Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1859-01-27
The Great Wall Of China.

Great Wall o! Chne:
"The treuties o. Tien tsin having been
ratified by the Emperor Hien-Fcung, Baron
Gros was desirous of visiting the Great
Wall, and OF judging from personal obser-
yatiun of the correctness OF the statements
respecting il as commencing in the sea at
the entrance of the Bayou Leo-Toung.
"At seven O'Clock in the morning Of the
lIth July the Ambassador, followed by his
secretaries aud attaches, embarked on board
lie small steamer the Prfgent. The dis
tsnce of the wall from the place where The
Audacuse frigaie was OF anchor wos thought
10 be from thirty 10 forty leagues. Towards
evening, the weather not being very clear,
j. was thought prudent not to approach too
clo.e 20 the shore, and the steamer came
to an anchor in the ohing. At day break
on the following morning she again got
under way, and soon after the wall appear
ed in view. Ii looked like long range of
building of the sume height, creme lated.
and traversing the plain from the sea TO the
foot of the chain of mountains which run
parallel with the coast, bu; a; more than a
league inlsnd. An houI after. the wall,
with it's creneluted top, forts, jetties running
out into the sea. and the pagota on the
shore, were perfectly distinct in all their
details. We had before us the most pic
turesque prospect that can be imagined
Along the sea cOssi the vast plain is cover
ed with the most luzurant vegetation, with
numerous villages buried in trees. and at
ii L. har ,F l,.f,- 4,
tie foo, of The wslI, on the side of China.
were seen the white tents of two Tartar
camps, with their horses grazing at liberty
around. Seen from the Chinese side, the
wall resembles an immense work in earth,
crowned with creneated wall in brick,
hut in very dilapidoted state. On the
Man,choofis side. On the contrHry,it is built
of brick on foundation OF stone. 1t has,
along ;he whole length. square towers at a
distance from each other Of about two bow.
shots length, SO that the enemy might be
struck from either Of them. II runs down
in:o the sea by two parallel jelties, he in-
cline of which is so slight that persons land
ing from boat may easily walk up them.
The largest vessels may approach to with
in about two miles Of this spot, whirh is
the place where future tourists ought 10
land. Unfortunately we we're not then
aware of this fact, and we came 10 an anch-
or at spot where the landing was not very
easy.
"The shore was soon covered with Chi.
nese from the neighboring villages. IL.
MARQUES, the interpreter To the mission. and
Count d'Ozeiy, the commandant of the
Preesnt. were the first to go on shore, in
order 10 confer with the authorities, and
ascertain whether sny objection would be
made to the landing of the party. A
Mandarin, mounted on white horse and
followed by two horsemen, arrived from the
camp to inquire what those men, come from
an unknown world, wanted. On receiving
pacific assurances FROM our interpreter, he
said no opposition would oe made to the
Decentralization. When all were OF shore
we proceeded direct towards the wall. We
had to cross several lite rivulet, which
ran down towards the sea, and we were
afterwards obliged to strike a little more
inland. in order TO find ground rather less
moist. As we approached toSards the wall
we observed the Tartars mounting their
horses. and betraying by their gestures and
movements considerable emotion. They
separated into three budies-one remained
on horseback in front of the tents. thus
cutting of the road to the wall; another
proceeded on our left, where they alighted
among the high grass; and the third ad-
vsncsd at a hand gallop TO NEE. US. They
asked whence we came, where we were
going. ard told US they could not allow Us
to advance any further. Their chief, they
said, was absent, and they could not take
on themselves the responsibility Of permit
ting US to approach.
"You may judge Of our establishment
when we learned from these men. encsmped
ss it were at the very gates of the capital,
that thes had heard n.thing of their country
having been D. war with France and Eng
land. The taking of Canton, the lombard
ment of Takou. and the pence concluded al
Tien tsin they we're completely ignorant of.
After a little negotiation we thought we had
got over our difficulty. and we were allowed
10 advance, but we had not proceeded more
than three or four hundred yards when some
fresh horsemen advanced aud urgently i'm
pressed On US the proprie'y of not going
any further. With our escort of twelve
men, well armed, and our revolrers, we
might baye kept of those three hundred
Tartar horsemen, and have mounted the
wall in spite of them, 51t the Amba ssador
was anxious to avoid any dispute, and would
not compromise his position for the mere
qualification OF curiosity.
"After having taken Few sketches. pur-
chased some fans from the Tdrtars, and as
touished whole host of Chinese by letting
them taste our brandy and look at our
watches and compesses, Baron Gros return
ed to the boats.
"These Tartar horsemen had Reither bows
nor arrows, but thev all had matchbox guns
slung over their shoulders. Their powder
appeared to be yerv coarse, and in addi-
ton to ball, they had in their cartouch- boxes
small pellets of lead. Each man carried in
his large boots his pipe and fan.
"Before leaving the coast we went in the
Preoent to have another view of the country
on the oihsr side Of the Great Wall, op-
posite the plains of Msntchooria, which were
covered with the most extraordinary verdure,
only to be found in countries where the
GROUND after being long buried in snow is
vivified by hot sun. Tine wall WIS seen
growing up as it were out of this exuberant
vegetation, and ascending the side OF the
mountain to follow. for more than six hun
dred leagues, the half savage countries
which extend as far as tie confines Of Mon