Richland beacon. [volume] (Rayville, La.) 1869-1890, 1873-08-09

wnic6 mssst ~ thsn II Iowa - thsn by all
The fu'o'sd rh''''s q ~ ~ eiss s.es%;"s %s"sn'
The City Of Pskin.
The ancient capitalof northern China,
three days journey from the Great
Wall. on the Siberian road, uprears
itself from hideous, seemingly bound
less plain of dust, strewn with rem
nants of old buildings and ell kinds of
disheartening rubbish. There is, per-
hars. no portion of the earth's surface
on which the European feels more hope |
lessly far away from every familiar
place and person than when traverslng
this great desert plain, heaped with the
dust of ages. A few crumbling villages
break the monotony, and then comes
wall of immense length, brown, crenn-
lated, pierced in the centre by mag
a;;fcent portico, the finest 'gate In
all .>e celestial empire. 1t is like the
Scripss-e picture of the walls of Baby
lon ana she formidable ramparts OF
. Nineven, lofty tower is surmounted
by ro0i, oo,1sting of five stages OF
green theS,gb ti,es, R'.fd xfd by five ranges Of
hoies, thIous ,us t.rr;ht, grin huge cannon
Moetahhs, mo- ms, VERY ,ys are woWtil one learns
sight, on right and y. s.rstcbes
the wall, parity of grail. msrtlv
of huge gray bricks, ana Il it,
foot opens deep vaulted p.oce
through which pour oonverging tidoi 81
Chinese, Mongols, and Tartars, strins.
of blue carts, files of blsck mules, cara
vans of dun-colOred, h>4vily lader
camels; for this is the entrs-ce to tn.
- ancient city is divided int thre,
section. the Chinese, the Tartar. >nd
the imper..l, and each has . pariecs,
dnsaaS d,ss,Rct :! !PhysognS%s The. ans milssti s
dream, 80 The traveller finds its stateli
ness 1fterly reversed by the scene whic]
it encloses. Waste land, tumble-dowl
nuts, sinuous ways half paved will
enormous blocks of stone, half left il
yawning gaps a couple of feet deep
dirt poverty, desolation through thes,
one struggles on until second wal
stops the way. 1t is still more majesti,
md Babylonian it is sixty feet hiQl
F.. - forty feet wide, and it divides The
Cnnese from the Tartar city. On the
va side is kind of circus without
has, which-ia- formed of GIGANTIC
We protecting, the prlncipa ss1s and ana
10y like q spacious bear-pit. No
Does permitted to pass through the
enssAperture except the emperor, 90
tne taAler passes under the gate arch
ss the ste, and is generally instructed
~ ms gude to ascend some steps tecsr
fuxa
Jor9n, J%9%and view of all Hsnchoi1 and
sugceet;ve EFi EF1 concentric cities,
divided fro, IA other BY inner walls
first the Y>3G city, which is the lar
gest, sd has upon it the warlike stamp
Of Me conquering race then the impe-
ifal city, with the palaces of the man.
darins, each consisting of nearly hun
dred kiosks and finally the forbidden
city, with its thousands of roofs in inn
perial yellow, and its Me-chan, the
sacrosanctum Of the celestial empire.
Forming the vast mysterious inclosure
Of the forbidden city are walls ON whose
summits four carriages might be driven
abreast; the countless roofs Of the
mandarin's palaces are bright green,
the domes Of the temples are dark blue;
there are great spaces paved with potte-
~, and there are marble bridges. But
al this splendor Is set in framework
Of orumbling, dusty ruin. Everything
Is extraordinary in this wonderful place.
which 10 an epitoms Of decay. Thsbes,
Memphis, Carthage, Rome, are ruins
which tell Of violent vicissitude; Pekin
isa skeleton dropping into dust. The
ravine-like streets ere knee,deep in every
sort Of rubbish, the moats, the canals,
and the rivers are all, and always, dry
the formal parks, the once marvellous
ponds, are turned 10 desert plaoee. Tn
umphal arches stand side BY side with
vrstehed tumble-down booths, sur
xsoanted by q forest of little poles,
vhmce paper "signs dangle in the
air, and uniformity il lent to all BY the
lhick layer of evil-smelling dust which
lies upon them, the same dust that is
6lwsys whirling around, hurting the |
eye9 aad Offending the nostrils. This
Geik city, in which nothing il ever re-
paiFed, and where it is penal 10 pull |
down any thing. is dropping 10 pieces
md il is the opinion of III De Beauvoir,
the French traveller, to whom We owe
Ne best apd most picturesque account |
q Pekin yet given 70 the western world,
ut In century il will have been aban-
doued and have ceased 10 exist.
a postic elameM reigns ct Pekip,
~ Al its dust and qusintness, max
- ons go the soul Of that wonderful
saeioe in life and one huge ssale.
= dediGns q screeoas and plsfes /
- (NGnD = fnmiliae. 1hst
- apa.hlaD Of