koran. Some Mahometans were seen, distinguished by red caps. Among the spectators of the novel sight some women were observed; the greatest number were said to be natives of Tartary or of a Tartar race. Their feet were not cramped like those of the Chinese; and their shoes, with broad toes, and soles above an inch in thickness, were as clumsy as those of the original Chinese ladies were diminutive. A few of the former were well-dressed, with delicate features, and their complexions heightened with the aid of art. A thick patch of vermilion on the middle of the lower lip seemed to be a favourite mode of using paint. Some of them were sitting in covered carriages, of which, as well as of horses, there are several to be found for hire in various parts of the town.* A few of the Tartar ladies were on horseback, and rode astride like men. Tradesmen with their tools, searching for employment, and pedlars offering their wares for sale, were everywhere to be seen. Several of the streets were narrow, and at the entrance of them gates were erected, near which guards were stationed, it was said, to quell any occasional disturbance in the neighbourhood. Those gates are shut at night, and opened only in cases of exigence. The train of the embassy crossed a street which extended north and south the whole length of the Tartar city, almost four miles, and is interrupted only by several pai-loos, or triumphal fabrics; and, passing by

* None but privileged persons can use a chair so near to the Emperor; but, in other parts, these are the common conveyances.

many temples and other capacious buildings and magazines, they reached, in little more than two hours from their entrance on the eastern side, to one of the western city gates."

From this they issued towards the imperial park of Yuen-ming-yuen, and the route, thus accurately described, can readily be traced on the plan of Peking. The Tartar city, through which they passed, is about three miles in breadth from east to west, and four in length from north to south The portion traversed by the embassy was rather more than five miles, which was as much as they could accomplish, with all interruptions, in the space of time mentioned above. The observatory seen by them to the left on entering the city was that of the Kin-sing (or planet Venus), near the south-east corner of the wall. A new set of instruments was made for it by order of Kâng-hy, under the direction of the Catholic missionaries; and the astronomical instruments brought out by Lord Macartney were subsequently deposited there. The high fabric, with its large cylindrical bell, which the travellers observed between the north gate of the imperial wall and the extremity of the Tartar city on that side, is the Choong-low, or "Bell-tower," near to which is the office of the "General of the Nine Gates," to whose charge is intrusted the police of the city. A wooden mallet, being struck upon the huge bell, makes known the five watches of the night, and the sound is heard through the greater part of the city.

Within the precincts of the Tartarian city, near the southern gate of the imperial wall, are the principal boards or tribunals of the supreme government; and not far from them is the college of the Russian mission, consisting of ten persons, who are periodically relieved from St. Petersburgh. Near the westernmost of the three southern gates the Portuguese Jesuits

had their college; but the last of this fraternity was sent away in the year 1827, in the person of Padre Serra, who then furnished us with some curious notes. The most favoured of the Catholics, who were the French Jesuits employed by Kâng-hy, had their dwelling allotted within the circuit of the imperial wall, near the lake and gardens on the north and west of the enclosure. This great space, occupying an area of about two square miles, is just in the centre of the Tartarian city, and can be entered by none but authorized persons. It corresponds in shape to the outer limits of the city, being an oblong square, built on a very regular plan; and contains within itself a third and still more sacred enclosure, devoted exclusively to the Emperor's abode, called "The Prohibited Wall." This contains the private palaces of the Sovereign and his Empress, communicating by a gate on the north with a square two-thirds of a mile in length, in which are situated the artificial hills and woods mentioned by Sir George Staunton as seen at a distance in his progress through Peking. The architecture and arrangements of the palaces and courts within the "prohibited wall" are described as far exceeding any other specimens of the kind in China.

In regard to population, the vast areas included within the imperial wall and the central or prohibited wall, may be considered comparatively as empty spaces. Father Hyacinth describes the lakes and gardens which he saw as occupying nearly the whole western side of the larger parallelogram, the lake alone being upwards of a mile in length. From his account it may be inferred that the palaces and gardens of the Chinese Emperor are worthy of the master of so many millions of subjects, who have been estimated at a third of the whole human race. So

much of the capital, however, being devoted to the Emperor, it is not easy to find lodging within the remainder for the three millions of people which some have stated that its walls, and those of the southern or Chinese city, contain together. This number nearly equals the whole population of the kingdom of Portugal by the latest census. If we admit that the number of subjects who own the Emperor of China for their master really exceeds the amount of three hundred millions, he may well speak with contempt of states whose entire population goes not beyond the hundredth part of his own "black-haired race," as he calls them.

On the east side of the Tartarian city is the Altar of the Sun, because the luminary rises in that quarter; and for a similar, though not the same reason, the Altar of the Moon is on the western side, because at the opposition, or at full moon, she sets in the west, while the sun rises on the other side. This regard to the place of the sun's rising serves to explain several points in Chinese customs. Their climate makes it necessary to build all considerable houses fronting the south, but closed to the north; for the sake of admitting the southerly monsoon in summer, and excluding the northerly in winter. The eastern side of the house is the most honourable, for the reason above given, and the master of a family is therefore called Tongkea, "East of the household." But the left hand is likewise to the east of the principal seat in the hall of reception, which serves to explain the circumstance of their making the left side the place of honour, so contrary to the custom which generally prevails in other countries.

The Chinese town, which lies to the south of the Tartarian, or 66 ·City of Nine Gates," is not subject to the same rigid system of military police as

that which contains the abode of the Emperor; and its walls and defences are inferior to those of the other, being, in fact, like the ordinary Chinese towns. The included area is about equal to that of the Tartarian city, but of this a very considerable portion is occupied by the immense courts of the temples dedicated to Heaven," and to the deified inventor of agriculture (sometimes styled the Temple of " Earth”), where the Emperor sacrifices annually, and performs the ceremony of ploughing the sacred field. The Altar to Heaven stands in a square enclosure, measuring about three miles in circuit, near the southern wall of the Chinese city. The terrace consists of three stages, diminishing from one hundred and twenty to sixty feet in diameter, each stage being surrounded by a marble balustrade, and ascended by steps of the same material. Towards the north-west of the enclosure is the Palace of Abstinence, where the Emperor fasts for three days preparatory to offering sacrifices to the heavens at the winter solstice. On the other side of the great central street leading to the Tartarian city, and just over against the Temple of the Heavens, stands the Altar of the Earth. The square enclosure is about two miles in circuit, and contains the field which is once a year ploughed by the Emperor and his great officers, and the produce reserved for sacrifices.

In the vicinity of the south-east angle of the Chinese city are extensive sheets of water, and large open spaces cultivated with grain and vegetables for the use of Peking. Towards the south-west angle, also, beyond the Temples of the Heavens and the Earth, is a huge pool or lake, dedicated to the genius of the watery element, under the designation of He-loong, the "Black Dragon," where the Emperor either deprecates or prays for rain, according as the country