The Hartford herald., 1879-11-05
THE CHINEsE WALL
Gen. Grants Visit 10 the Great Msnu-

About = o'clock i'm the afternoon
Lieut.. Sperry, the navigator, had an
experience that must have reminded
him of Columbus discovering America.
He had found the great Wall By
carefully looking through our glasses,
in time We saw it-a thick, brown, ir-
regular line, that crumbled into the sea.
The Richmond steamed towards the
beach, and so gracious was the weather
that we were able to anchor within a
mile of shore. All the boats were let
down, and as many as could be spared
from the vessel went ashore-the Cap
tain, the officers, sailors in their blue,
tidy uniforms, and an especial sailor,
with pot Of white paint, to inscribe
the fact that the Richmond had visited
the Great Wall. The Great Wall Is the
only monument / have seen which
could be improved by modern saerilege,
and which could be painted over and
plastered without competitions of con-
science. From what / read of this stu
penduous achievement il was built un-
der the reign ofa Chinese Emperor who
fiourished two centuries before Christ.
The Emperor was disturbed by the con-
slant invasion of the Tartars, hardy,
liOltlAtllC AaIt WIZ tanlC tAAt AAltlc
of Mongolia and plundered his people,
who were, indeed, afterward to come
if only the Emperor could have
opened the book of fate and known
and rule the country and found the dy-
nasty which exists, after a fashion, still.
So his Majisty resolved to build wall
which should forever protect his en-
pire from the invader. The wall was
built, and so well was it done that here
We come, wanderers from the anti
podes, twenty centuries after, and find
It still substantial, imposing, but i'm the
light of modern science, q useless wall.
1t is |, 25O miles in length, and it is only
when you consider that distance, and
the incredible amount of labor it i'm
posed, that the magnitude Of the work
breaks upon you. We landed on
smooth, pebbly beach, studded with
shells which would have rejoiced the
eyes of children. We found q small
village and saw the villagers gathering
corn. The children, a few beggars, and
a blind person came to welcome Us. The
end of the wall, which juts into the sea,
has been beaten by the waves into n
ragged, shapeless condition There was
an easy ascent, however, up stone steps.
At the top there was a small temple,
evidently given to pious use still, for
there was a keeper who dickered about
letting us in, and the walls seemed to
be i'm order, clean and painted. The
wall at the site Of the temple was sew
enty-five or one hundred feet wide, but
this was only q special width to accom-
modate the temple and present an i'm
posing presence to the sea. As far as
we could see the wall stretched over hill
and valley, until it became a line. Its
average width at the surface is from
twenty to twenty-five feet. At the
base it varies forty to one hundred feet.
1t Is made of stone and brick, and, con-
sidering that twenty centuries have
been testing its workmanship, the work
was well done.
As mere wall there Is nothing Inn
posing about the Great Wall Of China.
There are 100000 walls, the world over,
better built and. more useful. What
impressed US was the infinite patience
which could have eompassed 80 vast a
labor. Wonderful are pyramids, and
wonderful as dream the ruins of
Thebes. There you see mechanical re-
suits which you cannot follow or solve,
engineering achievements which We
could not now repeat. The Wall Is q
marvel of patience. Ihad been reading
the late Mr.. Stewards calculation that
the labor which had huilded the Great
Wall would have built the Pacific rail-
ways. Gen. Grant thought that Mr..
Seward had underrated its extent. ~